My wife and I are very close to deciding whether or not to move back to Maine after 14 years on the west coast. The final piece of the puzzle that I'm now grappling with is the job scene in Portland. I've sent quite a number of emails and made some phone calls to various firms in an attempt to, at the very least, get people's impressions of the architecture job climate, etc. with very few responses and very little useful information. I am wondering if anyone on this board may have any helpful information as to salary expectations (8 years, almost licenced) and the architecture climate in general there. It's strange having been away for so long, it's almost like 'discovering' a completely new place as a tourist.......
Any insight from all of you enlightened folks would be appreciated.
Cheers,
I have no idea about the job prospects, but the architectural community is quite strong in Portland. We've just formed the Portland Society of Architects with the mission of fostering communty and advocating for excellence in design. There is some good work in the aia maine 2006 desing awards. Some offices you might try: Stephen Blatt Arch., TFH Arch., PDT Arch., Winton Scott, Phil Kaplan Arch., and Carol Wilson.
hmm. this is pretty interesting. i'm an architecture student in boston right now and would love to stay in new england, but not boston, and do some quality design work. how does the Portland Society work and are there similar groups like it elsewhere? is there much work up that way these days? portland's always seemed like a very nice city to me as an outsider. hope you have some luck there, local.
Thanks everyone for your responses. I'll definately look into the Portland Society of Architects and spurse in hopes of getting some low-down from them........Snooker's post basically sums-up my ultimate fear of going 'home' - that professionally there is no, or a very limited, home to return to, although I'm hopefull that I could make the best of it.
FLM, I'll keep you posted as to what I find if you're interested.
207, I'm assuming you're there now.......do you know anything about James Sterling? He just sent me a brief but really nice email response. I'm familiar with his work, but I'm curious what type of person he is.....
Thanks everyone for your responses. I'll definately look into the Portland Society of Architects and spurse in hopes of getting some low-down from them........Snooker's post basically sums-up my ultimate fear of going 'home' - that professionally there is no, or a very limited, home to return to, although I'm hopefull that I could make the best of it.
FLM, I'll keep you posted as to what I find if you're interested.
207, I'm assuming you're there now.......do you know anything about James Sterling? He just sent me a brief but really nice email response. I'm familiar with his work, but I'm curious what type of person he is.....
James Sterling does some really good work; in fact he took top honors in the 2006 aia maine design awards. He seems to be a straightforward guy with a good sense of humor.
In my experience, the opposite of Snookers statement is true. I've met quite a few people who have relocated from Boston and other points south.
The PSA is an organization with one equal tier of membership open to architects as well as "architecture enthusiasts" (or anyone interested in good design.) We're doing things such as open office visits, preparing position papers for the city planning board, organizing community discussions, and working with the Architecture program at the U of Maine.
local (& FLM) feel free to email me if you want more info on Portland.
local, please let me know how it turns out for you. good luck. looks like there's some real quality design work being done up there. i live in nh when not at school and there doesn't seem to be the same collective attitude amongst architects there, though there is a pretty good group called planNH concerned with design and planning. how is the design work socially up there?
hey FLM, an old arch school friend just sent this link to me....check out www.architalx.org
Looks like a nice architecture lecture series at the Portland Museum of Art.
It seems that the PSA is a splinter organization of architalx from what my friend said. The more the merrier in my opinion....
Architalx and PSA are 2 separate organizations with complementary missions. Architalx main focus is coordinating the (very good) spring lecture series and panel discussion. PSA plays more of an activist role working with the city government to advicate for good design and organizes community events throughout the year. Architalx has been around for nearly 20 years, whle the PSA is newly founded. A few former Architalx board members are on the board of the PSA.
A few more things we have going for us up here are a great art school (MECA) who host some quality lectures and a historic preservation organization that likes to see new work in historic districts that is of its own time and does not try to ape the details of the historic fabric.
i thought i'd just resurrect this thread to see if anyone knows much about the work of richard renner, architects. i just saw something about the office/loft they did in portland in "design new england". i'd seen it in another publication i think awhile back, and their work looks very interesting to me. just wondering if anyone knows, and while i'm quite happy in boston at the moment, it's nice to see that there does indeed seem to be some very interesting and socially responsible work in portland.
i thought i'd just resurrect this thread to see if anyone knows much about the work of richard renner, architects. i just saw something about the office/loft they did in portland in "design new england". i'd seen it in another publication i think awhile back, and their work looks very interesting to me. just wondering if anyone knows, and while i'm quite happy in boston at the moment, it's nice to see that there does indeed seem to be some very interesting and socially responsible work in portland.
There is definitely some interesting and socially responsible work happening here. The first LEED-H certified home in the country was built just north of Portland in Freeport.
Portland is a great city to live in - on the ocean, very walkable, good restaurants, good art scene. The design community is pretty tight knit group.
