YAF Connection 11.06 by AIA Young Architects Forum

ORIGINS

NOV

2013

VOL 11 ISSUE 06

CONNECTION THE ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN JOURNAL OF THE YOUNG ARCHITECTS FORUM

CONNECTION ORIGINS November 2013 Volume 11 Issue 06

2013 ISSUES OF CONNECTION 11 01 11 02 11 03 11 04 11 05 11 06

EMERGENCE ADVANCE LOCUS PROCESS PLATFORM ORIGINS

CONNECTION EDITORIAL COMMITTEE

Editor-In-Chief and Creative Director Assistant Editor, Graphics Assistant Editor, Content Assistant Editor, Articles Assistant Editor, News Researcher, News and Reviews

Wyatt Frantom, AIA Nathan Stolarz, AIA James Cornetet, AIA Jeff Pastva, AIA Beth Mosenthal, Assoc. AIA Marcus Monroe, Assoc. AIA

2013 YAF ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Chair Brad Benjamin, AIA Vice Chair Jon Penndorf, AIA Past Chair Jennifer Workman, AIA Communications Director Wyatt Frantom, AIA Community Director Virginia E. Marquardt, AIA Knowledge Director Joshua Flowers, AIA Public Relations Director Joseph R. Benesh, AIA Advocacy Advisor Lawrence J. Fabbroni, AIA AIA Board Representative Wendy Ornelas, FAIA College of Fellows Representative John Sorrenti, FAIA AIA Staff Liaison Erin Murphy, AIA

THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS 1735 New York Ave, NW Washington, DC 20006-5292 P 800-AIA-3837 www.aia.org

CONNECTION is a the official bimonthly publication of the Young Architects Forum of the AIA. This publication is created through the volunteer efforts of dedicated Young Architect Forum members. Views expressed in this publication are solely those of the authors and not those of the American Institute of Architects. Copyright ÂŠ of individual articles belongs to the Author. All image permissions are obtained by or copyright of the Author.

CONTENT

QUICK 04 AND RESOURCES Beth Mosenthal, Assoc. AIA CONNECT NEWS

10 FEATURE

MIND THE GAP Jon Penndorf, AIA

12 ARTICLE

CURATING A CAREER Mary Breuer

14 ARTICLE

YOU ARE WHAT YOU ARE PERCEIVED TO BE Frank Musica

16 ARTICLE

THE PARADOX OF PROGRESS Matthew Wood

18 ARTICLE

ARCHITECTURE AND BEYOND Lee Waldrep

20 ARTICLE

TRANSVANCEMENT Alex Coulombe

22 DESIGN

URBAN CHIAROSCURO Fatima Olivieri

24 DESIGN

A LESSON FROM THE INTERNS GenslerLA’s Intern Research Program

28 FEATURE #aiachat

#aiachat

Joseph Benesh, AIA

34 SERIAL FEATURE

COFFEE WITH AN ARCHITECT Jody Brown, AIA

32 LEADERSHIP PROFILE A SEAT AT THE LEADERSHIP TABLE Haley Gipe, Assoc. AIA

ar·chi·tec·ture /ˈärkiˌtekCHər/ noun

CONNECTION is sponsored through the generous support of The AIA Trust. The AIA Trust is a free risk management resource for AIA members that offers valuable benefits to protect you, your firm, and your family. For more information on all AIA Trust programs, visit www.TheAIATrust.com

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headlined

reviewed

LOOKING FORWARD TO A DECADE OF DESIGN by Beth Mosenthal

MOVIE REVIEW: Fallingwater: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Masterwork by Beth Mosenthal

Have you ever sat in traffic and wondered when a corporate or federal entity was going to finally utilize architects’ holistic thinking in order to change our cities for the better? According to Brooks Rainwater, Director of Public Policy,the Decade of Design, a Clinton Global Initiative Commitment to Action, might be one big leap in prioritizing design thinking as a means of envisioning and implementing solutions related to “the design of the urban built environment in the interest of public health and effective use of natural, economic, and human resources.” Working with partner organizations, the AIA hopes to build on existing programs to utilize design as a catalyst for impactful change in urban environments. By encouraging evidence-based research with areas related to walkable communities (based at Texas A & M University), citywide food scenario plans (University of Arkansas), and health-related architecture curriculum (based at the University of New Mexico), the Decade of Design hopes to infuse both academic and architectural practices with a focus on health and the environment. For further reading, CLICK HERE. To watch the videos, click the links below. VIDEO 1 VIDEO 2

#tweeted

Fallingwater, Richard A. Cooke

There are few things that make architects as excitable as a good Frank Lloyd Wright debate. Was he a genius or a control freak? Were his designs for himself or his clients? Is he passé or still one of the greatest architects in history? While everyone has his/her own opinions on the matter, watching Kenneth Love’s visually poetic documentary in HD, Fallingwater: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Masterwork, quickly inserted me into a time and place in which Wright (1867-1959) could do no wrong. In his mission to tie the Kaufmann house (affectionately dubbed “Fallingwater” due to its location crowning the waterfalls of a stream in Bear Run, Pennsylvania) to nature, Wright not only created a masterpiece of architecture, but a timeless object carefully informed by the natural setting with which it is inserted. Love, a cinematographer and photographer for National Geographic, shares footage of the house in all four seasons, creating a dramatic portrait of the clean but textural lines and forms of the house as a perfect frame and integral object to its surroundings. Narrated by Edgar J. Kaufmann Jr., the son of the industrialist and original owner of Fallingwater, the movie delicately spins the tale of why his family commissioned the house in 1935. Kaufmann’s personal, articulate account of his experiences and impressions of Wright, paired with testimonials from Wright’s interns, Edgar Tafel, Bob Mosher and Wes Peters, paint a rich picture of the thought and design process behind Fallingwater, as well as underscoring the home’s lasting impact on architecture enthusiasts worldwide.

WHY ARCHITECTS TRAVEL Snapshot of a Recent Trip to Montana

NCARB | @NCARB We caught up with students, educators, and practitioners to learn how receiving an NCARB Award impacted their careers http://bit.ly/1es97Cf AIA YAF | @AIAYAF What would YOU like the YAF to do next year? AIA National | @AIANational Preservationists are creating 3D models of historic buildings . . . just in case, http://bit.ly/15qRTQI Robert Ivy | @robertivy Why This Is the Year of the Architect http://www.archdaily. com/435095/why-this-is-the-year-of-the-architect/ … via @ archdaily

After several weeks of being buried in the minutiae of Construction Administration, I headed West for a conference in Montana. As I passed over the patchwork quilt of Bozeman’s fields and streams, I was transported from the micro to the macro, and reminded of the many scales and planning considerations we must consider in regards to context, culture, and footprint, regardless of project scale. To share your photos, send Beth a tweet: @archiadventures.

