The reason most architects don't reach prominence until their later years (NY Times Architecture critic Ada Huxtable pegs the age at close to 60) is not due to a disconnect with the education and actual profession, but moreso because clients are less willing to trust and untried architect with a multimillion dollar project. It's similar in almost any industry, you need to slowly climb your way up the experience ladder, except a single architectural project will take years to complete, thus lengthening the amount of actual time it takes to get a "trustworthy" amount of projects under your belt before you can win big deals.

The exception to this rule are open competitions, as this give young architects the opportunity to vie on a level playing field (e.g, the Pompidou)