re: archinect collective LLC, I'd be happy to contribute to competitions if anybody's ever looking for a competition buddy. I need to shake off the dust that's settling on my architecture work while I detail spanish tile roofs and boss steel manufacturers around. I also make pretty boards.
So the phone interview with a grad program director went well. Full recap is in the grad school commiseration thread, but suffice to say that my worst fear (that I'm in way over my head and have no shot at all) has been abated, for now at least.
That's great, rationalist. BTW, regarding the Breuer business, I'm a little late to the party but I'm submitting at least one scheme, as I have an idea that I think could be interesting. Also I seem to have volunteered myself for the title block design, and I was wondering if maybe you would like to do it with me? We could come up with a few options together, being that this is your preferred area of study.....! Have a look at that thread for details.
The week ended pretty well for me, despite not having a project review meeting with the higher-ups.
Every once in a while, I need to remind myself that I'm working on a high-profile project. The project got a brand new website that features renderings of my firm's buildings, including one of my own renderings. I wish I could post the link here, but I'm advising myself against it. (although I'll burst if I can't share it with someone...argh!)
Anyways, the next year is going to be rough, but I somehow have a second wind.
mixed feelings about the day. On the positive, this morning's thing went really well, and I'm still up from that. On the negative, my best work-friend's last day was today. I know that going elsewhere is better for her, but I can already feel the suckiness of long weeks at work without her.
very rough week that ended on a high note, as I got every goal I set for myself accomplished in my day today and still managed to hit the gym after work. i am about to sit down to a wonderful-smelling dinner prepared by my manf and then... it's weekend time!
I can't wait to get knee-deep into breur charrette this weekend. that, and i have to go to work. but i'm looking forward to it, actually!
also, i too found out a classmate died recently. but it sounds like it happened while he was doing something he loved, so that's good. but i am sad because he was very original and would have no doubt contributed great things to the world.
i am doing something this weekend that i don't normally do, i am giving back to the community. i know, i sound pretty selfish, it's just, to be honest there are much brighter people out there whose lives are consumed with working with non-profits and giving back to the community through pro-bono design work.
i have a confession, i have never participated in a charette with a team.
i am doing this Search For Shelter charette this weekend, in an effort to meet people and try to help out, but in all honesty I am scared to death. why? well, when it said on the form would you like to be a team leader or co-leader, i said co-leader - because team leaders needed to be professionals - but when i got there last night, it turns out that i am the team leader. wha? huh?
i can't lead, i'm all about me and what i think about design, i don't know how to direct people, especially on a task like this, where it seems many of my team members have experience either in this charette or have broader experience in the area we are dealing with.
what did i get my self into?
i sincerely want to learn, i want to meet new people, but most of all i want to step outside myself, outside my comfort zone and do something that asks more of me, that challenges me.
last night though, many others asked more insightful questions, and had a better grasp of what was probably the ultimate outcome of this weekend's task. i agreed with their assessment and contributed where i could, but i felt like that fish out of water.
so what do i do now? well, i'll re-group, visit the site, visit the existing facility, reasses my initial thoughts and charge forward.
sounds great, beta. i did that program each year i was in mpls.
regarding your dilemma: as team leader you don't have to direct so much as provide the kind of leadership that pulls the best work out of each of your team-members. them being more familiar with what's expected shouldn't be a problem and might help you out. good luck!
beta, it's probably too late for this, but if you set yourself up as the "leader" who is all about encouraging input (and as Steven said, "best work/ideas") from everyone, it might make you feel less like you're on the spot. Do a lot of "So you guys agree that the most important aspect of ____ is to make sure it _____, right? Is that what we should pursue?".
And bring donuts. Good luck and GOOD FOR YOU putting yourself out of your comfort zone!!
(Uh, vado, I will not be bringing donuts to our charette today, and anyway you're more the leader-type here.)
Didn't know you were doing Search for Shelter, or I would have done it too. To lead, you just need to nudge people in the right direction and occasionally reign them back in when they spin out of control. don't worry, you'll do great.
My weekend is focused on the getting the domestic routine taken care of in this frigid weather and studying for the LARE... The localASLA chapter is organizing a study session in three weeks and I want to figure out where my weaknesses are before hand.
