Thoughts, ramblings, and mental abstractions of an individual emerging in the Architecture profession.
I was sitting in a meeting the other day where everyone was asked what was on their minds about work, life, and architecture in general. I looked around the room, and for a moment I didn't think anyone was going to give an answer. It wasn't that anyone didn't have anything on their mind, it …
Continue reading "Forgotten Mistakes"
Architecture is all about the drawings, right? Ummm, no. Wait, say what? Architects draw all the time whether it is by hand or on the computer. I don’t think you can possibly count the number of posts on the internet about what drawings should look like, what line-weights to use, what font works best for …
Continue reading "Communication – What, How, Why?"
They might walk into your office completely unannounced looking for help. Maybe they saw your web page and were so enamored with what they saw they had to call you right away. Perhaps it is someone you have known for years, and they have finally decided to "pull the trigger" and get things finally moving. …
Continue reading "Where do we begin?"
Architecture is a combination technical results oriented applications and artistic exploration and expression. The technical side is a pretty easy one to judge a project on. You can fairly accurately measure the square footage of a building; the amount of energy a building is consuming in the middle of summer; the performance of the various …
Continue reading "Ugly, sloppy, and wrong – oh my!"
I've really only worked for 4 different firms in my career, and 3 of them had pretty much the same philosophy about moonlighting. As long as it doesn't compete with the types of projects the firm does, than by all means, knock yourself out. The 4th firm I was with was during undergrad and if I …
Continue reading "Starlight, moonlight – tick tock"
I've been involved lately in a bunch of conversations about the changing role architects are playing in a typical project. You used to be able to go to an experienced architect and be able to ask them about design, drafting, flashing details, or numerous other things that are involved in projects and you would get …
Continue reading "I’ve got a lot to learn"
I took a class at the convention a few years back that was all about how architects should talk to non-architects, because apparently we are actually really bad at it. Who knew? We were provided a list of 10 things we should all do. Don't worry, I'm not going to go over all 10 here, …
Continue reading "Drafting Lessons 2 – Notes"
Do you remember back in school when you went to your studio and were given some sort of amazing project to work on? Ok, maybe at the time it didn’t feel so amazing, but whatever it was, you were supposed to study and research the bageeziz out of it until you could rationalize every single decision …
Continue reading "From Goodbye to Hello"
"The key to success is to give it all away." I have no idea who gets the credit for that quote, and up until I started thinking about this post, I really wasn't sure how it applied to me. I mean I get the gist of it, but working at a larger firm, I …
Continue reading "Drafting Lessons – Volume 1"
I think that most architects have that one, well maybe not just one, project that wakes you up in the middle of the night wondering how it's going. Depending on the type of firm you are at it could be anything from a million square foot mixed use multi-building project to a single family residential …
Continue reading "Difficult Projects"
The Emerging Architect 