I stepped waaaaay outside my comfort zone today and asked a potential donor face to face to give money to the non-profit, People for Urban Progress, on whose board I sit. It was scary and hard and totally successful - our initiative is now funded.
I spent about half an hour basking in being proud of myself when a client (of a sort) had a temper tantrum and ruined my entire day, leading to a fight with my husband and me running out of wine.
Ah, well. Tomorrow will be different. Maybe not better, but different! Onward.
I saw that thread and immediately did a 180. Damn.
Feb 7, 18 2:05 pm ·
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Non Sequitur
Ah, come on, join in. The water is just fine.
Feb 7, 18 2:06 pm ·
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JLC-1
crazy is a kind word
Feb 7, 18 2:16 pm ·
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JLC-1
he's posting drawings!!
Feb 7, 18 4:01 pm ·
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wurdan freo
I had to find where he was posting... just read some of the thread... brilliant...
Feb 7, 18 5:07 pm ·
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Non Sequitur
I decided to humour Jawknee and posted a dirty ink/graphite phone doodle. Not sure if that was wise or not but hopefully it generates some humour for the afternoon.
oh, how we make the world go round without even notice.....
this article got me thinking we should (not me, I'm not good at chasing invoices) establish a compensation scale for the sale of a project - same as actors and singers keep receiving royalties after years of their productions, what if the architects received a commission for the sales and re-sales of these developments?
Is anyone going to the AIA conference this year? A non architecture non profit i volunteer for is offering a hotel and airfare that weekend as a raffle prize. if anyone is interested in the goals or information and wants to buy one i can send you a link. The hotel is in time square and if your international you recieve 500 toward airfare. Let me know. Also Idk if this is a good place to post this but its a good cause!
Cheers!
Feb 9, 18 2:16 pm ·
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Non Sequitur
sounds like a scam.
Feb 9, 18 2:24 pm ·
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ptalley
I swear its not. Its mens gay and sober organization. the reason they are giving away the flight and hotel is for people to make it to NYC. You dont have to be gay or sober or male to get a ticket or go. Pride is also that weekend so theres a bit of an overlap. Its very solid!!! i swear i can give u the link if your interested!
Feb 9, 18 2:26 pm ·
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ptalley
And you get extra days! the hotel room is 20-25 and the conference is 21-23. PLUS you get to march with us in pride as an ally of the mens gay and sober community! if you want.
Feb 9, 18 2:29 pm ·
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Non Sequitur
Ah, no beer? no sale.
Feb 9, 18 2:32 pm ·
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ptalley
This is for the room and the flight! drink all the beer u want! we wont drink and wont judge you for it! Hell I'll buy you a case of whatever (under 20 bucks)
if you win! really make your NYC experience one for the books. Ill even keep you from drunkenly staggering onto the subway tracks!
I love this sentence: "You don't have to be gay or sober or male to get a ticket or go" I already have my hotel room booked for the conference but if anyone is planning to go you need to jump on it quickly...
Feb 9, 18 5:36 pm ·
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ptalley
You all have great suggestions! And if you would like to buy a raffle ticket I would much appreciate it. Just think, room and airfare AND you can march with us in NYC GAY PRIDE in front hundreds of thousands of people! AND you get to do all the AIA architecture conference stuff you want! https://gayandsober.rallyup.com/gsm2018/LZNKL7 follow this link and Phil T will be credited with the member contribution!
Does anyone work at a firm that has a strict policy against accepting trips to see vendors product?
I got an invite from a pseudo-governmental european trade organization inviting me to come tour their travertine quarries, 1st class, 5 star hotels, all expenses paid 2 week trip. Didn't seem like a big deal either as it was not with one specific vendor, and they weren't even really directly selling anything. It was extremely painful to have to turn them down.
Little bro got his M.Arch last spring, still looking for work in the PNW, but with student loan debt and living costs all the offers he's had might as well be unpaid internships for the wages they've been offering. I started out pretty low on the pay scale, but these offers they've extended have been borderline unreasonable. Is there rally a shortage of qualified applicants like I've heard, or is it people with a Masters in ARCHITECTURE would rather work at Domino's than work for less in a field that has (what it seems) unreasonably high entry requirements? Rant, but this has been what I've been hearing from his search for months now, beggars can't be choosers, but...