Vado- just have your usual stash of lyrics standing by for opportune moments.
hey steven, sorry to hear about your granpa.
we have lost tina's dad more than a year ago. he was also generous and stubburn. i think each time one of those guys pass away, america loses one of the people who made this country great. very genuine and less selfish generation of people than what's around today indeed.
i am also pissed at people who interpret others for being open to each other as patting in the back.
what's wrong with people who know each other for few years now, thru face to face and thru by written words and actually develope friendship?
killa, sorry bout that i thought you were aware. hey killa, you snow board at all or are you interested? i never have been and thought i would be up for a physical challenge.
i'll post on how the weekend went when i can get a nights sleep. let's just say there are differences in non-profit and not for profit...and i learned when to stop arguing with someone that clearly has a hearing problem. oh, and parking decks blow, and parking lots suck.
walk more america, demand your planning boards allow LE$$ cars on site.
moron watch: so i can hear the surround sound of some action movie coming from two apartment away down the hall. its not bothering me its just why the fuck would you have your tv up so goddamned loud???
The old people who live next door to us (who want to believe they are still young) play their music loud on weekends. I actually wore my earplugs the other day to block out their noise. Talk about age reversal.
I love Hundertwasser! That winery didn't look like it was half the experience that his Vienna buildings are though. That was my favorite part of Austria.
You should all watch the construction clothing ad found on this thread. Not at work though. Ha.
of course, one year ago i was trapped in manhattan (two feet of snow delayed my flight two days) and drunk-off-my-ass singing karoake at (what else) a friend's birthday celebration. it was a legendary night. i think i opened with "la bamba", was nearly run off the stage by all the women joining me for robert palmer's "addicted to love", did a duet with the birthday girl of jimmy buffett's "let's get drunk & screw" and finally brought the night to a close with an exhausted but attention grabbing, 3:30am version of poison's "every rose has its thorn"...i don't remember anything after that
so maybe we could all get drunk & sing in honor of thread central...and look at that, it's snowing again.
and as it turned out, i didn't make my first post until feb 27th, 2006.
Myriam - Heather Ring loves plants more then me, but as always, I am flattered by the thoughts that I would know :-). Magnolia's have a great scent, but none of the websites I visited comment on Liriodendron tulipifera aka yellow poplar's perfume potential. Lots of comments on the honey produced from it's nector.
A major managment crisis erupted over the weekend in my office, can't discuss what just happened yet. Maybe next week I 'll know what the implications are for moi - I am in shock and need to see how the cards fall.
I know I'm not one of the 'usuals' here but I was in the first page! discussing jesus dreams no-less. quondam (AKA OAA) and i were thinking of folds back then.
i know there are some people who are staying out of it for some reason or other.
here is to them (with a little editing to the famouss poetry);
"Come, whoever you are.
Wanderer, idolater, worshipper of fire (preferred),
Come even though you have broken your vows a thousand times,
Go, and come yet again.
Ours is not a caravan of despair
come as you are."
Let's commemerate this day with a new edition of WWTCD..... My situation at work is this: I am frequently entrusted with important tasks in the office, but not with the final communication needed to carry those tasks through. I am instead supposed to report the results of my investigations to my project manager, who should then be forwarding the work on to the appropriate consultants, clients, whomever. I generally don't mind this arrangement, as it keeps my inbox nice and clean, and I don't get constantly harassed with phonecalls. However, I have recently been suspecting that my work is not getting followed through on, due to my PM being busy or scatterbrained or whatnot. Some issues he's asked me to send him sketches of by email three times over before anything gets done, others I see the results of months later and go, "But I've already been through this- this is wrong, it needs fixing! What happened?". Anyway, when I ask whether a specific thing got forwarded on, he either says "Yes" without checking or even looking up at me, or something noncommittal like "I assume so".
So, WWTCD? I'm concerned for our projects when critical information does not make it to the proper consultant, but I am loathe to go over my PM's head either. I know the responsibility rests with him, but I would prefer to have things get done correctly, instead of waiting for them to go wrong knowing that I can't be blaimed.
rationalist: Some people (like me) are big on the "single point of contact" arrangment. While it places the burden on one individual from each firm/team, it definitely helps to streamline the communication process.
