i am about to go to job site. we can only work there on weekends. iraqi crew. often we end up talking about how to save the middle east.
enjoy your trip AP,
perhaps it is a little known early morning fact, but i did found TC on the second page once. it was around 18 th page or something...
I just want to say - I love Mexico. Even though I can't see half the shit I want to see because there are massive protestor tents lining the entire Paseo de Reforma right up to the Zocalo and beyond, but the energy in this place is mind blowing.
I'm out. Oh Camino Real is an awesome hotel - cudos Legoretta. Stupid expensive though - I accidentally paid 65.00USD to get my socks and underwear washed. I guess that makes both me and the prices stupid.
I wish I knew Spanish. You'd think I'd know it better than I do having grown up in Phoenix, but at the time I didn't think it was important. Anyway I wish I knew Spanish so I could speak with all the laborers who do so much work on our job sites. Your Iraqi crew must have a ton of opinions, Orhan.
I haven't been posting much because I've been WORKING! Yes I'm swamped and trying very, very hard to manage my newly under construction project not just well but excellently. These clients are wonderful and very well-connected, and the design is one I'm really proud of, so I want to do right by the entire project and right now it's demanding a lot of time.
AP hope you are having fun - hardcore of you, checking in from London, will you also log on in Spain?!? You rock.
Also I've seen vado recently and as far as I know he is fine, so no worries out there - didn't he say something about a date last weekend and not being around until Sunday night, maybe he means THIS Sunday night as right now he;s poting a ton, musta been a good week vado!!
first time ever but i just spent the entire morning working in my pjs. not cuz i wanted to, just that i suddenly got way too busy and didn't have time for a shower or nuthin. contractor calling, talking to computer guy to fix my stupid wireless connection, e-mails up the yazoo, and work to do on top of it...shitty side about working out of the home is that the stuff can sudenly jump on top of regular life...
damn.
sounds very fun LB. hope you impress big time and get a shitload of work from referals.
just sending out a greetings from Taipei! made it last night and i actually got a solid 6 hours of sleep. which is more than i was getting last week while NOT jet-lagged.
I have a direct line of site view to Taipei 101 out the window at my parents' place. However, it is still not bright enough to take a good photo... perhaps in a few.
I had a dream last night that I went into work (only the fourth day since i left the office and i'm already dreaming about it!).
Still in Mexico, still love it. But one question, anybody know what the deal is with no toilet seats on the toilets, it´s not everywhere but still 9 times out of 10.
I´d ask a local but well it´s a little embarrassing to work through the language barrier on this particular topic.
i am doing this interior remodeling job for a hair salon. on top of charging the client for design fees, i am also making like 15% 0n the contractors fees for the given budget. because i have turned into a sub-outer, per say. i request a progress payment and they pay me. in turn, i pay my licenced subs like painter, electrician, carpenter/cabinet maker, plumber, upholstrer and purchase of some critical materials etc. it is sort of design/built without doing it right as a firm...
i am sort of like a cowboy doing it point and shoot way after some sketches and samples. so far everybody loves it and we are 70% done.
i like the position of having the financial control as well as the design which pretty much gives me the freedom to make faster decisions they basically accept. i am so far with realistic completion allocations, about 500$ over on 35K of construction budget and it is with some extra work build into it. so, i am about 700$ under budget in reality and that includes my 15% holdings..
i think, i'd like to go into the direction of design and sub out the construction type of projects. i tend to think of it as architect and his builder consultants for small projects ie;
small interior design, small architectural remodels (up to 2000 sq ft. on uncomplicated circumstances.)
i wouldn't do that in large complicated projects like new house on a hill side etc., but small ones that i know how to make easy to built.
i am going to offer this kind of handling, if, i trust the clients or they trust me on paper and on princple.
my question is;
should i use aia's design-built contract even though i have no legal partner with a contractors license, but i have somebody with it and i will hire him and he guarantees his work? so as my electrician, painter, plumber, finish carpenter and others.
or am i owners agent/project maneger during construction?
lets say for these small projects, i work with my usual subs who know me and i know them through successfully completed projects and everybody is confident they can do the project at hand no problem. and owner signs a paper with me that, i won't be held responsible for unforseen stuff financially.
i tell you. it saves clients money, because i charge or allocate less than the GC. since i do the design and break it down more realisticly about how to build it. i make more money because i get 15% for the construction also. i give them a realistic expectations with the money from the builders point of view. instead of the clients being in the mercy of a GC doing design revisions and alternatives, they come to me and i do those tasks based on my overall design schema.
i am now thinking of getting a contractors license as well since i already have few years of credentials working for somebody who had a GC's license.
just thinking out loud and trying to plot better ways of making money guys...
