I'm gonna throw something in here... that there are branches of my gouvernements public servants (not policy people... just random wankers with enough seniority to make demands) who are presently running crusades to have "designated shooter" safe spaces in federal gov offices. These are otherwise functioning adults but we keep wasting our time explaining to them (to their outrage) that the building code does not change based on the USA's inane gun loving orgies and its obvious casualties. 

We're better than this as design professionals and no, we're not going to start placing poor public servants in windowless boxes with doors that cannot be opened from the outside. We even had to explain to them is a graphic way why multi stall bathrooms (specifically the women) should not have a auto-lock safety function preventing outside access. 

 I've probably said too much now.

Keep talking, Non. It's important.

Jla, moving away from gun obsession is not the total answer, but it is a large part of it. IMO, anyone who owns weapons outside of hunting (which are locked un unloaded 99% of the time) is a nut.

I suppose they'd murder fewer people since I know of no other weapon capable of mowing down double digits of humans in single digits of minutes. The goal isn't to totally eradicate murder, it's to keep more people alive. Removing the gun from the equation keeps more people alive. Plain & simple.

Cool story, but that's not significant enough to justify the obsession (and illusion of safety). My point still stands.

So start with the easy one and call gun ownership nuts what they really are: nuts. Then once it's established, like in all other modern places, that this is backwards as fuck crazy, then you can also address the rest of your nonsense. Simple, see? (/S) Until then, if you support gun ownership, you're part of the problem regardless of how many anecdotal examples you state.

I disagree. Owning a firearm, as I stated above, is nuts.  You're actively supporting gun violence by your position.

it would... if a roundhouse kick could level a classroom in 3seconds. Until then, please stop digging that hole.

I have not. You're conflating gun obsession with reason.

I would rather not have a gun in my home. The odds that someone will enter my home with a gun is infinitesimally small compared to the ever present danger of the "just in case" gun.

incorrect again. how's the hole now?

And you're not understanding that access to, and the dumb idea that one needs to own firearms, are the root of the issue. If you can't wrap your head around that one then all you're good for is digging holes.

I have no issues with reminding people that gun ownership is nuts and nothing more than a illusion. I treat it like any other invisible friend nonsense like religion. We're better off without the illusion regardless of what your archaic ingrained feelings are.

I don't live in a violent society. Perhaps that's because guns, and it's idiotic must-own dogma is not a thing here. Regardless, promoting ownership for (the illusion of) safety only adds more weapons and more variables in society. This only leads to more "accidents" which then leads to more guns due to fear of such "accidents". It's a dumb way to live it and it would get much more ridicule if it was not so fucking sad. I guess we can only rely on thoughts and prayers for the foreseeable future... speaking of illusions.

It's not, but guns as heavily restricted and no-one is allowed to cary them on their person. We also have strict laws about purchase, transport, and storing. Gun violence here is directly related to the easily obtainable american weapons that are brought over the border. Not ideal, but no-one can just go out and purchase semi-auto toys or pistols on a whim. Just not a thing and articles like the wiki entry ignores that many of those weapons are hunting (or to fend off polar bears)... very very few are handguns and none are of the AR-whatever type.

also, no source on the 10million of undocumented weapons for Canada... so that's not really a reliable article. What is this, high school research time?

JLA, there is literally no rational for owning any of those types. They simply should not be made available for sale.

Regardless of the outcome of any possible regulations for guns, can we begin regulating stupidity? https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-body-armor-armed-rifle-sparks-panic-missouri-walmart-n1040676

Saw that this morning and am not surprised. Dumb people will do dumb things. Dumb people with access to guns will do dumb things with said guns. Can't stop people from being dumb and apparently everyone is ok with easy access to weapons. Its your mess M'urica and all your hands are dirty by association to the 2A obsession nonsense. Thoughts and prayers to all affected. /s

The "killers gonna kill" argument ignores the very obvious fact that instruments of death have a wide range of deadliness and assault rifles have no purpose other than to kill as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time. It's a bullshit argument and at this point everybody ought to know better.

Idiots and maniacs will always exist, but like I said at the top of this dumb thread - I know of no other weapon capable of mowing down double digits of humans in single digits of minutes. The goal isn't to totally eradicate murder, it's to keep more people alive. Removing the gun from the equation keeps more people alive. Plain & simple. 

Yep, and the weapons remain a problem too. Try to keep up Jla.

reducing availability will make it less likely that someone gets such stupid guns in the first place. The root is access to and the inane cavalier attitude people have to an utterly useless and dangerous "god given right". Stop painting it as something else because you need a murderous toy to feel safe.

"Would banning guns stop or reduce suicide?" 

Yes https://www.apha.org/policies-and-advocacy/public-health-policy-statements/policy-database/2019/01/28/reducing-suicides-by-firearms

"A murderous nut bag isn’t going to stop because of a specific type of gun being less available." 

JFC can you read? I *specifically* said stopping murder is not the goal, harm reduction is the goal. Removing a tool of expedient murder will make murder less expedient and keep more people alive. If someone goes on a murderous rampage and kills 2-3 people instead of FUCKING FIFTY, I'd consider that a victory. You're missing the damn point, with such repetition that I have to assume it's on purpose.

"They seek to mitigate and reduce damage rather than address the root of the problem." 

Why not both? There's nothing about addressing a crisis of mental illness that precludes also addressing a culture of fetishized violence.

The problems are multivariable and the solutions are multifaceted, and we are currently addressing zero of them while using the multi-variability as a wedge to avoid addressing any given one. 

Furthermore, using the impossibility of perfection to stop any attempt at reduction is a bad faith argument.

Useless possession for the average joe. It is absolutely useless to own the "assault" type ones and it is ridiculous to argue that one has to right to own them.

One should stanch the bleeding before addressing the injury. 

For the umpteenth time, no one is suggesting that we should ban semi-automatics and then do nothing else ever. It's step one, and using the existence of later steps to avoid doing step one is a very, very reductive and counterproductive line of thinking.

step 2 is get rid of even more guns. step 3 is education, step 4 is return to steps 1 and 2.