It does sound like your PM is often too busy to adequately communicate the information you are providing to him. Have you ever offered to be the single point of contact for a given project? You might need to take some initiative and tell your PM, "I'll send those sketches to so-and-so when I'm done with them. I'll make sure you're copied on the email." That puts your PM on the spot; if he doesn't want you sending out information, he'll tell you so, but it also puts him on notice that he needs to act swiftly.
Every project and client arrangement is different. However, you may be less frustrated if you offer to take more of a leadership role.
alright, i'll only admit this in the cozy cofines of thread central but right now i'm scared to death that this library charrette is going to turn up nothing but a dozen schemes all featuring koolhaas-style blue foam dildos and that i'm going to have to face the library board and the citizens of grosse pointe & be held accountable for that.
Today was another one of those days that makes me want to shoot myself in the face. No, wait, that's not accurate. Today was another one of those days that makes me want to shoot my boss in the face. Yeah, that's it.
The day started with our normal Monday morning staff meeting, in which the boss sucks the oxygen out of the room anytime she opens her mouth. Another hour of my life gone forever, never to be regained. But during the meeting, it was announced they'd be moving some people around the office.
(Over half our staff has quit within the past year, leaving huge areas of the office unoccupied. Rather than hiring more people, the pricipals have decided to re-distribute the rest of us to make it appear that the office is more fully staffed than it really is.)
Yours truly was designated as the first to move. Problem is, they moved me from a desk with a right-hand return to a desk with a left-hand return. Long story made short: My phone ends up on the side of me that doesn't hear as well, and it's now impossible for me to have an open set of drawings laid out next to my computer. I face forward to use the computer, but then have to rotote 180 degrees to reference any drawings that I'm working from. There's a small amount of space to the right of the keyboard I could use for 11x17 prints, but since I'm left-handed, this space is next to worthless for me.
All of these issues could have been easily averted if somebody had bothered to spend five seconds asking me my preferences, but like every other decision that's made in this office, the only factor is how convenient it is for the partners, regardless of how much of a hassle it is for the staff.
(Case in point: The location of the office is ideal if you're commuting down Lake Shore Drive in a Jaguar and parking inside the building's indoor heated garage, but God have mercy on your soul if you actually try to get there on public transit like, say, the other 99% of the employees who don't drive Jaguars down Lake Shore Drive. And of course, we get chewed out for being 5 minutes late, but the partners routinely waltz in at 10 AM and leave at 4 PM. But I digress...)
So I spend half my day moving all my shit from one workstation to another (nevermind the fact that I have three projects all due tomorrow, and each one is more important than the other two)...
And when I'm about three-quarters of the way through my move, I get chewed out because when the boss said "I need you to go ahead and move right away" during the staff meeting, what he apparently really meant was, "I need you stay late or come in on the weekend and move to the new workstation on your own time so we're not taking time away from billable projects."
The only thing that keeps me sane is the knowledge that in six months I'll either be packing my bags for grad school, or packing my bags for a new gig in NYC.
Thread Central
i will celebate it. fo sho.
Orhan, everything you write to us is a gift.
Meaning both that it is wonderful, and that you need to get paid for it.
thanks lb. someday we are all gonna get paid. best news is we are good at surviving on passion and in unfinished quarters.;.)
hmm
ok, i'm still alive.
re: archinect collective LLC, I'd be happy to contribute to competitions if anybody's ever looking for a competition buddy. I need to shake off the dust that's settling on my architecture work while I detail spanish tile roofs and boss steel manufacturers around. I also make pretty boards.
So the phone interview with a grad program director went well. Full recap is in the grad school commiseration thread, but suffice to say that my worst fear (that I'm in way over my head and have no shot at all) has been abated, for now at least.
That's great, rationalist. BTW, regarding the Breuer business, I'm a little late to the party but I'm submitting at least one scheme, as I have an idea that I think could be interesting. Also I seem to have volunteered myself for the title block design, and I was wondering if maybe you would like to do it with me? We could come up with a few options together, being that this is your preferred area of study.....! Have a look at that thread for details.
awesome rationalist! i'm sure that feels nice...
DubK, you've got mail.
Received. (!)