Feb 9, 18 6:44 pm ·
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archanonymous
It's painful starting out. Seems like every firm around is here is complaining about a shortage of qualified applicants, yet I have students graduating who can't get interviews, and it's not for lack of a good portfolio. Of course once you have 6-10 years experience, you are beating the recruiters away with a stick. How short-sighted must firms be to not be able/ willing to connect one with the other? Hire young people. Mentor and develop them and give them reasons to stay at your firm. Bam, instant supply of skilled experienced designers.
Architecture school is essentially a hazing program that one must survive in order to enter the profession as a know-nothing slave laborer. I can't think of any other profession in which the required education does so little to prepare one for the job.
Feb 9, 18 7:27 pm ·
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geezertect
is it people with a Masters in ARCHITECTURE would rather work at Domino's than work for less in a field that has (what it seems) unreasonably high entry requirements?
If they are withholding their labor after getting their masters, they got their timing wrong. Should have done their homework about the profession before school. A little late now.
I saw this in front of a building near my office 2 days ago. I don't know who is building giant penises on roof edges, but it's best to be vigilant about the danger they pose for snow accumulation.
You guys: I hate asking people for money, but I did it again today and got a $2K commitment. I'm starting to feel like I'm good at this! All in the name of good design. I guess it's different when one isn't asking as a for-profit entity but as a non-profit.
There are some tricks to this trade. Get a bunch of potential donors in one room. When one makes a commitment the others are embarrassed not to. This can be arranged beforehand ...
An awful movie. Aside from the first farmhouse scene, which is legendary. The rest is pure gratuitous comic book violence.
Sex is rated X but beating someone's brains out with a baseball bat is rated R. And you wonder why there are school shootings? This society thrives on violence.
Aside from the perpetuation of the "we are the good guys" propaganda despite perpetual bombing and invasion of foreign countries for the last 70 years.
Feb 17, 18 11:41 am ·
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randomised
We mostly watch the same movies or play the same computer games in the Netherlands, yet we don't have school shootings.
Yes, I did. Unlike most men when my sexual response is aroused I'm still able to be a critical thinker. Example: Pitt in Meet Joe Black: boring, sedate performance in a bloated, pointless movie (except the scene where he's actually killed, five minutes in, which is beautifully choreographed).
Feb 18, 18 3:09 pm ·
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tduds
"The rest is pure gratuitous comic book violence."
The movie is over. I just made a few drunken phone calls to my congress critters begging them to do something about gun control in our country. Will it help? I don't know, but it feels good!
In another episode of Truth is Stranger than Fiction, I emailed my friend a picture of a house I like and he says, you know I worked on that, right? Um, no. Am I dreaming? Cue the creepy cool music.
I don't know a single woman older than me in architecture besides Donna. That survey NCARB sent about diversity was crap. There. I said it. I have no qualms.
Feb 21, 18 11:29 pm ·
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wurdan freo
I've heard good things about nawic... you should check it out...
Ha, tinbeary, I agree, same boat. I'm in my late 30s and the oldest woman in my office. Also definitely do not know, nor have ever met or worked with, ANY full-time moms older than my own age in the 2 decades I've been bopping around this biz.
Feb 21, 18 11:55 pm ·
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Wilma Buttfit
I have been the oldest female in the office since I was 27.
Oh, gosh, Tinbeary and manta, those posts bum me out. I was SO SO SO fortunate to start my real professional career in a firm with a woman partner who also gave birth to her first child the same year I started at the firm. Jane Lawson-Bell is her name, and she was a name partner in the firm (three partners total) but then eventually left the firm and went into practice with her husband, also an architect. The fact that she left a firm she had been at for so long, and she must have been around 50 when she did it, made me feel so much more empowered to make changes in my own career no matter my age (I'm 50). She was, and still is, SUCH an amazing role model for me; it makes me sad that all woman architects don't have the same.
I can say that there are more older working moms in the interior design world than in architecture, but that doesn't really help, I know.
Feb 22, 18 8:53 am ·
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Non Sequitur
Donna, one of our office's partners fits that description as well as another licensed arch and senior int des, the first 2 both with 2 kids each. I also believe two of our more junior staff also have equal size stables at home. So, about 1/4 of the office is women with kids. I did not realize this was uncommon.
