outside perspective = good, challenging, educational
ignorant rantings = not good, challenging the wrong synapses, not educational
Now that the bike lane removal thread is up I only see more opportunity for him to spew bullshit.
Sadly it reflects our profession well: we're crumbling to dust, as a discipline and profession, and all we can do is screech about polarizing issues that are tiny problems compared to the issues faced by our community, meaning us and the work we do for others.
I'm afraid my outlook for our profession is pretty bleak these days, Sarah. Frankly, I think you're right to try to find work in another field.
I don't see decent employment for architects coming back for at least five years, maybe even a decade, and even then I see it being the same marginal, hanging on by our fingernails career that is has always been for most of us.
Alright, I'm with SH on this one. This is quite depressing to hear LB say that.
Well, my take has been that it will never be what it used to be, especially if we're talking about the traditional role of the architect. But does it have to be? Architects really need to expand services and diversify, and not in the cliche way by just getting different kind of projects.
LIG - Me too. I've always wanted to do that. My plans were either trucker, painter/sculptor, astronaut, or paleontologist. I'm going scratch 2 off that list...
I'm also having a hard time rationalizing puddles' comment as toungue-in-cheek. Someone help me out here.
I almost commented on the bike-lane thread, but then didn't. I can see a movement of guerrilla bike lane painters starting!
Got a white iBook 800mhz g4 with a 30gb hd and 640mb ram - it should be enough to run powerpoint in my lectures next semester. Paid $250 for the machine including the Office license. Either way it's a deal and good for the environment - it was shipped in a box full of shredded paper.
anybody else hear about challenge based learning? it seems a great branding of what many design schools are doing these days, even if its aimed at k-12. Our provost seems enamored with the idea (and there may be some funding available), so I'm making my studio a 'challenge based learning' class on top of it being 'service-learning'... gotta love these pedagogical terms!
Depressing because of what you said, not who you are.
I had a phone interview for the teaching thing yesterday. Not for a job, but just to be accepted to the program. I think I nailed it. I was at the grocery store, Abe was really good during it, and I never felt I had to think for my answers. I've never felt so "on my feet" before. This thing could really happen.
I think it would fun to be a trucker, but the gypsy kind, not the smelly roughneck kind.
At least if I were a truck driver, I wouldn't be forced to listen to the trashy ghetto skank upstairs chewing her food, yapping on the phone with her irritating Fran Drescher voice, and singing along to her shitty ghetto skank music day in and day out.
Yay for nailing the phone interview, Sarah! It feels so good to know what you're in the right zone, doesn't it?
As for what I said being depressing, don't any others here feel the same? I mean the economy is a disaster, and the people excelling in this economy are either super-smart, nimble, and opportunistic, or are deeply political/power-connected - architects tend to be neither of those things.
Well, for me at least it was both because of what LB said and because of who she is. She doesn't exaggerate usually or say things for effect or shock value. I would be more inclined to believe LB if she said "the world is coming to an end at noon tomorrow!" than if Vado said it. Is that wrong?
I'm naive so I don't feel quite the same as LB. I know it won't turn around tomorrow, but I don't think it'll be 5-10 years. Nor do I expect or want an exact return to what it was if we're talking about our role and our scope of work remaining the same. It just isn't sustainable. We need a more sustainable business model NOT built on exploiting employees' enthusiasm for architecture(and again, this is not based on personal bitterness but from observation of others). My fear is that if anything this downturn has justified even more exploitation. But that is not something we should blame the economy on.
they mentioned the GMMC on that list - whoo hooo I got a mention!!!
I'm officially off for the holidays and not a moment too soon, I was getting quite irritable with some students nonetheless a great last day. Heading out for fish and a couple cold beers with friends. Also I fly out to Miami tomorrow then to Cleveland. Everyone have a safe weekend and those close to those crazy storms stay, dry and warm.
I'm packing it in for the day....this has been a very busy week. We had a friend from Denmark visiting for a week and then Thursday had the final swearing in ceremony for Mrs. B's Citizenship. I did make some interesting observations. there were 55 people sworn in and 32 countries were represented. It seemed like there were more women sworn in than men. I was suprised cause alot of people came by themselves. This morning I was standing in the back yard of a clients home watching the Canadian Geese walk around on the ice on the lake it was like around 9 degree F. We are trying to button up our patio project for the winter protecting everything so we can get an early start in the Spring. It was fricking cold! Think I'm finally warming up from my outside time today.
I'm a bit more positive about the Future. Seems like work is picking up. I might just have a killer project, but I haven't gotten it....but what the heck these guys (potential clients).....are right up LB's lane.... they design high heels....and raise cattle as a hobby.