Orhan, your logic seems to make sense, generally. I'm not familiar with the legal implications of what you are trying to do, however your demonstrated enthusiasm makes it seem like a "no brainer."
While everything has worked well with your subs in the past, do you have an idea of how you would handle the situation if something were to go wrong? (i.e. the project falls behind schedule or you encounter unexpected challenges in what initially looked like a "simple" project, etc.)
i'm not sure if anyone else here at thread central has already mentioned it, butthis thread has re-affirmed my faith in life...i think i can make it another week now.
DCA, thanks. yes there is always some risk involved. that is why i include another 10% contengency for that and that makes me feel covered in the beginning and i dip into it as a see the project well progressed and i can start to see the end game and clients see it too. like in this case of hair salon interiors, they are seeing a lot of stuff got done and they are aware of extras since i've kept them informed and priced the extras and kept a record. i am really enjoying keeping cross calculations about analysing the budget and all. economics of the project is really interesting area i'd like to learn more.
they are now asking me to give them a design for the exterior after they saw i made the whole thing stream lined for them and things are going as projected.
probably i still didn't fullfil your question but i am also aware of more complicated ways of proper insurance contracts and more. but it is really about feeling comfortable after 20+ years of experience of doing this and being able to calculate the things that can go wrong.
i guess taking a project apart is a good way to start putting it together.
puddles, galleri silver screen is really pretty out there from my angle too. per is a heavy weight...
Orhan, can you cannibalize an AIA design/build contract into something that works better for you?
I'm right on board with you thinking that this is a better route, both as a delivery system to your clients and as a way for you to make more money and have more control therefore less headaches. (Congrats on getting the exterior project, now too!) I have mentioned possible design-build to my partner but he is completely uninterested in it, at elast for now. But we are both in there helping with cabinetry installation and hanging curtains and whatnot lots of the time anyway, so why not make it more formal I wonder?
Anyway, good luck on this. Especially with how beautiful and intentional your work is, it only makes sense that you not bring in a third party who wants to make money for himself at the possible expense of your ideas. You need to work with builders who understand your intent, so who better than you?!? And everyone is happier when there are less phone calls like: "well can you come by and look at how we should deal with this right away? 'Cuz otherwise the electricians have nothing more to do so they'll head to another job for therest of the week"
Yay for you taking this project on so personally. And the extra 15% doesn't hurt!
sounds very cool orhan. i have no clue about the legal aspects of your work, but within the confines you have set i can't imagine things getting too squirelly, especially with all your experience. i know only one guy here in tokyo who follows your model, except with houses and not interiors. he has a contractors licence and an architectects licence and from what i can see does very well. he also personally cares for all of his buildings and intends to do do until he dies. they are all very carefully built and personal buildings and quite special. am sure you will do the same, and with similar results....good luck !
who knows, vado? more to the point, why does it bother you? lay down on my sofa and tell me what's troubling you....;-)
yes lb, also from Barcelona, but only to check in on TC and read my buddy +q.´s first blog entry...
...we´re staying in an apartment near Rambla del Raval, and there´s an internet cafe directly beneath us...cheap too...plus, I had to check my email ´cause MADianato is helping me with his local connections - thanks to him we´ll be visiting 2 local architecture studios with our professors and former peers...our teachers are as psyched as we are...
ya dubK, the coincidence of TC travel is cool - ACfA in Taiwan, LostInSpace/aka urbanspec in MExico, you just returned from London, i´m sure I´m forgeting someone...speaking of London, lb and dubK can expect postcard #1 to arrive shortly...probably another from here......
oh, and lb, I purchased On Bullshit from the shop at the Tate in London and freakin´ loved it. thanks for mentioning it. I read it in a few hours, and will likely read it again in the next few days...