In policy terms I'm not sure, but as a goal Step 2 should be to address the crisis of radicalization of young American men towards misogynist and extreme-right violence. 

I think a lot of it is borne out of a crisis of masculinity that our culture is experiencing, where the ideas of what it means to be a man in our society are suddenly thrown into turmoil and doubt. At the same time, not enough is done to create a safe place for boys to explore that new territory and define identities for themselves. Much in the same way that the political void created by a toppling of authoritarianism was filled not by democracy but by Al Qaeda and ISIS, the cultural void created by the toppling of traditional masculine / feminine roles is filled by extremists and opportunists who provide simple (but wrong) answers to people with complicated (but well-intended) questions. 

I don't know how to solve the problem, but I think that's the problem. But before we can tackle the long arduous process of de-radicalizing young American men, we need to quickly stop more of them from killing us.

How to create a culture that fosters vulnerability and emotional confidence in the next generation of boys is something that I think about a lot now that I'm approaching probable fatherhood.

Correct Jla, no guns is a good end result. Those who want to hunt can have their weapons locked in a secure storage facility and need to make the proper travel arrangements when said weapon is out in the public realm. They should also need to maintain annual cont-ed (at their cost) in order to maintain their license (oops... I mean bullshit 2A right). Side note, I added the air-quotes to assault because I know it's a trendy media buzz word.

I don't want to ban guns but I do want to make it much more difficult to purchase and keep guns. I say this as a gun user and soon to be owner.

I want it to be nearly impossible to own one and with mandatory annual training and inspections. If you want your silly murderous toys, then take your responsibilities seriously.

tduds, you should get a single shot barrel loading musket.

My grandfather has a barrel loading musket. I'd love to inherit it.

Don't really care for the copy-paste wall of text JLA. I still stand by my point. No reason for the gun obsession and security paranoia. We get it, you've submitted yourself to that nonsense and can't think your way out of it. It's a shitty lowest common denominator type position too, but whatever, you just keep pushing that self-defense nonsense. The solution to guns is more guns... sure it is. What a idiotic position to take.

aaand with that I'm out.

But, are you really?

It’s dumb because easy access to guns is the reason you’re in this mess so your defense solution is akin to saying: we fucked up, so now let’s get more guns out there to protect ourselves from our past mistakes. The criminal angle is weak and does not add any value to your horrible position.

"Can you explain why it’s a dumb concern that many many people will be unable to defend themselves from criminals who don’t care about following gun laws?" 

Because it's a scenario that occurs with such extreme rarity that it doesn't even begin to justify all the innocent lives taken by the very same guns. 

There are good reasons to own firearms, a vigilante fantasy is not one of them. 

(Ok I guess I lied about being out)

To Tduds point, I am far more worried about the random joe with a gun than a criminal with a gun. There are far more of the former too.

Every bad guy with a gun thinks they are a good guy with a gun.

sorry, wrong thread

You still don’t get it Jla. You really are part of the problem. Congratulations at holding back social progress.

You’re hopeless. It’s very alarming that someone so detached from reason owns a firearm. Very happy that there is a good political border between me and folks like you.

Guns aren't on the back to school supply lists yet. Should they be? Kids need to be able to protect themselves somehow.

Are there Disney and paw patrol graphics on them?

See my previous comment regarding your hopelessness. I guess this subject is too difficult for you. You’re one “queen will come and take our land” comment away from going full Balkins here.

I don’t think you’re very good at this. None of these change my initial position. You’re still a fool and probably should not own weapons.

I am exactly making that statement.

More precisely, I' saying that small incremental steps does fuck-all to calm the gun obsession fires.  Go full nuclear on this or keep pilling on more guns. 

Those people are fools

By this logic you should never take Ibuprofin.

I'm frequently pre-stressed.

A pre-sressed emoji is a great idea too!

I guess I can't use the emoticon keyboard from my phone here... I tried to use a closed umbrella emoticon... I felt it was appropriate.

Ha, yes. I just thought you were showing the ultimate expressionless expression which works somehow too.

#Postmodernpostension

Client coming to you after realizing they hired a faker ?

Not this time... this is all internal hence my reluctance to expand.

You all get a vacation? That's one part that sucks about changing employers ... all the vacation time you've accrued can't transfer with you. Yeah, the payout made my last paycheck nice, but I have to spend the time earning the vacation hours at the new job before I get to use them.

NS you could be describing my current project. We all know it is a dumpster fire, but still helpful to have our QA/QC person point it out. And I doubt one person can save it at this point, I doubt we can be...

Oye, not looking like I’m in the clear. We may be inheriting a 30-million project as you describe in Bench.

We recently inherited a project right in our niche market typology because one of our main competitors couldn't complete it. Looking through the Revit model for the first time .... holy crap. Always good to know that you're better than the guy you compete with.

Bench, I've seen that happen on some of our inherited models too. On one particular project, the office felt it a good idea to give it to a new hire (who had swooned over ownership with software skills). That person took the model as is and attempted to work with it instead of fixing it. I had to pull away from other projects for nearly a month to get that model back into working order. This was after permit docs were completed so we were passed the abandon and start over phase. That staff left shortly after and most of the CA work had to be done in CAD.

Cant remember the last time I used cad ....sounds awful. We started a new model from scratch on day 1, definitely the way to go.

After the project in my example, I only do new models. Juniors in the office don't get it, yet, which is very frustrating. We're 50/50 CAD/BIM due to interior jobs, smaller projects, and aging senior staff (without quality & reliable support). eugh.

I keep checking my mailbox... still no invite.

I must have forgotten to add Canadian postage.

dickin around or not, you had some solid contributions on the "trial by fire" thread.

Tduds, I’ll check my neighbors igloo maybe they received it instead.

Planning “a” wedding or planning your wedding?

I'd never plan a wedding that wasn't my own. I don't know why anybody would.