We have seen an uptick in work over the past couple of weeks so I no longer feel like the bottom is falling out. I think when it comes back it will come back alot stronger than people imagine. There is always that pent up demand for wanting to do something. When people realize they can make money they will be back in the market place. I think this time around we are going to be seeing alot more attention paid to green buildings and green sites. The feds are pointing us in that direction as well as alot of the States. The Private sector will also move more in that direction. So hang onto your Hat!
I never wanted to be a long distance trucker. I could have been a bone digger, but not a grave digger. I would have liked to play professional basket ball, but that dream faded when I stopped growing at 5'-6". I was never excited about going to the moon, cause I couldn't figure out how the hell you could get out of that suit and do number 2. So I became and Architect but I swore I would give it up and become an Artist. The truth is I could never support myself as an artist....and well I just don't have the flair. So I would most likely end up in some hell hole painting ceramic coffee mugs.
Night All......hoping we don't get the big nor-easter this weekend cause I still have Christmas shopping to get done.
i still want to be an astronaut. don't care how no. 2 is taken care of as long as i am on the moon or mars.
sounds kool TK, a bit like fast times at Fairmont high by vernor vinge. the world is catching up with fiction.
i agree with LB. it is going to be 5-10 years before things get better. we are working on surviving that long. right now we are not interested in offering other services, because frankly we are architects and not wayfinding experts or other related types of job do-ers. we are quite happy and comfortable to be involved in real estate and urban planning and maybe/hopefully that will be enough. am interested to see if circumstances force us to rethink that stance.
puddles, your definition of intelligent is curious. that onefella4 is claiming openly to be a racist and defending it with jive - not sure how that is useful, but whatever turns your spout... didn't read tiger woods thread because i don't care about him or what he does. celebrity gossip is so boring.
snook, you may be right that when it comes back it will come back hard and fast. But we, like jump, are working just on surviving right now. We haven't had paychecks for two pay periods; I'm living out of my savings account for the moment and that can't last. No unemployment for the self-employed. Fingers crossed Brian got a few calls today about some fabrication/restoration work, so that will help.
But all that aside, snook, congratulations to Mrs. b!!! I'm so happy that she decided we're a cool enough group to belong to (sure doesn't feel like it all the time these days!) - and since she chose you we know she's a smart, smart woman! Yay for her and you!
actually we are doing better than last year but i am not counting on anything right now. predicting the future is impossible. damndest thing is that wall street just set a record of some sort for profits this year. biggest in a decade or something like that.
and yet banks are not financing anything. not a fcuking thing. so all of our clients and potential clients are going out of business even though they are making money and otherwise profitable. and those who want to invest in land or development are stuck without possibility of a loan. it is enough to make ya crazy if you think about it for more than 3 minutes at a time.
hope you get phone call LB!
portfolio is better than last time LIG. good luck with apps!
LB is right, but that's not necessarily so bad either. this profession, for the most part, is older than some of the fossils at the museum of natural history. i think we, the mid-century and below types, need to kill the slow moving leaf eaters before they render us all extinct. to start with our professional organization needs to get young fast; both in mentality and blood. will it happen? who knows, they seem to be scrambling for ideas, but all they see happening is people being driven out of the profession. we can either keep going with this mass exodus and form a different kind of organization, one that speaks more to the times and to our needs or we can watch it die slowly on the perpetual life support - sans death panels. i've heard for several years now, principals lament how this profession is getting older, and younger ones keep leaving, but when you talk to them why it's happening, they either don't want to listen or don't want to acknowledge the obvious.
more later. i gots my awesome chili cooking, and man, is it fucking awesome.
you know, when i think of that "racial purist" = aryan half wit, and puddles comment above, i am reminded that sometimes, just sometimes, my faith in the fact they're aberrations and that there is good in this world, real good. then i see this story on the front page of the NYTimes site, and i am reminded that not only is there good, there are better people, smarter than smart, confident, attractive, supremely gifted young people, that have the world seemingly in the palm of their hands, and i feel like the world will be alright, i'll be alright, and humanity will be left in better hands than when we received it.
i think i was where lb is a year or so ago. then i decided i had just been caring too much.
i'm still interested in trying to do better things, doing good(-ish) work, making life better for my girls, and generally living well, but i'm not expecting it all to work out - more typically i'm expecting it won't.
tk I was at the very first GMMC in 2001. Seems like a lifetime ago, I had just finished grad school and took the remainder of my scholarship money to go study with Glenn with thoughts that it was a once in a lifetime thing (only for to start offering it every year since)
that was awesome indeed beta. those 4 are cool images of the future.
when i read that article i thought man what a difference supportive parents make - most of my family and friends thought i was fucking elitist scum trying to get educated. like growing up with the pig on a lipstick lady, except everyone agrees with her....
it is nice to see that not all of america distrusts achievement after all.
Yeah, beta that is a very uplifting article, and damn are those kids good-looking! I love the red dots under the eyes thing, super cool.
