A good start might be the Georgia Tech School of Architecture List of Faculty Members; maybe it's the student handbook that lists what firms the faculty members work at/lead. It's the only real Architecture school in Atlanta, and you know each person with an outside job, works at a place that somehow values education. It's a start.
A noticible flaw in this advice is that you'd never come across Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects, who are probably the edgiest, most avante guard designers in the city.
there are a lot of solid design firms in the atlanta area - you might want to think a bit about the kind of firm you seek so as to narrow your search
i think you will find that the faculty at Georgia Tech is extraordinarily aloof from the majority of design firms in atlanta - unless you require a Mack Scoggins type firm, i am doubtful the faculty there will be of much help to you - you might be better off posting your resume on one of the career centers like archinect or aia.org
by the way, Southern Polytechnic State University also has a good school of architecture that produces some fine graduates
you might also want to do a search of previous discussion threads - i know there's been at least 2 or 3 atlanta firm threads in the past year or so. lots of good advice on them.
in general, i'd offer that the larger firms seem to be the ones in a heavy hiring mode.
ok, i've completed my resume and sample portfolio and I'm ready to commence carpet bombing all the cool atlanta firms in search of a fun summer internship. since i've been away from atlanta for almost 4 years, i'm not familiar with any of the up and coming small firms out there...i need names...thanks in advance.
plexus is probably not hiring right now or ever for that matter. they seem to be sticking with the two man firm deal. last time i checked they were actually in farrington design groups office using their space. i dunno why. msme is always a good firm to go to. they are also very hard to get into. i know a couple of folks that have applied there and two that work there/have worked there. still. very hard to get in to but they did just win a competition so they may need help.
so did you apply to the "not cool" firms? or are youi just stating a fact/opinion?
thanks bucku. do you know more? i had jordan as an undergrad instructor back in the day and although they are a two man firm, there was always students coming in and out, helping out with projects & competitions.
their website hasn't been updated in a while and the address they have is on howell mill. is this where farrington is located? i just want to make sure stuff gets sent to the right address. their office was downtown while i was in undergrad.
as for the other firms, i am sure they are great places to work, but those types of offices don't typically get interesting projects, or at least smaller projects that i can really get my hands on. being that this is just a summer gig, and money is not my primary concern, my priorty is finding a fun project. that's all.
searching past threads, plexus and msme seem to be the only two firms mentioned as being interesting places to work...there's got to be more right?
i work at plexus, and just wanted to clarify a couple of things real fast.
1, we are hiring right now.
2, we are subletting from farrington design group while a new office building we are designing and moving into is being completed
3, new website is under construction as we speak
also, just to clarify about the address, under the contact section of our website, the address is shown correctly. it is wrong on the employment section, i'll see what i can do to fix that sometime today.
i agree with j's comments above, tvs etc. may be deemed corporate hell by some but they produce good work and will provide you real world experience. and, most importantly they are much more likely to be looking for summer interns...
nice holding back j. though i almost applied to plexus myself just for the cool-work experience. since this is a summer thing, msme would probably be hard to get into unless you know someone. plexus may let you work for them either un-paid or paid at very little. i know a couple of folks who did that. they said it was ok. lots of models etc...
as for tvs, hok, blah, blah blah, i know they are big and corporate but tvs actually does have some interesting stuff going on. perkins+will also have an atlanta office and with your background you may have a chance at a summer internship. i know of a couple of other "ok" atlanta firms, but no one really known outside atl.
oh hell, i just saw that momentum said they are hiring. you wanna give me a job? ill send you my resume. do i make it out to momentum? are they hiring full time? part time?
bucku, if you are serious about applying, send in your stuff to the address listed under the contact section of the website. it is better to send it digitally to the office@plexus-architecture.com address.
as far as people working for free, the only time that has happened is when people have volunteered to work on an unpaid competition or installation for the experience. even then, they are very uneasy about it.
back to work for now, it is crazy here downtown with the final four going on, and i need to try and jet early today.
the MSME gsd pipeline thing isn't really true anymore...it does't hurt to send in your stuff..
just don't title your cover letter "Mr. Poopy Head" Apparently a couple of weeks ago someone sent a cover letter like that to a bunch of firms in Atlanta...
