Archinect - News

Have your return-to-office plans changed in recent months? Let us know.

2021-08-24T08:00:00-04:00

A lot has changed since Archinect released the findings of its initial Return-to-Office survey in March this year. Responses gathered from the architecture community during the first weeks of 2021 displayed an overwhelming commitment by employers to offer an option to work remotely and/or to provide spatial changes to the work environment to protect employees that would soon return to in-person work.

Since then, a large share of the workforce has received vaccine protection against COVID-19 (while a significant share still has not), inspiring a somewhat hopeful, 'return-to-normal' atmosphere during the late Spring months. And then, there was the sudden rise of the Delta Variant since the early Summer, requiring public health officials in many parts of the country to return to stricter safety measures with direct implications on work, school, and public life.

Previously on Archinect: The Architecture Community on Return-to-Office Plans in 2021

To learn how Archinect's community of ar...

The architecture community on screen fatigue during COVID-19

2021-02-02T13:14:00-05:00

A few weeks ago, I started a Forum Thread about screen fatigue, sharing some of the challenges I have had during the pandemic and the additional screentime incurred to stay connected with family and friends. I shared my commitment this year to take more breaks away from my desk and asked the Archinect community about its experiences with this.

citizen said: "I definitely experience work /desk/ environment fatigue. I sometimes cringe a bit when I walk back into my little home office if I've managed to escape it for a few minutes. I don't know how much of all that is purely screen-related. But the fact that I'm looking at my screen 90% of the time certainly can't but worsen things."

For many architecture professionals, heavy screentime is the norm, even before the pandemic. The majority of our work is on screen. In fact, that is true for many "white collar" professionals. But the pandemic has forced (or perhaps, pushed) many of us to more screentime when it comes to social activitie...

Architects and designers — how's your personal wellness been lately?

2020-11-09T12:58:00-05:00

How are you doing? It's funny how many of us answer that these days. In the context of architectural practice, our response might focus on our work status, or our busyness, or even our un-busyness. But, architects and designers have a lot of other things unfolding in their lives, too. Some are rethinking their careers, others are taking on new hobbies, and there are those who are balancing work with home-schooling kids.

Archinect user Black_Orchid recently created a forum thread aimed at providing a level of catharsis for those here on the site: Wellbeing Check-in? The discussion is at over 200 comments so far, and they keep coming in. It's become a place for people to open up and share their struggles, obstacles, excitements, and reflections around this year. Black_Orchid kicked off the discussion:

"WFH since beginning of the year, was pretty stressful at first with a lot of 70 hour weeks. Cancelled the gym membership, got more into being outdoors and spending time cooking with my ...

UK Architects report exploitive work practices amid lockdown

2020-10-15T13:00:00-04:00

The Guardian's Oliver Wainwright sheds light on the incredible exploitive workplace abuses happening in the UK in a recent piece titled Furlough fraud, snooping and firings: architects speak out over lockdown exploitation. From never-ending work days, to secret webcam recordings, and even bizarre firings, people have been experiencing troubling behavior from employers, leading many to report instances to RIBA and the United Voices of the World - Section of Architectural Workers (UVW-SAW).

In one instance, Wainwright reports on a woman who discovered her boss had been monitoring her webcam and secretly recording her client meetings. "I only realized I was being monitored when something I said was later quoted back to me in a team meeting," she says as reported by Wainwright. "And another recording of me was used in a presentation. It was completely insane. It felt like being back at school, with added hyper-surveillance."

Other case studies include employers who have signed up for th...

As homes transform into offices and classrooms, IKEA's online sales increase

2020-10-08T12:30:00-04:00

Ikea's online sales got a big boost during the pandemic as millions of people turned their homes into makeshift schools and offices. The company said in a statement on Tuesday that online sales surged 45% over the 12 months to August, driven by 4 billion visits to its website. Outdoor furniture was the retailer's fastest-growing category, with sales of office furniture also performing strongly, a spokesperson told CNN Business.

Sales of household items in the United States were up more than a quarter in the three months to August versus the prior year, according to market research firm NPD Group., CNN reports. Moreover, according to CNN, even though online sales have surged, IKEA has recently opened 33 new stores in Moscow, Seoul, Shanghai, and Macau, with plans to expand into Mexico and the Philippines.

3 Tips for Architecture Students Preparing for a Virtual Fall 2020

2020-08-03T13:31:00-04:00

The start of the Fall semester is just around the corner and many students are gearing up for an entirely virtual schooling experience, something most have never embarked on before. How can students best prepare for an online-based semester? What are some ways to leverage optimal mental performance and lasting productivity throughout the entire Fall term? Here are 3 tips to consider as you commence the new school year.

Previously on Archinect: In school, sometimes more research is just more procrastination

Be intentionally mobile

When on campus, you can walk around studio to talk with colleagues, go to the fabrication facilities, walk to get food, travel to your various classes throughout the day, and overall, almost every item on your daily to-do list requires you to change locations. But when all of those activities can be done in one location, namely, your computer, all of that mobility is arrested and you find yourself inactively stagnant.

I decided to audit my physical activity...

What side projects and hobbies has the architecture community adopted while stuck at home?

2020-05-05T16:21:00-04:00

Working from home has provided some professionals with extra time in the day. With the subtraction of commute hours, the availability to pursue extracurriculars seems more abundant. While many are using that additional time to manage the kids or navigate other ripples of the pandemic, others are using the time to adopt new hobbies or commence some new side projects.

Huge hill in my backyard was covered in weeds. The dirt on the right side down by the wall was sitting above the ridge at the bottom. My wife and I removed all of the weeds and transferred a bunch of dirt from the right side over to the left to level out the dirt that meets the top of the wall. Photos courtesy of author.

After everything was cleared up, my wife and mother-in-law planted new plants. We have a handful of succulents, some lavender, pomegranate, irises, creeping myrtle, and some others. My father-in-law and I dug the holes. Photos courtesy of the author.

I've been recently gardening more with my wife and I was...