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reported

featured

RESILIENCE BY DESIGN : DESIGNING FOR DISASTER PREPAREDNESS By Marcus Monroe

POD Charrette, image courtesy of Lindsey Brugger

More and more, phrases such as “disaster recovery” and “resilient communities” are becoming part of the everyday language in our profession and young designers such as Lindsay Brugger are finding ways to pursue these new challenges; focusing on humanitariancentric design opportunities. During her thesis year at Roger Williams University, Lindsay traveled to Kolkata and focused on ways architecture could enhance social, economic, and environmental resiliency. After graduating in 2010, she landed a job at BBG-BBGM in Washington, DC. It was during this time that Brugger set her sights on becoming involved in disaster-management-related design. In order to do so, Brugger first became involved in the Architecture for Humanity (AFH) DC chapter and began to further question the role of architecture within the realm of disaster management after the Haiti earthquake. In 2012, she learned of the AIA-AFH Disaster Response Plan Grant and eagerly applied. Shortly thereafter, Lindsay took on the roles of Grant Manager and shared the role of Grant Author with another AFH member. The goal of the Disaster Response Plan Grant was to create a holistic approach to disaster management that engaged local design professionals while developing a roster of local design professionals interested in disaster management. This group became known as “Resilience by Design,” which Brugger volunteered to Co-Chair. The group first worked with the DC Department of Health to re-design 15 Points of Dispensary (PODs). Utilized to dispense mass amounts of medicine in the case of an emergency, it was critical that the Department of Health have layouts that would optimize POD efficiency. Secondly, the team researched and authored a Design Professional’s Guide to Disasters that introduces the design professional to the various roles within disaster management and provides resources on how to get involved. For more information, click the links below.

This month, Jeff Pastva AIA tells us a little bit about his involvement as a young architect living and working in Philadelphia. Pastva is an Assistant Editor for YAF Connection, serves as Chair of the Young Architects Forum of AIA Philadelphia, founder of The Designated Sketcher website and a Project Architect at JDavis Architects in Philadelphia, PA. 01 What organizations are you involved in as an emerging professional? I’m currently involved in both my local AIA component, AIA Philadelphia, and on the national level with YAF Connection. For AIA Philadelphia, I serve as the Chair of the Young Architects Forum and as a Co-Chair to our long running ARE study sessions. For YAF Connection, I am currently an Assistant Editor. Outside of AIA, I sit on my neighborhood association’s Architectural Review Committee. We preempt any project requiring zoning approval to ensure that any proposed variances will meet the aesthetic, massing and character of the surrounding context. 02 What are some of the important issues that Young Architects face in today’s industry? There are a few big ones that jump out for me. Unfortunately the first one is just getting their career started. We are in an environment where simply landing a job is hard enough, let alone an ideal situation. Standing out among the crowds that includes fellow classmates and more experienced candidates is a tricky challenge that is hard to overcome. Another is staying on track to reach licensure. Since many emerging professionals have had to postpone their entry into the workplace via grad school, temporary jobs, alternative careers or unemployment, it has lengthened the time that it takes to complete IDP. This coupled with the fact that many firms don’t reward registered architects the way that other professions do their licensed professionals, it has become more difficult to stay the course. 03 What type of regional activities and resources do you recommend Young Architects utilize to continue to excel in their careers and professional networks? I believe what has exponentially changed my career path has been the use of networking. And the critical thing I discovered is that not all networking is created equal. I have attended events that are within architecture, but I have also sought events in tech, craftsmanship/woodworking, business, startups, TED/Pecha Kucha/Ignite, etc. In each instance, I make goals for each night. It could be to walk out with “x” number of business cards, to make “x” number of new connections, to learn something about another industry, to sell my services as an architect, etc. It may take a few times to get to know people, but if you are identified as the only architect in a group it has the potential to turn into the chance to share your knowledge, to spread an architect’s worth or to connect for a business opportunity.

LINK 1 LINK 2

Image courtesy of Lindsey Brugger

YAF CONNECTION 11.06

QUICK CONNECT

made THOUGHTS FROM AN ARCHITECT-TURNED”INTEGRATION ENGINEER” by Beth Mosenthal Matthew is currently an Integration Engineer for Thornton Thomasetti, utilizing architectural software to make your designs more intelligent, one algorithm at a time...

Computation enables a nearly infinite set of possibilities that one could almost certainly never ascertain – the trick is to understand this and be intelligent about how and when you employ computation while designing. With that understanding it is a really powerful toolset to have at your disposal.

BRM: What is your background (academically and professionally)? How did it help you get to where you are now?

BRM: What is your typical work flow when participating in a project? How are roles typically divided between a project team?

MN: I received a Bachelors of Architecture from Philadelphia University and a Masters of Engineering from the Product Architecture Lab at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ. Following my undergrad degree, I spent several years doing design/build architecture with a heavy emphasis on the build side as a response to what I felt was missing from my architectural training – knowing how buildings are actually put together. Ultimately this led me to question whether technology could better support the way we build, and landed me back in school at the Product Architecture Lab. While at Stevens I focused my research on programming, parametric design and software interoperability, all with the aim of how it could be applied in practice. After spending some time with Front Inc in Brooklyn and consulting for digital fabrication, I joined the CORE Studio (formerly the Advanced Computational Modeling Group) at Thornton Tomasetti, where almost all of my prior endeavors play a role in the work I am involved with on a day-to-day basis.

MN: Our group works in a number of ways, often assisting project teams where some type of computation can better provide a solution. This may be by utilizing parametric modeling for the generation of a complex structure to creating an automated way of producing drawings for a CD set. Outside of project specific work we also work on a number of R&D projects at any given time. Our largest R&D effort right now is the creation of an inner office file type called TTX. It is similar to IFC (Industry Foundation Classes), however, it is custom tailored to the various software packages we use between design, analysis, and documentation. It allows us to update a model in one piece of software and read those changes instantly in another, breaking free of the traditional linear workflow of Design – Analyze – Document into a more collaborative, efficient process where information is retained from step to step. So, depending on the scope, scale and the demands of any given R&D project, we may become part of a project team for the duration of the project, or simply provide assistance for a few hours to help a team through a specific problem.

BRM: What does your job title, “Integration Engineer,” entail? MN: Being an “Integration Engineer” is pretty close to what you may decipher from the title – I spend my time finding ways to better integrate modeling workflows within the company, developing software tools, and working on a variety of project types across a number of our practice sectors. BRM: How does your work relate to architectural design? MN: While I don’t spend very much time “designing” in the traditional sense, I get to focus on the technical problem solving aspects of design. Whether it is trying to rationalize curved surfaces for fabrication or running optimization studies on curtain wall designs and structural systems, all of these pieces end up as part of the much larger architectural whole.

Matthew Naugle, Truss model scripted in Grasshopper, 2013

Matthew Naugle, Truss model, analyzed with Grasshopper, 2013

BRM: Do you feel that computational software frees you or limits you in terms of working intuitively while designing? MN: I still begin most problem solving exercises with pen and paper; it is the best place for me to get my thoughts in order before sitting down to create a model or write code. And honestly, I am a much better designer than the computer. It is up to me, or any other designer for that matter, to carefully decide the goals and constraints of a problem. Then, I let the computer do what it is good at – solving complex and often time consuming problems. Computation enables a nearly infinite set of possibilities that one could almost certainly never ascertain – the trick is to understand this and be intelligent about how and when you employ computation while designing. With that understanding it is a really powerful toolset to have at your disposal. Thanks Matthew!

