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In France during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, architects forged a new identity for themselves on the twin Vitruvian foundations of ratiocinatio and fabrica, even as they faced competition—solidly rooted in the previous five centuries—from tradesmen, specifically mason-builders ( entrepreneurs maçons). The exchange between architects and their clients was based on an “economy of quality” (in the sense developed by sociologist Lucien Karpik) rather than the conventional economy based on the value of the product, especially since the quality of the construction remained uncertain until the building was completed and had been lived in for a while. The architecture market was thus shaped, to a certain extent, by the measure of uncertainty regarding the quality of a completed edifice. Paradoxically, however, the construction of a building was quantified in terms of production costs on the basis of the unit prices of materials (measured by quantity) or labor (measured by day). When it came to conventional architecture, we might even refer to an “economy of moderation” (quest for the least cost). The consubstantiality, etymologically speaking, of architecture and economy suggests viewing an architect as the manager of the design and execution of a building like a bonus pater familias who avoids all pointless expenditure. How could this contradiction between uncertainty and assessment of cost be reconciled? The representation of an economy of quality led to a special market for architecture that merits exploration along two lines: networks and trust.