10hr days start to get rough very quick especially if a big chunk of that time is spent on the phone and managing site fuck-ups. Our office is working at full capacity at this time and we’re turning away large (and small, no judgment
here, #allprojectsmatter)projects because there is not enough senior staff available to oversee them.

I understand the motivation to get while the gettin's good, but I really wish the industry would calm down every so often.

Gonna miss fixing those 2 13/16 over 12 roof pitches and columns in front of doors. :(

Sounds like you lucked out.

I may have misunderstood. Not getting oofed. I guess that's good.

Extremely. And this is after layoffs.

definitely not slow. Been working 50-60 hour weeks the past few weeks because we are having a hard time finding support staff.

I have heard that other offices in our market are a little slow - but we definitely aren’t.

My team has a ton of work. Other teams in my office are in a lag as their projects either haven't started or are wrapping up.

Extremely busy, but still nervous about a potential slowdown because I've heard other firms are a bit slow.

Bring on the recession! Maybe the firm I'm at can finally hire some help for us. Or even better, maybe i'll get laid off...

I'm busy and I refuse to do overtime cause I can't be fucked.

Very busy with many deadlines stacked ontop of each other. I've been given some staff to help but it feels like it's taking longer piece the projects apart than if I did them all myself.

@sneakypete what's your market? i was very slow since april, got some stuff to do now. commercial work in east asia.

Generally slow, but coming in waves, so there'll be a week of having to stretch to find enough billable hours, followed by a week or two of insanity. On the other hand, they seem to be planning some hiring in the near future, so apparently there are projects in the pipeline.

Just did. Now that I'm a short timer, I'm being an unapologetic fuck to all the general contractors, but for all the right reasons.

Some of us older architects used to call that phase "tempering of an architect". Basically, like a piece of steel, you get pounded over and over until you get hard. The idealistic spirit of your youth has been purged out as a impurity in your metal.... Welcome aboard! Now get off my lawn!

sometimes, depends whether it's the work or the people. with good people it's worth trying to make it work.

Tempering is a delicate process. Too hard and the steel becomes brittle and breaks easily; too soft and it loses it's ability to hold an edge.

Not an older architect, nor a metalworker (and I don't really care to "Rich Balkin-ize" the information via wikipedia), but isn't what mightyaa describes forging rather than tempering? Forging is a hammering process, tempering is a heating and cooling process, no?

Getting hammered is part of the process.

^ better than what mightaa used originally "you get pounded over and over until you get hard."

Forging creates the tool, tempering is your boss throwing you (the tool) into the deep end of the quenching oil...you either harden right quick or you crack and explode.

retirement party a couple weeks ago... boss gave a nice talk about the retiring guy named roy and a former principal named Dick. "Dick would come up behind him and start hammering.  He'd follow him around all the time. Roy always took it with a smile."  

Apparently I'm the only one in the office with a dirty mind.

We prefer to be called "Curmudgeon-Americans."

If I had known then what I know now, I would've just stayed where I was 20 years ago, but YMMV of course.

Probably. It's like being an art gallery sponsored by the Sacklers.

Maybe "work hardening" is a better term for this?

Never thought I'd see anime ever on this forum, the times sure have changed.

Heh, where do you guys get your interns. I'm like... we have these 5-7 options (yes, I can't even nail down the number of options) 2 of which are from the principal and the others from the client that will never work. We need option 1, 2, and 5 fully polished up for review, and sketch out the others, flagging why they don't work for internal review. We've scheduled another meeting on Friday for the sole purpose of choosing one option to move forward. Interns respond "when you get back friday you'll have 5 new bad ideas from the client. How about we work on only option 1 and 2 and you do the rest of the busy work. We don't know how to sketch and don't have time to do 7 revit options."

Sounds like your interns are correct. Maybe try listening to them.

Check it out ... https://archinect.com/arch-ellipsis/analysis-of-the-profession-metallurgical-analogy

I like Windows.

I do think THE issue of being able to inhabit buildings in the future is going to be keeping them cool, not warm. Heating is going to become much less of a concern but cooling will be enormously important. Unfortunately, cooling inside air currently requires adding heat to outside air, so it's truly a vicious cycle: the more we cool ourselves, the more we *have to cool ourselves. My goal is for every building to be designed on the Umbrella House typology....which will also look cool. Shade structures everywhere!

Oh and more to your point, archiwutm8: mass timber is the only thing we should be building with.

Donna, are there large-scale lumber farms set-out to anticipate such a conversion from concrete/steel construction to timber? Don't really see the advantage, yet.

sleep outside then? these things seem to work fine in dubai though.

Midlander - it's not just the inside but the materials we use affects the whole urban space, especially where the city haven't been designed to cope with rising temperatures levels. Places like Dubai temperature levels are rising year by year as well, however their cities use master planning techniques to cool down.

My take is concrete, steel, etc. = survivability. Wood is the worst when it comes to surviving mother nature’s wraith. Think of it this way; if you were tasked with designing a building that will still be standing in a hundred years with minimal maintenance, is wood really your goto? Also… just look back to historic architecture before air-conditioning; how did they keep buildings comfortable inside? (thermal mass, creating airflow, water, placement on site, regional architecture to address local climates and material availability, etc.)

mightyaa, when you include having a safe, habitable planet for over 100 years within your maintenance costs, yes, wood is extremely viable. Didn't a big report just come out saying concrete *production* is terrible for the environment? IMO concrete for foundations is fine, but buildings made entirely of concrete aren't environmentally responsible. One could theoretically pour a very robust concrete foundation and slab then build on it with wood - without using plastic, please - and in 100 years tear all that wood down, compost it, and build a new structure on the old footings with newly-grown tree lumber.

Hard to see that work on a commercial or higher density housing project.

Fifty story buildings constructed of wood? Are you serious? A habitable planet in 100 years is an abstraction when your apartment or office building is on fire or rocking back and forth in an earthquake. And we wonder why architects aren't taken very seriously.

there isn't a generalized solution in building construction systems alone. i'm very wary of mass timber. like insulation, it's useful but has big risks. the grenfall tower or mgm grand killed hundreds due to smoke and flame spread without structural collapse. mass timber would only increase the risks of inappropriate finish materials. it was mass timber that failed at notre dame too...