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involved

connected AIA’s Young Architects Forum YAF's official website CLICK HERE

Invested in the human scale? This may be the AIA Community for you. Looking for a way to get involved in the AIA but not sure which group makes sense? After perusing the diverse menu of options for a young architect to get involved in the AIA, I was struck by the group “AIA Communities by Design.” This organization is actively seeking members who are “committed to healthy, safe, and sustainable communities.” Goals of this group are to “assist citizens and community leaders to improve their community’s quality of life through design and form relationships to build your career.” For more information, CLICK HERE

YAF KnowledgeNet A knowledge resource for awards, announcements, podcasts, blogs, YAF Connection and other valuable YAF legacy content ... this resource has it all! CLICK HERE Architect’s Knowledge Resource The Architect's Knowledge Resource connects AIA members and others to the most current information on architecture, including research, best practices, product reviews, ratings, image banks, trends, and more. It's your place to find solutions, share your expertise, and connect with colleagues. CLICK HERE AIA Trust Access the AIA Trust as a free risk management resource for AIA members. www.TheAIATrust.com

2013 YOUNG ARCHITECTS AWARD BOOK Who are your professional contemporaries? How are they changing the face of architecture? And will you be next? The 2013 Young Architect’s Award book, compiled by YAF members and sponsored by the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects showcases recipients of the AIA 2013 Young Architects Award; highlighting “individuals who have shown exceptional leadership and made significant contributions to the professional in an early stage of their architectural career.” This snapshot of profiles and work by 15 award recipients shows a diverse group of motivated young professionals that are exploring and transcending different boundaries in the constantly-evolving field of architecture. For more information, CLICK HERE

YAF CONNECTION 11.06

Know Someone Who’s Not Getting The YAF Connection? Don’t let them be out of the loop any longer. It’s easy for AIA members to sign up. Update your AIA member profile and add the Young Architects Forum under “Your Knowledge Communities.” • Go to www.aia.org and sign in • Click on “For Members” link next to the AIA logo on top • Click on “Edit your personal information” on the left side under AIA members tab • Click “Your knowledge communities” under Your Account on the left • Add YAF Call for ‘QUICK CONNECT’ News, Reviews, Events Do you have newsworthy content that you’d like to share with our readers? Contact the News Editor, Beth Mosenthal, on twitter @archiadventures Call for ‘CONNECTION’ Articles, Projects, Photography Would you like to submit content for inclusion in an upcoming issue? Contact the Editor, Wyatt Frantom at wyatt.frantom@wf-ad.com

MAP

depicting locations of article contributors for this issue

This monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Leadership Profile Haley Gipe

Syracuse, NY

New York, NY Philadelphia, PA

Des Moine, IA San Francisco, CA

Denver, CO

AIA National Washington D.C.

Champaign, IL

Fresno, CA

Raleigh-Durham, NC

Los Angeles, CA

PUT YOURSELF ON THE MAP

GET CONNECTED by contributing to our next issue!

FEATURE

ORIGINS

MIND THE GAP

THE NEED FOR MORE SOFT SKILLS IN ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION Jon Penndorf AIA is a Project Manager and Sustainability Leader in the Washington, DC office of Perkins+Will, the 2013 Vice-Chair of the YAF, has served as the 2012 President of AIA|DC, and received the 2012 AIA Young Architects Award.

Anyone who has completed architecture school and has practiced for a few years will probably agree that you don’t learn everything you need to know by obtaining your professional degree. It’s often been generalized that architecture school teaches you how to think like an architect (design theory, defend your ideas, etc.) and the required internship teaches you how to be an architect. The AIA acknowledges that architecture is ever-changing and requires continuing education after licensure, but the education goes from structured course load to independent study. In 2012, the Young Architects Forum (YAF) held Summit20, which served to both commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the YAF and help find the strategic ideas for the group to focus on over the coming years. Prior to that event, the YAF had issued a survey to recently-licensed professionals to find out what was important to them within the profession. When asked in what arenas Young Architects felt least prepared, over sixty-percent responded with business ownership and legal contract issues. Other areas that scored high in that question dealt with contracts and administration. In contrast, topics of technical documentation, design, and sustainability scored very low (with less than twenty-five percent responding to those options). Another question asked respondents to identify areas in which their skills could be improved, and the overwhelming responses focused on firm management and marketing. For several years, I have felt like topics of management have been overlooked as key skills to teach emerging architects. Management can take on many forms and facets, but design and technical capability need to be paired with business understanding and project management in order to run a successful architectural practice.

Sure, some of these topics can be learned in the process of doing, and others can be modeled after successful examples. But can we better prepare future architects – the next generation of firm principals, directors, educators and mentors – with formal training or required experience in areas such as business administration, marketing, project management, and even time management? Project management encompasses a wide variety of skills and understandings. The umbrella category is addressed in one course during formal education (if that, depending on the school) and then in the Intern Development Program with 120-hours of experience. However, the one course taken is usually at least three years away from licensed practice, and the hours logged in IDP do not always address all of the core competencies that NCARB lists under Project Management. Project process is rarely taught as a timeline, and skipping to concept design omits several steps that an architect will encounter in reality (and right away on a project). To me this is a gap in architectural education (and I use “education” in the continuum sense, not just ending with a degree). Emerging professionals need some exposure to concepts such as marketing and business development, project scheduling, estimating fees, composing project teams, and expository writing as all of these come into play before a fat black pen is put to trace paper. Management continues once the project is secured, obviously. Personnel management (and conflict resolution as a part of that) may not be three credits during undergraduate studies, but anyone in an office environment could benefit from understanding differences in generational work patterns, recognizing personality traits, and formulating constructive criticism. Office management and development are somewhat separate from project management, but these skill sets are also lacking in formal training or experience. Many architects successfully obtain their license without ever participating in decisions that impact the running of a firm or office. Topics such as insurance, risk management and accounting may not seem completely relevant to becoming an architect, but having at least a basic grasp of key concepts can lead to more informed decision making down the road.

Emerging professionals need some exposure to concepts such as marketing and business development, project scheduling, estimating fees, composing project teams, and expository writing as all of these come into play before a fat black pen is put to trace paper.

I am not advocating making the formal education process longer or requiring additional categories be added to IDP. Instead, there should be known avenues for emerging professionals to obtain training and guidance in these areas throughout the early years of their careers. Opportunities can begin early though. Where I received my degrees, undergraduate architecture students were required to take at least two electives in social sciences (psychology, anthropology, etc.). These classes broaden the human perspective of architecture and give greater insight to how people interact with each other and their surroundings. The AIA may want to consider offering continuing education options highlighting the business “soft skills” not focused on design or construction. Perhaps these could be a portion of the required continuing education for the first few years after licensure – something like a temporary version of the Sustainable Design (SD) units we all had to obtain for a while. Fortunately I am not alone in my feelings on gaps in the education of our profession. Several AIA components have created leadership “boot camps” that focus on the skills mentioned above. While the hope in these programs is to foster the next generation of leaders, the training is often focused around communication (writing, presentation skills), management (office psychology, time management, business primers), and conflict resolution. The AIA Young Architects Forum Summit20 provided for six focus areas for the group moving into the future, and many can be housed under the umbrella notion of “career advancement.” On the surface, the focus areas sound more varied, but each was tied to the desire for participants to build their own futures on more solid foundations. Architects need to be thoughtful problem solvers but also thoughtful practioners. ■

YAF CONNECTION 11.06

ARTICLE

ORIGINS

CURATING A CAREER Mary Breuer Breuer is the Principal of the Breuer Consulting Group in San Francisco, has worked in the executive search field within the architectural industry for more than 30 years, and the author of the blog, Dogpatch Dispatch, focusing her timely research on leadership issues within design firms. You can find her at www.breuerconsulting.com or at www.dogpatchblog.com.

