I enjoyed WTF, but it was fiction, even if loosely based on a real person.

Coincidentally, today I seem to have misplaced my sketchbook. Moleskine is not always the answer!

I want to see the Night King's castle. You know that thing has to be deconstructivist AF

I want to know what zombie ice dragons spit out of their mouths.

IcyHot Napalm

Nice to meet the face behind one of the top dogs here.

Sorry to hear or congrats, not sure which is appropriate. Seems plenty of firms are hiring here and I know the LA market is busy too so you have good timing for being out of work at least. I'm available for grabbing a beer or two
you find yourself with some free time.

I've done niche... Forensic/litigation support. If I wanted to chase money, I know two firms hiring that; six-digit income again if I go that way. It just sort of sucks the life out of you. Another I'll probably at least pursue is City of Denver plans examiner and join the dark side for better pay oddly enough. Not much different than what I do now in QAQC redlining, code studies, and life safety drawings. I kind of liked though being involved in high design projects and working with young architects who still have that fresh new smell and glow.

Tattoo artist and Uber driver then :P

A issue is they are in hiring mode; but its production. I'm long since past that and not interested in being a cad monkey again. I do worry they over-estimate the technical abilities of staff and oversight in the rush to bang out projects. I figure what did me in was that I'm the grey hair telling folks 'no' for various technical reasons and it throws a wrench in the works. The result, based on my litigation world, is poorly executed drawings that result in issues down the road like blown budgets via unneccesarily expensive detailing/structure and/or defects after construction where contractors 'fill in the blanks'. The do have a few technical people, but they are stretched thin already since they've also been pushed into production instead of oversight.

So that fresh new smell wasn't all it seemed to be?

Thought about it. What I'm trying to pursue though is more of a owner's rep in site acquisition, building/portfolio assessment, and design oversight (the other side of the table). Basically filling that gap between the ROI spreadsheet realtor guys and the reality of the idea that they aren't realistically looking at the buildings they are going to purchase and know what it will take or cost to bring it to their standards... So the architect has a realistic project and budget to work with. Essentially, all of us have been handed problem buildings then made the client angry with how much they have to pour into it just to make it mediocre.

Who pays a consultant to tell them they are unrealistic?

lol... And who would want to pay the salary I'd want for having these experienced eyes versus just hiring a home inspector. I mean it's only a few million dollars on the investment, what could go wrong?... :/

I had a linkd-IN recruiter send me something a month or so ago looking for an architect to do sketch-up. Design-Build contractor type gig. My single line reply was that they can't afford me. A hilarious exchange of "pleasantries" followed.

That's so frustrating, archi. There's a disturbing trend developing of employers using the mantra of "live to work, not work to live" to justify offering lower compensation. The fact that you love your job does not mean you should be willing to do it for pennies.

Ask her to forego her commission, then we'll see how about the money her job is.

You can always spot people who have lots of money. They're the ones telling you money doesn't matter.

Just tell them you're late for a rally down south

I was the last juror to be excused during the voir dire on a capital murder trial (he killed a witness in his friend's burglary trial). The trial I would have been on ultimately was declared a mistrial because two of the jurors were threatened by the defendant's associates midway through. That was as close as I ever want to come to hearing a bullet whiz past my ear. Good luck.

Sat in the jury assembly room the entire day and was never called. Got a lot of reading done. Could have been worse. Off to Exhibit Columbus tomorrow!

said quite literally by only one person in the history of the world.

I couldn't get past the first 8 minutes. Do you have a hot take on why it is so great for those of us who don't immediately get it?

It's funny.

Yeah I'm not sure I'm getting this one, unless it's all one huge standup act poking fun at architects. (Also dude, you're not an architect)

I think he actually likes architects, but is making fun of TED talks.

That would make sense. Some TED talks are great - others... Susan Cain's TED talk was pretty good, but I'm biased due to my own introversion. Also PechaKucha>TED

This is hysterical! Reminds me of Last Week Tonight's TED talk parody in their episode on scientific studies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvtp-dKfbco

OK seriously obsessed with Reggie Watts now! Thank you tintt! Genius!!!

Funny, Schoon. Here is another Reggie Watts for the new fans. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXyHf_SpUUI

Central Park, for sure.

565 Fifth Avenue (46th street).

It's touristy, but take a walk down Fifth. From MOMA you'll pass Rockefeller Center, NYC Public Library, Empire State. At 30th head west to pick up the High Line, which takes you down to the New Whitney. On the uptown side the Guggenheim, the MET, Central Park. 