Feb 22, 18 9:12 am ·
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Wilma Buttfit
I used to work a firm that was 100 years old. No woman, in 100 years, stayed there past the age of 30. The only older woman there when I was stopped at my desk on her way out after she quit and told me Good Luck and laughed.
It's ok. I was drinking wine while we recorded the podcast last night. I laughed a lot, but I don't know if it's the wine, my adorable co-hosts, or the absurd state of things that made me laugh.
Non sequiter, there are plenty of women in my office and even 2 others with kids (office of about 25-30 ppl). However, they are all much younger than I. There are 6 leadership positions in the firm: 2 founders/owners who have 99% of the power, both male with kids, and 4 others, 3 of whom are male and NONE of whom have kids.
So tell me what the path forward in this profession looks like for someone like me. Because as far as I can see it, I'll be going exactly this same thing in exactly this position forever.
None of the other moms I meet have jobs. I want to do both (and am), but am faced with the real likelihood that by trying to do both, I will suck at both.
Feb 22, 18 1:03 pm ·
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b3tadine[sutures]
You need to get with a Lean In circle. There are plenty of women in the same boat, and they are busy supporting each other. It's worth looking into.
Feb 24, 18 11:58 am ·
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Wilma Buttfit
Good idea. I've recently joined a bunch of virtual mom groups and it's been great so far.
Feb 24, 18 12:11 pm ·
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b3tadine[sutures]
Lean In is all about this particular struggle, my fiance is a local leader. It's about women supporting women, and fighting the idea that you have to give up one, for the other, when the real thing is women supporting women, and men supporting women.
Strange, most of the other dads I meet have jobs too, it's simply assumed and is never an issue. None of them is ever asked how they are able to do both.
Weird, only two of my friends are able to have single-earned families (one with a stay at home dad, one with a stay at home mom). Literally all of my other friends with kids have to have two incomes or they can't make ends meet. How do you know so many stay at home moms??!
For other moms, the high cost of child care would wipe out any earnings so often they choose to not work. Lots of MLM moms selling nutritional drinks, skin care, etc.
I dunno... that certainly is an issue for folks who are in a lower income bracket to begin with (and the high cost of childcare in general is definitely an issue) but in the professional, middle-class circles where you often hear that excuse I'm not sure it's really a true hardship. The only person I know who really truly faced that hardship was an elementary school teacher who had twins and then an unexpected 3rd a year later. She was facing 3 concurrent childcare costs AND didn't make much (~50k) so the combined effect was yes, that it made more sense for her to stay home. (She's actually 1 of the 2 ppl cited above.) in our area, the cost of childcare is about 25% of a typical professional's take home pay. Not great but certainly not worth quitting over, unless you're looking for an excuse. The ppl I hear complaining about it the most are actually those who choose to put their kid at the Gardner School or Montessori where the cost is literally 2x every other childcare and they upload pics of your kid's every special moment to an app all day long.
My husband and I have spent a not-insignificant portion of our 20+ years together looking at someone else and asking each other “Where is that person’s/couple’s real income coming from?” because we can’t figure out how someone who seems similarly employed to us can afford things like trips abroad and an awesome apartment and an art career.
Derp, the phone posted before I was ready. As far as the childcare cost issue, it ends fairly soon, assuming you put your kid in public school. But everyone thinks when they stop paying for childcare they will see a huge raise in their income because they aren’t paying for child care anymore, but somehow that money just disappears. The flipside is, somehow we all always manage.Having a kid is somehow wildly expensive but also always works out.
Feb 23, 18 6:53 pm ·
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Wilma Buttfit
Yeah, lots of private school families in my vicinity. I did it for a semester but decided we needed to eat too. The school was great though.
Yeah, it feels a lot like running from the altar lol. I'm going to say we can still co-op. It's the only way I can do it. Partnership sounds like a huge risk, more effort, and less reward.
I joint venture on a project basis as necessary. Good for focusing on what I want to do and easier to contain the damage if it goes south. It's important to clearly define the responsibilities. One of them is who's the boss.
Balkins going full Balkins on the hardened school article. Last time he went batshit insane on gun control he imposed a ban on himself. One can hope no? Glad he’s not a neighbor, hoarding weapons with such an view can’t be good for home resale values.
Feb 25, 18 7:17 am ·
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Non Sequitur
He’s really hitting it hard. I think he’s arguing bear attack stats too now.