Professionals in the various fields engaged in the built environment -- architecture, landscape architecture, planning and urban design -- are natural problem-solvers. They are driven by a process of analysis and synthesis: a concerted effort to understand what drives an owner to make a physical change, physical constraints and opportunities, and available resources. In the process, design firm professionals accumulate a track record … a professional history that can tell as much about their own judgment as it does about the actual experience they accumulate. But many design professionals don’t recognize the inflection points in their own careers that could lead them to the kind of opportunities they seek … or which raise questions for potential employers. If you regard your own career as something you can actually curate rather than something that just happens, you might consider the following ideas:

• If you want to work on large, complex projects, where you live matters: in general, you need to be in an urban center … preferably Chicago, Boston, New York City, Washington D.C., San Francisco or LA. Possibly Seattle, Houston or Atlanta. That’s where you’ll get the experience you seek. If you seek experience with a cutting edge firm, Wyoming won’t necessarily be as attractive. • Early in your career, choose a firm that exposes you to many choices and makes you aware of what a design firm can be. This might be a larger firm. You can make intelligent choices about next steps with this knowledge as a base. • Be aware of the practice … not just your projects. How does work come into the firm? How profitable is the firm? How is work forecasted? Who gets to work on what? How do you build a practice? • If the firm you are in is not a design-first firm (one that is nationallyrecognized design-focused, sought-out for design expertise), specialize in a client-type that you find stimulating and energizing … whether as a designer or project manager. • Recognize that strong project managers are the backbone of any firm. Project management is a noble path, and one that can lead to practice management … a rare skill. If you have interest in upward mobility as a project manager, focus on practice dynamics. • Hiring firms look at four big things, in this order (but none can be excluded): 1. the firms you have worked for: they must be admired by the hiring firm 2. the quality of the projects in which you have been involved and the role you played

... design firm professionals accumulate a track record … a professional history that can tell as much about their own judgment as it does about the actual experience they accumulate.

3. stability: even in the heart of the recession, firms looked askance at people who have made frequent moves. An average position tenure of less than three years will raise eyebrows and more than three jobs in nine or so years will be considered to be job-hopping by most employers. 4. the scale of projects you have worked on (if the hiring firm

Mary interviews a potential candidate for placement in a key leadership position

focuses on large projects). Where you went to school is very important, but stellar performance out of school can trump a school that may not be everyone’s first recruiting choice.

• If you are ambitious and want more responsibility, your positions need to show growth in an obvious way. Select a path: design, project

management,

construction

administration

…

and

demonstrate what you have done to gain proficiency. • People with general backgrounds … especially in non-urban areas … will have a very difficult time convincing a high-profile,

Mary at work in her Dogpatch neighborhood studio in San Francisco

urban firm that they can add value to the firm. • Seek assignments in other countries. We live in a global environment: people with experience living abroad, who speak languages other than English and who are obviously adventurousyet-stable are rare. • There is no downside to being able to bring work to your employer. While this may not be your favorite thing to do, it is incredibly valuable and will help launch you into what you want to do next. • Be open to relocation. There are many reasons to stay where

Mary seated in her shared studio library with her husband, Architect Olle Lundberg

you are, but if you are career-driven, consider another location. Experienced specialists for leadership positions are hard to find and firms usually need to look nationally. ■

YAF CONNECTION 11.04

ARTICLE

ORIGINS

YOU ARE WHAT YOU ARE PERCEIVED TO BE Frank Musica AIA Musica is a Senior Risk Management Attorney at Victor O. Schinnerer & Company, Inc. in Chevy Chase, Maryland. He is an architect, attorney and a frequent speaker at the AIA Convention and other AIA component programs.

Partnerships. Professional corporations. Limited liability companies. Joint ventures. Strategic alliances. Teams. Associations.

Looking at Your Business Card First, look at your title. Are you still using “partner” if your firm is no longer a partnership? Is there a corporate title even if you have no corporate structure? Can your title (or lack thereof) mislead your client? Look at your firm’s name and whether your firm is an “Inc.”, “P.C.”, or “LLP”? If so, is it clearly indicated on your card and correspondence? And if you are “sharing” the project with other firms, how is that communicated to your client?

Do you understand the forms of practice through which many design professionals pursue commissions?

your future clients? In most states, design professionals have access to a diversity of business forms. In every jurisdiction, however, the organizational form for the delivery of professional services may be more dictated by client perceptions and court interpretations than by the intent of the design professionals. Not all clients are sophisticated in the business of

Image courtesy of AIA Trust and Schinnerer/CNA

design. Many rely on representations made to them and their perceptions. Others do know how to interpret contract language and may, in fact, be able to use cogent arguments to extend the business risks of service providers. In presenting a firm to a client, it is important to keep two concepts in mind. One can be called “the holding out rule”, and the other “the eye of the beholder rule”. The first examines the perceptions you create. The second stresses the frame of reference of your client. The goal is to make your organizational structure and scope of services clear to your client and to minimize your client’s unwarranted, but perhaps justifiable, detrimental reliance on a relationship that does not exist.

Signing on the Dotted Line Contracts do matter. They will usually be interpreted to protect your client. Think about how you are indicating the parties to the contract. Is it a simple prime-subconsultant relationship? Are you in a structured, or unstructured, “joint venture”, where both firms will be looked at as partners? As a general rule, each partner is jointly and severally liable for business risks. This means that each partner’s assets stand behind every act of the other partners. Partnerships can be extremely formal in nature or created without the partners really understanding their responsibilities for the actions of the other. At times, firms may act “in association” or “cooperatively” or by “teaming” to provide services. The firms may think they are separate entities, but if they sign a contract with a client to provide services, it is likely that each is responsible for the entire commitment and, usually, for the acts of the other. In any event, firms billing themselves as providing services “together” face the danger that in the eyes of the client (and the court) are likely to be bound as partners.

... the organizational form for the delivery of professional services may be more dictated by client perceptions and court interpretations than by the intent of the design professionals.

As with a general partnership, each party in a joint venture can be held fully liable for the joint venture and each party’s acts and omissions that do not constitute negligence in the performance of professional services. If you are contemplating setting up a formal joint venture agreement that parses out internal responsibilities and rights, you should be aware that the AIA C101-1993, Joint Venture Agreement for Professional Services can serve as a basic contractual relationship or as a model for a more extensive documentation of a shared-effort, shared-risk arrangement. Image courtesy of AIA Trust and Schinnerer/CNA

Forming a Formal Joint Venture Firms “cooperating” on a project should establish a formal structure. If a prime-sub relationship is not realistic, a joint venture can be formed. A joint venture is essentially a partnership, but only for a specific, and usually limited, purpose. Both partnership agreements and joint venture agreements usually allocate responsibility and liability between the parties. But that allocation is internal only. To the rest of the world, the partners or joint venturers are in essence, co-promisers, and are “jointly and severally” liable. That means an injured party may recover the full scope of damages awarded by the trier-of-fact (for example by a court or arbitration panel) from either party or from both parties in any combination. While each firm’s professional liability insurance usually covers the specific firm for its exposure to professional liability claims caused by its negligence in the performance of professional services and the negligence of the joint venture because of the shared liability, a firm might be concerned that its policy would be eroded by negligence that is essentially out of its control.