Dangitall, I HATE it when this happens!! A year and a half ago I found this amazing Marimekko fabric and thought "Wow, that would be so bold and cool as a big graphic piece of fabric on a bed" so I bought a couple yards of it and had it made into a duvet cover for my super, super cool client's master bedroom, with the Aalto zebra chairs and impeccable wood panelling...
Well I open the freakin' cb2 catalogue today and there it is, the EXACT same idea: cb2 won't let me link directly to the image blah!
The new! Lumimarja bedding from Marrimekko brought to you by cb2!!!
Ugh, I feel so mainstream. Or at least I feel like that is the perception people will haveof me now if they see the awesome bedroom I did for this client!! Sigh...
(rant over)
Yay AP checked in! Glad your trip is going so well. I didn't realize On Bullshit was such a quick read, I definitely need to get it. Especially after reading a bit of text in the current issue of Dwell that about choked me with the pure bullshit evident in it as compared to the picture it was describing....Safe travels and have fun with MADianito!
AP you are already in Spain!? Are you looking for jobs there?
Getting paid for a trip is so "typical Dutch" of you. I saw karel in Poland this summer, you should hit'em up while in the NL.
lb, unless your clients milieu is especially design savvy, i don't think most of your audience will recognize marimekko OR cb2. you'll only have a problem if target starts carrying it. (and it is very nice.)
The archinect eds are making good changes so far! Well, I miss the "views" and updated calendar, but maybe they are merely getting reworked and will be coming back...
well, first off, he does not desever cnn's front page for the whole day, but cnn has been pissing me off all summer. BBC all the way!
Second, is anyone surprised the guy died? I mean come on! It's sad, but didn't we see this coming?
BTW, help give suggestions for my friend on NYC firms on THIS THREAD.
And sorry I haven't been around much the last couple weeks. I'm trying to do well on at my job during my last couple weeks here. That means archinect must suffer :-(
I'll tell ya what I'm suffering under right now: another pay period ending with $5 in my bank account, while I simultaneously specify 1.25 times my annual salary in kitchen cabinets for a client. Cabinets only, no countertops or pulls. Sigh.
But hey, fall is coming, which is great: autumn is one thing the Midwest *definitely* knows how to do right!
oh, i know that pain lb. i think there was a time, ageas and ages ago when i actually believed architects could afford to live in the nice things they designed. pity it isn't true....at least not yet. but i still have hope. ;-)
I think that's somewhere called Brown County, Indiana, SBD. I recall vado trying to convince me to go visit it last year.
Reminds me of my first fall at Ann Arbor after 20 yearsof living in Phoenix: autumn completely blew my mind, I brought handfuls of leaves into studio every day and showed my wearing studio mates "Look!! Look at how beautiful this is!! How can I save this excruciating beauty?!" Little did I know fall just comes again the following year!
jump, it's only on the bad days I really feel that way. Truth is my house - still not quite even finished - is exactly what I want to live in. It's the nicest house I know, because it's exactly how I want it. Yes I wish my kitchen cabinets were ArcLinea instead of Kraftmaid, but they are hand painted by my husband. Yes the bamboo floor is not as nice as I expected, but I see it as a learning experience every day. A local TV crew came by to interview Brian last weekend for his public art installation, and the minute these guys hit the door they started gushing about how cool our house is. I certainly don't think I'm alone in this: I thinkmost people walk into most architects houses and see a loving, intentional touch, whether expensive or on the cheap, that they admire.
