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some honest questions about the architecture profession

110
WinstonSmith

outed:

no. I won't move on. I'm 33. I recently completed the AIA and NCARB guantlett to get licensed only to find a hollowed out profession that the generation before me hollowed out and sold to me as if it was still worth it.

I invested approx. 11 years of the best years of my life and approx. 150,000 in hard costs and untold opportunity costs to get here only to find out that my MArch and my License don't mean jack squat in the marketplace thanks to those who have shanghaied my hopes and dreams in order to increase the profit line of NCARB and AIA members..

And complacent, procrastinating, equivocating yellow bellied older generation has the nerve to try and white wash things and tell me to "move on".

Blow it out your arse.

Anyone who had a hand in this deception is going to have to account for it.

THen I'll move on.

But the 40-65 year olds have a lot of explaining to do. And I don't want the bullshitt. I want transparency and honesty for once. So if someone doesn't want to communicate on that level then you move on.

Mar 17, 10 6:27 pm  · 
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digger

Winston Smith is a fictional character and the protagonist of George Orwell's 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. The character was employed by Orwell as an everyman in the setting of the novel, a "central eye ... [the reader] can readily identify with".

Winston Smith works as a clerk in the Records Department of the "Ministry of Truth", where his job is to rewrite historical documents so they match the constantly changing current party line. This involves revising newspaper articles and doctoring photographs — mostly to remove "unpersons," people who have fallen foul of the party.

Because of his proximity to the mechanics of rewriting history, Winston Smith nurses doubts about the Party and its monopoly on truth.

Mar 17, 10 7:01 pm  · 
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WinstonSmith

In this unfolding metaphor, the AIA is the "Ministry of Love"...

Mar 17, 10 7:13 pm  · 
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WinstonSmith

Big brother is the NCARB board of directors

Mar 17, 10 7:14 pm  · 
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On the fence

Well, there goes another thread down the toilet.

Mar 17, 10 7:26 pm  · 
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liberty bell

On the fence, I think there's still a lot of good information on this thread. it's not totally down the toilet.

It beats me why anyone who despises something would hang around a bunch of people who love the same thing trying to destroy it for them.


Anyone who had a hand in this deception is going to have to account for it... And I don't want the bullshitt. I want transparency and honesty for once.


I'm as honest as can be, as are the majority of people on this thread who enjoy what we do and have worked hard to make a living at it. There is no conspiracy, but there are definitely differing levels of ability in handling and benefitting from what contemporary life throws at everyone.

No one here is bitter but you WinstonSmith. You know what Dan Savage says about people who ask why every one of their relationships has failed? The common denominator in all those relationships is you - maybe that's where your analysis of the problem should start.





Mar 17, 10 7:39 pm  · 
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liberty bell

Also, outed: yeah, I wondered why the pot was stamping its feet and screaming "black!" at all us evil old folks. ;-)

Mar 17, 10 7:40 pm  · 
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Ersatz

I think, in part it's because hearing different experiences than his own, and stories of people who have found success in this profession possess such a threat to the story he came up with in his mind that he must lash out, defending his already tenuous belief. Otherwise, if he doesn't, he'll be forced to admit the somewhat painful realization that maybe, just maybe, the reason he's feeling so bitter isn't so much because of outside circumstances (the very same forces successful people have dealt with, in an obviously different way) but is a result brought on through his own volition.

Taking responsibility for how one's own life has turned out is much harder than playing the victim, childishly lashing out the same thing over and over again, shouting at the rain saying "it shouldn't rain!" Hence the need to come here again and again, the easier, lazier way.

I'd really like some rational answers to this jiashik's question. And there was some provided, but I've been lurking for a while and seems this one dude always finds a way to take over a thread and turn it to illogical shouting matches, denigrating some of his points rather than supporting them.

Mar 17, 10 8:28 pm  · 
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marlowe

Whether you like it or not, I'm going to throw some positive thoughts your way.
Consider the following:
Depending on your sources, estimates are that there is a 20% unemployment rate within the architecture profession nationwide.
The likelihood of people coming back into the architecture profession after being unemployed for 10 or more months is slim. Those who have been out of work for 10 months or more will likely transition into a new career if they don't find work in a architecture firm somewhere.
After this whole 'great recession' ends and things trend upward, I think we're going to see that 10-15% of our profession is gone - working in other industries. This could be 15,000 architects.
Current small boutique firms are struggling - burning through whatever savings they may have retained, borrowing money to make payroll or outright closing up shop.
Large national firms that operate according to a 'business centered' organization, have let 20 year employees go because they are keeping overhead/labor expenses directly proportional to their billings.
Now, you might see this all as disaster - I see it as opportunity.
My grandparents came to this country during the great depression with a dream - to start their own business and provide a better life for their family. They did not borrow money, worked hard and were honest. In the end, their American Dream was realized 10-Fold.
I see this as one of the best times in history to start a firm. Senior, talented people with 20 years of experience, who can't crank CAD, Revit or even open a .pdf file, are on the street looking for work.
If your licensed and can do your own drawings, why not try to align with more senior people and put a firm together? Let the grey hairs market, cold call clients and leverage their experience for what it's worth - confidence and knowledge.
If it all fails and you don't get work, then at least you'll have made some connections to people who could potentially hire you in the future.

Mar 17, 10 8:39 pm  · 
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marmkid

whew, a lot has gone on here in the past day or so....thankfully these green St Patty's Day beers have helped me catch up. haha yeah right

while i managed to see my one actual question was ignored again, I wont bother to ask again



i agree though outed
Not everyone will find fulfillment in a career in architecture. It's not the AIA's fault, or the colleges. And that doesnt mean the rest of us who are architects are idiots or technically incompetent for remaining architects.

If everyone would just take responsibility for their own careers and not blame others, perhaps we could be happy with ourselves

Mar 17, 10 11:38 pm  · 
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