This was done back in the late 80's recession at an office I was affiliated with.
They didn't pay the ringers though, we just had friends from other businesses come in and then everyone had a beer after the clients were gone.
Nowadays, my bosses don't bring the clients to the office, and are free to inflate the firm's staff numbers all they want when responding to RFP's. They also recently trumpeted our new "branch offices" that are just P.O. boxes.
Pelli did it often when he was just starting as Dean of Yale.
They would call up the trays, you would bring your studio work over across the street and crank on whenever you were currently working on- this was when maylines (remember them?) were still an item. There were boxes of ties but since they just trolled thru the studio the dress code of the office seemed "eclectic" at best.
Its how the firm started.
And there was no cash- just starvin students gnoshing food and drink after the clients had left...
I heard of similar stunts in other cities with other students of GSD and Penn
I think this just makes the principal look really insecure... not to mention dishonest. If they pulled something like this with a client - you've got to wonder what else they're trying to pull?
I once worked on my firm's work at another firm's desk for exactly this purpose.
But I did it for free and as a collegial support of a colleague whose office was in the same building. Attention architects: let's be nice to each other.
And it's funny to me that while my work is ALL about material honesty, I don't have a problem with an architect making their office "look" full. The office just looks better with full desks!
Nice point, on the fence, but a photograph is a still visual moment, visiting an office is an experience in time. You don't want your footsteps echoing too loudly.
We did that at a firm in Chicago in 2002, when half the staff had been let go around 911. In our case we had the clerical staff, mail room people sitting in the studio and turned on all the cpus of the gohst workers to impress some big developers from out of town.
I had to do this a well. we had a famous musician coming in as he was looking to give us a huge theatre project. We had lookouts on the stret (nyc) and we all had certain roles. Carrying a huge model across the lobby as the elevator arrived. Having a huge design discussion in the hall. So the day came, and we all had time dated printed scripts and stood ready for an hour and they never showed. It was a huge waste of time and I had to work late to make up for the time I lost...It was still pretty funny when I look back on it...
Hahaha that's a good story, wonderful! Though I'd say there is a difference between having bodies sitting at desks and choreographing model movement during an interview...such theatre!
Dude, am I the only person who thinks this is just a bit immoral? I mean come the fuck on, this firm just laid off almost all its staff, has a skeleton crew working at it and they invite actors to come in and make the firm look staffed?
I'm not really blaming the principals though because almost all firms it seems operate on literally a day-to-day basis even in good times, its just a sad state of how low we will go to get a job and its one of the biggest reasons I'm thinking about going into development.
Phillip Johnson was totally right, we are all whores.
I think i'm gonna go put on my clear 6" stiletto heels and walk the streets of Tribeca.
I don't really see it as an ethical problem. Honestly, I don't see it being much different from putting on a nice suit and cleaning the office before prospective clients come to meet you.
Libykins, the difference is that if you did that you have the authentic credibility to do so. And I might add, that you would look dashing in Vera Wang wymyn suits.
Humor aside, treekiller and apurimac are correct in that there are varying degrees of deceit described here versus enhancing a professional image, which is what really you are describing Liberty. Its still you in the suit versus an actress like Jennifer Love Hewitt.
Where a little fudging becomes deceit becomes immoral or unethical has been at the heart of many a religious or philosophical debate and is ultimately a personal choice. The choices we make do not just define us, though, but ultimately the profession and hiring unknown actors versus sitting in for a friend does set a real new low.
Yesterday morning we did this in my [ex] firm - but with employees. People were moved from other parts of the building into one studio which is closest to the principals' offices and is the most visible to visitors. About 15 desks needed to be filled - and after 2 hrs or so everyone just moved back to their previous desks.
Because the desks were empty, computers, work, everything had to be moved in to put on the 'show'. But, at least they weren't paying 'extras' - just moving current employees.
Isn't being an architect all about pretending that you have experience/time/ability to do things that you may not be able to do?