OK I need to go work on my manifesto now. And I'm considering a "View" submittal, though the Views section is still MIA? I agree with myriam: some cool new things happening on Archinect. I love the expanded school blog list on the front page, probably necessary at the beginning of the year as everyone checks in!
i know too many who don't care. but most do, as you say, LB.
my own place is just plain old tatami, no walls to speak of, even though in a white concrete box 5 stories off the ground....a 30 year old kitchen (!) and wiring and plumbing from hell...but it is very comfy. and for japan very roomy, which is in the end a huge luxury here.
i know it is bad for me to say so but i rather like places that aren't designed down to the last screw and definitley hate co-ordinated furniture, and my home is more or less testament to that. it is ready for roughhousing by children and adults alike. which is great for my daughter cuz she can nail her blankets to the wall to make a tent if she wants to...;-)
the expanded school blogs is very nice. hope the students continue to post...
i know it is bad for me to say so but i rather like places that aren't designed down to the last screw
Argh, jump, I totally agree with you!!! Does this make us bad architects?! Of course not. I think it has more to do with genuinely liking people as they are and enjoying the quirks they bring to their personal space. It's like Loos' proclamation about his family house, that it was their house with [/i]their[/i]things that were meaningful for them whether they were stylish or proper or not (I mayt be misrepresenting Loos but that was my reading of it).
Problem is I want to design everything for my clients but! then have them make the place their own with their art and personal items. I can't stand rooms that look like a designer brought in every little thing - was in a home last week like this, several million dollar home AND several million in interior furnishings and art yet every room was so impersonal.
Also I've bought two houses and rented two apartments and all were totally emotional decisions made in seconds. And I hope I never design for myself a house from the ground up, I'd rather work with something existing.
Anyone else want to get rich with me? Let's go "house flipping".
Seriously, who has some money for me to start.
Ok. Not seriously, but it's tempting.
I am unclear on where I stand on the "loving touch". I have see some pretty bad stuff out there where the architect was trying to impress, and I agree that personal stuff is what makes a place. Though I also think designers can design down to every last screw, but there are so few out there that have done it well. So for the most part I'd say it's best to leave room for the personal things.
For me, more often totally plain houses are much more comfortable, or just "work" better because of what someone has done to it with their stuff - their personality.
What's with the "anonymous" job postings?! They're entitled to learn all about you but you can't know anything about them?! What an absurd waste of time! I would never want to work for a firm that considers itself so important that it can't even deign to reveal itself to job seekers. What kind of potential hires are they gonna get with an anonymous posting, anyway?! I wouldn't want a WORKER who would respond without knowing a thing about the firm!
i am with you on the don't design down to the screw....a house just is not that kind of machine where it is all to run like a factory! it is all about the freedom the owner has to work within the framework you provided. of course on that note i hate doing spec houses (while nicely designed they are generic.) they give realtors too much power :)
give me a custom house any day that i get truly customize spaces to fit a family/person's lifestyle.
puddles...i was glad to see a casino is on there. i was worried.
My mother gets into the country on Sunday, and I have a LOT of cleaning to do. And a trip to Ikea. My bf and I are speeding up a re-arrangement that we'd been contemplating as a result of her stay with us. See, we've got one of those crappy one bedroom apartments where the bathroom connects to the bedroom, not the living room, so when we have guests there is zero privacy. Then we have the problem of my little book addiction that has consumed our living room.... so we're solving this by getting one of these, and using it as a wall that will separate the actual bed area from the closets & bathroom area. So it's going to be a busy weekend, rearranging, but I love that stuff. Do you guys get that urge to rip your homes apart and rearrange them every few weeks, too?
I miss the competition listings on the calendar section. = (
Thread Central
i noted this some time ago, as it was beginning its slow disappearance, but has anyone else notices that the 'views' section is now completely gone?
still alive. nothing else to add.
Steven- I've noticed that about the calendar section as well. I tried going to the competition listings the other day, and it didn't even work.
where is vado?
must've gotten cut along with the views section...
bottom of the page!@!? almost on page two...what's goin' on?
anyway, hello from an internet cafe in London's Chinatown (near Leicester Square)...off to Barcelona in the morning. ...
hope everyone had a great weekend.
i am about to go to job site. we can only work there on weekends. iraqi crew. often we end up talking about how to save the middle east.
enjoy your trip AP,
perhaps it is a little known early morning fact, but i did found TC on the second page once. it was around 18 th page or something...
I just want to say - I love Mexico. Even though I can't see half the shit I want to see because there are massive protestor tents lining the entire Paseo de Reforma right up to the Zocalo and beyond, but the energy in this place is mind blowing.
