I absolutely agree that if you like coding, don't ever stop.  It will also make you a better architect.<p>In my experience, large companies who use Rational will have their architects buried in Rose building UML and writing 150+ page docs all day.  Smaller and/or agile/XP companies will be looking for a super experienced coder, who can mentor, and look at the big picture, see the business drivers, etc...<p>Ideally this sort of thing can be figured out early on in the interview process.  "How do your other architects spend their time?" etc...