Feb 25, 18 12:10 pm ·
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Non Sequitur
I don’t read balkins’ rants Just caught something about bears.
Feb 25, 18 12:34 pm ·
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Flatfish
I think he's said he doesn't have live neighbors because his house is surrounded by funeral homes and crematoriums. That's why ammonia fumes weren't going to bother anybody if he built a shed in the backyard for running blueprints.
I dont have much residential experience... Can a new custom home that will sell for 1.2 million be designed and permitted in 2 months? I got a real estate developer asking me to do this. He says we will start with one and then we will do 3 more, then 30 more, then 100. Is he yanking my chain? It is the uncle of a friend. Is this how residential works? Sounds too easy.
Pie in the sky. Nothing done that fast can be any good and huge numbers presuppose massive success. On the other hand, if the numbers are real it indicated the market has peaked and will soon reverse.
Fast track: file with the minimum requirements for a permit. Everything else gets worked out during construction including finishes and details. Don't know how thoughtful a design you can come up with in that time frame or what the processing time is in the municipality.Once you've done one you'll have a better idea about a lot of things including whether you want to continue.
Feb 25, 18 7:38 pm ·
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Wilma Buttfit
Thanks Miles. No municipality, rural area. Rural water, septic. 2-3 acre lots. Gated. Land sale is closing this week. Private roads were just put in. I agree I could do it, but will it be any good. Seems to be my recurring problem, keeping quality high. It takes time. I don't have stock plans.
Feb 25, 18 8:47 pm ·
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Wilma Buttfit
Thanks, Rick. The 1, 3, 30 bit is about building momentum. I thought that part made sense actually. My plan is to design in my sleep at night then draft during the day. Ha ha. But seriously.
Feb 25, 18 10:00 pm ·
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JBeaumont
In my experience the 1,3,30, 100 spiel is how this type of client talks young architects into doing the first set of plans really fast and really cheap, always promising that if you do this one in 10 minutes for pennies it will all be worth it because more projects are coming, yada yada. ... and then either same story on the next ones, or there are no next ones
Feb 25, 18 10:33 pm ·
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wurdan freo
Forget about good. Good is a known quantity. Good is what we all agree on. Growth is not necessarily good. Growth is an exploration of unlit recesses that may or may not yield to our research. As long as you stick to good you’ll never have real growth - bruce mau
Feb 25, 18 10:41 pm ·
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Wilma Buttfit
JB, thanks. I thought of that. I am billing hourly, not going to do cheap cause I already have plenty of other paying work.
Hey, Bruce Mau is Canadian. Learn new things everyday...
Feb 26, 18 9:47 am ·
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Non Sequitur
^Yes he is.
Feb 26, 18 9:49 am ·
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kjdt
JBeaumont I had that client as a young'un too. Developer who was always wanting it faster and cheaper. Didn't matter that I billed him hourly, he'd ask for a discount every time, implying that if I didn't knock down the bill by 20% or even 50%, and be ok with payment months late, he wouldn't send the next project my way. It didn't go 1, 3, 30. It went 1, 1..., 1..... It took me until the 4th project to learn to just cut ties with him.
Feb 26, 18 5:02 pm ·
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Wilma Buttfit
anybody who balks at the bill, I say, what part do you want me to eliminate? No pay, no drawings. It's like selling girl scout cookies. You can fire clients you know.
Feb 26, 18 5:38 pm ·
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Wilma Buttfit
I was also thinking... this developer says he wants to invest in things like nice windows and nice faucets because "you get all that money back". Few things work better than using someone's logic back at them, right? So anytime a client doesn't want to pay, just remind them that they'll get it all back when they recoup on the investment.
I'm totally running from meeting to meeting today but my husband is in Philly and he just sent me a picture of the block we lived on - the first house we ever bought. There used to be a Baptist African-American church on the corner - it is now demolished and the site is covered by under-construction apartments. I'm feeling weirdly overwhelmingly sad about this.
Philly is in an absolute fit of gentrification. I know an artist who is documenting the old city with models as it disappears.
Feb 27, 18 1:54 pm ·
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Schoon
It's already happened, and getting worse. You can't find a decent apartment in North Philly under $1000/month anymore since Fishtown became the new "hip" place to live. South Philly is starting to experience the same right now. There's been a boom in "luxury" residential buildings in the West and I have no idea how they're being filled. It seems all that's left is to go across the river to Camden or outside the city limits altogether. Hoping I can get a decent place in South Philly before the rent starts to climb any higher.