I'm out. Oh Camino Real is an awesome hotel - cudos Legoretta. Stupid expensive though - I accidentally paid 65.00USD to get my socks and underwear washed. I guess that makes both me and the prices stupid.
I wish I knew Spanish. You'd think I'd know it better than I do having grown up in Phoenix, but at the time I didn't think it was important. Anyway I wish I knew Spanish so I could speak with all the laborers who do so much work on our job sites. Your Iraqi crew must have a ton of opinions, Orhan.
I haven't been posting much because I've been WORKING! Yes I'm swamped and trying very, very hard to manage my newly under construction project not just well but excellently. These clients are wonderful and very well-connected, and the design is one I'm really proud of, so I want to do right by the entire project and right now it's demanding a lot of time.
AP hope you are having fun - hardcore of you, checking in from London, will you also log on in Spain?!? You rock.
Also I've seen vado recently and as far as I know he is fine, so no worries out there - didn't he say something about a date last weekend and not being around until Sunday night, maybe he means THIS Sunday night as right now he;s poting a ton, musta been a good week vado!!
27008 views ... wow
first time ever but i just spent the entire morning working in my pjs. not cuz i wanted to, just that i suddenly got way too busy and didn't have time for a shower or nuthin. contractor calling, talking to computer guy to fix my stupid wireless connection, e-mails up the yazoo, and work to do on top of it...shitty side about working out of the home is that the stuff can sudenly jump on top of regular life...
damn.
sounds very fun LB. hope you impress big time and get a shitload of work from referals.
just sending out a greetings from Taipei! made it last night and i actually got a solid 6 hours of sleep. which is more than i was getting last week while NOT jet-lagged.
I have a direct line of site view to Taipei 101 out the window at my parents' place. However, it is still not bright enough to take a good photo... perhaps in a few.
I had a dream last night that I went into work (only the fourth day since i left the office and i'm already dreaming about it!).
suns up!
good morning taipei (101)!
Wow. I love TC and our world travels! On a side note I thought my internet went down a little while ago and I almost lost it.
Hope everyone had a great weekend. I still can't believe the Crocodile Hunter is gone.
Still in Mexico, still love it. But one question, anybody know what the deal is with no toilet seats on the toilets, it´s not everywhere but still 9 times out of 10.
I´d ask a local but well it´s a little embarrassing to work through the language barrier on this particular topic.
i am doing this interior remodeling job for a hair salon. on top of charging the client for design fees, i am also making like 15% 0n the contractors fees for the given budget. because i have turned into a sub-outer, per say. i request a progress payment and they pay me. in turn, i pay my licenced subs like painter, electrician, carpenter/cabinet maker, plumber, upholstrer and purchase of some critical materials etc. it is sort of design/built without doing it right as a firm...
i am sort of like a cowboy doing it point and shoot way after some sketches and samples. so far everybody loves it and we are 70% done.
i like the position of having the financial control as well as the design which pretty much gives me the freedom to make faster decisions they basically accept. i am so far with realistic completion allocations, about 500$ over on 35K of construction budget and it is with some extra work build into it. so, i am about 700$ under budget in reality and that includes my 15% holdings..
i think, i'd like to go into the direction of design and sub out the construction type of projects. i tend to think of it as architect and his builder consultants for small projects ie;
small interior design, small architectural remodels (up to 2000 sq ft. on uncomplicated circumstances.)
i wouldn't do that in large complicated projects like new house on a hill side etc., but small ones that i know how to make easy to built.
i am going to offer this kind of handling, if, i trust the clients or they trust me on paper and on princple.
my question is;
should i use aia's design-built contract even though i have no legal partner with a contractors license, but i have somebody with it and i will hire him and he guarantees his work? so as my electrician, painter, plumber, finish carpenter and others.
or am i owners agent/project maneger during construction?
lets say for these small projects, i work with my usual subs who know me and i know them through successfully completed projects and everybody is confident they can do the project at hand no problem. and owner signs a paper with me that, i won't be held responsible for unforseen stuff financially.
i tell you. it saves clients money, because i charge or allocate less than the GC. since i do the design and break it down more realisticly about how to build it. i make more money because i get 15% for the construction also. i give them a realistic expectations with the money from the builders point of view. instead of the clients being in the mercy of a GC doing design revisions and alternatives, they come to me and i do those tasks based on my overall design schema.
i am now thinking of getting a contractors license as well since i already have few years of credentials working for somebody who had a GC's license.
just thinking out loud and trying to plot better ways of making money guys...
