it depends where you ask this question. Archinect is known for architects (students) that are obsessed with Starchitects, glossy renderings and blobs. If you want to get a non bias answer i would suggest you to post this question on another architect forum where you have a more balanced variaty in architects. There you would get all the pros and cons.
Gehry's office does their own CDs - I've seen the sets. There are several volumes - each volume is about 2" thick. They also to their own CA and are highly involved with each project from start to finish...
The "real firm vs. starchitect" stance gets tired pretty quickly, and it is re-iterated quite often on this forum. If standard corporate procedures and an institutionalized workflow are your thing, then Gehry is not the place to work.
The office is heavily involved in the construction of his buildings, probably more so than most firms, and that is the case because they have some very talented individuals in the office who know how to build. And dml955i is right - they do all their own CD's because nobody else could.
You will learn a ton about building. You will not learn a ton about value engineering.
i am glad you will probs take the job. the idea that it could be detrimental to your career is a curious reaction, perhaps coming from people who wish they could be in similar position. why so much hate on for gehry? it is very odd to me.
i mean really, if we were to count how many amazing buildings gehry has done and compare with how many bad he is still way ahead of any random normal office that will NEVER do one amazing building. ever. yeesh.
on starchitects and learning to build...most of my former classmates work for starchitects; like 95% of them. it is the inevitable goal of going to my school as grad student. anyway...a few years ago some of the kids were doing a building for sejima that apparently NEEDED to have a super thin roof. this is not easy to do in earthquake country. but the young guns put forth proposal after proposal to the engineers until they got it worked out. they learned an enormous amount about buildability from that job. they also worked too many hours. now they know both what the "normal" architect would do in that situation (deep beams of x shape) and how to negotiate, redesign and overcome the limitations of the standard approach to make something special. twice the education for just a single dollar. whether it was worth it to shave some millimeters off the beam depth i can't really say (somehow i doubt it), but there is no denying that the opportunities for certain kinds of education are possible in starchitecture offices.
in japan it is maybe important to note that most students get their licence while in school, or shortly thereafter, so there is not a need to log hours for idp. maybe that is an impt distinction. the experience of being an architect here becomes directed towards the goal of making great buildings, not towards satisfying idp reqs. there is some merit to that approach.
I have several friends and former co-workers who currently work for Gehry and love it. I also work with people who are married to architects at Gehry's office and have said good things about the pay, hours, and benefits he offers. The whole no-pay and long hours at a star architect's office is a big misconception in my experience. Sure it happens, but know your facts about a particular office before you go talking about working for free. Gehry offers a very competitive compensation package from what I have seen.
If you want to learn about construction, this would be a great opportunity... regardless of what you might think about his design style. Unlike many of the small academically supported, "design" offices, Gehry is actually in business to build buildings, and you will be able to use tools that most offices can only dream of. Go big before you go small, you will learn much more than by settling with a small firm to "learn the craft".
gehry's office has several large projects in the pipeline right now and a number of large projects in construction. he's at the point in his career where he wouldn't take projects unless he knows they'll get done in his lifetime or they are interesting to him. so it will be a good place to go work since you know a lot of the projects will be among the most interesting out there, and they will all pull through and be built quickly. it also means they have money to spare.
they pay well there because they need to retain really talented technical people. otherwise they wouldn't build crazy buildings because people with those abilities and knowledge would go to SOM or somewhere.
they like to have people move up the ranks. but it can be slow if you go there without much broad experience since you will be a model maker to start. lots of the people managing projects started that way though so it's good and bad. you know there is room to grow. but it can take a long time.
job offer with gehry
alcon....
hows this for an answer:
</b><b>no one from gehry's office is on archinect.
it depends where you ask this question. Archinect is known for architects (students) that are obsessed with Starchitects, glossy renderings and blobs. If you want to get a non bias answer i would suggest you to post this question on another architect forum where you have a more balanced variaty in architects. There you would get all the pros and cons.
Gehry's office does their own CDs - I've seen the sets. There are several volumes - each volume is about 2" thick. They also to their own CA and are highly involved with each project from start to finish...
Dear Friends,
I've got an offer from Gehry.
And it involves making out
In a hammock
Underneath a tree!
With Love!
eb
don't worry eb, it's coming
The "real firm vs. starchitect" stance gets tired pretty quickly, and it is re-iterated quite often on this forum. If standard corporate procedures and an institutionalized workflow are your thing, then Gehry is not the place to work.
The office is heavily involved in the construction of his buildings, probably more so than most firms, and that is the case because they have some very talented individuals in the office who know how to build. And dml955i is right - they do all their own CD's because nobody else could.
You will learn a ton about building. You will not learn a ton about value engineering.
i would love to work part time for a starchitect. say 40-45 hours a week.
You will also not learn a ton about how to balance your professional and personal life.
yeh, no kidding.
i am glad you will probs take the job. the idea that it could be detrimental to your career is a curious reaction, perhaps coming from people who wish they could be in similar position. why so much hate on for gehry? it is very odd to me.
i mean really, if we were to count how many amazing buildings gehry has done and compare with how many bad he is still way ahead of any random normal office that will NEVER do one amazing building. ever. yeesh.
on starchitects and learning to build...most of my former classmates work for starchitects; like 95% of them. it is the inevitable goal of going to my school as grad student. anyway...a few years ago some of the kids were doing a building for sejima that apparently NEEDED to have a super thin roof. this is not easy to do in earthquake country. but the young guns put forth proposal after proposal to the engineers until they got it worked out. they learned an enormous amount about buildability from that job. they also worked too many hours. now they know both what the "normal" architect would do in that situation (deep beams of x shape) and how to negotiate, redesign and overcome the limitations of the standard approach to make something special. twice the education for just a single dollar. whether it was worth it to shave some millimeters off the beam depth i can't really say (somehow i doubt it), but there is no denying that the opportunities for certain kinds of education are possible in starchitecture offices.
in japan it is maybe important to note that most students get their licence while in school, or shortly thereafter, so there is not a need to log hours for idp. maybe that is an impt distinction. the experience of being an architect here becomes directed towards the goal of making great buildings, not towards satisfying idp reqs. there is some merit to that approach.
I have several friends and former co-workers who currently work for Gehry and love it. I also work with people who are married to architects at Gehry's office and have said good things about the pay, hours, and benefits he offers. The whole no-pay and long hours at a star architect's office is a big misconception in my experience. Sure it happens, but know your facts about a particular office before you go talking about working for free. Gehry offers a very competitive compensation package from what I have seen.
If you want to learn about construction, this would be a great opportunity... regardless of what you might think about his design style. Unlike many of the small academically supported, "design" offices, Gehry is actually in business to build buildings, and you will be able to use tools that most offices can only dream of. Go big before you go small, you will learn much more than by settling with a small firm to "learn the craft".
gehry's office has several large projects in the pipeline right now and a number of large projects in construction. he's at the point in his career where he wouldn't take projects unless he knows they'll get done in his lifetime or they are interesting to him. so it will be a good place to go work since you know a lot of the projects will be among the most interesting out there, and they will all pull through and be built quickly. it also means they have money to spare.
they pay well there because they need to retain really talented technical people. otherwise they wouldn't build crazy buildings because people with those abilities and knowledge would go to SOM or somewhere.
they like to have people move up the ranks. but it can be slow if you go there without much broad experience since you will be a model maker to start. lots of the people managing projects started that way though so it's good and bad. you know there is room to grow. but it can take a long time.
Firms to avoid: Craig Nealy, New York
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