Thread Central
CFL > NFL
Gauntlet tossed.
All depends if you're Roughriders or Rough Riders fan...
I do remember attending several rough rider games as a kid... and now I cheer for their reincarnation, aka, the Red-Blacks!
What the hell is a Red-Black?
I stopped asking, but it drinks beer from a shoe.
sounds like a wahoo...
It involves a lot of plaid. Guess what colors.
orange, blue, and paisley?
Pete / Chris... if we could tailgate up here like we do in Buffalo, then it would be even better.
I stepped waaaaay outside my comfort zone today and asked a potential donor face to face to give money to the non-profit, People for Urban Progress, on whose board I sit. It was scary and hard and totally successful - our initiative is now funded.
I spent about half an hour basking in being proud of myself when a client (of a sort) had a temper tantrum and ruined my entire day, leading to a fight with my husband and me running out of wine.
Ah, well. Tomorrow will be different. Maybe not better, but different! Onward.
Clients fuck up everything.
So,the moral is: always have at minimum 3 bottles of wine in the house at all times.
I got you, Rick, thanks! Non, I have plenty of white but finished off my last red, and I don't like to mix. So I just stopped.
If Tequila can't fix it is truly broken.
Jawknee Music is my new favorite crazy poster.
I saw that thread and immediately did a 180. Damn.
Ah, come on, join in. The water is just fine.
crazy is a kind word
he's posting drawings!!
I had to find where he was posting... just read some of the thread... brilliant...
I decided to humour Jawknee and posted a dirty ink/graphite phone doodle. Not sure if that was wise or not but hopefully it generates some humour for the afternoon.
You're welcome. 8-)
https://archinect.com/news/art...
oh, how we make the world go round without even notice.....
this article got me thinking we should (not me, I'm not good at chasing invoices) establish a compensation scale for the sale of a project - same as actors and singers keep receiving royalties after years of their productions, what if the architects received a commission for the sales and re-sales of these developments?
Hey Alexander, don't know why you deleted my comment on your augmented reality article, Morpholio still sounds like Cornholio
Is anyone going to the AIA conference this year? A non architecture non profit i volunteer for is offering a hotel and airfare that weekend as a raffle prize. if anyone is interested in the goals or information and wants to buy one i can send you a link. The hotel is in time square and if your international you recieve 500 toward airfare. Let me know. Also Idk if this is a good place to post this but its a good cause!
Cheers!
sounds like a scam.
I swear its not. Its mens gay and sober organization. the reason they are giving away the flight and hotel is for people to make it to NYC. You dont have to be gay or sober or male to get a ticket or go. Pride is also that weekend so theres a bit of an overlap. Its very solid!!! i swear i can give u the link if your interested!
And you get extra days! the hotel room is 20-25 and the conference is 21-23. PLUS you get to march with us in pride as an ally of the mens gay and sober community! if you want.
Ah, no beer? no sale.
This is for the room and the flight! drink all the beer u want! we wont drink and wont judge you for it! Hell I'll buy you a case of whatever (under 20 bucks) if you win! really make your NYC experience one for the books. Ill even keep you from drunkenly staggering onto the subway tracks!
I love this sentence: "You don't have to be gay or sober or male to get a ticket or go" I already have my hotel room booked for the conference but if anyone is planning to go you need to jump on it quickly...
You all have great suggestions! And if you would like to buy a raffle ticket I would much appreciate it. Just think, room and airfare AND you can march with us in NYC GAY PRIDE in front hundreds of thousands of people! AND you get to do all the AIA architecture conference stuff you want! https://gayandsober.rallyup.com/gsm2018/LZNKL7 follow this link and Phil T will be credited with the member contribution!
Does anyone work at a firm that has a strict policy against accepting trips to see vendors product?
I got an invite from a pseudo-governmental european trade organization inviting me to come tour their travertine quarries, 1st class, 5 star hotels, all expenses paid 2 week trip. Didn't seem like a big deal either as it was not with one specific vendor, and they weren't even really directly selling anything. It was extremely painful to have to turn them down.