Orhan, your logic seems to make sense, generally. I'm not familiar with the legal implications of what you are trying to do, however your demonstrated enthusiasm makes it seem like a "no brainer."
While everything has worked well with your subs in the past, do you have an idea of how you would handle the situation if something were to go wrong? (i.e. the project falls behind schedule or you encounter unexpected challenges in what initially looked like a "simple" project, etc.)
i'm not sure if anyone else here at thread central has already mentioned it, butthis thread has re-affirmed my faith in life...i think i can make it another week now.
thank goodness for our danish friend.
DCA, thanks. yes there is always some risk involved. that is why i include another 10% contengency for that and that makes me feel covered in the beginning and i dip into it as a see the project well progressed and i can start to see the end game and clients see it too. like in this case of hair salon interiors, they are seeing a lot of stuff got done and they are aware of extras since i've kept them informed and priced the extras and kept a record. i am really enjoying keeping cross calculations about analysing the budget and all. economics of the project is really interesting area i'd like to learn more.
they are now asking me to give them a design for the exterior after they saw i made the whole thing stream lined for them and things are going as projected.
probably i still didn't fullfil your question but i am also aware of more complicated ways of proper insurance contracts and more. but it is really about feeling comfortable after 20+ years of experience of doing this and being able to calculate the things that can go wrong.
i guess taking a project apart is a good way to start putting it together.
puddles, galleri silver screen is really pretty out there from my angle too. per is a heavy weight...
Orhan, can you cannibalize an AIA design/build contract into something that works better for you?
I'm right on board with you thinking that this is a better route, both as a delivery system to your clients and as a way for you to make more money and have more control therefore less headaches. (Congrats on getting the exterior project, now too!) I have mentioned possible design-build to my partner but he is completely uninterested in it, at elast for now. But we are both in there helping with cabinetry installation and hanging curtains and whatnot lots of the time anyway, so why not make it more formal I wonder?
Anyway, good luck on this. Especially with how beautiful and intentional your work is, it only makes sense that you not bring in a third party who wants to make money for himself at the possible expense of your ideas. You need to work with builders who understand your intent, so who better than you?!? And everyone is happier when there are less phone calls like: "well can you come by and look at how we should deal with this right away? 'Cuz otherwise the electricians have nothing more to do so they'll head to another job for therest of the week"
Yay for you taking this project on so personally. And the extra 15% doesn't hurt!
why does every mundane thought, newspaper blurb, inane question warrant the creation of a new thread???
sounds very cool orhan. i have no clue about the legal aspects of your work, but within the confines you have set i can't imagine things getting too squirelly, especially with all your experience. i know only one guy here in tokyo who follows your model, except with houses and not interiors. he has a contractors licence and an architectects licence and from what i can see does very well. he also personally cares for all of his buildings and intends to do do until he dies. they are all very carefully built and personal buildings and quite special. am sure you will do the same, and with similar results....good luck !
who knows, vado? more to the point, why does it bother you? lay down on my sofa and tell me what's troubling you....;-)
maybe i'll start a thread about it...
anyway this is thread central the place to rant about other threads.
maybe i'll make forty threads today and hit 4000!
good luck vado... you should make a thread about how the thread central thread is so long
Maybe Vado's 4000 post could be TCs 4000 as well, though he'd need to hold off a couple of days.
yes lb, also from Barcelona, but only to check in on TC and read my buddy +q.´s first blog entry...
