What do Robert Ivy FAIA, EVP/CEO of the AIA, and Jimenez Lai, of Bureau Spectacular, have in common? Other than they're both architects, not so much! What better way to celebrate a profession at the crossroads than featuring interviews with both in our latest podcast episode.
Paul, Amelia, Donna and Ken spoke with Ivy about the AIA's newly launched "I Look Up" (#ilookup) public awareness campaign for architects, and Jimenez Lai joined us in studio to discuss his latest Graham Foundation-funded collaboration, Treatise: Why Write Alone?.
Treatise is currently being exhibited at the Graham Foundation in Chicago through March 28, and its eponymous publication launches March 18.
As always, you can send us your architectural legal issues, comments or questions via twitter #archinectsessions, email or call us at (213) 784-7421.
Listen to episode sixteen of Archinect Sessions, "All Work and All Play" with Jimenez Lai and Robert Ivy FAIA, EVP/CEO of the AIA:
If the above embed doesn't work, you can listen here.
Shownotes:
AIA's #ilookup campaign commercial:
Original StudentWorks featuring Jimenez Lai from 2006(!!)
Stanley Tigerman's "Architoons"
Robert Somol, Director of UIC's School of Architecture
Lai's Taiwanese Pavilion at the Venice Biennale
On Bullshit, by Harry G. Frankfurt
Rives Rash, Shop Manager at University of Kentucky's Workshop and Fabrication Lab
Treatise collaborators: Thomas Kelly, Andrew Kovacs, Norman Kelley, SPEEDISM
Charlottesville / Chicago Tapes
Clay Shirkey interview
Connan Mockasin, "I'm the Man, That Will Find You", from 2013's Caramel
I AM KXNDNESS in Minneapolis
15 Comments
Double shot of podcast on Thursday....I like the range of spectrum of Architecture covered here and appreciate Ken Koense for just asking blunt questions with that inheritant NewJersey slightly negative but honest attitude that I may or may not agree with, but it got Ivy going with a less formalized response and somewhat passionate defense of the ad roll-out by the AIA. The influencers actually do not understand for the most part fully what we do, most try to value engineer us into producers of documentation and liability sinks or marketing gimmicks. There are the great owners out there, but many of the people who become influencers don't see the value in our services as we do. Ivy's point about vision is important. This is what Jiminez Lai offers along the lines of young architects who want the practice to have more 'craft' and less 'legal' bindings and aim our value at what we believe our value is - vision within a context of improvement. As Ivy said the commercials are not for us, and much of your podcast was debating what it should look like according to us. If an eighth of what Lai does, an architects architect/artist like Hejduk, trickles into the AIA campaign and can be understood by the influencers I would be happy.
Chris, I guess my feeling is that the commercials shouldn't be for us, but they should accurately represent us, and given how the comments are pretty negative, I think the AIA did not work hard enough to see that it did.
I forget if the podcast noted this, I thought I did, but whatever, I think it would be incredible if the AIA created a Vine channel - given the "social media" buzzword bandied about - and asked architects, interns and whatever creative that cared, to create 6 second videos about the profession. That would be a fantastic social media campaign, and we'd, I'd, feel some ownership, or a stake in my own profession, but it seems like twitter, and facebook, was the extent of the "broad" campaign.
You know, my dad, 69 years of age, told me about this wild new browser, that's sure to change the inter-webs, it's called Netscape; yep, told me about yesterday. I can't wait to try it.
Article and 30 second ad here. http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/tired-toiling-obscurity-architects-start-advertising-their-profession-tv-162871
"Or, in many cases, simply create the perception. And in architecture, that's far easier said than done. The classic image of the architect bent over his drafting table (or, these days, hisAutoCAD program) represents only one part of a varied profession that involves everything from land use planning to historic restoration to construction economics. But since it wasn't practical to get all of that into a half-minute spot, the Purpose Institute chose a theme that anyone who's walked through a city can relate to: "Look Up."
"When you think of architects, you think of tall buildings," said Purpose Institute president and co-founder Judy Trabulsi. "So we thought, 'Hey, everyone, look up.'"
These two paragraphs, are part of the problem, one, I'm not sure the ad changes.
Ken, just had dinner with an MD I met on the nj transit bus to discuss architecture. The guy was really into what I did and when he noted that doctors after a 15 minute visit with patient spend 20 minutes doing write-ups - I said same here buddy, it ain't all drafting boards and sketches. I think the hardest problem to convey - is what we do! He asked if I did mainly commercial or residential and I said - Everything I can work on I do. He went on to tell me about being an Internal doc which sounded like a jack of all trades family type doctor and noted Surgeons were like the bone headed jocks - like some starchitects. I tried to explain to him old school architecture in the states and how our tasks have been in many ways farmed out for value engineering purposes of services.......he noted being a doctor is a no appreciation job even if you save someone's life some family relative will bitch about the prescription.......he paid the tab. I said dude show me some respect I owe you one........I think the Vine idea would help further define what many of us do but would leave the general public still confused. I don't think a Dumb campaign is that bad at this time, it gets people thinking.