Little bro got his M.Arch last spring, still looking for work in the PNW, but with student loan debt and living costs all the offers he's had might as well be unpaid internships for the wages they've been offering. I started out pretty low on the pay scale, but these offers they've extended have been borderline unreasonable. Is there rally a shortage of qualified applicants like I've heard, or is it people with a Masters in ARCHITECTURE would rather work at Domino's than work for less in a field that has (what it seems) unreasonably high entry requirements? Rant, but this has been what I've been hearing from his search for months now, beggars can't be choosers, but...
It's painful starting out. Seems like every firm around is here is complaining about a shortage of qualified applicants, yet I have students graduating who can't get interviews, and it's not for lack of a good portfolio. Of course once you have 6-10 years experience, you are beating the recruiters away with a stick. How short-sighted must firms be to not be able/ willing to connect one with the other? Hire young people. Mentor and develop them and give them reasons to stay at your firm. Bam, instant supply of skilled experienced designers.
Architecture school is essentially a hazing program that one must survive in order to enter the profession as a know-nothing slave laborer. I can't think of any other profession in which the required education does so little to prepare one for the job.
is it people with a Masters in ARCHITECTURE would rather work at Domino's than work for less in a field that has (what it seems) unreasonably high entry requirements?
If they are withholding their labor after getting their masters, they got their timing wrong. Should have done their homework about the profession before school. A little late now.
I wish we had adult snow days. The commute yesterday was not fun.
I saw this in front of a building near my office 2 days ago. I don't know who is building giant penises on roof edges, but it's best to be vigilant about the danger they pose for snow accumulation.
Hmmm. I generally see penises everywhere but I don't see a penis in this sign. I see sliding gooey glop - like oobleck.
That's a crazy looking penis. Hmmm, I see the number one before I see a building edge.
It's good to know that we have some penis experts here.
You guys: I hate asking people for money, but I did it again today and got a $2K commitment. I'm starting to feel like I'm good at this! All in the name of good design. I guess it's different when one isn't asking as a for-profit entity but as a non-profit.
There are some tricks to this trade. Get a bunch of potential donors in one room. When one makes a commitment the others are embarrassed not to. This can be arranged beforehand ...
"Nah-zees." I tremble.
An awful movie. Aside from the first farmhouse scene, which is legendary. The rest is pure gratuitous comic book violence.
Sex is rated X but beating someone's brains out with a baseball bat is rated R. And you wonder why there are school shootings? This society thrives on violence.
Aside from the perpetuation of the "we are the good guys" propaganda despite perpetual bombing and invasion of foreign countries for the last 70 years.
We mostly watch the same movies or play the same computer games in the Netherlands, yet we don't have school shootings.
Politics aside, Miles, Inglourious Basrterds is perfection in filmmaking. Every moment, sound, edit, expression is perfectly crafted.
Donna, you're so busy drooling over Pitt you didn't even see the film.
Yes, I did. Unlike most men when my sexual response is aroused I'm still able to be a critical thinker. Example: Pitt in Meet Joe Black: boring, sedate performance in a bloated, pointless movie (except the scene where he's actually killed, five minutes in, which is beautifully choreographed).
"The rest is pure gratuitous comic book violence."
In a Tarantino film?! No way.
The movie is over. I just made a few drunken phone calls to my congress critters begging them to do something about gun control in our country. Will it help? I don't know, but it feels good!
Does a tonne more than thoughts and prayers.
Tipsy phone messages to my legislators might just become my default Friday night activity.
Until we can pay them more than the NRA does we don't have a chance.
On a lighter note, I just found out I passed my final ARE.
Feels good to be on the other side of that process.
YAY!!!! YAY YAY YAY YAY!!!!! COngratulations!!!!'
Congrats!
Congrats!
oie!
Soooo I found the partner I've been looking for. Now, where is that firm name thread? Ha ha.
PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Design)
A_(r)Chi[tec]Tu.res
No charge for the firm name, Tinbeary :o) And kudos on landing a good partner! Those are hard to find.
& Associates.
citizen, that's a good one on a few different levels too.
Somebody I've known for a long time and we know we share values. So bam. We've been talking about it for months.
Rick, it is just for fun.
TnT Design
You guys know me better than those in real life.
It really is great. Thanks. And thank you, Pete. You know you changed the game for me, right? :)
Proof positive, mr pete. We are more powerful together than we can be apart. You are one of a kind.