...we´re staying in an apartment near Rambla del Raval, and there´s an internet cafe directly beneath us...cheap too...plus, I had to check my email ´cause MADianato is helping me with his local connections - thanks to him we´ll be visiting 2 local architecture studios with our professors and former peers...our teachers are as psyched as we are...
ya dubK, the coincidence of TC travel is cool - ACfA in Taiwan, LostInSpace/aka urbanspec in MExico, you just returned from London, i´m sure I´m forgeting someone...speaking of London, lb and dubK can expect postcard #1 to arrive shortly...probably another from here......
oh, and lb, I purchased On Bullshit from the shop at the Tate in London and freakin´ loved it. thanks for mentioning it. I read it in a few hours, and will likely read it again in the next few days...
Warning: rant begins:
Dangitall, I HATE it when this happens!! A year and a half ago I found this amazing Marimekko fabric and thought "Wow, that would be so bold and cool as a big graphic piece of fabric on a bed" so I bought a couple yards of it and had it made into a duvet cover for my super, super cool client's master bedroom, with the Aalto zebra chairs and impeccable wood panelling...
Well I open the freakin' cb2 catalogue today and there it is, the EXACT same idea:
cb2 won't let me link directly to the image blah!
The new! Lumimarja bedding from Marrimekko brought to you by cb2!!!
Ugh, I feel so mainstream. Or at least I feel like that is the perception people will haveof me now if they see the awesome bedroom I did for this client!! Sigh...
(rant over)
Yay AP checked in! Glad your trip is going so well. I didn't realize On Bullshit was such a quick read, I definitely need to get it. Especially after reading a bit of text in the current issue of Dwell that about choked me with the pure bullshit evident in it as compared to the picture it was describing....Safe travels and have fun with MADianito!
AP you are already in Spain!? Are you looking for jobs there?
Getting paid for a trip is so "typical Dutch" of you. I saw karel in Poland this summer, you should hit'em up while in the NL.
Best o' luck and have fun,
q
lb, unless your clients milieu is especially design savvy, i don't think most of your audience will recognize marimekko OR cb2. you'll only have a problem if target starts carrying it. (and it is very nice.)
The archinect eds are making good changes so far! Well, I miss the "views" and updated calendar, but maybe they are merely getting reworked and will be coming back...
what about the crocodile hunter? tough break/he deserved it/we'll miss him always?
discuss...
well, first off, he does not desever cnn's front page for the whole day, but cnn has been pissing me off all summer. BBC all the way!
Second, is anyone surprised the guy died? I mean come on! It's sad, but didn't we see this coming?
BTW, help give suggestions for my friend on NYC firms on THIS THREAD.
And sorry I haven't been around much the last couple weeks. I'm trying to do well on at my job during my last couple weeks here. That means archinect must suffer :-(
We do, suffer, SBD, we do.
I'll tell ya what I'm suffering under right now: another pay period ending with $5 in my bank account, while I simultaneously specify 1.25 times my annual salary in kitchen cabinets for a client. Cabinets only, no countertops or pulls. Sigh.
But hey, fall is coming, which is great: autumn is one thing the Midwest *definitely* knows how to do right!
oh, i know that pain lb. i think there was a time, ageas and ages ago when i actually believed architects could afford to live in the nice things they designed. pity it isn't true....at least not yet. but i still have hope. ;-)
you can get here for 5 bucks lb. although you may not get back...
vado, where is here?
I think that's somewhere called Brown County, Indiana, SBD. I recall vado trying to convince me to go visit it last year.
Reminds me of my first fall at Ann Arbor after 20 yearsof living in Phoenix: autumn completely blew my mind, I brought handfuls of leaves into studio every day and showed my wearing studio mates "Look!! Look at how beautiful this is!! How can I save this excruciating beauty?!" Little did I know fall just comes again the following year!
jump, it's only on the bad days I really feel that way. Truth is my house - still not quite even finished - is exactly what I want to live in. It's the nicest house I know, because it's exactly how I want it. Yes I wish my kitchen cabinets were ArcLinea instead of Kraftmaid, but they are hand painted by my husband. Yes the bamboo floor is not as nice as I expected, but I see it as a learning experience every day. A local TV crew came by to interview Brian last weekend for his public art installation, and the minute these guys hit the door they started gushing about how cool our house is. I certainly don't think I'm alone in this: I thinkmost people walk into most architects houses and see a loving, intentional touch, whether expensive or on the cheap, that they admire.