Hey Miles, just got back this morning. I hit every spot on your list, and had a hell of a great time doing so. MOMA was my favorite destination by far, didn't have enough time to really take it in, overwhelming is a good way to describe my experience there. My wife was patient with me when I got into a archi-discussion with a volunteer there. I don't get to do that much in my line of work, city and county gov't types don't seem to appreciate the finer philosophical details of our profession... I'll be back for sure!

Glad you had a good trip. 565 is my father's building. I'm guessing you did the Wright exhibit?

Your assumption is correct, it was incredible. Not just knowing it was FLW, but the craft exhibited in the rendering, and modeling done by Wright and his people along with the folks who put the exhibit together made it an unforgettable experience. Just wish I could have had more time.

What is strange about audio books?

Most play top 40, which is ugh. I had one that played music from his home country (Nigeria) and we ended up talking about it the entire time.

They usually ask me what I want. Advantage of being a lady I suppose. And I love audio books!

It sounded like a cross between a romance novel and self-help guide.

Aren't all romance novels self-help guides?

Get yo mind out of the gutter

the gutter is the best place to keep your mind

I don't know man. That gutter eventually finds its way to a catch basin and that's where Pennywise lives

I know someone that works at one of their offices.

Yikes, Josh, that's rough. Best wishes for healing of that hoof =o]

I' m afraid of that thread...

Had to look that up. Seems like a recipe for spectacular failure.

NIGHTMARE!!!!!

I can't wait!

I'm gonna send a talking poop emoji to all of my future dates. Wish me luck.

Better for potential clients.

Proto, how long did you study for, and how difficult was the exam?

I studied a shitton (used David Doucette's Whole Enchilada for study guide www.cseprep.com ), and it was still hard! There was only so much I could cover being out of state. Sometimes I was looking for answer E: "fuck if I know." I.e. I could eliminate two; and then I was left with one answer that was 67% right and one answer that was 71% right...the study materials definitely helped me pass, but I felt there was a lot more detail I could have covered. Agencies and processes are critical; then local law, then AIA contracts were next in line in terms of importance. They do not tell you what constitutes a passing grade; you just find out at the end whether you did or not.

proto, did you need NCARB or did you use the longer form? I'm looking at the same study material. Thanks for the info.

I did it without NCARB (cuz I hate with a passion)

I didn't even check my email till noon today. Oops.

Fax your response back with hand drawn smiley faces and golden stars...

2 were "check this out". One was a duplicate of one of those. Two were accusations. One was redacting one of the accusations. One had an action item that was supposed to be done by 9 am. One was an expression of frustration. Already "filed" em in I for ignore. We need emojis for this.

I just ignore most email. If it's important they'll send it again. Or call.

Prescription. Ask your doctor.

Had a similar conversation with my GC earlier this week. I stopped by one site where 1 have 3 buildings in construction in between two other, non related, project visits. He asked me how I keep everything together. I told him that I check out at 5pm and that there is nothing that can't be answered the next day.

I just added "wet signature" to the dirty architecture terms thread.

And often times if you ignore it, it goes away anyways. Lol, citizen.

No good deed goes unpunished.

"free work" is never really free -- somebody always pays a price.

Working with or for friends is hard on the friendship. You end up with neither job nor project nor friends.

I've got 3 or 4 peeps that we just refer work to eachother. We always pass along some sort of comment like "oh, and drop my name so he knows to give you friendship rates" Then we call each other to find out how much of a royal pain said associate is going to be and charge accordingly.

What was so distracting?

but if you had them, you would be overpaying them no matter what

Ugh, why you go have this as a sponsored post, Archinect? This isn't a race to the bottom.

JLC-1 / Josh: relax -- the article's really about utilization rates and efficiency, not reducing anybody's pay.

If we're ever to improve the economics of our profession, we must focus on getting more work done at lower cost. It's clear we're not going to have much luck improving the income side of things.

quizz, right, that's why the title of the article is "utilization rates and efficiency", and not, "you're overpaying your employees"

Quizz, your entire last paragraph is the race to the bottom I'm referring to.

More work done at lower cost just equals more crappy work that no one is proud of, further devaluing the notion of an architect in the public's eye. Crappy work for low fees is not the way to run a business.

I'm not saying architects don't need help/more knowledge in running businesses, but what you mentioned isn't the right way - at least in my eyes.

