Archinect - Features

Archinect Survey Results: Did the Architecture Community Return to the Office this Summer?

2021-09-29T12:40:00-04:00

As we enter the 19th month of this COVID-19 pandemic, it seems that the only certainty we have gained so far is that nothing is certain. Earlier this year, as vaccine protection became increasingly available for the United States, we asked the architecture and design community about their return to office plans, and the survey results published in March reflected notions of transition, flexibility, and a justified hope for a return to normalcy.

To follow up on these initial responses, we reached out to our readers again to see how the expansion of the vaccine program and the emergence of the Delta variant virus in recent months have shaped the working conditions for millions of architecture and design professionals.

Remote Work and 'Zoom towns' Aren't Just Changing Our Offices, They're Changing the Future of Employment Opportunities

2021-03-25T08:29:00-04:00

Last year the Archinect team spent time connecting with our community to learn how architects, firms, and students adapted to remote work and learning. However, after a year of "practice," remote work doesn't seem as daunting as it once was. It has opened a new set of opportunities for companies and teams to explore, especially when hiring. However, during the pandemic, remote work has also led to the rise of "Zoom towns" and proposes a new look at city structures. "The shift is already changing the way that cities compete to build their economies and attract jobs," shares Richard Florida and Adam Ozimek of the Wall Street Journal's Saturday Essay.

As companies continue to expand their teams, employees and prospective job seekers are also looking to relocate out of larger cities and move into smaller, mid-sized towns that offer better housing costs and more outdoor amenities.

Over the last 12 months, Archinect has been listening and learning. We're asking questions to help find a p...

Are the Doors Closing on the Open Office?

2020-11-17T18:59:00-05:00

As workers return to their offices after the regional lockdowns implemented to stop the spread of Coronavirus, there is a new reckoning in the workplace: Will the open office survive?

WFH Show & Tell: French 2D

2020-04-16T08:43:00-04:00

As the world shifts to a work-from-home (WFH) survival strategy, architects and architectural academics have been forced to learn a variety of new tools and methods to keep moving forward in the face of the growing COVID-19 pandemic. While many in our community are already fluent in this approach to work, due to opportunities brought to us with the internet, in a field that often requires travel and on-site work, many are struggling with not just the technology, but also the lack of personal connection with our friends and colleagues.

In this new series of features, Archinect is sharing some stories from members of our community about their own transitions, with personal experiences and images of what their new work environment looks like.

In this second installment, we're profiling French 2D, a Boston-based practice founded by sisters Jenny and Anda French.

The Psychology of High Ceilings and Creative Work Spaces

2020-04-15T14:03:00-04:00

Published last year, registered architect Donald M. Rattner wrote My Creative Space: How to Design Your Home to Stimulate Ideas and Spark Innovation to help creatives optimize their home environments in a way that heightens their powers of creativity. Pulling from years of psychological research and countless case studies, Rattner takes the reader on an educational and enlightening journey. The book offers 48 spatial strategies that help facilitate creativity in the home. Covering everything from which colors lead to peak creative performance to how smells can influence problem solving, My Creative Space is an intriguing exploration during this time when we are all confined to our homes.

"We are three recessions away from becoming extinct as a profession" – Evelyn Lee on Business Continuity During a Time of Crisis

2020-04-07T09:15:00-04:00

In our ongoing investigation of remote work, WFH, and alternative business models during this pandemic, we’ve focused heavily on techniques, approaches, and strategies firm leaders can employ with their staff. We’ve heard from professionals first-hand, learning from their personal experiences during this shift. These personal revelations have helped us connect as a community, seeing the challenge we’re all facing as a whole. But, this challenging season also presents us many opportunities. How can we move from merely trying to survive during this period to proactively positioning ourselves to be even stronger when it subsides?

In this piece we connected with Evelyn Lee, an architect, design strategist, and Senior Experience Designer at Slack. She is also the 2020-2021 Treasurer of the American Institute of Architects and the founder of Practice of Architecture, an organization devoted to recreating the way architects practice. We discuss the importance of focusing on business contin...

