For the latest installment of Archinect's Studio Snapshots, Katherine Guimapang connected with Stephen Wilder, Principal of Think Wilder Architecture.
Melvin L. Mitchell, FAIA, NCARB, NOMA was struck by the length of Wilder’s journey from school to licensure “Insightful. Pride-evoking (a fellow Howard Bison). But depressing…Recent NCARB changes now facilitate an 8-10yrs path, potentially for 60-75%+ yield thru the deployment of the Integrated Path to Accelerated Licensure (IPAL) program. Unfortunately, there has been a confluence of events that have led to the reasons why the 7 HBCU-based programs all continue to cling to outmoded models and behavior that results in the same depressingly deteriorating outcomes of the past three decades."
ICYMI, as outlined in his entry to Thesis Review, SCI-Arc EDGE graduate Jimmy Wei-Chun Cheng is "working on building a few new design platforms/software that enable designers to work more efficiently and continue to research the potential of AI and Simulation in architectural design."
An exhibition in Riyadh featured models of project proposals for NEOM by a who’s whos of architecture firms. Janosh thought the work was all "Perfectly on brand for all of these firms" while sameolddoctor’s first thought was it is "Pretty amazing how market forces convert Pritzker winning firms into bullshit artists."
While Orhan Ayyüce appreciated all the direct messages following the catastrophic earthquake in Turkey and Syria he had a favor to ask "Please direct some of your donations to Syrian people who are stuck between wars and displacement. Yes, Turkey has unimaginable damage in greater proportion but Syrians have fewer resources and so far the help is trickling into them while pouring for Turkish victims."
Later densonmutarah, a facade engineer, opined that "the devastating impact of the recent earthquakes on heritage sites in Turkey and Syria highlights the need for improved building codes and regulations, seismic retrofitting and restoration techniques, and collaboration between international organizations and national authorities."
A landmark Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) between the UK’s Architects Registration Board (ARB) and United States’ National Council of Architectural Registration Board (NCARB) that will streamline the registration process for architects in both countries was signed on April 25, 2023. For his part b3tadine[sutures] was skeptical
"NCARB…providing another largely unattainable goal for foreign applicants…the devil is in the details…states will have the ultimate say in what happens."
The January ABI showed a continued, albeit slower decline in the demand for design services. Plus the Dodge Construction Network found "Total construction starts took a turn in January, falling 27% to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of $865.6 billion…Compared to January 2022, total construction was 14% lower in January 2023."
Heatherwick Studio revealed designs for their first school project, a new international school in Tokyo. When Will Galloway saw the design he "thought it looked like a typical but slightly better than average Japanese building. Then scrolled down and saw that it is in Japan. Something about the tile finish and the details screams generic Tokyo…It does not compare well to the work that made his name". Though he also expects "this will look better in real life than in the renderings…At the very least the extra activity on the street will be a nice addition."
Art Gallery Extension of Nanjing University of the Arts in Nanjing, China by Atelier Diameter and Yunnan Dongfengyun Art Center in Mile, China by line+ & gad are just two of the latest, top images (in no particular order) from the Archinect Pinterest board Architect Sure!
R.I.P. Robert Geddes, former Princeton Architecture Dean and Philadelphia Roundhouse designer, at 99.
As of late February, Jesus Diaz is working on their "master's degree focused on the conservation of architectural heritage by survey."
Oficina Martinez Zellner proposed a true "Green Screen" for the Sunset Strip, which would be a carbon-neutral, food and energy-producing self-powering digital billboard.
Looking for work?
On March 16th, Joseph Osae-Addo (a founding partner of the A+D Museum) will lecture at Otis College of Art and Design.
Kennesaw State University (KSU) invites nominations and applications for the position of Dean of the College of Architecture and Construction Management. Note, the application deadline is March 16, 2023.
DesignMuse is a longtime lurker, with 14 years of professional architectural experience, who tried to pass his final licensure exam (PPD) 4 times and was on the verge of giving up. b3tadine[sutures] offered some encouragement "it's fairly apparent that you're over thinking this exam given your knowledge and experience. You already know this, but I'll say it again, this test is not about what you know, but how well you can play the game and answer the questions…You can do this." midlander agreed "to some extent the exams are a test of how good you are at playing dumb and just doing what was asked even if the result will be unacceptable to your own judgment." citizen expanded "on proto's good idea above, consider hiring a coach."
Later the OP popped in with some good news/ advice of their own
"passed my last exam after the 4th try. I only studied for 10 days…The three previous times I studied for 2 months average, used a plethora of study material like black spectacles, archexamprep, amber book, ballast, Kaplan, reading materials. What was the game changer? The NCARB practice exams."
dominiond had questions about "what process your firm does for quality control (QC) of your construction document sets…the stress of knowing that sets that are not as tightly coordinated as they should be keeps me up at night."
Not alot of folks jumped in but archanonymous’s response was "If you aren't a part owner of the firm you work at, you need to stop giving so many fucks…Any firm sending CDs to someone else for production likely has much bigger problems than missed QC." For joseffischer "QA is the name of the game, train up your people or else your QC process will be like bailing water from a boat made of swiss cheese." As for relevant software their office uses "bluebeam heavily, which has a compare feature which is pretty nice."
Finally, proto started a post to gather/share Architecture / design Rules of Thumb which "often represents a larger truth or a big picture view...Sometimes it’s a simpler way of understanding an esoteric complexity." chigurh threw out "Discuss budget and schedule first - if you are not on the same page on those items, you can do a phenomenal job and it will still be deemed a failure" while Chad Miller had a few related to insulation/permeability "More insulation does not always mean better thermal performance…Don't forget you dew point location when using continuous insulation” and allowing the building “to breath…Water will get in, allow a way for it to get out." Or as tweaked by Wood Guy "People need to breathe, houses need to dry, vapor needs to be managed."
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