Thank god it's time to go home. I thought this day would never end.
Did anyone else have a decent day today?
The week ended pretty well for me, despite not having a project review meeting with the higher-ups.
Every once in a while, I need to remind myself that I'm working on a high-profile project. The project got a brand new website that features renderings of my firm's buildings, including one of my own renderings. I wish I could post the link here, but I'm advising myself against it. (although I'll burst if I can't share it with someone...argh!)
Anyways, the next year is going to be rough, but I somehow have a second wind.
mixed feelings about the day. On the positive, this morning's thing went really well, and I'm still up from that. On the negative, my best work-friend's last day was today. I know that going elsewhere is better for her, but I can already feel the suckiness of long weeks at work without her.
very rough week that ended on a high note, as I got every goal I set for myself accomplished in my day today and still managed to hit the gym after work. i am about to sit down to a wonderful-smelling dinner prepared by my manf and then... it's weekend time!
I can't wait to get knee-deep into breur charrette this weekend. that, and i have to go to work. but i'm looking forward to it, actually!
also, i too found out a classmate died recently. but it sounds like it happened while he was doing something he loved, so that's good. but i am sad because he was very original and would have no doubt contributed great things to the world.
my shoulder is going click-click
I haven't taken my meds for 32 hrs (trying to come off)
had to take some painkillers shoulder hurts like hell
I'm getting a dog when I go back...f*cking sucks to live alone
on a brigther note: sushi with friends tomorrow (YUM)
i am doing something this weekend that i don't normally do, i am giving back to the community. i know, i sound pretty selfish, it's just, to be honest there are much brighter people out there whose lives are consumed with working with non-profits and giving back to the community through pro-bono design work.
i have a confession, i have never participated in a charette with a team.
i am doing this Search For Shelter charette this weekend, in an effort to meet people and try to help out, but in all honesty I am scared to death. why? well, when it said on the form would you like to be a team leader or co-leader, i said co-leader - because team leaders needed to be professionals - but when i got there last night, it turns out that i am the team leader. wha? huh?
i can't lead, i'm all about me and what i think about design, i don't know how to direct people, especially on a task like this, where it seems many of my team members have experience either in this charette or have broader experience in the area we are dealing with.
what did i get my self into?
i sincerely want to learn, i want to meet new people, but most of all i want to step outside myself, outside my comfort zone and do something that asks more of me, that challenges me.
last night though, many others asked more insightful questions, and had a better grasp of what was probably the ultimate outcome of this weekend's task. i agreed with their assessment and contributed where i could, but i felt like that fish out of water.
so what do i do now? well, i'll re-group, visit the site, visit the existing facility, reasses my initial thoughts and charge forward.
i'll let you know.
sounds great, beta. i did that program each year i was in mpls.
regarding your dilemma: as team leader you don't have to direct so much as provide the kind of leadership that pulls the best work out of each of your team-members. them being more familiar with what's expected shouldn't be a problem and might help you out. good luck!
beta, it's probably too late for this, but if you set yourself up as the "leader" who is all about encouraging input (and as Steven said, "best work/ideas") from everyone, it might make you feel less like you're on the spot. Do a lot of "So you guys agree that the most important aspect of ____ is to make sure it _____, right? Is that what we should pursue?".
And bring donuts. Good luck and GOOD FOR YOU putting yourself out of your comfort zone!!
(Uh, vado, I will not be bringing donuts to our charette today, and anyway you're more the leader-type here.)
we can be co leaders. then there will be no followers!!!
Beta-
Didn't know you were doing Search for Shelter, or I would have done it too. To lead, you just need to nudge people in the right direction and occasionally reign them back in when they spin out of control. don't worry, you'll do great.
My weekend is focused on the getting the domestic routine taken care of in this frigid weather and studying for the LARE... The localASLA chapter is organizing a study session in three weeks and I want to figure out where my weaknesses are before hand.