I spent most of the day on a farm in the snow: petting reindeer, drinking hot chocolate, talking to Santa, making crafts, and going on a hayride. This was with Angus, of course, and one of his buddies.
Regarding lb's comments above, and slart, beta, jump, etc. responses, I have this to say:
I agree. I'm sorry to say it, but I do. To explain myself, I offer an anecdote: earlier this week, I was counseling, over email, a fellow sometimes-Archinector on things he could do to spruce up his resume, and actions he could take to polish his skills a bit, in order to make himself more appealing on the job market. (He got laid off in June.) One of my (strong) suggestions, and I've used this with nearly everyone I've talked to about the job market, was to expose himself to energy modeling a bit, even if it was just the plug-in through SketchUp. He responded, as respectfully as possible, by saying that he thought we had "different" interests, and that he was interested more in "form/space, materials and graphics", basically indicating that he didn't think he had a need to explore these skills. This is exactly what I wrote in response:
"...you are right that our interests lie down two different avenues. In fact, it took a lot of convincing when I was interviewing this year that I was NOT married to the idea of being in another design firm. (Apparently we architects have a bit of a reputation, go figure) I think my point - which I clearly didn't convey very well - is that there is going to be a time in the near future when designing a sustainable or energy efficient building won't be a choice... it will be required. My suggestions for you to explore energy modeling programs are not to imply that you should take up a totally different set of interests, or become someone you're not; these suggestions are borne out of a very real concern that unless architects start to respond to this situation, we are going to be left out of the process, because there are plenty of people waiting to capitalize on the "greening" of the building industry, in every which way possible. I think it's absolutely imperative that architects become at least conversant in sustainable and energy-lite design strategies, so that we can manage the design of buildings properly and guide the process like we should, instead of looking like a deer in the headlights when our consultants and clients ask us for a greener building. Make sense?
...And this is exactly what I think. To be clear, I've never NOT been interested in form/space, materials, and graphics. I'll jump at any opportunity to explore these in a meaningful way, and I'm doing so currently with a graphic design experiment at work. But I really think that instead of leading the sustainable design revolution, the profession of architecture has relinquished the driving wheel to a few young innovators, jaded veterans of the 70's energy crises, and business people who know an opportunity when they see one. For example, Steve Glenn, founder of Living Homes, is one of the prominent builder of energy efficient pre-fab homes. Steve Glenn is NOT an architect. But he IS still in business, even after Michelle Kaufmann Designs folded.
Unfortunately, also, many of the architecture schools around the country are pushing us further and further into the backseat with their continued emphasis on aesthetics coupled with unrealistic and dangerous expectations of student work habits, even when we all know that technology allows us to work faster and more efficiently. My own most recent alma mater is guilty of this as well; I got an email from the Dean last week asking for money, and in the same paragraph he claimed that the school was preparing its students for employment by teaching them "parametric design, scripting, fabrication", etc. Well that's interesting, because all the people that I know without jobs know how to do those things, whereas I know I would not have gotten my job without learned energy modeling and my subsequent research.
SHEESH I'm sorry for this gigantic rant, but as I said above, it's borne out of a real worry for the profession. I can guarantee you that other professionals and other types of businesses will capitalize on architects' inability to respond to prevailing market conditions. Perhaps we can collectively find our way out of the forest before that happens?...
I can guarantee you that other professionals and other types of businesses will capitalize on architects' inability to respond to prevailing market conditions. Perhaps we can collectively find our way out of the forest before that happens?
beta that article was GREAT. Thanks for posting. What an incredible and wonderful family. Strangely it makes me want to have multiples... I know, I know, be careful what you wish for, LOL.
wk, you know i went down that road almost 20 years ago. i actually first was inspired to go to architecture school after picking up ed mazria's book called the passive solar energy book. believe it or not i told my dad this is the future and i want to be on the ground floor.
i spent undergrad learning to model energy use and heat gain/loss and all that shit (yea we had software for that in the dark ages too and it was part of the regular curriculum), all my projects had jack and nancy todd's living machines in them and used non-toxic materials just the way bill mcdonough was doing. this was early 1990's. my profs thought i was crazy but i happened to be good at design too, so it wasn't a problem. i was very good at tech courses and totally got all that stuff. then i went into the real world and while it is finally becoming a possibility to market yourself in usa with ecology-design-type skills, it still isn't here, or at least not in a way that i want to do it. we have casbee instead of leed but its pure bullshit, so we simply embed the ideas in our designs as much as we can and let it go at that. greenwashing is not something i want to be party to.
i think you are mistaken to believe that most designers are not interested in energy use and don't do it as a matter of course.
