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This post is brought to you by BQE ArchiOffice. Physical paper may have given way to PDFs. Ink pens may have been replaced by stylus pens. What architecture firms don’t have to worry about being replaced or disappearing, however, are documents. From initial engagement contracts to drawings... View full entry
Nicholas Korody penned a double review; of 'The Geological Imagination' and 'The Underdome Guide to Energy Reform'. He finds "The two books also help illuminate some of the difficulties in perceiving climate change, while offering some potentials for movement" and goes on to reference... View full entry
This post is brought to you by BQE ArchiOffice. Are you an architect who always had that special entrepreneurial drive? Were you mentored by another successful architect or by a friend or family member who was successful in their own business endeavor and aspired to be like them? Perhaps you were... View full entry
You can’t sue me for being a bad architect — because I’m not an architect at all.
That’s the nervy claim a Manhattan man made when he was accused of ripping off a billionaire motel mogul and his yoga-instructor wife for $145,000 in bogus costs tied to the botched renovation of their Bahamian vacation home, a new Manhattan lawsuit charges.
— nypost.com
Some valuable (albeit obvious) lessons here: don't hire an architect (licensed or otherwise) whose qualifications are unclear, and anyone can be found guilty of "malpractice", regardless of whether they're officially a professional member of that practicing field. View full entry
This post is brought to you by BQE ArchiOffice. Steven Burns, FAIA, the Chief Creative Officer (and self-professed recovering architect) at BQE Software, was a recent guest on the Technology Advice Expert Interview Series to share his insight on project management. The series explores a variety... View full entry
This post is brought to you by BQE ArchiOffice. Architecture firm principals are the Chief Financial Officers of their firm, whether they want to be or not. Sure, they may delegate that authority to someone who knows more than they do about balance sheets, income statements and financing, but... View full entry
This post is brought to you by BQE ArchiOffice. Learn how this small architectural firm increased efficiency and improved cash flowWilliam Duff Architects is passionate about serving clients through the creation of innovative, sustainable architecture delivered through exceptional project... View full entry
Julia Ingalls reviews, the built work and paper architecture of Jimenez Lai. To wit "regardless of the medium...Understanding the role of storytelling within design is fundamental to all of Lai's work". jla-x commented "The most interesting drawing that he did was a series of plans of a space... View full entry
"394,000 US$!! This is the budget of homes in America that are 1/10th of this quality. Perhaps it's for two people, who are empty nesters, and entertain for a large extended family. The simplicity of materials and form, is exceedingly elegant". - b3tadine[sutures]
The latest edition of Showcase: features Slate House, located on a site in Laval, a suburb of Montreal. Designed by Affleck de la Riva architects, it stands in sharp contrast to the tract houses that surround it. b3tadine[sutures] exclaims "394,000 US$!! This is the budget of homes in America... View full entry
One of my heroes for this kind of thinking is Denise Scott-Brown. Her application of historical, ethnographic and sociological thinking to urban design and architecture is still incredibly radical, but has been completely overwhelmed by Venturi’s obsession with signs and language. — Failed Architecture
"Automated design processes, critique on the profession’s culture, DIY-design and wider trends put pressure on the social and public relevance of the architect. On the other hand, architects are crossing boundaries, taking up new roles and experimenting with other approaches, while other... View full entry
News Dave Heller spoke with Inga Saffron about not just architecture but "city life criticism". Evan Chakroff asked for tips "Has anyone compiled a good 'top ten' of her articles?" Quondam replied "Links to Saffron's articles appear almost weekly within ArchNewsNow's daily collection of... View full entry
vado retro is moved to wonder "with the rash of notable building demolition that has and continues to occur, is there a checklist of what makes a building valuable enough not to demolish?...is it because buildings are more about image and visuals than spatial experience that we are willing to rid ourselves of award winning pieces of architecture/art?...maybe buildings don't really matter that much"
The latest edition of ShowCase: features Pocinho Rowing High Performance Center by Alvaro Andrade. Mohammad Hadi Ataei really liked it commenting "Great minimalist work". Additionally, - Mike "The Poet" Sonksen, @mikethepoetLA published Take a Walk: on L.A.'s Grand... View full entry
Under his tutelage, designers learn to privilege approach over style. Rather than work with drawings, like most traditional architecture firms, OMA employees first "Diagram" a building—identify the structure's basic components and how they fit together—and then proceed to build it. It's an analytical method that results in buildings that are sometimes ungainly but never unexciting and reject the signature styles associated with many other renowned architects. — online.wsj.com
eric chavkin penned a review of "Glen Small: Recovery Room" an exhibit at Assembly in Los Angeles, organized and curated by Archinect's own Orhan Ayyüce. MightyMike (aka Michael Locke) commented "For local (Los Angeles) fans of Archinect, there's a wonderful example of Small's work in the Franklin Hills...the Leiberman House". For his part davidd felt "This review and Small's work seems to come from an ingroup/niche point of view".
eric chavkin penned a review of "Glen Small: Recovery Room" an exhibit at Assembly in Los Angeles, organized and curated by Archinect's own Orhan Ayyüce. He concluded "Despite the flaws the works of Glen Small offer so much that another architect could base an entire career on... View full entry
"The differences in unemployment rates, participation rates, and average earnings between whites, blacks, and Hispanics aren't just stark. They're also sturdy, rarely yielding over the last 40 years.
Whites account for about 81 percent of the workforce. But there are 33 occupations counted by the BLS (particularly those on farms, around heavy machines, in doctor's offices, and in C-suites) where whites officially account for nine in ten of all workers, or more. Here they are."
— The Atlantic Online
while my own experience doesn't fully bear this out, it's sadly not surprising to see us end up on a list like this (if the numbers are true). in short, yes, it seems fully plausible that our profession is really as white as the walls we paint. i'm not teaching on a full time basis any more... View full entry