This is an interesting conversation.

I'm an employer outside if architecture and I pay my employees as much as I can afford which isn't a whole lot but they are happy and work hard. In my opinion, it is the best money I can spend. If I pay an employee an average wage, I would expect average performance. When I pay above average, I get employees who are driven, dedicated, happy, and loyal which is worth an extra few dollars an hour. Calculate that in terms of utilization, how that DOLLAR is "utilized", why don't you?

It won't do any good in the long run to be more efficient.  Competitive forces will just drive fees even lower because we'll end up passing all the savings on to the client.

Broken record:   Oversupply....oversupply......oversupply....

Sometimes I'm most efficient by not doing anything at all.

It was a foundational event that wrought much disruption and, in many ways, shaped (not altogether positively) the profession in which we work today.

Hmmm ... David, you and I may not be talking about the same thing. I'm referring to the 1971 and 1990 Consent Decrees between the AIA and the US Department of Justice, in which the profession agreed to abandon mandatory fee schedules under threat of anti-trust action by the DOJ.

See: 1971 and 1990 Consent Decrees - US DOJ v. AIA

Thanks for this, quizzical. I keep hoping at some point someone will write an article about the Consent Decree and how that has decimated architecture as a profession and that will cause us all to rise up and demand to be remunerated better.

I also keep hoping a crew of hot shirtless and smiling men will show up to clean my house for me. One can dream.

It was not necessarily the Consent Decree but the response to it that has led to the current state of the profession. The response by the doubly wounded AIA is to lament the loss of standard fee schedules and the strategy given by AIA advisors is to never discuss fees again out of fear of breaking the law again. Instead of picking a new way forward, the leadership gave up. Like a little kid, the AIA says if we can't break the law then we'll just whine and cry, and hope everyone will join the pity party and validate the loss of fee schedules that they needed in order to know how to charge for their services.

tintt: that's not exactly how I remember it.

Following the 1971 Consent Decree the AIA made a major effort to educate the profession about "Cost Based Compensation" -- i.e. basing fee quotes on what it actually costs to provide the services being requested by the client. The Institute published several truly excellent books dealing with this subject and provided companion seminars all across the country.

Unfortunately a) many in the profession felt this required too much work and thought (hey, you know it's just so much easier to calculate a fee based on % of anticipated construction costs, even if that isn't the 'correct' number); and b) even if you made a reliable quote based on what you thought your costs might be, some other firm was going to propose a much lower fee to secure the project.

Good to know, quizzical, I wasn't around in 1971 to have witnessed it. I just experience the aftermath, points a and b.

Only in architecture does anyone seem to even care about price fixing. Contractors share the info, gas stations, grocery stores, definitely lawyers and the healthcare insurance industry. Even architects at higher levels in hushed rooms discuss it, Principal to Principal... but when a junior architect brings up productivity, workflow and billings, asks legitimate questions on how it's decided who gets billed what, and desires a discussion across firms in the region, all the higher ups bring up the consent decree with a fear similar to "he-who-must-not-be-named".

Same person tried to tell me that masonry units could not be cut on site and that each non-whole unit needed would require someone to come out a take measurements for custom molds to cast custom units and it was very expensive and time consuming. I just said OK and got in the clown car.

congrats on the ncarb certificate:)

why would someone be so quick to tell you a credential they don't know anything about is useless?  wouldn't it be more prudent to say they weren't familiar with ncarb, but then give you the benefit of the doubt and wish you the best in whatever direction your life is going?

What are those units made of? Diamonds?

Curt, because RA is the only credential that matters. What is funny too is that this person is talking about moving states and I told them they can't transfer their license and they don't believe me. I have a plane on standby to write "I told you so" in the sky cause I'm a bitch. Concrete pavers, NS. You mean there is a SAW that can cut them? Yes!

well, you can transfer credentials, each state makes you jump through hoops, some smaller than others.

Yeah, after my first free year with the certificate I let my NCARB lapse because I'm not planning on moving soon and don't stamp drawings at the office. I looked into Indiana's requirements without NCARB - increased fees and paperwork.

But if you get licensed without doing IDP and later move to a state that requires IDP, I thought you were SOL. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe they still let you in.

well that's likely true in particular circumstances, right? many, if not most, do the idp.