In another episode of Truth is Stranger than Fiction, I emailed my friend a picture of a house I like and he says, you know I worked on that, right? Um, no. Am I dreaming? Cue the creepy cool music.
I want to start (or continue, cause I'm not the only one) the not-your-father's-firm-firm.
Meanwhile. the more I work on my career, the more my husband hates architecture. Can the AIA help wiht that?
offer some spousal classes, perhaps.
What does he hate about it?
I served cupcakes for dinner while not looking pretty. Does that make sense?
I don't know a single woman older than me in architecture besides Donna. That survey NCARB sent about diversity was crap. There. I said it. I have no qualms.
I've heard good things about nawic... you should check it out...
http://nawicdenver.org
I'm in the people and places industry, not the construction industry. :)
quietly clapping
I have been the oldest female in the office since I was 27.
Oh, gosh, Tinbeary and manta, those posts bum me out. I was SO SO SO fortunate to start my real professional career in a firm with a woman partner who also gave birth to her first child the same year I started at the firm. Jane Lawson-Bell is her name, and she was a name partner in the firm (three partners total) but then eventually left the firm and went into practice with her husband, also an architect. The fact that she left a firm she had been at for so long, and she must have been around 50 when she did it, made me feel so much more empowered to make changes in my own career no matter my age (I'm 50). She was, and still is, SUCH an amazing role model for me; it makes me sad that all woman architects don't have the same.
I can say that there are more older working moms in the interior design world than in architecture, but that doesn't really help, I know.
Donna, one of our office's partners fits that description as well as another licensed arch and senior int des, the first 2 both with 2 kids each. I also believe two of our more junior staff also have equal size stables at home. So, about 1/4 of the office is women with kids. I did not realize this was uncommon.
I used to work a firm that was 100 years old. No woman, in 100 years, stayed there past the age of 30. The only older woman there when I was stopped at my desk on her way out after she quit and told me Good Luck and laughed.
Gee Tinbeary, lay off the robotussin ok?
It's ok. I was drinking wine while we recorded the podcast last night. I laughed a lot, but I don't know if it's the wine, my adorable co-hosts, or the absurd state of things that made me laugh.
And that's why you are my role model.
I was reading a technical paper yesterday that listed 3 pages of contributing authors. Out of 3 pages of names, I saw 2 female names. What?
None of the other moms I meet have jobs. I want to do both (and am), but am faced with the real likelihood that by trying to do both, I will suck at both.
You need to get with a Lean In circle. There are plenty of women in the same boat, and they are busy supporting each other. It's worth looking into.
Good idea. I've recently joined a bunch of virtual mom groups and it's been great so far.
Lean In is all about this particular struggle, my fiance is a local leader. It's about women supporting women, and fighting the idea that you have to give up one, for the other, when the real thing is women supporting women, and men supporting women.
Perfect. Just joined. Thanks!!!!!
Strange, most of the other dads I meet have jobs too, it's simply assumed and is never an issue. None of them is ever asked how they are able to do both.
It is strange, isn't it. How does one not have a job but drive an Audi. Trust funds?
If I was not paying childcare, I also could drive an Audi.
For other moms, the high cost of child care would wipe out any earnings so often they choose to not work. Lots of MLM moms selling nutritional drinks, skin care, etc.
Yeah, lots of private school families in my vicinity. I did it for a semester but decided we needed to eat too. The school was great though.
https://urbangreencouncil.org/...
I decided to back out of the partnership. I'm afraid I'm just meant to be solo. :(
Probably for the best. It can be like marrying someone you don't know. Best to live together for a long time first.
Yeah, it feels a lot like running from the altar lol. I'm going to say we can still co-op. It's the only way I can do it. Partnership sounds like a huge risk, more effort, and less reward.
Is anyone else doing co-op's, collaborative or joint ventures? I would love to talk about it.
Collaborative... definitely.. why you looking for a partner?
I have been, yes. You and I
Should chat though. I have a million things going on.
I know you do it Pete, you taught me.
Well, I'm licensed in MN, CO and soon to be CA, PA.
Can we all be partners in a virtual office?
I've been trying to get Donna Sink on my team forevs.
Me too. What's up with that?