Donna - concrete is one of the biggest if not the biggest pollutants in the world right now.

get your facts correct. fossil fuels represent 87% of CO2 emissions. concrete production represents about 5%, half of which is fossil fuel consumption. new tech allows trapping CO2 in concrete, ideally sourced from industrial waste recovery.

i'm making a new thread for this. too hard to keep replying in small text blocks.

we must learn from the firemen

that was supposed to say fremen

Production of Portland cement is responsible for 8.0 to 8.9% of all global warming emissions, according to the most recent, reliable sources, and use is increasing each year. Fly ash (or other pozzolan admixes) can replace up to 40-50% of standard mixes, with no loss in strength, but some effects on working characteristics. There are CO2 capturing technologies such as CarbonCure and other ways to reduce the detrimental effects of concrete, but an easy approach is to minimize its use when possible. Using renewable resources, responsibly, makes more sense than using carbon-polluting materials, when we are rapidly running out of time to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

Miles - concrete produces 4-8% of the world's C
, I'd consider that a lot.

Sorry, I’ve got too many dumpster fires at the office at the moment that need attention.

Is your entire office just made up of dumpsters? I ask because those things seem to get set on fire a lot in your office.

I'm guessing you were not impressed.

I've enjoyed / not-enjoyed telling owner's reps to please shut up and let me do the job they hired me for on punch walks...

Hell, I'm a dude, and would love to work with more female clients and contractors. I really hate the dick-swinging, even when I win.

Get ready for a jlax tirade.

Counterpoint ... I speak Spanish and have never found the need to use it on a project site, YMMV

I’ve encountered more people who only speak Mandarin than those who only speak Spanish. The Spanish speakers also seem to come without cultural protocols that will obscure communication.

I'm good with my 2 official languages. Don't need a 3rd.

I know just enough to give small comments and it seems to give me a little bit more respectability with the crews. It's usually the same phrases that they can speak in english, but I guess I'm showing effort to communicate with them?

jla-x, are you certain that I don't work in the SW?

I agree, I wish I spoke Spanish fluently, but I've been able to get bye without it because most crews have a bilingual supervisor I can communicate with.

Like Steeple, I've had more trouble with Asian languages, where often even the supervisors barely speak any English.

I worked with a lot of Chinese contractors in an old job on the east coast (We did a lot of restaurant work, with a lot of asian restauranteur clients). I speak extremely basic Mandarin - which turned out to be useless as most American Chinatowns started as Cantonese diasporas. It was here I first learned the usefulness of being able to draw a detail on the fly on a a piece of plywood.

I love finding random details drawn on pieces of scrap / plywood / gyp board / sheathing / whatever is close by on job sites. I usually try to snap a photo of them when I see them. We should have a thread dedicated to these.

I support this idea, Everyday! I love those sketches too.

My guess is it's hiding the beer cooler

Seemed pretty haphazardly thrown in the back for the beer cooler. In my head I started imagining the contractor giving the workers a version of the Stanford marshmallow experiment to see if they can follow directions. Of course that then led to me wondering if I can incorporate this into the specifications somehow to ensure the contractor reads the project manual (like Van Halen's no brown M&Ms request) ... "a bowl of white mini marshmallows shall be provided at every OAC meeting."

may not contain outer most layer of marshmallow or marshmallow "crust"

"Sealant Backing Material: Nonstaining; compatible with joint substrates, sealants, primers, and other joint fillers; and approved for applications indicated by sealant manufacturer based on field experience and laboratory testing. Marshmallows are not acceptable sealant backing materials."

"Silencers for Metal Door Frames: BHMA A156.16, Grade 1; neoprene or rubber; minimum diameter 1/2 inch (13 mm); fabricated for drilled-in application to frame. Marshmallows are not acceptable."

What about the marshmallow SIP?

What's the effective R-value/in. of mallow?

For the SIP or for the human being?

Are you going to start stacking up human beings for insulation!?

Goodness no, that’s a thermal break.

You rang?

OK I clicked through to the article and now my work day is shot to hell. Thanks a lot, Sneaky :-)

There better be some sweet caulk pics in that link...

I'm an architect, come on. I definitely always notice caulk everywhere I go.

Join the party then... pics required.

I hate it when a GC texts pics of his caulk, very unwanted.

I ask my GC for un healthy amounts of caulk pics.

Happy wedding things!

It's my 15 year anniversary this weekend. Gulp.

congrats tduds and tintt :)

I'd like to see a section, which might or might not include a hatch to the deck above. Then info on alarm devices and any locks that may or may not have been engaged.  Don't know if that's puritanical or not, but it might shed some light.

By puritanical - and I'll allow for a shitty plan - I mean that access to the showers appears to not be directly connected to the sleeping quarters? It seems uniquely stupid to have that many people - sleeping - below the "exit" and only have one means by which you egress?

Sad? Yes. But I refuse to share any "guilt by association. "

That's great for you.

Easy peasy. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_architecture

"Naval architecture, or naval engineering, along with automotive engineering and aerospace engineering, is an engineering discipline branch of vehicle engineering, incorporating elements of mechanical, electrical, electronic, software and safety engineering as applied to the engineering design process, shipbuilding, maintenance, and operation of marine vessels and structures."

Please explain how I share any responsibility, direct or otherwise, when I am not an engineer. The most I share with the people who designed this boat is my humanity.

Know when you're being trolled.

I've not really found b3tadine[sutures] to be a troll. Passionate, sure. Antagonistic? Argumentative? Sometimes. But not a troll.

How can I troll, when I honestly believe that despite this being a boat, it does involve something that is our core competency; egress. Sure, we aren't technically responsible, but why shouldn't we have a say in the basic life safety principles? This isn't even that far outside our purview, architects have been involved in some capacity in boat designs forever. This, this is low hanging fruit, and we, if we had any real pull, should push for consultancy around boats and habitation.