To reflect your argument back at you, I have never NOT been interested in solar energy solar shading thermal mass embedded energy or green roofs, etc... professionally the only place i was required to actually think of that stuff was in london where the building code has some fundamental requirements built in - but it still wasn't close to being at a point where i had to stretch my knowledge base.
frankly i think energy use is important but less important than politics (the only arena that matters when it comes to this topic). so no i am not worried that someone is going to jump in and take away work from me. i am not remotely threatened. to be honest if there comes a time where i need to learn green techniques/knowledge beyond what i already have at hand i will jump for joy. the world will finally be going where i thought it was going to go all those years ago...
which is not to say that i don't think you totally rock for doing the work you do.
we did energy modelling in 1987 at new mexico we also built solar ice cube melters. woohoo. until the building codes are changed and the zoning laws are changed that absolutely require buildings to be energy efficient and to well sited and to reduce other kinds of waste, we will just have more of the same. why aren't architects pressuring those who develop codes and zoning. this is where the lobbying efforts need to go. i really think that LEED is just a sham for many of those in the profession. I know all these LEED ap's who drive twenty miles to work, drive big ass v-8's ie they do not incorporate into their own lives, and that b.s. just makes me angry. and its christmas and i shouldn't be angry.
jump, I'm glad to hear it. People like you give me hope. People like the Dean of my school, and many others of his ilk, do NOT.
oe, you're hilarious. :)
vado, I think LEED is a tremendous money-making opportunity for the USGBC, which is yet another organization that I see filling the void that architects are leaving by not paying attention to green building. If we were, then the AIA would have become the defacto "green building" organization before the USGBC ever formed. But they didn't, and so the public now knows about LEED, and many architects know that it's bull, and there's not much we can do about it.
tk and melt, thank you. Like I said, I just hope we can fix it. It's like steering an aircraft carrier though... and do we even have a captain?
On a totally unrelated note, read this, it's adorable. Watch the video too.
that's a pity WK. i always thought i was in the middle of the pack as far as green-ity goes. my european friends certainly seem to be doing this sort of thing as a matter of course....but then again it still isn't enough. I subscribe to Friedman's point of view that green has to be so ubiquitous that there is no need for LEED or similar to regulate it. like seatbelts in a car, the idea of not having it should be the odd concept....someday...maybe.
your point that AIA should hav come up with LEED is an interesting one. You are probably right. somehow we fcuked up. on other hand i have no doubt that architects were never leaders of anything ever for centuries at least - so it is not surprising that we don't know how to lead political and social movements.
maybe it is time to change school curriculums? poli-sci agit-prop 101?
Oh we definitely need to change school curricula. My point is not quite that the AIA should have come up with LEED, but rather if the AIA - with its glorified-file-cabinet sister organization NCARB - had been doing its job, there would have been no need for LEED. Perhaps if the AIA acted less, I don't know, like the AIA, and more like the SEIU or AARP or the NAACP, we'd have an empowered group of professionals, and not the conservative, nearly invisible giant hand that we have now.
...But we've had this conversation before, sorry. My mind is churning nearly out of control at this point. Thanks for indulging me...
We had a really wonderful evening last night with some LA ex-pat architects and their kids. Hung out, decorated cookies, ate and drank, and talked about being willfully displaced in the Midwest.
Today starts two weeks of my son being home so I'll probably be posting less as I try to squeeze in moments of work between the drawing, playing, and sewing snakes that is sure to be keeping us occupied before the holiday.
Anyone know anything about the health care industry, more specifically the types of finishes required/recommended to use? I remember briefly discussing the topic in school but that was it. I've tried doing a search on the internet but I haven't had much success. If anyone has any sugggestions, I would be greatly appreciative. Thanks.
Thread Central
outside perspective = good, challenging, educational
ignorant rantings = not good, challenging the wrong synapses, not educational
Now that the bike lane removal thread is up I only see more opportunity for him to spew bullshit.
Sadly it reflects our profession well: we're crumbling to dust, as a discipline and profession, and all we can do is screech about polarizing issues that are tiny problems compared to the issues faced by our community, meaning us and the work we do for others.
Well that was depressing, liberty bell.
I'm afraid my outlook for our profession is pretty bleak these days, Sarah. Frankly, I think you're right to try to find work in another field.
I don't see decent employment for architects coming back for at least five years, maybe even a decade, and even then I see it being the same marginal, hanging on by our fingernails career that is has always been for most of us.
I'd be delighted to be wrong.
As a kid I used to fantasize about being a long-haul trucker. That career path has been looking more and more appealing lately.
Alright, I'm with SH on this one. This is quite depressing to hear LB say that.
Well, my take has been that it will never be what it used to be, especially if we're talking about the traditional role of the architect. But does it have to be? Architects really need to expand services and diversify, and not in the cliche way by just getting different kind of projects.
LIG - Me too. I've always wanted to do that. My plans were either trucker, painter/sculptor, astronaut, or paleontologist. I'm going scratch 2 off that list...