If we didn't all pretend a little bit, none of us would have gotten work. How do you think Piano or Foster or Snohetta or Koolhaas were ever able to pull it off?
If I had a client for an office building and he came in and saw two people other than me there, he'd quickly give the project to someone else (whether or not the three of us could manage it.)
The ringers were paid contractors. The client was never told they were architects. What's the harm?
maybe also you could get some doctor actors and make it look like you're doing brain surgery in the conference room. this would really impress the potential client as they would realize that you are not pidgeonholed or one dimensional. i can see you in those heels tumbles!!!
my head hurts from laughing... geeze thinking about it....I did hear about a guy who used GSD studios as his office. He would drag clients thru the studio, hold meetings there....and of course sign contracts......then again maybe it was, "Architectural Urban Legend"
One of our profs told us that when the firm was just starting out, they had a client come over, so they rented a bunch of furniture to fill the place out and make it look busier than it was. Thought that was pretty funny.
Now that I think about it...back in the old days, I did have a boss fill our receptionist desk with a one day temp as our regualar receptionist was on vacation and he had a potential client flying in from California. He told us he was going to have someone come in to fill her spot. To our suprize she was drop dead gorgous. Turns out one of his buddies owned one of the hot night spots in town and his buddy found a sit in for the day so not temp agency fees had to be paid. We kidded him about it for a long time.
As I'm reading these posts, I'm realizing how awesome the whole ringer idea is.
It reminds me of something I read about Fidel Castro, when he was fighting against Batista in Cuba back in the 1950s. Castro and his cadre of only a few men were in the hills above Santiago. A reporter for the New York Times, Herbert Matthews, came down to interview him. Castro only had a ragtag group of about eighty starved and wounded men. But he wanted to impress the world with the size of his force (and scare Batista too.)
So he had his guys constantly circle the camp, changing items of clothing and groupings. They'd come into the camp, give reports to Castro. Then they'd leave, switch hats, come back in as if they were a different group of soldiers, talking on radios to other "platoons" and "companies" (there were none.) This completely convinced Matthews that they were a huge force. Matthews reported in the Times that Castro had "thousands" of soldiers massing in the Sierra Maestra Mountains.
Castro essentially invented an army, and Matthews, unwittingly, helped to pull the deception off. And you know where that story went.
i believe robert e. lee did the same thing in a battle. also, of course, the allied forces training for the normandy invasion had an entire fake army to trick the krauts into thinking that the invasion would be at calais.
^very true, they even had 'ol blood and guts Patton leading the fake invasion force making the krauts think it was extremely serious business. Hitler had all his elite panzer tank divisions waiting for the invasion in calais on D-Day. Needless to say, if Hitler's tank divisions had been at Normandy there is every possibility the allies would have lost the war in Europe.
Ireland On-Line reported that Paula says legendary musician Bob Dylan is an American Idol fan and claims he has tried to sneak into tapings of the hit singing program in disguise.
Paula said she spotted the singer hiding beneath a fake beard during a taping in the show's fourth season in 2005.
"[Bob Dylan] had a beard and tried to be in disguise. But I knew it was him," she said.
Ringers filling seats - the facade of having a busy office - or $100 to act like an architect
according to the Huffington Post.
Has it gotten that bad in tribeca, that a firm is willing to hire a potemkin's village of actors to staff the office for a client meeting?
I smell an opportunity to set up a 'casting agency' to provide lots of folks who 'look like architects' because they really are architects.
I've always wanted to pretend I was an architect!
i've been doing it for years...and i make much more than $100
This was done back in the late 80's recession at an office I was affiliated with.
They didn't pay the ringers though, we just had friends from other businesses come in and then everyone had a beer after the clients were gone.
Nowadays, my bosses don't bring the clients to the office, and are free to inflate the firm's staff numbers all they want when responding to RFP's. They also recently trumpeted our new "branch offices" that are just P.O. boxes.
If I was one of the architects, I'd have quit.
The shame, the shame of it all.
Some history here.
Pelli did it often when he was just starting as Dean of Yale.