^^ Thank you for that: well-stated, relevant, and most importantly, nuanced. Much better than "we share in the guilt...".

It's so easy to pop-off with a quick rejoinder (he said, as an expert), but the clarifying addendum is always better and more helpful.

I've always found the complexity and importance of codes undercut by the capitalism connected. Following code is ultimately useless if the person following the code doesn't understand the reasons for doing so, especially when it's complicated and the client is leaning on them to make things happen that cause the professional to look for exceptions or vague language to get it to work. Often times the "why" is found in the commentary, which costs more money and, as such, generally doesn't get purchased.

Yes because only in capitalism are codes undercut. Chernobyl was definitely western sabotage. State operated entities are perfect
!

Chernobyl, was arrogance coupled with incompetence.

archi_dude, things aren't binary just because you want them to be.

I can't say for sure what it is, maybe something out of our childhood, but some architects want to get involved in everything everywhere; that's not how it works, naval architecture and engineering is a separate discipline, as is automotive design, airplane design, motorcycles and bicycles. Do you imagine an architect reviewing the stair details on a cruise ship? Checking clearances on a airplane bathroom? The life and safety mechanisms put in place in boats, planes and cars are an industry standard and work well most of the time, and just like with architecture and public buildings, a tragedy of these proportions may be what they need to review those, but I'm 100% sure they won't be looking at 14 or 16 tomes of codes related to building a permanent structure for human occupancy. We do have a tendency to believe we know more than anyone on a multitude of "space related" issues.

That clown is barking up the wrong tree. He's had issues, and it appears he still does. The exact same reasons that Donna is slamming his ass for. He's everything wrong with Jersey. Everything.

Jersey? I thought he was from Portland, OR

Feuding on Twitter? That's even more pointless than feuding on Archinect.

Everyday, I'm hoping it goes quiet now. I just can't stand by while people say shitty untrue things about my friends.

TBQH, I was surprised he responded to you at all. Looking at his tweets it is just endless self promotion of his podcast and his conference. I figured he has them automated at this point because they aren’t even timely.

Also, I'm glad you called him out on his tirade against certain ARE prep providers and the AIA and NCARB. This is feeling a lot like his complaint with AIA Portland. He wanted to get something from the AIA and NCARB that they weren't going to give him and he's decided to make an issue of it. He'll say it's not personal, but it definitely looks like he's taken it personally.

OMGoodness the stories I’m hearing from online folk right now. Whatever happened to the SMIA list, I wonder?

Am I missing on some juicy action?

Not juicy, just petty. Mostly.

Almost makes me want to get on twitter.

From what I’ve seen in the Facebook group he moderates, you get one chance to piss him off. Once he’s made up his mind about something there is no changing it.
If you push back at all, you’ll get kicked out. He seems ever more likely to burn bridges and scorch the earth than he is to resolve conflict in some type of professional way.

Everyday, that sounds like a lot of Starchitect genius heroes we all know and love, yes? LOL

Most starchitect genius heroes aren't getting into petty arguments about whether the AIA will promote their ARE test prep business. Don't get me wrong, I think the work Michael does to support and encourage young architects, and those aspiring to become one, is incredible and I hope he continues doing it. Maybe he has a little more tempering to go through (shameless self-promotion). I think he turns off a fair number of people just from his approach to conflict, and that bothers me. It probably shouldn't, but it does.

I totally agree with you that the work he does to support young architects is amazing! He seems to work really hard at it and I think he's helped lots of people. But he's burning a lot of bridges, too, and the attitude of unwillingness to compromise on one's own goals is a common perception of the ego-driven reputation that most people have of architects.

May I ask what has he done to burn bridges? I don't follow the guy and didn't find anything online about his 'behavior'. I'm not doubting you, just can't find anything. To be fair I didn't look very hard. I have an MOB to crank out . . .

Sorry I didn't see your question earlier Chad. I think a good example was the Portland AIA thing a few years ago. Rather than just working it out, he decided to leave the chapter ... pay dues to somewhere else ... and start a master list of organizations who he feels are supporting young architects and emerging professionals. 

This thing with Donna has started out down a similar path. He's already blocked her on twitter and posted a diatribe about it on his ARE study group on Facebook. 

There is also a tendency I've seen in his social media posts sometimes where he expects someone to disagree with him ... he'll post a comment like -- look someone will get offended by this -- in an attempt to disarm anyone that might disagree with him. More signalling that you are either with him or offended by him and not worth engaging in a discussion. 

Anyway, that's my $0.02 ... I'm sure others see this differently.

Thanks for the info. I know nothing about the guy and don't know anyone who dose so this is all new to me.

He has a bit of a cult following among the aspiring and newly minted architect crowd. I had heard of him through his terrible website, but didn't really give him much thought until I met him at a conference a number of years ago. He was fun to hang out with for a day or two. I like most of what he's doing even if I don't like the way he does it all the time. 

I will say that I don't think I've heard of one complaint from anyone that has been through his ARE Boot Camp program (which is just one of the many things he does). Plenty of people complain about the cost of it (who aren't in the program), but it seems like if you can afford it and are able to get into it, the value is there.

He used to live here? maybe still does?

Portland that is

I think he left PDX shortly after his kerfuffle with AIA Portland a few years ago. I think he's been living in his van as he travels the country on some type of speaking tour to AIA chapters. I'm not sure if he has a permanent address to call home at this point.

Wow. It seems in line with someone on the edge of sanity.

hi!

Howdy.

hello hello!

Miles, I have to mention that it's unfair to use the term "weasely little bald-headed guy". No comments on personal appearance, please. I feel like we're trying to move past that as a society, aren't we? That's why Michelle Wolf's joke that Sarah Huckabee Sanders "burns facts and uses that ash to create a perfect smokey eye" was so brilliant - it didn't disparage her looks, and it even complimented her makeup skills!

How about "weasely"?

He's clearly not a large, long-haired weasel.

Miles.

A long haired weasel would be an improvement.