Pete, what are your project areas?
well, if you got any clients with a hankering for hotels, or mixed-use res, tell them to hit up MSP. we have a ton of need, and i could use the fun.
I can set up a virtual workspace if you guys are interested. We can share ideas and resources.
I joint venture on a project basis as necessary. Good for focusing on what I want to do and easier to contain the damage if it goes south. It's important to clearly define the responsibilities. One of them is who's the boss.
He’s really hitting it hard. I think he’s arguing bear attack stats too now.
I don’t read balkins’ rants Just caught something about bears.
I think he's said he doesn't have live neighbors because his house is surrounded by funeral homes and crematoriums. That's why ammonia fumes weren't going to bother anybody if he built a shed in the backyard for running blueprints.
I dont have much residential experience... Can a new custom home that will sell for 1.2 million be designed and permitted in 2 months? I got a real estate developer asking me to do this. He says we will start with one and then we will do 3 more, then 30 more, then 100. Is he yanking my chain? It is the uncle of a friend. Is this how residential works? Sounds too easy.
I'm going to need some help.
Pie in the sky. Nothing done that fast can be any good and huge numbers presuppose massive success. On the other hand, if the numbers are real it indicated the market has peaked and will soon reverse.
Fast track: file with the minimum requirements for a permit. Everything else gets worked out during construction including finishes and details. Don't know how thoughtful a design you can come up with in that time frame or what the processing time is in the municipality.Once you've done one you'll have a better idea about a lot of things including whether you want to continue.
Thanks Miles. No municipality, rural area. Rural water, septic. 2-3 acre lots. Gated. Land sale is closing this week. Private roads were just put in. I agree I could do it, but will it be any good. Seems to be my recurring problem, keeping quality high. It takes time. I don't have stock plans.
Thanks, Rick. The 1, 3, 30 bit is about building momentum. I thought that part made sense actually. My plan is to design in my sleep at night then draft during the day. Ha ha. But seriously.
In my experience the 1,3,30, 100 spiel is how this type of client talks young architects into doing the first set of plans really fast and really cheap, always promising that if you do this one in 10 minutes for pennies it will all be worth it because more projects are coming, yada yada. ... and then either same story on the next ones, or there are no next ones
Forget about good. Good is a known quantity. Good is what we all agree on. Growth is not necessarily good. Growth is an exploration of unlit recesses that may or may not yield to our research. As long as you stick to good you’ll never have real growth - bruce mau
JB, thanks. I thought of that. I am billing hourly, not going to do cheap cause I already have plenty of other paying work.
+++ JBeaumont
and thanks to wurd too. Good thoughts.
Hey, Bruce Mau is Canadian. Learn new things everyday...
^Yes he is.
JBeaumont I had that client as a young'un too. Developer who was always wanting it faster and cheaper. Didn't matter that I billed him hourly, he'd ask for a discount every time, implying that if I didn't knock down the bill by 20% or even 50%, and be ok with payment months late, he wouldn't send the next project my way. It didn't go 1, 3, 30. It went 1, 1..., 1..... It took me until the 4th project to learn to just cut ties with him.
anybody who balks at the bill, I say, what part do you want me to eliminate? No pay, no drawings. It's like selling girl scout cookies. You can fire clients you know.
I was also thinking... this developer says he wants to invest in things like nice windows and nice faucets because "you get all that money back". Few things work better than using someone's logic back at them, right? So anytime a client doesn't want to pay, just remind them that they'll get it all back when they recoup on the investment.
I'm totally running from meeting to meeting today but my husband is in Philly and he just sent me a picture of the block we lived on - the first house we ever bought. There used to be a Baptist African-American church on the corner - it is now demolished and the site is covered by under-construction apartments. I'm feeling weirdly overwhelmingly sad about this.
Philly is in an absolute fit of gentrification. I know an artist who is documenting the old city with models as it disappears.
It's already happened, and getting worse. You can't find a decent apartment in North Philly under $1000/month anymore since Fishtown became the new "hip" place to live. South Philly is starting to experience the same right now. There's been a boom in "luxury" residential buildings in the West and I have no idea how they're being filled. It seems all that's left is to go across the river to Camden or outside the city limits altogether. Hoping I can get a decent place in South Philly before the rent starts to climb any higher.
Looks like the pro-gun school-fortress crowd has retreated to their respective bunkers. Hopefully not to arm themselves.
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