They would call up the trays, you would bring your studio work over across the street and crank on whenever you were currently working on- this was when maylines (remember them?) were still an item. There were boxes of ties but since they just trolled thru the studio the dress code of the office seemed "eclectic" at best.
Its how the firm started.
And there was no cash- just starvin students gnoshing food and drink after the clients had left...
I heard of similar stunts in other cities with other students of GSD and Penn
I think this just makes the principal look really insecure... not to mention dishonest. If they pulled something like this with a client - you've got to wonder what else they're trying to pull?
I once worked on my firm's work at another firm's desk for exactly this purpose.
But I did it for free and as a collegial support of a colleague whose office was in the same building. Attention architects: let's be nice to each other.
And it's funny to me that while my work is ALL about material honesty, I don't have a problem with an architect making their office "look" full. The office just looks better with full desks!
Are there possible AIA ethic violations for doing this?
Why does an architects office look good with people at their desks yet when architects take pictures of their projects, they are devoid of people?
Nice point, on the fence, but a photograph is a still visual moment, visiting an office is an experience in time. You don't want your footsteps echoing too loudly.
A Potemkin studio
We did that at a firm in Chicago in 2002, when half the staff had been let go around 911. In our case we had the clerical staff, mail room people sitting in the studio and turned on all the cpus of the gohst workers to impress some big developers from out of town.
"fake it til you make it" has long been a mantra of ambitious and (usually) successful people
yeah we did that too. but our attempt to impress the visiting fatcats went awry when the shooting started and the baby carriage rolled down the steps.
I had to do this a well. we had a famous musician coming in as he was looking to give us a huge theatre project. We had lookouts on the stret (nyc) and we all had certain roles. Carrying a huge model across the lobby as the elevator arrived. Having a huge design discussion in the hall. So the day came, and we all had time dated printed scripts and stood ready for an hour and they never showed. It was a huge waste of time and I had to work late to make up for the time I lost...It was still pretty funny when I look back on it...
Hahaha that's a good story, wonderful! Though I'd say there is a difference between having bodies sitting at desks and choreographing model movement during an interview...such theatre!
Cue the model!
The partner is ready for his close-up!
Action!
Dude, am I the only person who thinks this is just a bit immoral? I mean come the fuck on, this firm just laid off almost all its staff, has a skeleton crew working at it and they invite actors to come in and make the firm look staffed?
I'm not really blaming the principals though because almost all firms it seems operate on literally a day-to-day basis even in good times, its just a sad state of how low we will go to get a job and its one of the biggest reasons I'm thinking about going into development.
Phillip Johnson was totally right, we are all whores.
I think i'm gonna go put on my clear 6" stiletto heels and walk the streets of Tribeca.
me love you long time,,,
"You got girlfriend New York?"
"I take you to happy place."
I don't really see it as an ethical problem. Honestly, I don't see it being much different from putting on a nice suit and cleaning the office before prospective clients come to meet you.
Libykins, the difference is that if you did that you have the authentic credibility to do so. And I might add, that you would look dashing in Vera Wang wymyn suits.
Humor aside, treekiller and apurimac are correct in that there are varying degrees of deceit described here versus enhancing a professional image, which is what really you are describing Liberty. Its still you in the suit versus an actress like Jennifer Love Hewitt.
Where a little fudging becomes deceit becomes immoral or unethical has been at the heart of many a religious or philosophical debate and is ultimately a personal choice. The choices we make do not just define us, though, but ultimately the profession and hiring unknown actors versus sitting in for a friend does set a real new low.
You can reach hell in a leap or a slow crawl.
"You can reach hell in a leap or a slow crawl. "
I prefer a lovely parade.
Yesterday morning we did this in my [ex] firm - but with employees. People were moved from other parts of the building into one studio which is closest to the principals' offices and is the most visible to visitors. About 15 desks needed to be filled - and after 2 hrs or so everyone just moved back to their previous desks.