There's supposed to be a laughing face emoji after that "Miles" up there, Miles. It didn't come through on the phone.

unless he paid for the fire crew. This is a thing now in the states isnt it? NPR did a piece on it not that long ago. Insurance companies pay something like 30K a day to put out fires around a house, but only if you have the right insurance. They watch your house burn down if not. That is about as libertarian as it gets....anyway, America is a funny funny place, where everyone has a funny, funny face. All the streets are paved with gold. And no one ever grows old... why is this strange song running in my head and where did it come from?

How long have you been working in your profession? Where do you live? What do you like to do outside of work? What is your job title? When and why did you choose your career path? What is the name of your company or employer? Describe your primary duties and skills. Describe your physical work environment. What is your favorite part of your job? What is your salary? (You don't need this if you're uncomfortable with it) Which accredited school did you first attend, and what was your degree? Describe in detail three of the courses that you took that are closely related to your current career. (if you want, you dont need to go too in depth. i can make it up) Describe the two courses that you considered most challenging. What resources did your school have available to help you get through the most difficult courses? [Cite your sources] Regarding the two most challenging courses, how did you persevere? From what school(s) did you receive graduate degrees? What was the title or titles of the degree(s)? What licenses do you have and what were the exams required to receive those licenses? How would your clients and coworkers describe you? What do you hope to accomplish at the conclusion of your career? Why should a high school student consider a career in your field? What important contributions could they make?

I kind of have gotten somewhere. All I need to do is embellish your responses a bit more and I've still got a valid interview. Thanks!

Seriously, a phone call would be easier than answering all of this via text. Also, one could look at an archinect profile and get answers to a lot of these. I'm happy to help, but a list of 21 questions is actually kind of daunting.

Honestly, I can't think of anything to make what I do sound more boring, than to answer a list of questions.

bonus note, my contractor stood me up at a scheduled deficiency review this morning. He's not going to like my site report (the local custodian gave up unsupervised access). I like doing CA, that's not boring. What's boring is delegating work knowing that it's unlikely it'll get done to an acceptable level of care... and that I'll redo everything eventually.

Sequiter, could you describe why civil arch was hard at least? I'm still going to keep everything else, but I'd still appreciate it if you could help out this lazy high school wanker

A'stude, Civil as in Civil engineering. At my uni, it was the course most students retook... some taking it thrice. Failing a 3rd time could easily lead to expulsion from the program. It was a 6hr per week course, with monday morning 8:30am start time and I got a solid A (85-90%). Civil is the generic term for all that is basic material structure and physics calculations. (moment, deflection, rotation, etc). Basically high-school physics on steroids and you have to keep in mind that we have 40+ hours of studio work to do in addition to this.

Thanks, and would you mind me just pulling courses from Uni of Calgary's arch program for some of the questions? (I'm assuming that's where you went) thanks again!

I did not go to calgary and whatever courses were available back when I was in school are unlikely to be the same now anyways. Best to look into the accreditation boards to see what constitutes architecture curricula in your area.

necroposting is one of the only way to organically dig up classics discussions tho.

I don't think so. The people who seem to be doing this are doing it on purpose or they are very new to the forum. The coffee one got kicked back up from someone named Kenneth31? First post/comment ever on Archinect forum

Yeah, I know. It's a tough balancing act because I do enjoy the classics getting dug up. But for every coffee necropost, there are like 50 that are completely useless where the OP was looking for some type of help 5 years ago, and the necropost is well, not really necessary. This literally happened about ten minutes after I posted my questions above. If Ben is still looking at saving costs on his hillside lot, it would have been better to build anything 5 years ago just from a simple cost escalation standpoint.

I saw that one and almost wrote an identical response.

Seems like a timestamp from the last post written should live right next to the title, in the same bold font. This way people might see how old it is, maybe?

Another, more modern, forum I also use doesn’t allow new members (les than something like 100 posts) to post links without moderator approval. That has really helped their problem with spam bot posts which seem to be the vast majority of necroposts.

ARCHINECT - are you listening?

Interestingly enough, archinect moderator approval is required to make your first thread, but not for your first comment. So while we don't get a bunch of spam threads, we do get a lot of spam necroposts. Some mornings I will flag 4 or 5 hoping the moderators get to them before someone else makes a comment in the thread keeping it on the first page. Maybe the solution is to just have the moderators approve first threads and comments.

Archinect mod approval is required for your first thread? I had no idea. Really?

Yep

maybe we should form a union

Revolucion! I don't go on the auto forums any longer, but all of those required approval for pretty much any first-time action.

Donna, I found it out when I switched from Everyday Intern to Everyday Architect. Ironically, I had already posted to my archinect blog under the new name, but your first thread gets moderated. I made a comment about it here on Aug 1.

I went on a spam flagging spree this morning. Assuming someone at Archinect is paid to review every comment I flagged before it get's removed ... wouldn't it be quicker, easier, and more effective at stopping spam to simply pay someone to review each first time comment before it goes live? If not, can I get some store credit to Archinect Outpost for flagging the spam? Maybe promote this as an incentive for others to start flagging the spam too?

X4 time when you don't know anything is not terrible.

I sympathize, Donna. On the flip slide, the Youth probably knows nothing about cabinets, casework, and construction. (Nor did you at that stage.) 

Cue The Circle of Life...

just keep learning. i think the youths and the olds respect each other more when they see you're at least willing to try.

I met an older architect last week who still draws everything by hand. Sounds good to me. I can't keep up with everything and software too lately.

Underrated comment.

...and replacing said parking with more parking... just slightly to the right.

Overrated comment.

Like this? https://www.cnn.com/2015/03/26/europe/king-richard-buried/index.html

I propose the museum of extinct birds to be a massive glass tower so people can witness it first hand.

dude.

axonapoplectic, that's an excellent comment.

being tiefs is good! (that's thief in an Irish accent, remember the Irish have always been on the right side of history). TIEFS.

Happy birthday!

thank you! Google had candles on the letters today...for muah?

and the editors at Archinect are doing a great job.