I'm also having a hard time rationalizing puddles' comment as toungue-in-cheek. Someone help me out here.
I almost commented on the bike-lane thread, but then didn't. I can see a movement of guerrilla bike lane painters starting!
Got a white iBook 800mhz g4 with a 30gb hd and 640mb ram - it should be enough to run powerpoint in my lectures next semester. Paid $250 for the machine including the Office license. Either way it's a deal and good for the environment - it was shipped in a box full of shredded paper.
anybody else hear about challenge based learning? it seems a great branding of what many design schools are doing these days, even if its aimed at k-12. Our provost seems enamored with the idea (and there may be some funding available), so I'm making my studio a 'challenge based learning' class on top of it being 'service-learning'... gotta love these pedagogical terms!
Depressing to hear me say it because I'm usually so optimistic?
melt, that snowman thing was very funny!
Depressing because of what you said, not who you are.
I had a phone interview for the teaching thing yesterday. Not for a job, but just to be accepted to the program. I think I nailed it. I was at the grocery store, Abe was really good during it, and I never felt I had to think for my answers. I've never felt so "on my feet" before. This thing could really happen.
I think it would fun to be a trucker, but the gypsy kind, not the smelly roughneck kind.
At least if I were a truck driver, I wouldn't be forced to listen to the trashy ghetto skank upstairs chewing her food, yapping on the phone with her irritating Fran Drescher voice, and singing along to her shitty ghetto skank music day in and day out.
Yay for nailing the phone interview, Sarah! It feels so good to know what you're in the right zone, doesn't it?
As for what I said being depressing, don't any others here feel the same? I mean the economy is a disaster, and the people excelling in this economy are either super-smart, nimble, and opportunistic, or are deeply political/power-connected - architects tend to be neither of those things.
if you have the time & want to feel more optimistic then you should this nice story by c a fitts. sadly it is not a christmas story.
Well, for me at least it was both because of what LB said and because of who she is. She doesn't exaggerate usually or say things for effect or shock value. I would be more inclined to believe LB if she said "the world is coming to an end at noon tomorrow!" than if Vado said it. Is that wrong?
I'm naive so I don't feel quite the same as LB. I know it won't turn around tomorrow, but I don't think it'll be 5-10 years. Nor do I expect or want an exact return to what it was if we're talking about our role and our scope of work remaining the same. It just isn't sustainable. We need a more sustainable business model NOT built on exploiting employees' enthusiasm for architecture(and again, this is not based on personal bitterness but from observation of others). My fear is that if anything this downturn has justified even more exploitation. But that is not something we should blame the economy on.
they mentioned the GMMC on that list - whoo hooo I got a mention!!!
I'm officially off for the holidays and not a moment too soon, I was getting quite irritable with some students nonetheless a great last day. Heading out for fish and a couple cold beers with friends. Also I fly out to Miami tomorrow then to Cleveland. Everyone have a safe weekend and those close to those crazy storms stay, dry and warm.
I'm packing it in for the day....this has been a very busy week. We had a friend from Denmark visiting for a week and then Thursday had the final swearing in ceremony for Mrs. B's Citizenship. I did make some interesting observations. there were 55 people sworn in and 32 countries were represented. It seemed like there were more women sworn in than men. I was suprised cause alot of people came by themselves. This morning I was standing in the back yard of a clients home watching the Canadian Geese walk around on the ice on the lake it was like around 9 degree F. We are trying to button up our patio project for the winter protecting everything so we can get an early start in the Spring. It was fricking cold! Think I'm finally warming up from my outside time today.
I'm a bit more positive about the Future. Seems like work is picking up. I might just have a killer project, but I haven't gotten it....but what the heck these guys (potential clients).....are right up LB's lane.... they design high heels....and raise cattle as a hobby.
We have seen an uptick in work over the past couple of weeks so I no longer feel like the bottom is falling out. I think when it comes back it will come back alot stronger than people imagine. There is always that pent up demand for wanting to do something. When people realize they can make money they will be back in the market place. I think this time around we are going to be seeing alot more attention paid to green buildings and green sites. The feds are pointing us in that direction as well as alot of the States. The Private sector will also move more in that direction. So hang onto your Hat!
I never wanted to be a long distance trucker. I could have been a bone digger, but not a grave digger. I would have liked to play professional basket ball, but that dream faded when I stopped growing at 5'-6". I was never excited about going to the moon, cause I couldn't figure out how the hell you could get out of that suit and do number 2. So I became and Architect but I swore I would give it up and become an Artist. The truth is I could never support myself as an artist....and well I just don't have the flair. So I would most likely end up in some hell hole painting ceramic coffee mugs.