A guy named Tim Nichols just started there. He was Design Director at HOK, went to Columbia and MSState. tought at Ga Tech. I think they have some nice projects.
i know bill. good guy. his firm is actually doing well. it may be worth it to do a summer internship there but i know he doesnt pay well. he also is very small. houser-walker or something like that. they are ok. they won emerging architects a while back ago. and dencity design is ok as well. they won the emerging voices this past year.
momentum, i cant do a pdf book or whatever of my portfolio. would you recommend me bringing it in and dropping it off? i always ffel email is so impersonal.
i had no idea about the questionaire. i know that the fellowship was basically paying you for all the time that you put in that summer. panned out to be like minimum wage tho. is bill very well known outside of atl?
for a better corporate option than TVS and the like i would go with Lord Aeck Sargent... i know several people that work there including one of the principals in the mixed use studio...
also take a look at praxis3 another GT faculty member's firm that does some cool stuff and some more corporate stuff (think car dealerships)...
I am the creator and author of the infamous Mr. Poopy Pants. It was in no way an accident, but rather a filter to interview firms. The only firm that thought it humorous, hired me and I haven’t looked back since.
atlanta firms
where should i look up to find out about architectural firms based on atlanta?
im looking for places to apply for summer internships.
A good start might be the Georgia Tech School of Architecture List of Faculty Members; maybe it's the student handbook that lists what firms the faculty members work at/lead. It's the only real Architecture school in Atlanta, and you know each person with an outside job, works at a place that somehow values education. It's a start.
A noticible flaw in this advice is that you'd never come across Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects, who are probably the edgiest, most avante guard designers in the city.
Good Luck.
- do a search on "atlanta"
there are a lot of solid design firms in the atlanta area - you might want to think a bit about the kind of firm you seek so as to narrow your search
i think you will find that the faculty at Georgia Tech is extraordinarily aloof from the majority of design firms in atlanta - unless you require a Mack Scoggins type firm, i am doubtful the faculty there will be of much help to you - you might be better off posting your resume on one of the career centers like archinect or aia.org
by the way, Southern Polytechnic State University also has a good school of architecture that produces some fine graduates
sirgemhl -
you might also want to do a search of previous discussion threads - i know there's been at least 2 or 3 atlanta firm threads in the past year or so. lots of good advice on them.
in general, i'd offer that the larger firms seem to be the ones in a heavy hiring mode.
good luck.
thank you people, helped me alot!
ok, i've completed my resume and sample portfolio and I'm ready to commence carpet bombing all the cool atlanta firms in search of a fun summer internship. since i've been away from atlanta for almost 4 years, i'm not familiar with any of the up and coming small firms out there...i need names...thanks in advance.
about me:
SCI-Arc master's student
Georgia Tech alum
4-years experience
firms i like (and have already sent folio):
Plexus R+D
Mack Scogin Merill Elam
firms i consider not cool:
TVS
Cooper
Smallwood
HOK
corporate hell
plexus is probably not hiring right now or ever for that matter. they seem to be sticking with the two man firm deal. last time i checked they were actually in farrington design groups office using their space. i dunno why. msme is always a good firm to go to. they are also very hard to get into. i know a couple of folks that have applied there and two that work there/have worked there. still. very hard to get in to but they did just win a competition so they may need help.
so did you apply to the "not cool" firms? or are youi just stating a fact/opinion?
thanks bucku. do you know more? i had jordan as an undergrad instructor back in the day and although they are a two man firm, there was always students coming in and out, helping out with projects & competitions.
their website hasn't been updated in a while and the address they have is on howell mill. is this where farrington is located? i just want to make sure stuff gets sent to the right address. their office was downtown while i was in undergrad.
as for the other firms, i am sure they are great places to work, but those types of offices don't typically get interesting projects, or at least smaller projects that i can really get my hands on. being that this is just a summer gig, and money is not my primary concern, my priorty is finding a fun project. that's all.
searching past threads, plexus and msme seem to be the only two firms mentioned as being interesting places to work...there's got to be more right?
MESME architects- so that's the firm from a-town that gets it's houses plastered all over arch record. I love their work.
i work at plexus, and just wanted to clarify a couple of things real fast.