Checkout some recent work from Maine architects: AIA Maine DA08
Moving to the 'other' Portland (Maine)
Hey all,
My wife and I are very close to deciding whether or not to move back to Maine after 14 years on the west coast. The final piece of the puzzle that I'm now grappling with is the job scene in Portland. I've sent quite a number of emails and made some phone calls to various firms in an attempt to, at the very least, get people's impressions of the architecture job climate, etc. with very few responses and very little useful information. I am wondering if anyone on this board may have any helpful information as to salary expectations (8 years, almost licenced) and the architecture climate in general there. It's strange having been away for so long, it's almost like 'discovering' a completely new place as a tourist.......
Any insight from all of you enlightened folks would be appreciated.
Cheers,
Adam
Guess everyone must have moved out of Portland, Maine and headed back to Boston. As the saying goes: "it is a beautiful place to starve."
No idea ... but check out the arch/art collective spurse. I think their HQ is in Portland, ME.
i don't know anybody...just recommend looking at the aia design award for the last couple of years.
aia maine 2006 awards
I have no idea about the job prospects, but the architectural community is quite strong in Portland. We've just formed the Portland Society of Architects with the mission of fostering communty and advocating for excellence in design. There is some good work in the aia maine 2006 desing awards. Some offices you might try: Stephen Blatt Arch., TFH Arch., PDT Arch., Winton Scott, Phil Kaplan Arch., and Carol Wilson.
hmm. this is pretty interesting. i'm an architecture student in boston right now and would love to stay in new england, but not boston, and do some quality design work. how does the Portland Society work and are there similar groups like it elsewhere? is there much work up that way these days? portland's always seemed like a very nice city to me as an outsider. hope you have some luck there, local.
Thanks everyone for your responses. I'll definately look into the Portland Society of Architects and spurse in hopes of getting some low-down from them........Snooker's post basically sums-up my ultimate fear of going 'home' - that professionally there is no, or a very limited, home to return to, although I'm hopefull that I could make the best of it.
FLM, I'll keep you posted as to what I find if you're interested.
207, I'm assuming you're there now.......do you know anything about James Sterling? He just sent me a brief but really nice email response. I'm familiar with his work, but I'm curious what type of person he is.....
Thanks again all and keep it comin,
ac
Thanks everyone for your responses. I'll definately look into the Portland Society of Architects and spurse in hopes of getting some low-down from them........Snooker's post basically sums-up my ultimate fear of going 'home' - that professionally there is no, or a very limited, home to return to, although I'm hopefull that I could make the best of it.
FLM, I'll keep you posted as to what I find if you're interested.
207, I'm assuming you're there now.......do you know anything about James Sterling? He just sent me a brief but really nice email response. I'm familiar with his work, but I'm curious what type of person he is.....
Thanks again all and keep it comin,
ac
James Sterling does some really good work; in fact he took top honors in the 2006 aia maine design awards. He seems to be a straightforward guy with a good sense of humor.
In my experience, the opposite of Snookers statement is true. I've met quite a few people who have relocated from Boston and other points south.
The PSA is an organization with one equal tier of membership open to architects as well as "architecture enthusiasts" (or anyone interested in good design.) We're doing things such as open office visits, preparing position papers for the city planning board, organizing community discussions, and working with the Architecture program at the U of Maine.
local (& FLM) feel free to email me if you want more info on Portland.
local, please let me know how it turns out for you. good luck. looks like there's some real quality design work being done up there. i live in nh when not at school and there doesn't seem to be the same collective attitude amongst architects there, though there is a pretty good group called planNH concerned with design and planning. how is the design work socially up there?
hey FLM,
hey FLM, an old arch school friend just sent this link to me....check out www.architalx.org
Looks like a nice architecture lecture series at the Portland Museum of Art.
It seems that the PSA is a splinter organization of architalx from what my friend said. The more the merrier in my opinion....
Architalx and PSA are 2 separate organizations with complementary missions. Architalx main focus is coordinating the (very good) spring lecture series and panel discussion. PSA plays more of an activist role working with the city government to advicate for good design and organizes community events throughout the year. Architalx has been around for nearly 20 years, whle the PSA is newly founded. A few former Architalx board members are on the board of the PSA.
A few more things we have going for us up here are a great art school (MECA) who host some quality lectures and a historic preservation organization that likes to see new work in historic districts that is of its own time and does not try to ape the details of the historic fabric.
i thought i'd just resurrect this thread to see if anyone knows much about the work of richard renner, architects. i just saw something about the office/loft they did in portland in "design new england". i'd seen it in another publication i think awhile back, and their work looks very interesting to me. just wondering if anyone knows, and while i'm quite happy in boston at the moment, it's nice to see that there does indeed seem to be some very interesting and socially responsible work in portland.
i thought i'd just resurrect this thread to see if anyone knows much about the work of richard renner, architects. i just saw something about the office/loft they did in portland in "design new england". i'd seen it in another publication i think awhile back, and their work looks very interesting to me. just wondering if anyone knows, and while i'm quite happy in boston at the moment, it's nice to see that there does indeed seem to be some very interesting and socially responsible work in portland.
There is definitely some interesting and socially responsible work happening here. The first LEED-H certified home in the country was built just north of Portland in Freeport.
Portland is a great city to live in - on the ocean, very walkable, good restaurants, good art scene. The design community is pretty tight knit group.
Checkout some recent work from Maine architects:
AIA Maine DA08
Portland Society of Architects
PSA
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