For a professional liability perspective, the clear lines of authority and responsibility of a prime-sub arrangement are preferable to the murky division of liability that often accompanies a joint venture or any of the other legally fictitious combinations of efforts on the part of professional service firms. Of course, a limited liability partnership (LLP) is a recent alternative to a joint venture. However, LLP’s (or Limited Liability Corporations) do not change the responsibility of each party for harm caused by the negligent professional services provided by either party, but they do provide protections from business risks that might not be properly addressed in a joint venture agreement. ■

Often, unrelated design professional firms who wish to form a partnership to perform services on a particular project through a joint venture attempt not only to state a requirement for similar professional liability insurance coverages and deductibles (on similar policy forms), but also establish a fund for deductible obligations so that both policies can respond as efficiently as possible. This only provides additional protection for claims of negligent performance.

YAF CONNECTION 11.04

ARTICLE

ORIGINS

THE PARADOX OF PROGRESS Matthew Wood Wood is a recent graduate of Syracuse University School of Architecture in Syracuse New York and a self-trained musician whose compositions have been featured in award-winning college films.

The overwhelming majority of architect graduates began their professional sojourns as self-expressive artists in high school. Our gift, superseding technique and concept, is a sensory understanding of our own souls. The abstraction that takes place, and the practice it requires, makes art a means of speaking that rivals any verbal language. Yet when us teenage Van Gogh’s choose to become twenty-year old Frank Gehry’s, we see the business of architecture as a shelter them from starving-artist wasteland. Architect graduates are soul-savvy and impressively intelligent. But how many of us are street smart? How does it affect our ability to succeed? Consider the most infamous of street-smart professionals: politicians. An immense portion of their success depends on their ability to win hearts with a kind smile and a strong handshake. After this, they win minds by presenting a platform that any mind can palette. A welldefined, compelling platform is absolutely crucial. It is the rhetorical medium used to elegantly frame a politician’s message and its corresponding spectrum of ideas. The intent, vis-à-vis its physical definition, is to set oneself apart from the mass, rising above a chatty sea, that one might gain focused eyes and listening ears. Fortunately, architects gain much of their notoriety through their completed buildings; a much more concrete proof of promise than lukewarm legislation of a pandering politician. On the other hand, there is something to be said about investing effort into an architectural platform. Marquis architecture firms establish a clear, defined profile of what they do, some even specializing in one building type. Household names in architecture raised themselves above the rest with articulate publications, and vibrant lectures. It is hard to stand on a platform without the ability to communicate your message and ideas clearly and vividly.

As a recent graduate, I attest that our professors seldom emphasized the importance of communications skills . In limbo between artistic abstraction and everyday jargon, we adopted the rhetoric of our professors, many of whom are theorists, or designers who have not made a living completing buildings. Architecture school may be an artistic blank check, but ultimately it is a false reality, for which we are not well prepared when college instantly ends with the turn of a tassel. I witnessed this reality in an unforgettable meeting with an unforgettable professor. An architect had recently visited the school, renowned as a bastion of business, toting it as the key to success. This unforgettable professor claimed that if he could grace the architect’s head with a baseball bat, he would take the opportunity. Asking why, he revealed that they studied at Harvard together, he being an “A-designer” and the other being a “B-designer; he wasn’t very good.” Following school, the B-designer cleverly worked the professional system, gradually growing into a position of international notoriety. The professor scoffed at his ascension, claiming he could never do that. Why, I inquired? His response, nuanced with bewilderment and almost hurt, was, essentially: “I believe so strongly in my art. What are you to do, when you feel like you know design better than most? I can’t let it go.”

... [the greatest architects] stand on a platform in which he/she is listening, and reinterpreting, manifesting something to the audience in a way beyond what they expected.

This is the baton that many of us carry. A baton containing rolls

Of course, achieving this is a balancing act. Consider the

of diagrams that are better than anyone else’s diagrams, period.

musician on a stage. If that musician performs music of

A baton handed off with instructions that: “you are a mini-god,

their choice, they are standing on a platform of self-interest.

you create worlds, you are better.” I am worried this attitude

If that musician performs the crowd’s choices, they are

will partition us from our clients in the future, and ultimately our immense potential for success. Does this mean we should begrudgingly embrace humility? If we, in fact, want to work our way up the professional ladder, is it possible to do so without an unwavering conviction in ourselves? Is our arrival into the business world truly the demise of our artistic yearnings? Questions like these elude the true issue at the heart of the matter: ego. Architecture thrives on ego, and that’s not something to boast

standing on a platform without identity or character. The greatest musicians (and the greatest politicians, and the greatest architects) stand on a platform in which he/she is listening, and reinterpreting, manifesting something to the audience in a way beyond what they expected. The audience responds, and a feedback loop begins.

To succeed as an architect, descend from the pedestal, listen and articulate, and you will rise to the platform. This is the paradox of progress. ■

about. In the years prior to architectural school, I handcrafted mine like a fine Italian Chianti. Witnessing collegiate narcissism was encouragement to drink all of it. As an alternative to a selfindulgent, and perhaps destructive drunken stupor, I offer a paradox of progress. If we lose our ego, if we acknowledge that we don’t know everything, if we realize we’re not superior to anyone, success will find us. These attitudes establish a platform of personality that permits us to become an expert in communication. Be confident in your beliefs, have conviction in your artistic sensibilities! If you can not express them to a coworker, a client, a contractor, they will remain yours and yours alone. You want to be a person that can fulfill anyone’s desire for good company, not just your artistic counterparts whom no one understands either. I truly believe that a stroke of brilliance completely depends on its articulation. Don’t you want others to delight in your enlightenment?

YAF CONNECTION 11.04

ARTICLE

ORIGINS

ARCHITECTURE AND BEYOND EMERGING OPPORTUNITIES Lee W. Waldrep Ph.D Waldrep is the Assistant Director of the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Champaign, IL, the author of Becoming an Architect: A Guide to Careers in Design, and contributor to the AIA Handbook of Professional Practice.

“The future is not a result of choices among alternative paths offered by the present, but a place that is created – created first in the mind and will, created next in activity. The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made, and the activity of making them changes, both the maker and the destination.” - John Schaar, Futurist

DESIGN and CONSTRUCTION The relatively new delivery system of Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) is another potential avenue for architects to prove their value. As stated by architect Ron Green, “If architects want to retain whatever edge they tenably hold in the area of building construction, they need to expand their knowledge of building technology and construction documents; architects must also take a leadership role in the design and construction process.” Buildings are

Over the last year, there has been much media attention about architecture not being a viable career path; articles have degraded architectural education and the profession. Despite this negative attention, the career of an architect (and the architectural education), serve as a springboard to a myriad of career pursuits both in architecture and beyond.

consistently becoming more complex and architects can increase their career opportunities by becoming leaders again. Similar to the opportunities in IPD is the use of BIM technology. BIM has created a whole new business model for architects and firms that create virtual designed environments, including the management and facilitation of the additional layers of information.