1, we are hiring right now.
2, we are subletting from farrington design group while a new office building we are designing and moving into is being completed
3, new website is under construction as we speak
also, just to clarify about the address, under the contact section of our website, the address is shown correctly. it is wrong on the employment section, i'll see what i can do to fix that sometime today.
I tried to get a summer internship at plexus at the end of my first year. I think they were right in saying i needed more experience then...
i agree with j's comments above, tvs etc. may be deemed corporate hell by some but they produce good work and will provide you real world experience. and, most importantly they are much more likely to be looking for summer interns...
nice holding back j. though i almost applied to plexus myself just for the cool-work experience. since this is a summer thing, msme would probably be hard to get into unless you know someone. plexus may let you work for them either un-paid or paid at very little. i know a couple of folks who did that. they said it was ok. lots of models etc...
as for tvs, hok, blah, blah blah, i know they are big and corporate but tvs actually does have some interesting stuff going on. perkins+will also have an atlanta office and with your background you may have a chance at a summer internship. i know of a couple of other "ok" atlanta firms, but no one really known outside atl.
oh hell, i just saw that momentum said they are hiring. you wanna give me a job? ill send you my resume. do i make it out to momentum? are they hiring full time? part time?
thanks for the comments everybody.
momentum, i'll keep checking the website. keep me posted. thanks.
does portman still have an office there? that's my dream job.
yes. and why?
dude, peachtree, renaissance center, bonaventure, the list goes on.
bucku, if you are serious about applying, send in your stuff to the address listed under the contact section of the website. it is better to send it digitally to the office@plexus-architecture.com address.
as far as people working for free, the only time that has happened is when people have volunteered to work on an unpaid competition or installation for the experience. even then, they are very uneasy about it.
back to work for now, it is crazy here downtown with the final four going on, and i need to try and jet early today.
the MSME gsd pipeline thing isn't really true anymore...it does't hurt to send in your stuff..
just don't title your cover letter "Mr. Poopy Head" Apparently a couple of weeks ago someone sent a cover letter like that to a bunch of firms in Atlanta...
it was "Dear Mr. Poopy Pants", and that was funny
lightroom.tv
Bill Carpenter's multidisciplinary firm.
A guy named Tim Nichols just started there. He was Design Director at HOK, went to Columbia and MSState. tought at Ga Tech. I think they have some nice projects.
never been to this site before. I likey
yeah...I got it mixed up...its pinned up on the fridge in our office. I have a feeling its on pinned up in the kitchen's of lots of offices...
i know bill. good guy. his firm is actually doing well. it may be worth it to do a summer internship there but i know he doesnt pay well. he also is very small. houser-walker or something like that. they are ok. they won emerging architects a while back ago. and dencity design is ok as well. they won the emerging voices this past year.
momentum, i cant do a pdf book or whatever of my portfolio. would you recommend me bringing it in and dropping it off? i always ffel email is so impersonal.
i had no idea about the questionaire. i know that the fellowship was basically paying you for all the time that you put in that summer. panned out to be like minimum wage tho. is bill very well known outside of atl?
somehow it feels like a list of younger atlanta firms has been done several times before, but....
(in no particular order or judgement as to the quality of work or work experience):
ai3 - www.ai3online.com
squarefeet studio - www.squarefeetstudio.com
lightroom - www.lightroom.tv
g+g architects - www.gg-architects.com (i think)
jude leblanc - www.judeleblancarchitect.com
plexus r+d - www.plexus-architecture.com
houser walker architecture - www.houserwalker.com
alloy projects - www.alloyprojects.com
dencity design - www.dencitydesign.com
bldgs - www.bldgs.org
and that's just the ones i can think of. anyone else add in some others?
laru, that's the stuff i'm looking for. thanks!
for a better corporate option than TVS and the like i would go with Lord Aeck Sargent... i know several people that work there including one of the principals in the mixed use studio...
also take a look at praxis3 another GT faculty member's firm that does some cool stuff and some more corporate stuff (think car dealerships)...
kissy_face, momentum
I am the creator and author of the infamous Mr. Poopy Pants. It was in no way an accident, but rather a filter to interview firms. The only firm that thought it humorous, hired me and I haven’t looked back since.
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