I'm sure there is a way through, but going to have some hurdles. I was given the advice to take the strictest route by doing it all, NAAB, IDP, NCARB, ARE, cause that was required in the state I started in anyways and then you are never without. I would hate to be missing one of those and seeking reciprocity.

it's just money, right?

cue "money for nothing"

It's possible in some states to get "direct comity" or "direct reciprocity" from certain other states, without submitting an NCARB record. So in some cases it's not required at all. As for getting licensed in another state if you never did IDP: that typically requires getting an NCARB certificate by documenting your experience retroactively. It's not impossible - I helped a former employer through the application/documentation process recently - it's just that it can be more difficult years later because some past firms may have closed, former employers may have died, etc.

A lot of states have a route for licensing for people who don't have an NCARB certificate... BUT it usually still requires transmittal of an NCARB record to prove IDP, and currently NCARB will refuse to transmit the record of anybody who is eligible for certification unless they get certified. Yes there are a few states that have direct reciprocity without submitting an IDP record directly from NCARB - but only a few. Essentially if you have an NAAB degree and you did IDP, you'll end up having to get certified in order to transmit your record to get reciprocity in most states. If you let your certification lapse then NCARB charges you all the back years plus a reinstatement fee of several hundred dollars - I think back fees are capped at $1500 max.

I believe the number of states that require NCARB cert for reciprocity is around half, something like 24. interactive map here: https://www.ncarb.org/get-licensed/licensing-requirements-tool

It's misleading, because what the map is showing is states that specifically require NCARB certification for reciprocity. The trick is that more than 40 states require an IDP record transmitted directly from NCARB, even if they don't specifically require certification - but NCARB refuses to transmit your record if you're licensed and eligible for certification UNLESS you get certified. The practical result of that is that only people who aren't eligible for certification (usually because they don't have an NAAB degree) can get through the non-certficate-holder reciprocity process in most of the other 26 states. The exceptions are the few states that accept certain other states' licenses for direct reciprocity, with no NCARB documentation required.

Holy shit a.w., is that still at the dev company in central london? Any idea what the cause is, big project falling through or the like? I've been hearing more and more mass redundancies coming at large offices, but those were always archi-specific. Brexit is going to have a bigger effect as we approach March 2019...

55% down turn in London development. Everyone is sitting around or getting fired, I've seen it at and talked to folks all over

Is your co focused on residential or otherwise? Most of what I've been hearing is that the effect is primarily in that sector, with a knock-on effect into the commercial area as well. The larger layoffs I've heard about have been coming mainly from res/mixed offices.

I work on everything, every large commercial project and developing project in London, I'm 80% sure we've worked on.

Th US underbuilt multifam for the past 40+ years. And demand is high b/c both boomers and millennials are competing over this housing type. What makes you think there's a bubble? Plus, the subprime auto loan debt is now well over a trillion $. If too many people lose their cars, they certainly aren't going to buy single family out in the sticks.

Multifamily is the new affordable & starter home. No one is building small single family.

is it 75 units of what - luxury? affordable? low-income? and you're basing your opinion off of the SF/CA market?

4 pages of job ads on the local AIA page here... Where are all the Houston transplants going to? Those cities are going to have multi-family markets.

Unless the show is in Astoria, Or. I think it's safe to assume there is sufficient exiting.

When you start doing plumbing fixture unit calculations you will know that the disease is terminal.

Christopher, I actually *do* travel with a tape, a cute little 10' leather-bound Edelman Leather swag piece that I keep in my purse pretty much everywhere I go. But I could stand next to this railing and know it wasn't 42"!

I have a 100-foot tape in my purse. Got it out yesterday in fact.

I thought all architects knew where 42 was on their bodies.

Brilliant? Or cutesy-aggressively-self-hating?

A parody of bad design, which is of course all too abundant.

Seems the seat back could land precisely to that point in your back where you do not want a seat back to end, yikes. And the base, always wobbly. Stuff some coasters under there or build your abs.

Rietveld considered sitting to be an activity

I see you've changed screen names... At least the untapd profile is the same... 8-)

Yes, "there is no there there" (tintt) is no longer something I relate to.

does that mean there is now something there?

There has been for a while, yes. It hit me one day like a tilt-up wall panel.

instead of hitting the wall, I climbed it.

I miss tintt.

https://youtu.be/3tmd-ClpJxA

What?

Just expressing my admiration/enjoyment of the Reggie Watts video. Love the TED parody.

Oh! Doh! Cheers!

Thanks, with 1234 comments it was about time :)