SUSTAINABILITY Green building technology or sustainable architecture is one of the fastest potential career paths for architects. Many architects and architectural graduates are pursuing LEED accreditation where opportunities exist through increased use of renewable energy technologies (e.g., wind, geothermal, hydropower), eco-friendly construction materials, and recyclable building materials. As of 2005, nearly all of the largest 150 corporations had a Chief Sustainability Officer – who better than an architect to fulfill these positions. While architects may not be overly involved with residential architecture, an opportunity exists by helping homeowners convert their homes to zero-energy homes. Kermit Baker, an economist for the American Institute of Architects (AIA), says, “Sustainability and architecture are now intertwined.” In a recent AIA survey, architects reported that 47 percent of their clients in 2008 used green building elements.

SOCIAL CONSCIENCE Another area of great potential for the future of architecture is Public Interest Design. Perhaps ignited by Architecture for Humanity, Design Corps, Public Architecture, and others, it has emerged as a viable alternative to traditional practice. In March 2012, Architectural Record dedicated an entire issue to “Building for Social Change.”

research by RIBA, many recent architectural graduates and students chose a career in the built environment professions because of its social agenda. Further proof in its growth is the Public Interest Design Institute® and the SEED (Social Economic Environmental Design) Network; both believe that design can play a vital role in the critical issues facing communities and individuals, in crisis and in every day challenges.

Despite this negative attention, the career of an architect (and the architectural education), serve as a springboard to a myriad of career pursuits both in architecture and beyond.

COMPUTER GRAPHICS Today’s architecture students spend more time on the computer than ever before and is has translated into yet another career path. Architects design real buildings, but there are opportunities in designing virtual worlds & communities. With the advent of the smartphone and now the tablet, architects have the opportunity to enter the fast growing industry (38%) of simulation development. One such example of architect turned tech entrepreneur is Evan Sharp, founder of Pinterest. He was in the midst of his architectural education at Columbia when he created the popular phenomenon, which has become one of the most visited social networks.

BEYOND ARCHITECTURE Over the years, numerous resources highlight careers that “look beyond architecture,” -- landscape architecture, interior design, lighting design, acoustical design, engineering, construction, urban and regional planning, architectural history, theory and criticism, and environmental and behavioral research. Once such resource is Archinect’s ongoing series, Working Out of the Box, that profiles individuals educated as architects in pursuit of other paths. So, the next time someone asks of your future, reply confidently that you intend to use what you have learned as an architect to improve the quality of life in the built environment and are just pondering the details to fully implement your desired path. As Leslie Kanes Weisman, of the New Jersey Institute of Technology has stated, “I am certain that … those who are in command of the powerful problem-defining and problem-solving skills of the designer will be fully capable of designing their own imaginative careers by creating new definitions of meaningful work for architects that are embedded in the social landscape of human activity and life’s events.”

YAF CONNECTION 11.04

Keeping in mind that the current President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Chrysler Brand for Chrysler Group LLC, Saad Chehab, holds a degree in architecture, below are just a sampling of possible career fields and occupations that are not only open to, but would benefit from, those having received an generalist architectural design education ... Advertising Automotive Book Publishing Energy Conservation Environmental and Codes Environmental Scientist Ethics and Sustainability Fabric Structures Fashion Design Festival Architecture Financial Services Furniture Design Gaming Environment Design Graphic Design Global Web Technologies Historic Preservation Magazine Publishing Media and E-Commerce Product Analysis Production Designer Sales and Marketing Management Set Design Social Media Space Architecture User Experience ■ REFERENCES 1. Jamison, Claire, (2012). The Future for Architects. London: Royal Institute of British Architects. (http://www.buildingfutures.org.uk/think/year/2012) 2. Architectural Record, Building for Social Change, March 2012 3. SEED Network - http://www.seednetwork.org 4. Public Interest Design Institute® - http://www.publicinterestdesign.com 5. http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/news/4314253 6. http://www.brighthub.com/office/career-planning/articles/99031.aspx 7. http://specsandcodes.typepad.com/specsandcodes/2011/10/towards- a-more-irrelevant-architect.html

ARTICLE

ORIGINS

Alex Coulombe Assoc. AIA is a designer and consultant at Fisher Dachs Associates in NYC. Coulombe is also a founding member of the Warehouse Architecture Theatre and an award-winning board game designer.

Transvancement

Ragdale Ring Design Competition - Day

Out of habit, allow me coin a new word: transvancement. I define this as such: advancing your career by sidestepping it. Here’s how I transvanced. Architecture is one of those college majors that would seem to have a pretty straightforward career path in front of it. An Art major could become anything from a graphic designer to an animator. A Philosophy major could become... anything at all. But when you tell someone you majored in Architecture, and that your degree is being used gainfully, they’re going to assume that you are -- you guessed it -- an architect. I am not an architect. I was-- kind of. This time last year, I was on the path to licensure; virtually done with my NCARB hours and ready to to start taking the ARE’s. I graduated from Syracuse University with my B. Arch in 2010 and worked for four different architecture firms of varying size and scope. The firm I was employed by at the time positively thrilled me, as my work involved many things I loved-- Revit, 3ds Max, Vray, travel, and collaborating on some truly excellent, sustainably-designed buildings.

Ragdale Ring Design Competition - Night So there I was, appreciative, if not a little resentful, of my career trajectory, when something interesting happened-- I was furloughed. My office simply did not have enough paid work for me to do, but they didn’t want to fire me, so I simply became temporarily

And yet, if I was completely honest, there were a few realities about the field that I wasn’t so thrilled with: not-great pay, not-great hours, not-great design to administration work ratio, and some not-great staff time management. Let me be clear-- this wasn’t specific to the firm I was at, rather, these were trends I had come to accept as part of the architectural career-path, and I was appreciative these issues were minimal at my firm. After all, at one point I worked for a slave-driving starchitect who would have had me laying out parking garage floor-drains for the rest of my natural life. So I counted my blessings and simply felt grateful I had a satisfying job at a good company.

unemployed. Now at first, it didn’t even occur to me to look for

Still, I longed for a world that allowed architects to focus on design, be well-compensated, and keep standard office hours. And there’s this other problem: I enjoy a lot of things besides architecture. Theatre, music, film, my home life, and attending a breadth of unique NYC events. I always held the belief that these outside activities enriched my architectural design sensibilities, but unfortunately, architecture.

theatre consultant. “What’s that?” I asked myself. My curiosity was

another job. I simply looked at this as a small (unpaid) vacation that would give me time to write a few plays, play some more music, and maybe even help plan that wedding I had coming up. But then a week turned into two weeks. And two weeks turned into a month. And for the first time in my life, I wasn’t employed. Yes, technically I was, but when your bank account’s sputtering like an empty fuel tank, it sure doesn’t feel like it. It was around then that I received an e-mail from Syracuse’s Director of Career services about an available position for a sufficiently piqued for me to pose myself a challenge: Apply to the job. Not seriously-- but just to get a tour of the office. Maybe instead of floor samples and material palettes, they might have theatre seats and stage lifts! (They did.)