What are the editors doing a good job with?

they pay attention.

eisenman sucked at being an architect and derrida was not an architect.

that was a Jeffrey Kipnis Separatix reference and a Chora L works reference. it takes at least three (3) shots of Jameson to understand that.

in case you're interested.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/p...

I'm thinking character could be that old drunk guy in the bar rattling off architecture theory, getting under your skin like it was a political/religious conversation?

i would never drink irish whiskey. tschumi is cool.

swiss whiskey? are you crazy? does such a thing exist? ...hold hold on scene from Just Shoot me! (Tschumi!)

'merican futball as per Bernard

whiskey comes from kentucky. Whisky comes from scotland.

none of this is whiskey? https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/drinks/g17804667/best-irish-whiskey/

Those are not included as acceptable alternates in the spec and can be safely replaced with real whiskey. Props to Japanese though. Some of their attempts at whiskey are acceptable substitutes.

acceptable...i had to get my back right tooth capped drinking too much Japanese Whiskey. Japanese do everything better because they want to.

https://drizly.com/liquor/whiskey/scotch-whisky/aberlour-abunadh/p9705

curt, the irish don't make whiskey? (thank you beta)

they try happy. Bless their hearts.

bless their hearts....that's insult. dude how different are the scots form the irish? whiskey is a process and the Japanese did it better than everyone...I mean I love Macallen, but I'll drink Irish Whiskey! then what is Jameson?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yLa8rirQMI

yes, but you wouldn't be here with out the Irish

Stephen the Irishman was cool, but he couldn't make whiskey for shit. Good on him for defending scotch whisky though.

you got me bruh....

yes!

every day in a sense. do it, you need it. nothing good comes out of fighting yourself.

Nope. Could never afford to. It is a fantasy though... Just walk away and flip cars.

Yes. I left and had another career for 7 years then came back to architecture. It was like a nice long nap.

Several times. Once as an apprentice to a Japanese master builder, 3 years that changed the way I look at everything. I,

I’m on a break now, 3 years since the last project.

This sounds like a good independent post. How long. How old were you How did you do it (financially) and what was it like coming back to the h

The work force. No trust funders invited for commenting though. They tend to have a very know it all Zheng attitude that lacks any grounding in real world experience.

I took an involuntary break when I graduated in 09 and did actual work building actual things with my own two hands. It was so incredibly invigorating. I miss it.

I was in my 30’s, it was a paid apprenticeship, barely enough to survive on. Architecture was always feast or famine for me, usually famine. I’ve done a lot of different things. Currently making art, which is also feast or famine. LOL

I took a few sick days this week. A lot of it ended up being working from home, but I got a couple naps in and got to spend time with the dogs.

Not precisely a "career" break since I never looked at my life as some kind of competition to get ahead (that's a career, right?) but I did my first 10 years as an architect building stuff, classrooms, laboratories, offices , etc for my university, the next 10 years were a mixed bag of "urban design" and " community planning" for 2 large firms, and the last 10 years I've been designing and building houses away from cities and suburbs.

I know what you mean. It's been at least ten years since I've had network TV, and I haven't even had a television for the last six years. (We do stream content on a laptop--we're not totally weird...) When I'm somewhere that has a TV blaring non-stop I can't believe other people put up with it. 

 Cannabis is legal in my state but it doesn't seem to help the situation, unfortunately. (Aside from making it more fun to just stay home.)

I've been reading Seneca's "Letters from a Stoic" it has a good deal to say about this topic.

I miss Days Of Our Lives, and Another World.

every time i visit my parents i've got to beg them to shut the damn tv off or i'm off to stay in a hotel. why such nice people tolerate the constant projection of misery and fear into their daily life is incomprehensible to me. some people just need noise despite going to extraordinary lengths to live where there isn't any.

My folk’s tv just plays house reno or signing competition shows on repeat... but then again, we’re not subject to the same media Donna references. My tv serves as a vehicle for hockey and Disney movies.

I haven't watched TV in 10 years. Best 10 years of my life.

There is a universal remote called TV B Gone that turns off all tvs. Great for visits to places where tvs are on all the time. Also fun watching staff try to figure out the problem.

we're speeding up... and can't fill seats with people who can keep this ship afloat.

Honest question - is the office looking to increase compensation to get those people needed in seats? (Not directly looking, just always curious to observe the market back home ...)

Bench, the quick answer is no... The real answer is, I've got no fucking clue but I'm hoping some of this will be cleared up soon. The (commercial) market here is strange. There is far too much activity and zero workforce (both consultant and labour)... but we're not seeing any influx of applications outside of the typical no experience student variety. We "poached" a middle-age arch (with PA experience, apparently) some time ago and I almost lost it trying to coordinate and red-line their work recently. eugh.

Yeah but you work in Canada so you're all a little wonky, at least according to the Rick Moranis movie.

Chad, yeah, things are different here (for the better) and compensation levels just don't compare well to the US.

Being from northern Minnesota I'm basically a Canadian cousin. I can relate.

^I'd invite you to (october) thanksgiving... just leave your imperial system at the border.

I'll try my best. No promises though.

Brewery fo'sure. There is like one new craft brewery in my city everyweek.

Canadian craft beers > American craft beers

Thats great you can make 8 different IPA's, but they all taste like straight saw dust. Meanwhile Canadian breweries are actually experimenting with way more interesting flavour profiles. Personal favourites are the red rye beers, especially in the O-valley.

Rye beers are awesome.

Take off eh!

Classic. I spent way too many hours watching that movie with my friends in HS. I probably have the VHS floating around in a box somewhere. 

Bench, I don't think you have anything to back that claim up other than your own personal bias.

Pete, I second Bench's assertion on the craft beer differences. Come at me bro.

It's all about Czech and German beers, fight me.

^booooooring. At least throw some Belgians in there if you want a chance.

Just around my apartment we have breweries dedicated to sours, belgians, lagers, etc. Even breweries that specialize in ales generally have between 3 and 12 beers that aren't IPAs. I mean, I appreciate the dick waggling that you seem to be going for here, and it's refreshing to see that the idiotic need to posture and preen extends above the 49th parallel, but Bench's post was long on bullshit and opinion and short on actual facts.