OK I need to go work on my manifesto now. And I'm considering a "View" submittal, though the Views section is still MIA? I agree with myriam: some cool new things happening on Archinect. I love the expanded school blog list on the front page, probably necessary at the beginning of the year as everyone checks in!
"I thinkmost people walk into most architects houses and see a loving, intentional touch, whether expensive or on the cheap, that they admire"
lb, that requires architects to have that loving, intentional touch...and let's face it, many architects don't have such.
I refuse to believe that, SBD!!!
Though I did get drunk and insult one once who probably didn't. OK, maybe you're right.
Speaking of drunk.....
.....red wine is a bitch.
i know too many who don't care. but most do, as you say, LB.
my own place is just plain old tatami, no walls to speak of, even though in a white concrete box 5 stories off the ground....a 30 year old kitchen (!) and wiring and plumbing from hell...but it is very comfy. and for japan very roomy, which is in the end a huge luxury here.
i know it is bad for me to say so but i rather like places that aren't designed down to the last screw and definitley hate co-ordinated furniture, and my home is more or less testament to that. it is ready for roughhousing by children and adults alike. which is great for my daughter cuz she can nail her blankets to the wall to make a tent if she wants to...;-)
the expanded school blogs is very nice. hope the students continue to post...
Argh, jump, I totally agree with you!!! Does this make us bad architects?! Of course not. I think it has more to do with genuinely liking people as they are and enjoying the quirks they bring to their personal space. It's like Loos' proclamation about his family house, that it was their house with [/i]their[/i]things that were meaningful for them whether they were stylish or proper or not (I mayt be misrepresenting Loos but that was my reading of it).
Problem is I want to design everything for my clients but! then have them make the place their own with their art and personal items. I can't stand rooms that look like a designer brought in every little thing - was in a home last week like this, several million dollar home AND several million in interior furnishings and art yet every room was so impersonal.
Also I've bought two houses and rented two apartments and all were totally emotional decisions made in seconds. And I hope I never design for myself a house from the ground up, I'd rather work with something existing.
Anyone else want to get rich with me? Let's go "house flipping".
Seriously, who has some money for me to start.
Ok. Not seriously, but it's tempting.
I am unclear on where I stand on the "loving touch". I have see some pretty bad stuff out there where the architect was trying to impress, and I agree that personal stuff is what makes a place. Though I also think designers can design down to every last screw, but there are so few out there that have done it well. So for the most part I'd say it's best to leave room for the personal things.
For me, more often totally plain houses are much more comfortable, or just "work" better because of what someone has done to it with their stuff - their personality.
i'm so sick of houses...i really wish they would finish that freedom ship already so i can just move away...
What's with the "anonymous" job postings?! They're entitled to learn all about you but you can't know anything about them?! What an absurd waste of time! I would never want to work for a firm that considers itself so important that it can't even deign to reveal itself to job seekers. What kind of potential hires are they gonna get with an anonymous posting, anyway?! I wouldn't want a WORKER who would respond without knowing a thing about the firm!
i am with you on the don't design down to the screw....a house just is not that kind of machine where it is all to run like a factory! it is all about the freedom the owner has to work within the framework you provided. of course on that note i hate doing spec houses (while nicely designed they are generic.) they give realtors too much power :)
give me a custom house any day that i get truly customize spaces to fit a family/person's lifestyle.
puddles...i was glad to see a casino is on there. i was worried.
Hey guys my first news post made it! Woohoo! Go look at the news!
Alive. About as broke as Liberty Bell.
My mother gets into the country on Sunday, and I have a LOT of cleaning to do. And a trip to Ikea. My bf and I are speeding up a re-arrangement that we'd been contemplating as a result of her stay with us. See, we've got one of those crappy one bedroom apartments where the bathroom connects to the bedroom, not the living room, so when we have guests there is zero privacy. Then we have the problem of my little book addiction that has consumed our living room.... so we're solving this by getting one of these, and using it as a wall that will separate the actual bed area from the closets & bathroom area. So it's going to be a busy weekend, rearranging, but I love that stuff. Do you guys get that urge to rip your homes apart and rearrange them every few weeks, too?
I miss the competition listings on the calendar section. = (
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