I recently moved from Chicago but my favorite place to work at was my first job at Studio Gang. They're twice as big as when I was there and thus difficult to get into. A smaller firm that would be great to work for would be Zoka Zola. Though no first hand experience working there I have a friend that does and loves it.
the number of people anywhere that 'love' their jobs has to be small, personally i must live in a alternate universe because almost all of my friends are more happy than sad with where they are job wise...
though we all just graduated
and have only been working full time a couple months
it will probably change
and murphy/jahn is not as bad as everyone makes it sound, i know several people who are happy (again, a relative term) there
also,
everyone says they want to work for studio gang, ronan, and the like... let me just burst all your bubbles... its not gonna happen for pretty much everyone... some of my profs who ran lower level firms reputation wise still recieved more resumes than they could even read from more places than they could pronounce
my desire to go to chicago is for reasons other than my job. for me, that comes after being in a desirable place that is close to friends and family. besides, chicago is an amazing city, and im partial to the midwest. ill take what i can get there. and lets face it. the 10th best firm in chicago is better than the best firm in just about any other city in america.
as for working for gang, ronan, doug, etc... ill take my chances.
Chicago is a great city. Except for the weather and dealing with the city of Chicago building department, (it can take up to two years to get a building permit –talk about delayed gratification in seeing your work built)
But is important to know what you are looking for. Star-texture, green, big projects, small projects, corporate, bread and butter (plan Jane tenant finishes, modest home additions), educational, ect. Then the culture of the practice: Liber-mietser, demi-god, training wheels (learning to be a well rounded architect in an open book management practice), 40 hours with 5 hours of paid overtime, 90 hours of slavery.
There is a firm for everyone in Chicago. Don’t limit yourself to just the city. There is good solid work being done in the suburbs. True mansions in Lake forest, Historic preservation in Waukegan, Schools in Elgin,, mixed use in everywhere, (Aurora, Fox Lake, Grayslake). With Metra most firms in the burbs can be gotten to by train.
my friend silent bob, who lives in rogers park, 1/2 block to the lake, arrived home from work to find crime scene tape around the front of his garden apartment. seems that a couple of ten year old kids poured lighter fluid on his front door and set it on fire. good times.
Rogers Park is a hell hole dressed up in nice trees and pretty buildings... Otherwise, the nicer parts of the city are wonderful to live in when the weather cooperates. Maybe I need to learn to "work to live" instead of "living to work". If I can find a 40-50 hour work week at an EFS-free decent firm, perhaps I should just take it... But I went into archiecture because I wanted to be passionate about my work, and it's very disheartening to give up on that!
Anyone in Chicago love their job?
I recently moved from Chicago but my favorite place to work at was my first job at Studio Gang. They're twice as big as when I was there and thus difficult to get into. A smaller firm that would be great to work for would be Zoka Zola. Though no first hand experience working there I have a friend that does and loves it.
if i remember correctly, zoka zola was advertising for an opening a few months ago...
yep... here's the [url=http://archinect.com/jobs/description.php?id=35563_0_30_0_C238]link[/img]
oops...
if i remember correctly, zoka zola was advertising for an opening a few months ago...
yep... here's the link
i don't know anyone in chicago who loves their job. don't go there
the number of people anywhere that 'love' their jobs has to be small, personally i must live in a alternate universe because almost all of my friends are more happy than sad with where they are job wise...
though we all just graduated
and have only been working full time a couple months
it will probably change
and murphy/jahn is not as bad as everyone makes it sound, i know several people who are happy (again, a relative term) there
also,
everyone says they want to work for studio gang, ronan, and the like... let me just burst all your bubbles... its not gonna happen for pretty much everyone... some of my profs who ran lower level firms reputation wise still recieved more resumes than they could even read from more places than they could pronounce
ps
chicago is the balls
whos going to pitchfork?
my desire to go to chicago is for reasons other than my job. for me, that comes after being in a desirable place that is close to friends and family. besides, chicago is an amazing city, and im partial to the midwest. ill take what i can get there. and lets face it. the 10th best firm in chicago is better than the best firm in just about any other city in america.
as for working for gang, ronan, doug, etc... ill take my chances.
i hope you get in if thats where you want to be, but your totally right, there is a lot of depth to the architectural talent in this city
pitchfork in the heezy... sonotheque afterparty
chicago is frickin awesome. move to somewhere that sucks like atlanta or dallas and then see if you still badmouth chicago.
Chicago is a great city. Except for the weather and dealing with the city of Chicago building department, (it can take up to two years to get a building permit –talk about delayed gratification in seeing your work built)
But is important to know what you are looking for. Star-texture, green, big projects, small projects, corporate, bread and butter (plan Jane tenant finishes, modest home additions), educational, ect. Then the culture of the practice: Liber-mietser, demi-god, training wheels (learning to be a well rounded architect in an open book management practice), 40 hours with 5 hours of paid overtime, 90 hours of slavery.
There is a firm for everyone in Chicago. Don’t limit yourself to just the city. There is good solid work being done in the suburbs. True mansions in Lake forest, Historic preservation in Waukegan, Schools in Elgin,, mixed use in everywhere, (Aurora, Fox Lake, Grayslake). With Metra most firms in the burbs can be gotten to by train.
my friend silent bob, who lives in rogers park, 1/2 block to the lake, arrived home from work to find crime scene tape around the front of his garden apartment. seems that a couple of ten year old kids poured lighter fluid on his front door and set it on fire. good times.
Rogers Park is a hell hole dressed up in nice trees and pretty buildings... Otherwise, the nicer parts of the city are wonderful to live in when the weather cooperates. Maybe I need to learn to "work to live" instead of "living to work". If I can find a 40-50 hour work week at an EFS-free decent firm, perhaps I should just take it... But I went into archiecture because I wanted to be passionate about my work, and it's very disheartening to give up on that!
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