^ My favorite local brewery puts out one new brew every Thursday and everyone of them unique and likely never to be redone. I'm a fan of NEIPA tho... not sure I've ever had a bad one of those.  

I think the over-hoppy hipster craft brew jive has died down here.  Sours and %10+ stouts are increasing in popularity.

That's a universal trend. The only thing as likely as a trend is the inevitable backlash to the trend. Gotta love how "individuality" ends up breeding conformity.

Funny story from school: One of my classmates worked at a craft brewery. One day a professor who was disappointed in all of our work was on a tirade and asked, "What are you spending your time on that is so much more important than your assignments?!?!" Cue quiet voice from the back of the room, "I make beer." Professor was literally rendered speechless for the next 10 seconds or so - WIN!

Had a professor that was actively practicing in another town while teaching. Prof was a bit of egomaniac and a douche. He taught a detailing class where we would get little detailing projects as if he where the principal and we where interns at a firm. One day he was laying into us about how poorly we did as a class on an assignment and how we must not be doing the work, and what the hell have you all been doing. One kid said 'Fixing your mistakes'. Said kid was working in a firm that had been hired to do a renovation of on of the prof's projects. Never heard a prof swear like that.

I'd say the average Canadian craft brewery is probably better than the average American craft brewery, but only because the American market is oversaturated with mediocre homebrewers turned pro and entrepreneurial trend-chasers trying to cash in on the craze. Could be I'm just not seeing it because they don't export, but I'm not seeing that oversaturation from Canada & I think it's because the market just isn't as huge.

I'd argue the best American brewers are better than the best Canadian. Not that Canada (& specifically, Quebec) isn't turning out some top-notch beers.

That said, as a proud Oregonian give me hops or give me death.

What's the best IPA in Oregon (in your opinion)?

Tough choice, but lately Breakside's Wanderlust IPA has been doin it for me. Really any IPA from Breakside is likely to knock your socks off.

I'm also partial to Fort George's Magnanimous IPA but it's only available for a couple of months (releasing soon!)

tduds, you need to reactivate that untappd account. Also, wedding? Good? Recovered?

Surly Darkness byatches! IPAs are for nunces.

On the first couple days of fall I am reacquainting myself with porters and stouts - my go-to cold weather beers.

tduds, i think the Canadian market is approaching peak saturation pretty soon. Apparently my own little hometown suburb of a mid-major city has just opened its own microbrewery as well, in a stripmall no less - never thought that would happen. There are about a dozen within a 30-minute drive further away from the city as well, not to mention a slew that have opened in the city itself.

And to the overly serious individuals ... lighten up. Its beer.

The Quebec craft market was saturated long before Ontario had it's first string of breweries. Chalk that up to the long list of provincial regulations and mega conglomerate Beer Store. Less gov regulations now, but there are still enough hurdles to keep things local. Sucks that I can't get many craft brews from the north or other provinces, but it leaves us with decent local craft brews with healthy competition. Walk into a quebec beer store (QC has few distribution laws) and you'll see 800 different breweries with almost identical products. Most are shit if you don't know what to look for.

I would try them all if I had time to.

tintt, judging by some of the depanneur's i have been to for beer runs, it appears there are people who do have the time, and do try them all ... :)

I've tried my fair share of those random QC brews... and my untappd record will back-me up on that one. Tintt has her share of those too I imagine.

I'm always bummed about how many quality local brews decide to go mass market. They have every right and I am not trying to stifle that, but I love finding quality local brews that I just can't find where I live. It's part of why I like to travel. Seeing the beers from the Northeastern US in California kinda lessens their specialness.

NS: Wedding was great. Weather almost was bad but miraculously held off. Honeymoon was magical. I'm "recovered" in that I'm relaxed and re-energized, but still adjusting back into the workday life. Might post some things in here or elsewhere about the past month.

I'm doing marketing research, not wasting time!

That's a vicious rumor that's only partially true.

Only partially . . . .

Thank doG for the ignore button.

Agreed.

this

Those two ^ are really the only Batman and Robin I acknowledge. Although I've enjoyed bits of Gotham - Jada Pinkett Smith and Robin Taylor are both amazing in it, as are the sets/production design. I'm with Sneaky Pete - that thread is lovely when the Ignore feature is engaged!

Last week, I went to a screening of Tim Burton's 1989 Batman movie with a live orchestra. Not only was the music fantastic, but that film is so much fun. I'd forgotten how great Jack Nicholson is as the Joker.

Best Jack Nicholson film: Goin South (1978). Supporting cast: Mary Steenburgen, Christopher Lloyd, John Belushi, and Danny DeVito. One of my all-time favorites.

was nuked. started by a new type of bot that copy/pasted an earlier Donna comment as the start of a discussion.

And so starts The Rise of the Machines...

I'm sure the machines can't do worse than people

Except that the bot post is gone, and we're still here.

My favorite new (to me) joke, seems appropriate here: 

A robot walks into a bar. The bartender says, "we don't serve your kind here." The robot responds, "you will...".

Don't keep us in suspense! Was the rip in innocuous, embarrassing, or humiliating territory?

Didn't notice the actual occurance, only afterward. Was only somewhat noticeable unless bending so maybe no one else noticed either!!!

Happened to me last week. Caught my toe on the edge of a partial burred piece of rebar. Took a face plant onto the gravel base of the concrete slabs cold joint. Luckily my forearm saved my face. The knee of my pants did not survive.

I think we have the makings of a new thread...  Someone did one years back about the pitfalls of doing field measuring and documentation for as-builts.  It was hilarious, and educational!

I had a spectacular pants-ripping incident many years ago. I crouched to look at something while on a roof, and the outer seam up the leg of my pants decided to unsew itself in slow-motion, starting at the cuff and getting all the way up to the hip. The roof ladder was located in a closet in the exact center of a very occupied open-plan office building. I got quite the stares upon my exit from the closet.When I got back to the office I put it back together with binder clips.

Now, there's a story. More please!