Night All......hoping we don't get the big nor-easter this weekend cause I still have Christmas shopping to get done.
i still want to be an astronaut. don't care how no. 2 is taken care of as long as i am on the moon or mars.
sounds kool TK, a bit like fast times at Fairmont high by vernor vinge. the world is catching up with fiction.
i agree with LB. it is going to be 5-10 years before things get better. we are working on surviving that long. right now we are not interested in offering other services, because frankly we are architects and not wayfinding experts or other related types of job do-ers. we are quite happy and comfortable to be involved in real estate and urban planning and maybe/hopefully that will be enough. am interested to see if circumstances force us to rethink that stance.
puddles, your definition of intelligent is curious. that onefella4 is claiming openly to be a racist and defending it with jive - not sure how that is useful, but whatever turns your spout... didn't read tiger woods thread because i don't care about him or what he does. celebrity gossip is so boring.
snook, you may be right that when it comes back it will come back hard and fast. But we, like jump, are working just on surviving right now. We haven't had paychecks for two pay periods; I'm living out of my savings account for the moment and that can't last. No unemployment for the self-employed. Fingers crossed Brian got a few calls today about some fabrication/restoration work, so that will help.
But all that aside, snook, congratulations to Mrs. b!!! I'm so happy that she decided we're a cool enough group to belong to (sure doesn't feel like it all the time these days!) - and since she chose you we know she's a smart, smart woman! Yay for her and you!
yes that is good point. congrats mrs. snook!
actually we are doing better than last year but i am not counting on anything right now. predicting the future is impossible. damndest thing is that wall street just set a record of some sort for profits this year. biggest in a decade or something like that.
and yet banks are not financing anything. not a fcuking thing. so all of our clients and potential clients are going out of business even though they are making money and otherwise profitable. and those who want to invest in land or development are stuck without possibility of a loan. it is enough to make ya crazy if you think about it for more than 3 minutes at a time.
hope you get phone call LB!
portfolio is better than last time LIG. good luck with apps!
Did anyone else participate in the mosque/minaret problem?
I did. I wasn't going to because I had did something previously-- but, I tried my hand at some ghastly architecture and decided I liked it!
I won't tell you which one it is... but I'm sure it is fairly obvious.
uh, f*ck that was a long day. guess i can finally leave work for a few hours...
atechno- what's your relation to the GMMC? are you moving to oz? I like the idea of offering a masterclass, especially at au$5,300/ student.
LB/SW/Atechno/snook/wK/jump & all the other TCers, I'd sign up to take a master class with all of you if I had the dough to burn (and the time)!
LB is right, but that's not necessarily so bad either. this profession, for the most part, is older than some of the fossils at the museum of natural history. i think we, the mid-century and below types, need to kill the slow moving leaf eaters before they render us all extinct. to start with our professional organization needs to get young fast; both in mentality and blood. will it happen? who knows, they seem to be scrambling for ideas, but all they see happening is people being driven out of the profession. we can either keep going with this mass exodus and form a different kind of organization, one that speaks more to the times and to our needs or we can watch it die slowly on the perpetual life support - sans death panels. i've heard for several years now, principals lament how this profession is getting older, and younger ones keep leaving, but when you talk to them why it's happening, they either don't want to listen or don't want to acknowledge the obvious.
more later. i gots my awesome chili cooking, and man, is it fucking awesome.
you know, when i think of that "racial purist" = aryan half wit, and puddles comment above, i am reminded that sometimes, just sometimes, my faith in the fact they're aberrations and that there is good in this world, real good. then i see this story on the front page of the NYTimes site, and i am reminded that not only is there good, there are better people, smarter than smart, confident, attractive, supremely gifted young people, that have the world seemingly in the palm of their hands, and i feel like the world will be alright, i'll be alright, and humanity will be left in better hands than when we received it.
i think i was where lb is a year or so ago. then i decided i had just been caring too much.
i'm still interested in trying to do better things, doing good(-ish) work, making life better for my girls, and generally living well, but i'm not expecting it all to work out - more typically i'm expecting it won't.
so if it does - hey! surprise! yay!
tk I was at the very first GMMC in 2001. Seems like a lifetime ago, I had just finished grad school and took the remainder of my scholarship money to go study with Glenn with thoughts that it was a once in a lifetime thing (only for to start offering it every year since)
honestly I swear archinect is removing words from my posts...
that was awesome indeed beta. those 4 are cool images of the future.
when i read that article i thought man what a difference supportive parents make - most of my family and friends thought i was fucking elitist scum trying to get educated. like growing up with the pig on a lipstick lady, except everyone agrees with her....
it is nice to see that not all of america distrusts achievement after all.
steven, man that is hard.
not really. since my attitude changed, strangely, there have been more 'hey! surprise! yay!' moments. go figure.
Yeah, beta that is a very uplifting article, and damn are those kids good-looking! I love the red dots under the eyes thing, super cool.