Because the desks were empty, computers, work, everything had to be moved in to put on the 'show'. But, at least they weren't paying 'extras' - just moving current employees.
Britches-
EVERYONE loves a parade!
I'm willing to do it for $85
If they get the job then they're going to need ACTUAL ARCHITECTS for those seats. Why are you britching if there's a potential opening for you?
Most famously, MVRDV did something like this too when they were going to get their first big project, the Villa VPRO
villa vpro
so i guess the 1-man army isnt the trend these days....damn
I don't think there's a problem unless they specifically lied about how many employees they had.
Isn't being an architect all about pretending that you have experience/time/ability to do things that you may not be able to do?
If we didn't all pretend a little bit, none of us would have gotten work. How do you think Piano or Foster or Snohetta or Koolhaas were ever able to pull it off?
If I had a client for an office building and he came in and saw two people other than me there, he'd quickly give the project to someone else (whether or not the three of us could manage it.)
The ringers were paid contractors. The client was never told they were architects. What's the harm?
Pan and zoom, pan and zoom.
maybe also you could get some doctor actors and make it look like you're doing brain surgery in the conference room. this would really impress the potential client as they would realize that you are not pidgeonholed or one dimensional. i can see you in those heels tumbles!!!
my head hurts from laughing... geeze thinking about it....I did hear about a guy who used GSD studios as his office. He would drag clients thru the studio, hold meetings there....and of course sign contracts......then again maybe it was, "Architectural Urban Legend"
"My god, you seem to employ an awful lot of young people! And they're all so talented to!"
One of our profs told us that when the firm was just starting out, they had a client come over, so they rented a bunch of furniture to fill the place out and make it look busier than it was. Thought that was pretty funny.
Now that I think about it...back in the old days, I did have a boss fill our receptionist desk with a one day temp as our regualar receptionist was on vacation and he had a potential client flying in from California. He told us he was going to have someone come in to fill her spot. To our suprize she was drop dead gorgous. Turns out one of his buddies owned one of the hot night spots in town and his buddy found a sit in for the day so not temp agency fees had to be paid. We kidded him about it for a long time.
We are currently seeking someone to fill an unpaid receptionist position. Any takers?
As I'm reading these posts, I'm realizing how awesome the whole ringer idea is.
It reminds me of something I read about Fidel Castro, when he was fighting against Batista in Cuba back in the 1950s. Castro and his cadre of only a few men were in the hills above Santiago. A reporter for the New York Times, Herbert Matthews, came down to interview him. Castro only had a ragtag group of about eighty starved and wounded men. But he wanted to impress the world with the size of his force (and scare Batista too.)
So he had his guys constantly circle the camp, changing items of clothing and groupings. They'd come into the camp, give reports to Castro. Then they'd leave, switch hats, come back in as if they were a different group of soldiers, talking on radios to other "platoons" and "companies" (there were none.) This completely convinced Matthews that they were a huge force. Matthews reported in the Times that Castro had "thousands" of soldiers massing in the Sierra Maestra Mountains.
Castro essentially invented an army, and Matthews, unwittingly, helped to pull the deception off. And you know where that story went.
i believe robert e. lee did the same thing in a battle. also, of course, the allied forces training for the normandy invasion had an entire fake army to trick the krauts into thinking that the invasion would be at calais.
^very true, they even had 'ol blood and guts Patton leading the fake invasion force making the krauts think it was extremely serious business. Hitler had all his elite panzer tank divisions waiting for the invasion in calais on D-Day. Needless to say, if Hitler's tank divisions had been at Normandy there is every possibility the allies would have lost the war in Europe.
Ireland On-Line reported that Paula says legendary musician Bob Dylan is an American Idol fan and claims he has tried to sneak into tapings of the hit singing program in disguise.
Paula said she spotted the singer hiding beneath a fake beard during a taping in the show's fourth season in 2005.
"[Bob Dylan] had a beard and tried to be in disguise. But I knew it was him," she said.
Elvis has left the Mountain....I have no idea where I heard this but I did and it must be true.
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