Donna Sink gave me a copy of On Bullshit several years ago. Thanks, Sweetie! The AIA promotion ties into the thread This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things http://archinect.com/forum/thread/120498815/this-is-why-we-can-t-have-nice-things in that we are really addressing audience. The discussion on the thread is about both the hideousness of the house and the people who would find a house like this appealing. When I spoke of the average person I was referring not to the double wide dwelling cooking out with gasoline crowd but because they aren't the audience for this house. I was referring to the person who can afford a 350k home, in this example, which is a family with well paying jobs who for some reason have no aesthetic education in architecture. they probably have ipads, and maybe even electric cars. but their shelter choices are just awful. but they also never considered the services of an architect. It is a question is how does our profession draw that population to consider choosing a design professional for their biggest investment. and although, architects are always talking about value. We have value, We add value etc. How do we add value rather than just gasp in horror at a house like this and the many others that we encounter. It won't be through Godard references, however.
Great post and questions, vado.
(I think that was a birthday gift, yes? Happy Birthday again several weeks late!)
@KenKoense
Regarding Ken's comment on the podcast about the AIA passing on "the stick of decision-making" to younger generations (right on, by the way), here is a great article by Fast Company on millennials that came to mind.
http://www.fastcompany.com/3041811/hopefully-the-last-article-about-millennials-youll-ever-read
Great link, gb-a. It reminds me of the AIA's Emerging Professionals focus. The EP Summit we had last year was a good mix of established architects and educators as well as many recent graduates and students. The AIA is very open to, and encouraging of, young practitioners making their opinions known, and the fact is the way young people approach our profession, or avoid it, is not something we older people can run away from. We have to embrace it. In my mind, the AIA is really trying to do so. Although this commercial doesn't seem at all geared to a younger generation, the next phases of the campaign very well may be.
Re: Jiminez Lai, responding to criticism as "jealousy" is a dangerous statement. (Digital evangelists love to praise the comments as long as they are affirming their world-view). At least I'm taking the ideas seriously, as opposed to what seems like a general view that anything edgy or hip should be praised without thought.
All of the points about inspiration and cave paintings and Godard and Superstudio and b.s. are great and all. But if you have an empty lot, and five different ideas of how to build those, belittling the act of believing your solution is the best vs. a kind of "i'm too cool" to do anything, and am gonna make art representing that impulse--two different things. Again, we are discussing a difference between media and architecture. I don't think Godard was talking about anything other than the art of filmmaking, how images can become their own kind of reality. But there is a big mistake in todays media in neglecting the real reality--the media is not an end in itself, so solving political issues in the form of a cat gif doesn't really do anything other than provide a moment of amusement. It is what it is. It's funny. It might not have anything to do with architecture, but so what? The problem is when cynicism in the media becomes a self-defeating apparatus used to destroy what is left of architecture.
If there is a story here, what is that story? Is it a cynical, narcissistic view of the "architect" and his role or does it have something interesting to say or bring to the world. About 99% of the current arch-media is concerned with the image of the architect, without any interest in what they make or build. The AIA campaign, if anything should have been called, "the world is what we make it," with images of good and bad buildings, but Coke had the idea first I guess.
"I like the quality of your line-weights." I do to, but if you wanna do gifs and sell it to the arch-intellectual, do it in a smart way that says something that doesn't reek of anti-intellectualism or anti-architecture.
"For my friend Vado, whose bullshit always makes me laugh because it is at once smart and sincere" Donna's no bullshit note in the copy of On Bullshit that she gave me six years ago!!where is the time going??? Love you LB!
For those wanting more Connan Mockasin, this is worth a listen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQQnrtlk_ec Interesting to pick up on the "narrative" of this set and the energy arcs. Jimenez Lai seems to be a very chill guy with a lot of great ideas grounded in his philosophical ethic. I wish him all the success he desires.
by the way the drawing used for this podcast by Jiminez Lai is the last page of the most recent issue of Log (33)
///INSIDE///OUTSIDE///BETWEEN///BEYOND///, 2014, Micron and Correction Fluid on Paper, 11x17 in
What would happen if before you created content (e.g. I Look Up) you not only thought about who your audience was (influencers, not Architects) but you thought about what type of content your audience would find so interesting, so informative, so entertaining that they'd want to share it? I suspect you'd create something that resonated with your audience. I don't suspect that the I Look Up campaign passes that test.
Mr. Ivy has obviously been well coached on the marketing strategy behind the campaign. I agree with the vast majority of what he said. I also agree with the vast majority of what Paul, Amelia, Donna and Ken had to said.
I believe the strategy is sound, I just think that so far the execution has fallen short.
Great podcast. Keep up the good work. - Jeff
"what type of content your audience would find so interesting, so informative, so entertaining that they'd want to share it?"
This is a really good point, Jeff. I LOVE the I Look Up campaign, but I'm viewing it as an architect, not as a client. In social media, currency belongs to what people are willing to share.
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