Showing posts from category: Uncategorized
“Maybe you should do something else”.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had somebody say that to me over the last couple of years. It usually follows a long winded rant on my part about how much the profession sucks, how hard it is to find work, how hard it is to get paid if you do find work and forget about finding good clients.
Here’s the thing that non-architects (and some architects) don’t get, architecture is not a job! It’s a calling. The “mother of all arts” as Wright once said. But lately it’s becoming a job, a means to an end. And as a job, architecture sucks (“When did architecture become a job” http://goo.gl/kwf5e).
But what else to do? Become a real estate broker, computer programmer, writer, teacher, what? What other profession offers creatives who become architects the addictive highs of the creative process?
Granted, the lows associated with the profession are devastating. (that’s why one keeps a bottle of single malt scotch nearby). But we’re all addicts, waiting for that creative fix that trumps everything, that’s makes the world around us disappear. That makes you throw your chest out and say “I’m an architect” when someone asks what you do.
Do something else?
I don’t think so.
I’m an architect.
“Let your breath lead you into the pose”
For those of you who practice yoga you have no doubt heard that quote at one time or another during your practice. It means you can’t (or shouldn’t) force your body into a yoga pose, rather, let your body acclimate to and deepen into the pose by using your rhythmic breath. It’s patience, it’s acceptance, it’s surrender.
I recently started practicing yoga and think there is an analogy to be made here with architecture, at least how it’s practiced today. Architects no longer let our breath lead us into design. There’s no patience, no acceptance and no surrender to the creative process.
Damaged heavily by the recession, pushed by clients to get things done quickly and the need to complete more projects to compensate for shrinking fees all lead to inferior design. Rehashing old design concepts, adopting a signature style because the production process can be streamlined to maximize efficiency and an over reliance on technology are all contributing to the dilution of the role of the architect.
I would argue we would all see greater success if we stopped, slowed down, “breathe” and enjoy the creative process, regardless of how long it takes. It’s what we do, it’s in our DNA. Don’t let anyone strip the creative process from us.
It’s all we have left.
Namaste
Robert Vecchione is an architect/designer and principal of the multidisciplinary firm Cobrooke Ideas-Architecture-Design (www.cobrooke.com)
“It’s not for you”
“For everyone else, though, the ability to say, “It’s not for you,” is the foundation for creating something brave and important. You can’t do your best work if you’re always trying to touch the untouchable, or entertain those that refuse to be entertained.
“It’s not for you.”
This is easy to say and incredibly difficult to do. You don’t have much choice, though, not if you want your work to matter.”
Seth Godin, Seth’s blog
My work does matter, and I agree with Seth, it is hard to do. Hard to say “it’s not for you”. As a young architect I expended a great deal of energy trying to entertain those that refuse to be entertained. Trying to fit square pegs into round holes. The desire to practice architecture creates a tunnel vision; clouds rational thinking and blinds you to clients and projects that are not right for you. Architecture requires conviction. A belief in a core set of principles that guide the creative process.
You can’t be all things to all people.
It has taken me almost 30 years to consistently say “it’s not for you”. To say this is what I believe in; this is my truth and have the conviction that there are clients out there that “it” is for. And it’s hard. Especially in this economy.
But we’re guided by our convictions. And one project created in accordance with those core beliefs is better than 10 projects where you just go through the motions just looking to get paid.
Not everyone hears the music you dance to. Just have conviction that a dance partner isn’t that far away.
Turn the music up and keep dancing.
Robert Vecchione is an architect/designer and principal of the multidisciplinary firm Cobrooke Ideas-Architecture-Design (www.cobrooke.com)
NYC sees biggest building permit rise since crash | Crain’s New York Business.
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Real Estate | Crain’s New York Business.
October ABI up 2.5 pts to 49.4
* New projects index up 3 pts to 57.3
* AIA says demand for architects’ services volatile
* New projects index up 3 pts to 57.3
* AIA says demand for architects’ services volatile
A leading indicator of U.S. construction activity rebounded in October, the AIA said on Wednesday.
The architecture billings index rose 2.5 points last month to 49.4, according the American Institute of Architects. Any reading below 50 indicates an overall decrease in demand for design services, a predictor of construction spending nine to 12 months in the future.
A separate index of inquiries for future projects rose 3 points to 57.3. That measure is more often above 50 as clients reach out to multiple architecture firms.
October’s rebound was encouraging, but demand for designs remains volatile, the group said. Conditions in various regions range from improving to poor and are likely to continue that way in coming months, the AIA said.
Conditions are strongest in the U.S. Northeast and weakest in the West.
A depressed construction market has been a headwind for manufacturers of construction machinery and components that make up buildings’ infrastructure, such as electrical, cooling and security systems.
Analysts who cover industrial stocks have called the billings index as important an economic indicator as the monthly industrial data from the Institute for Supply Management.
Most diversified industrial companies get at least some revenue from the nonresidential construction sector, which includes office buildings, retail and warehouse space, and institutional buildings such as schools and hospitals.
Companies exposed to the sector include Honeywell International Inc , Tyco International Ltd , Ingersoll Rand , Eaton Corp , Caterpillar Inc , Deere & Co and Terex Corp .
European companies such as Siemens AG , Schneider Electric SA and lock maker Assa Abloy are also significant players in the sector.
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aia, architects, architecture, architecture jobs, construction, Hiring trends, jobs, recession, starting a business, Uncategorized, unemployed architects
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AIA Billing Index
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xBfiJkratE&feature=player_embedded#!]
Studio 360 host Kurt Andersen and architect Michael Arad visit the new 9/11 Memorial in Lower Manhattan and talk about what inspired Arad’s design.
God bless the fallen Seal Team 6 members and their families. This is a sad sad day.
President Barack Obama has appointed Edwin Schlossberg, an interactive media designer and husband of Caroline Kennedy, to serve on a federal panel that helps oversee the architecture and design of the nation’s capital.
The White House announced the appointment Tuesday night for the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts among other diplomatic and cultural posts. Schlossberg has a design firm in New York.
Members of the arts panel play a key role in shaping Washington architecture, including the design of new memorials or museums added to the National Mall or other parts of the city. Seven commissioners appointed by the president serve four-year terms without compensation.
Past members have included architects, landscape architects and artists, including Daniel Chester French who sculpted the statue of Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial.
Hat tip Associated Press
architecture, architecture critic, architecture jobs, government architecture, Uncategorized, Urban Planning
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Abraham Lincoln, Daniel Chester, Lincoln Memorial, National Mall, Obama, U.S. Commission of Fine Arts
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