I spent most of the day on a farm in the snow: petting reindeer, drinking hot chocolate, talking to Santa, making crafts, and going on a hayride. This was with Angus, of course, and one of his buddies.
Tomorrow is cookie-decorating day!
I have finished all my shopping.
Also my mothers birthday today so went out for pizza salad and apple pie.
She picked it all.
Man and those Crouches are a bunch of smarties.
Oh and Tk and Archi you talking about this?
Sounds like fun. Especially from the master himself.
Regarding lb's comments above, and slart, beta, jump, etc. responses, I have this to say:
I agree. I'm sorry to say it, but I do. To explain myself, I offer an anecdote: earlier this week, I was counseling, over email, a fellow sometimes-Archinector on things he could do to spruce up his resume, and actions he could take to polish his skills a bit, in order to make himself more appealing on the job market. (He got laid off in June.) One of my (strong) suggestions, and I've used this with nearly everyone I've talked to about the job market, was to expose himself to energy modeling a bit, even if it was just the plug-in through SketchUp. He responded, as respectfully as possible, by saying that he thought we had "different" interests, and that he was interested more in "form/space, materials and graphics", basically indicating that he didn't think he had a need to explore these skills. This is exactly what I wrote in response:
"...you are right that our interests lie down two different avenues. In fact, it took a lot of convincing when I was interviewing this year that I was NOT married to the idea of being in another design firm. (Apparently we architects have a bit of a reputation, go figure) I think my point - which I clearly didn't convey very well - is that there is going to be a time in the near future when designing a sustainable or energy efficient building won't be a choice... it will be required. My suggestions for you to explore energy modeling programs are not to imply that you should take up a totally different set of interests, or become someone you're not; these suggestions are borne out of a very real concern that unless architects start to respond to this situation, we are going to be left out of the process, because there are plenty of people waiting to capitalize on the "greening" of the building industry, in every which way possible. I think it's absolutely imperative that architects become at least conversant in sustainable and energy-lite design strategies, so that we can manage the design of buildings properly and guide the process like we should, instead of looking like a deer in the headlights when our consultants and clients ask us for a greener building. Make sense?
...And this is exactly what I think. To be clear, I've never NOT been interested in form/space, materials, and graphics. I'll jump at any opportunity to explore these in a meaningful way, and I'm doing so currently with a graphic design experiment at work. But I really think that instead of leading the sustainable design revolution, the profession of architecture has relinquished the driving wheel to a few young innovators, jaded veterans of the 70's energy crises, and business people who know an opportunity when they see one. For example, Steve Glenn, founder of Living Homes, is one of the prominent builder of energy efficient pre-fab homes. Steve Glenn is NOT an architect. But he IS still in business, even after Michelle Kaufmann Designs folded.
Unfortunately, also, many of the architecture schools around the country are pushing us further and further into the backseat with their continued emphasis on aesthetics coupled with unrealistic and dangerous expectations of student work habits, even when we all know that technology allows us to work faster and more efficiently. My own most recent alma mater is guilty of this as well; I got an email from the Dean last week asking for money, and in the same paragraph he claimed that the school was preparing its students for employment by teaching them "parametric design, scripting, fabrication", etc. Well that's interesting, because all the people that I know without jobs know how to do those things, whereas I know I would not have gotten my job without learned energy modeling and my subsequent research.
SHEESH I'm sorry for this gigantic rant, but as I said above, it's borne out of a real worry for the profession. I can guarantee you that other professionals and other types of businesses will capitalize on architects' inability to respond to prevailing market conditions. Perhaps we can collectively find our way out of the forest before that happens?...
Exactly.
beta that article was GREAT. Thanks for posting. What an incredible and wonderful family. Strangely it makes me want to have multiples... I know, I know, be careful what you wish for, LOL.
YOU CANNOT CONTEND WITH MY 80LB GROUPER!
oe that seems totally random and utterly hilarious.
I just found this statement:
i[]I have a too-big house that I want to fill with empty space.[/i]
that I made on a thread I started earlier this year. I still feel this way. Is anyone even buying anything at garage sales these days?
oe, is that you? Because that's clearly not an 80lb grouper.
lol, oe.
wk, you know i went down that road almost 20 years ago. i actually first was inspired to go to architecture school after picking up ed mazria's book called the passive solar energy book. believe it or not i told my dad this is the future and i want to be on the ground floor.
i spent undergrad learning to model energy use and heat gain/loss and all that shit (yea we had software for that in the dark ages too and it was part of the regular curriculum), all my projects had jack and nancy todd's living machines in them and used non-toxic materials just the way bill mcdonough was doing. this was early 1990's. my profs thought i was crazy but i happened to be good at design too, so it wasn't a problem. i was very good at tech courses and totally got all that stuff. then i went into the real world and while it is finally becoming a possibility to market yourself in usa with ecology-design-type skills, it still isn't here, or at least not in a way that i want to do it. we have casbee instead of leed but its pure bullshit, so we simply embed the ideas in our designs as much as we can and let it go at that. greenwashing is not something i want to be party to.
i think you are mistaken to believe that most designers are not interested in energy use and don't do it as a matter of course.