“By looking outside of my expected career radius, I found a specialized field where my skills are valuable”

NY Philharmonic 360 at the Park Avenue Armory I landed an interview, and long story short, a week after going back to work, I was given an offer to join this theatre consultancy. There was a lot of back and forth, weighing of pros and cons, and singing “Should I Stay or Should I Go” by The Clash. I genuinely liked my firm and the work I was doing, but ultimately it came down to wanting the chance to turn architecture from a soul-sucking succubus into the good friend who knows you’ll help them move heavy furniture. As it happened, I heard some magical things during what was supposed to be only an exploratory interview. I learned of a world full of glorious architecture and design, but also 7.5 hour workdays and generous benefits. I heard the term ‘summer hours’ for the first time, and realized that not only could I go to the theatre with this job, I’d be encouraged to. The only sacrifice? That I couldn’t become an Architect with a capital A. Despite how similar many of my tasks would be at this office to the architectural offices I already worked at, the lack of licensed staff meant it didn’t meet NCARB’s standards. Frankly, I’m not that broken up about it. The prospect of expensive tests and endless years of ‘continuing education’ never really appealed to me. I take a certain joy in knowing I may never take another test for as long as I live, that the only lunch n’ learns I need attend are ones where I’ll genuinely enjoy the topic (and/or the food), and that instead of through rote memorization, I’m learning what I need to learn on the job through doing it.

YAF CONNECTION 11.06

Photo: Chris Lee

Today I’m coming up on three years out of school and I’m thoroughly happy. I spend the workday on projects as exciting and random as a giant 360 degree performance by the NY Philharmonic Orchestra at the Park Avenue Armory, an opera house in China, or even the occasional cruise ship lounge. My free time gives me a well-balanced life filled with a myriad of extracurricular activities, and now, because I’m not so burnt out when I leave work, I’m designing a lot of other things (yay, boardgames!). My friends and I even enter the occasional competition, something that would have seemed like an overwhelming amount of extra work on top of any of my previous jobs. And here’s the final great thing-- there’s job security. At the sacrifice of having all the general qualifications that would allow me to work at nearly any normal architecture firm, quoth Liam Neeson, “what I do have is a very particular set of skills,” and those skills keep me employed. By looking outside of my expected career radius, I found a specialized field where my skills are valuable. Without the baggage I previously associated with the thrill of creating architecture, I get to work in parallel with many of the world’s great designers in an advisement capacity. And let’s face it, the witty sidekick always has more fun than the hero. ■

DESIGN

ORIGINS

Fatima Olivieri Assoc. AIA is an Intern Architect at KieranTimberlake in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a guest critic at various universities and a contributing writer to HiddenCity Philadelphia.

Urban Chiaroscuro

Plan & Section

“During the last few years, therefore, measures involving light have taken new directions in the way of placing it at people’s service, revealing presences, magnifying spaces, shapes and materials thus allowing us to perceive the multifaceted nature of places and events unfolding in light. Light has started playing new roles mainly in the way it may help quite decisively to forge new ties of identity between people and the places they live in.” (Alvés 1257)

In her article Art, Light and Landscape New Agendas for Urban Development Teresa Alvés talks about the relationship between light and the active public realm of many cities such as London. It is through the manipulation of light that public areas are transformed from areas of everyday use to spaces of event, and leisure. In tropical climates such as those in most Latin American countries, light becomes integral to the development of urban life. Shade and shadows become spaces of inhabitation during the day, and as the day and the seasons change, so do the flow of people from spaces of darkness to spaces of light. Thus my graduate thesis sought to redefine the way in which we construct our public realm using light and shade as place-makers and design tools in my native island of Puerto Rico. A site in Puerto Rico’s capital, San Juan, provides a testing ground for the development of this “new” public space. Three “light languages” are created to define spaces of gathering, inhabitation, and movement that can transform through the day and seasons. These light languages; dappled [canopy], diffuse [light path] and direct [topography]; relate to various adjacencies and stitch together what is currently a fragmented urban site. The proposal stemmed from a concern about the emptiness of plazas adjacent to stops in Puerto Rico’s first metro line, established in 2004. This metro line with a network of public spaces was established in response to the continued and dispersed extramural growth of San Juan. The goal was that each stop would become the new urban hub.The plazas however, although contemporary in context, still try to adhere formally and spatially to the Spanish Colonial idea of public space; based on the Laws of the Indies set in place in 1523. The result has been a series of empty paved zones adjacent to each stop that neither responds to current social interaction nor addressesclimatic issues; both of which are important to public interaction in a tropical context.

Site Plan The site for this project; the Hato Rey metro stop, is singular to the other stops in that it acts as the primary public access for the Puerto Rico Stadium.The existing large-scale plaza was designed to accommodate the flow of people on stadium nights, but lacks activity the rest of the year. The site also lies adjacent to a wetland/ wildlife preserve,an estuary of the San Juan Bay, and a water taxi station that goes to the historic part of San Juan. These adjacencies provide opportunities to connect with various modes of public infrastructure, environmental systems, and cultural life.The proposal integrates these disparate pieces, allowing inhabitants to engage with these conditions, climate and the public space in new ways.

Light as Spatial Language The project addresses the site at three scales; the metro line, the site and two anchors within the site. However, all three scales implement the idea of three overarching “light” languages” [dappled, diffuse, and direct] as formal and experiential constructs to establish a new type of public space. Each light language has a different architectural and spatial representation and addresses different issues on the site.

“The topography also serves to mediate adjacencies such as the water’s edge and the stadium”

Perspective The first element; the “dappled light”; is expressed through a shade structure [canopy] that defines zones of gathering and circulation at different points throughout the site. The striations of the perforations vary according to the function underneath the canopy, becoming denser in areas of gathering, and more permeable along circulation paths. The circulation paths provide covered connections from multiple points of the site to the metro stop, thus allowing people from the nearby residential area to cross the site no matter what the climatic circumstance. Many of the gathering spaces are left without a specific program, with the goal that the inhabitants will program these spaces as needed, such as for a daily market. Diffuse light, or “light paths” serve as the primary night routes and anchor interior programs that can work both during the day and at night. These paths become registered on the ground place as illuminated surfaces, but become a louvered structural glass system to house interior programs such as a water taxi station in place of the original, and a new media library. This system can work with passive ventilation and also give the diffuse light quality to the interior of the spaces. The louvers also serve to project information and media during the evening at various locations, expanding the “event space” from the stadium into the rest of the site.