How CO Architects Transitioned a 110+ Team to Work From Home

2020-04-01T12:51:00-04:00

We’ve been able to dive into various perspectives on remote work in architecture. More recently, we heard from Leah Alissa Bayer and Jennifer Kretchmer on running a fully virtual architectural practice. Further back, we connected with Diana Nicklaus of Saam Architecture to learn from her insights on “radical flexibility” and running a remote firm in Boston. But, what about firms who have had to shift their model from in-person to fully remote? And what about large practices? Our previous investigations have looked at important strategies and methods to successful virtual management, but those insights have all come from architects who already have had remote work models in place. Moreover, our previous explorations looked more at smaller-sized practices.

In this discussion, from Thursday, March 19th, I connected with Scott Kelsey, FAIA, the managing principal over at CO Architects to discuss how he and the rest of the leadership at the Los Angeles-based practice navigated this rapid...

How Art and Design Museums Switched to Working From Home and Sharpened Their Digital Experience

2020-03-28T08:00:00-04:00

While the worsening pandemic and sweeping social-distancing measures have brought normal daily life to a grinding halt around the globe, cultural institutions, typically the civic pride of cities and entire regions, were also forced to abandon their prime mission and temporarily close most, if not all, brick-and-mortar manifestations.

With physical exhibitions now inaccessible and museum staff ordered to work from home, we wondered: How has the switch to remote work been going so far for institutions that rely so heavily on personal interaction with visitors? Have online programs, or even virtual exhibitions, been in place before the crisis hit? Can the self-quarantining public access and enjoy collections via the web, potentially offering a vastly expanded, global audience to most museums?

Managing a Virtual Design Studio with Leah Alissa Bayer

2020-03-24T12:59:00-04:00

As we continue our investigation of virtual practice in architecture, the diverse range of insights and approaches represented attest to the creative spirit of the architectural profession. We recently spoke with Jennifer Kretschmer, AIA, founder of J Kretschmer Architect, a fully virtual architectural practice. We learned valuable insights from Kretschmer’s experience in virtual practice prior to this pandemic.

Today we connect with another professional who manages an entirely virtual team. Leah Alissa Bayer is a licensed architect in California, Washington, and Hawaii. She is the founder and studio director of EVIA Studio, a fully virtual research-based architecture and consulting firm in Silicon Valley. Leah’s portfolio includes multi-family housing, high-end custom residential, master planning, and workplace design. Before founding her own studio, Leah worked as an Architect at Perkins and Will in San Francisco.

In this discussion, we learn from Leah’s experience in running a v...

WFH Show & Tell: Alvin Huang

2020-03-20T18:20:00-04:00

In this first installment, we're profiling Alvin Huang, an LA-based architect and educator. Alvin tells us about the changes he's made to adjust to continuing work with his staff and students.

Running a Virtual Architecture Practice With Jennifer Kretschmer

2020-03-17T13:23:00-04:00

With drastic measures underway to mitigate the novel COVID-19 pandemic, many architects are transitioning to remote work. Firms, both large and small, are making the shift towards a virtual practice, and for many, the move brings new terrain. Remote work has been a topic of discussion for quite some time, but there has always been a certain stigma in its relationship to architectural practice. Is this a feasible way for the design community to work?

As the industry continues to run this compelled experiment, we may soon find out. But, in the meantime, we know the integration of remote work is not novel to architecture. Just recently, Archinect connected with Diana Nicklaus, co-founder and principal at Saam Architecture, to discuss the firm’s remote work model and the fluidity with which it has been able to operate. And as we continue our investigation into the tools and tactics of the virtual office, this week we talk to Jennifer Kretschmer, AIA, founder of J Kretschmer Architect.

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Exploring Remote Work and 'Radical Flexibility' in Architecture With Diana Nicklaus

2020-01-30T09:26:00-05:00

Alternative work models have been a topic of much discussion within many professions. Architecture isn’t any different. With talks of 4 day work weeks, addressing burnout, and providing healthy flexibility for modern professionals to navigate their personal lives, alternative ways of working are pushing to the forefront of workplace discussions. What about working remotely? It may seem to be an impossibility in this fast-paced and demanding profession, but Boston-based Saam Architecture has been running strong for years on a remote work model, operating under an ideology they’ve called radical flexibility. Archinect had the pleasure to connect with Principal and Co-founder of Saam, Diana Nicklaus to discuss her team’s unique operational structure, the challenges that come with it, and how radical flexibility can augment the way design professionals work together.