To reflect your argument back at you, I have never NOT been interested in solar energy solar shading thermal mass embedded energy or green roofs, etc... professionally the only place i was required to actually think of that stuff was in london where the building code has some fundamental requirements built in - but it still wasn't close to being at a point where i had to stretch my knowledge base.
frankly i think energy use is important but less important than politics (the only arena that matters when it comes to this topic). so no i am not worried that someone is going to jump in and take away work from me. i am not remotely threatened. to be honest if there comes a time where i need to learn green techniques/knowledge beyond what i already have at hand i will jump for joy. the world will finally be going where i thought it was going to go all those years ago...
which is not to say that i don't think you totally rock for doing the work you do.
Oh he fought like one! I battled that little bastard for 20 minutes! So then I named him Gary. Gary the 80lb Grouper.
Sorry. What are we talking about?
we did energy modelling in 1987 at new mexico we also built solar ice cube melters. woohoo. until the building codes are changed and the zoning laws are changed that absolutely require buildings to be energy efficient and to well sited and to reduce other kinds of waste, we will just have more of the same. why aren't architects pressuring those who develop codes and zoning. this is where the lobbying efforts need to go. i really think that LEED is just a sham for many of those in the profession. I know all these LEED ap's who drive twenty miles to work, drive big ass v-8's ie they do not incorporate into their own lives, and that b.s. just makes me angry. and its christmas and i shouldn't be angry.
wK - amen!
What TK said. Amen sister, amen.
jump, I'm glad to hear it. People like you give me hope. People like the Dean of my school, and many others of his ilk, do NOT.
oe, you're hilarious. :)
vado, I think LEED is a tremendous money-making opportunity for the USGBC, which is yet another organization that I see filling the void that architects are leaving by not paying attention to green building. If we were, then the AIA would have become the defacto "green building" organization before the USGBC ever formed. But they didn't, and so the public now knows about LEED, and many architects know that it's bull, and there's not much we can do about it.
tk and melt, thank you. Like I said, I just hope we can fix it. It's like steering an aircraft carrier though... and do we even have a captain?
On a totally unrelated note, read this, it's adorable. Watch the video too.
that's a pity WK. i always thought i was in the middle of the pack as far as green-ity goes. my european friends certainly seem to be doing this sort of thing as a matter of course....but then again it still isn't enough. I subscribe to Friedman's point of view that green has to be so ubiquitous that there is no need for LEED or similar to regulate it. like seatbelts in a car, the idea of not having it should be the odd concept....someday...maybe.
your point that AIA should hav come up with LEED is an interesting one. You are probably right. somehow we fcuked up. on other hand i have no doubt that architects were never leaders of anything ever for centuries at least - so it is not surprising that we don't know how to lead political and social movements.
maybe it is time to change school curriculums? poli-sci agit-prop 101?
Oh we definitely need to change school curricula. My point is not quite that the AIA should have come up with LEED, but rather if the AIA - with its glorified-file-cabinet sister organization NCARB - had been doing its job, there would have been no need for LEED. Perhaps if the AIA acted less, I don't know, like the AIA, and more like the SEIU or AARP or the NAACP, we'd have an empowered group of professionals, and not the conservative, nearly invisible giant hand that we have now.
...But we've had this conversation before, sorry. My mind is churning nearly out of control at this point. Thanks for indulging me...
dubk - your awesome post reminded me of this article on the decline of american innovation prowess in manufacturing.
I wonder if parallels can be drawn between the state of our industry and the kinds of students who are attracted to top architecture programs...
It is a wind generating electricity kinda day around here! Yahoo!
Good morning all,
Not sure if you saw WonderK, but i picked your post for the EP this week.
Hi OE! Good to see you pop your head in. That is a king sized fish.....
A king-sized fish indeed!
We had a really wonderful evening last night with some LA ex-pat architects and their kids. Hung out, decorated cookies, ate and drank, and talked about being willfully displaced in the Midwest.
Today starts two weeks of my son being home so I'll probably be posting less as I try to squeeze in moments of work between the drawing, playing, and sewing snakes that is sure to be keeping us occupied before the holiday.
One of my FB friends posted this Maya Lin video, it's both very beautiful and very distressing.
Anyone know anything about the health care industry, more specifically the types of finishes required/recommended to use? I remember briefly discussing the topic in school but that was it. I've tried doing a search on the internet but I haven't had much success. If anyone has any sugggestions, I would be greatly appreciative. Thanks.
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