Vado- just have your usual stash of lyrics standing by for opportune moments.
hey steven, sorry to hear about your granpa.
we have lost tina's dad more than a year ago. he was also generous and stubburn. i think each time one of those guys pass away, america loses one of the people who made this country great. very genuine and less selfish generation of people than what's around today indeed.
i am also pissed at people who interpret others for being open to each other as patting in the back.
what's wrong with people who know each other for few years now, thru face to face and thru by written words and actually develope friendship?
gone for sushi - i'll be back in a few (i'll be sober though sadly)
techno: I hope you're going someplace nice for sushi. I had mall food court sushi tonight; it wasn't very delicious.
the sushi was moi excellent...i'm stuffed!
the spider rolls were the best by far...
killa, sorry bout that i thought you were aware. hey killa, you snow board at all or are you interested? i never have been and thought i would be up for a physical challenge.
i'll post on how the weekend went when i can get a nights sleep. let's just say there are differences in non-profit and not for profit...and i learned when to stop arguing with someone that clearly has a hearing problem. oh, and parking decks blow, and parking lots suck.
walk more america, demand your planning boards allow LE$$ cars on site.
here here on the parking decks.
Everyone needs to do at least one in his/her career, though.
For LB: Your boy Hunderwasser was featured in today's NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/11/arts/design/11coli.html
Hundertwasser! That dude is awesome.
moron watch: so i can hear the surround sound of some action movie coming from two apartment away down the hall. its not bothering me its just why the fuck would you have your tv up so goddamned loud???
The old people who live next door to us (who want to believe they are still young) play their music loud on weekends. I actually wore my earplugs the other day to block out their noise. Talk about age reversal.
I love Hundertwasser! That winery didn't look like it was half the experience that his Vienna buildings are though. That was my favorite part of Austria.
You should all watch the construction clothing ad found on this thread. Not at work though. Ha.
paging treekiller!
do tulip tree blossoms have a scent to them?
Happy Birthday TC.....
sound is a must...oh...this IS work friendly
wow, yeah...happy birthday thread central!
of course, one year ago i was trapped in manhattan (two feet of snow delayed my flight two days) and drunk-off-my-ass singing karoake at (what else) a friend's birthday celebration. it was a legendary night. i think i opened with "la bamba", was nearly run off the stage by all the women joining me for robert palmer's "addicted to love", did a duet with the birthday girl of jimmy buffett's "let's get drunk & screw" and finally brought the night to a close with an exhausted but attention grabbing, 3:30am version of poison's "every rose has its thorn"...i don't remember anything after that
so maybe we could all get drunk & sing in honor of thread central...and look at that, it's snowing again.
and as it turned out, i didn't make my first post until feb 27th, 2006.
Those guys are awesome....
And yes, happy birthday, TC! Onward to 14,000 posts!
i'm a 'page 2'er as well, puddles. first post on the 21st of Feb.
nevertheless, i will have at least one Stelle Artois this evening in celebration of TC's b-day.
i have no idea what i was up to this time last year.
Same here. I didn't pop in until Feb. 24th.
Happy B-day TC!!!!
Myriam - Heather Ring loves plants more then me, but as always, I am flattered by the thoughts that I would know :-). Magnolia's have a great scent, but none of the websites I visited comment on Liriodendron tulipifera aka yellow poplar's perfume potential. Lots of comments on the honey produced from it's nector.
A major managment crisis erupted over the weekend in my office, can't discuss what just happened yet. Maybe next week I 'll know what the implications are for moi - I am in shock and need to see how the cards fall.
I hope it works out well for you, whatever it is!
happy birthday tc!
I know I'm not one of the 'usuals' here but I was in the first page! discussing jesus dreams no-less. quondam (AKA OAA) and i were thinking of folds back then.
i made the fourth post on this thread. it was 3305 posts ago...
vado hold it!!!!! You are at 5555...that's a good number to stick to for awhile.
fascinating thread...;.)
i know there are some people who are staying out of it for some reason or other.
here is to them (with a little editing to the famouss poetry);
"Come, whoever you are.
Wanderer, idolater, worshipper of fire (preferred),
Come even though you have broken your vows a thousand times,
Go, and come yet again.
Ours is not a caravan of despair
come as you are."
Let's commemerate this day with a new edition of WWTCD..... My situation at work is this: I am frequently entrusted with important tasks in the office, but not with the final communication needed to carry those tasks through. I am instead supposed to report the results of my investigations to my project manager, who should then be forwarding the work on to the appropriate consultants, clients, whomever. I generally don't mind this arrangement, as it keeps my inbox nice and clean, and I don't get constantly harassed with phonecalls. However, I have recently been suspecting that my work is not getting followed through on, due to my PM being busy or scatterbrained or whatnot. Some issues he's asked me to send him sketches of by email three times over before anything gets done, others I see the results of months later and go, "But I've already been through this- this is wrong, it needs fixing! What happened?". Anyway, when I ask whether a specific thing got forwarded on, he either says "Yes" without checking or even looking up at me, or something noncommittal like "I assume so".
So, WWTCD? I'm concerned for our projects when critical information does not make it to the proper consultant, but I am loathe to go over my PM's head either. I know the responsibility rests with him, but I would prefer to have things get done correctly, instead of waiting for them to go wrong knowing that I can't be blaimed.
rationalist: Some people (like me) are big on the "single point of contact" arrangment. While it places the burden on one individual from each firm/team, it definitely helps to streamline the communication process.
It does sound like your PM is often too busy to adequately communicate the information you are providing to him. Have you ever offered to be the single point of contact for a given project? You might need to take some initiative and tell your PM, "I'll send those sketches to so-and-so when I'm done with them. I'll make sure you're copied on the email." That puts your PM on the spot; if he doesn't want you sending out information, he'll tell you so, but it also puts him on notice that he needs to act swiftly.
Every project and client arrangement is different. However, you may be less frustrated if you offer to take more of a leadership role.
alright, i'll only admit this in the cozy cofines of thread central but right now i'm scared to death that this library charrette is going to turn up nothing but a dozen schemes all featuring koolhaas-style blue foam dildos and that i'm going to have to face the library board and the citizens of grosse pointe & be held accountable for that.
oh you want it to be blue???blue it is....
Puddles....your going to have to have them give up the Calder...for my thoughts!
snooker get CrEaTiVeMaN!!!
*sigh*
Is it Friday yet? It isn't? Well, shit...
Today was another one of those days that makes me want to shoot myself in the face. No, wait, that's not accurate. Today was another one of those days that makes me want to shoot my boss in the face. Yeah, that's it.
The day started with our normal Monday morning staff meeting, in which the boss sucks the oxygen out of the room anytime she opens her mouth. Another hour of my life gone forever, never to be regained. But during the meeting, it was announced they'd be moving some people around the office.
(Over half our staff has quit within the past year, leaving huge areas of the office unoccupied. Rather than hiring more people, the pricipals have decided to re-distribute the rest of us to make it appear that the office is more fully staffed than it really is.)
Yours truly was designated as the first to move. Problem is, they moved me from a desk with a right-hand return to a desk with a left-hand return. Long story made short: My phone ends up on the side of me that doesn't hear as well, and it's now impossible for me to have an open set of drawings laid out next to my computer. I face forward to use the computer, but then have to rotote 180 degrees to reference any drawings that I'm working from. There's a small amount of space to the right of the keyboard I could use for 11x17 prints, but since I'm left-handed, this space is next to worthless for me.
All of these issues could have been easily averted if somebody had bothered to spend five seconds asking me my preferences, but like every other decision that's made in this office, the only factor is how convenient it is for the partners, regardless of how much of a hassle it is for the staff.
(Case in point: The location of the office is ideal if you're commuting down Lake Shore Drive in a Jaguar and parking inside the building's indoor heated garage, but God have mercy on your soul if you actually try to get there on public transit like, say, the other 99% of the employees who don't drive Jaguars down Lake Shore Drive. And of course, we get chewed out for being 5 minutes late, but the partners routinely waltz in at 10 AM and leave at 4 PM. But I digress...)
So I spend half my day moving all my shit from one workstation to another (nevermind the fact that I have three projects all due tomorrow, and each one is more important than the other two)...
And when I'm about three-quarters of the way through my move, I get chewed out because when the boss said "I need you to go ahead and move right away" during the staff meeting, what he apparently really meant was, "I need you stay late or come in on the weekend and move to the new workstation on your own time so we're not taking time away from billable projects."
The only thing that keeps me sane is the knowledge that in six months I'll either be packing my bags for grad school, or packing my bags for a new gig in NYC.
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