YAF CONNECTION 11.06

Sketches

The idea of “direct light” responds to the development of a constructed landscape. The existing topography contains a very low slope; most of the land of the site was formerly part of the wetlands and was in-filled in the 1950s. This is why this new proposed ground, or constructed topography, is meant to serve various purposes on the site; the first of which is to provide areas of direct sunlight during the day. The topography also serves to mediate adjacencies such as the water’s edge and the stadium, both of which are currently hard boundaries. By mediating these adjacencies, the topography moves and folds and creates outdoor gathering spaces such as an outdoor amphitheatre that negotiates the grade change between the stadium entrance and the ground level. These pieces begin to bring activities from the stadium and integrate it onto the site, at a smaller scale. This new ground also serves to bring vegetation existing in the wetlands into the site creating a tertiary planted shading structure. The interactions among the pieces are further developed at the two anchors within the site; the adjacency to the stadium, and the adjacency to the water. In each anchor, the functions and formal designs become more particular to each site condition, therefore providing opportunities for people to interact more intimately with their context in a collective environment. ■

DESIGN

ORIGINS

A LESSON FROM THE INTERNS GenslerLA’s Intern Research Program Intern research program at Gensler Los Angeles asks Interns to look in depth at Los Angeles In the summer of 2010, as Gensler’s Los Angeles office prepared to move to Downtown LA, the office asked its summer interns to develop research related to Downtown, helping them and their colleagues to have a better understanding of their new surroundings. Since that summer, the interns’ research has continuted to center on Downtown LA and the characteristics that make this area vibrant, challenging, and uniquely Los Angeles. Each project investigates a topic that has plagued Los Angeles for years - a forgotten park, never-ending traffic, a graffiti subculture, and an underwhelmging supply of green space - ang proposes solutions. The projects on the following pages are a sampling of the outstanding work that these interns have produced over the past four summers.

-07 AUGUST 2013 WEDSince the advent of digital technology, our ability to communicate and interact as humans has been drastically altered. Social networking, media sharing, blogging - these are a few of the many vehicles that have constructed a cult of the individual - perfectly curated lives constructed within iron-clad bubbles, in full view of everyone else, but unable to reach out and interact. This is particularly true of Los Angeles, where the motor vehicle has become a physical personification of this individual bubble. Angelenos travel from their homes to their cars to their place of work and back again, often times never even stepping outdoors. The opportunities for new and unexpected encounters is reduced to almost zero. With little incentive to take public transit or walk or bike through the city, most Angelenos learn to love their bubble, and some choose to never leave. This ‘parklet’ aims to regenerate an interest - and passion - for surprise, for exploration, for the playfulness of youth that so many drift from as they grow older. The draw is simple - a place to charge the electronics that so many feel naked without. But this is simply an incentive - an incentive to step into a space full of opportunities, to interact and explore in a tangible sense incapable of being produced by a piece of hand-held technology. Charging one’s phone or tablet puts it temporarily out of commission - within sight but just out of reach - enabling visitors to look up, away from their screens, and at one another instead. This parklet utilizes our dependence on digital technology to foster physical, spontaneous social interaction.

[INTER]REACT

Rebirth of Spontaneous Social Interaction Chance encounters that once birthed meaningful relationships have now evolved into self-contained, highly-curated digital identities. By creating a space to charge one’s technology without the ability to use it, people are forced to turn from their screens and to one another instead.

NEIGHBORHOOD ADJACENCIES

BUNKER HILL THEN

NOW

WHAT’S NEXT?

FINANCIAL DISTRICT

[INTER]REACTIVE TECHNOLOGY Charging Station As new devices are inserted and removed from the charging stations, the tower will react, instantly changing its color of emitted light until the next device is activated.

PERSHING SQUARE

[INTER]REACT Kirk Bairian / Kyle Houge / Sophie Kwok / Ping Zhou Summer 2013 Social networking, media sharing, and blogging have drastically altered our ability to communicate and interact as humans. We live our lives constructed in virtual bubbles, in full view of everyone else, but unable to reach out and interact. This ‘parklet’ aims to regenerate an interest - and passion - for surprise, for exploration, for the playfulness of youth. The draw is simple - a place to charge the electronics that so many feel naked without. But this is simply an incentive - an incentive to step into a space full of opportunities, to interact and explore, in a tangible sense, incapable of being produced by a piece of handheld technology. Charging one’s phone or tablet puts it temporarily out of commission,enabling visitors to look up at one another instead of their screens. This parklet utilizes our dependence on digital technology to foster physical, spontaneous social interaction.

BAIRIAN / HOUGE / KWOK / ZHOU / GENSLER SUMMER 2013

JEWELRY DISTRICT Sound Each tower is embedded with sensitive sound detectors. As the volume around each tower increases, as will the intensity of its emitted light. Acting almost like a musical equalizer, the tower will react to the ebb and flow of conversation and ambient city noise.

STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS PV Panel

Wired to base through structure

Exterior Cladding

3/8” Powder-coated Steel, White

Interior Hinge Connection

Interior Cladding

Motion Within each tower is also a motion detector. When there is no movement detected in the area, the pods remain in their closed, resting position. As soon as movement is sensed, the panels pull up along an embedded track, creating an instant canopy under which visitors can position the free-moving benches and rest, charge their phones, and possibly interact.

Primary Structure

Flexible LED Panel Lighting

1/4” Powder Coated Steel Tube, White

Secondary Structure

1/8” Tensioned Steel Cable [cross-bracing]

Charging Pad

1/4” Acrylic Pad, wired to base through structure

Bench

Wood seat [Teak], Powder-coast Steel, White

Base

Charing pad electronic base, Battery Pack

Elevation @ 1/4” = 1’ // Morning [Low Usage]

Elevation @ 1/4” = 1’ // Afternoon [High Usage]

Elevation @ 1/4” = 1’ // Night [Low/Med Usage]

Summer 2013 Intern Research Project

TRANSFORMING AUTOPIA Erin Cuevas Summer 2010 The car is the heart of Los Angeles culture. It reflects the Angeleno “identity” and this dependence signals how Los Angeles has developed through decentralization, building freeways as an “easy” way to connect to the suburbs. The network of freeways has led to the development of “Autopia,” a car-centered society. Core qualities of Autopia can seem surreal and fantastic; who wouldn’t want to live in a city filled with fast transportation and beautiful automobiles? However, freeways are packed 24/7, and sitting in rush hour can mean keeping your car in “park” for extended periods of time. How do you solve issues of traffic and sustainability while still maintaining the Autopian lifestyle? We should mimic the advertising tactics of car makers to give mass public transit the appeal that is typically only associated with the personal automobile. Taking cues from these marketing campaigns should increase the number of transit riders.

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ORIGINS

DESIGN

STREET ART Jessica Chang Summer 2011

EAST LA

LITTLE TOKYO

VENICE BEACH 1997

1985

2005

1989

1995

Shepard Fairey designs the OBEY poster which ultimately spreads all over the world

1979

LOS ANGELES Chas Bojorquez hired to design a graffiti style logo for hte film the warriers

PHILIDELPHIA Modern day graffiti as we know it becomes prevelant in Philidelphia.

2000

1994 1992

Banksy hangs his Mona lisa in the Louvre

LOS ANGELES Venice Beach art walls become legal spots for graffiti Invader starts putting tile space invaders all aroudn the world

1988

LOS ANGELES Painting Freeway signs becomes popular NEW YORK Keith Haring starts to sell cheap products with his art on it.

2008

1966

PARIS Student Riots - Graffiti with anarchist slogans are posted around the city

LOS ANGELES Anti police graffiti outburst during the Rodney King riots

NEW YORK SUPER KOOL 223 & HONDO start showing up on subway cars.

1986

1968

1972

LOS ANGELES The Z-boys open up a surfshop in Venice beach and their style is influenced by cholo graffiti

1998

graffiti.org First website dedicated to graffiti

2004

1982

LOS ANGELES Wild Style is introduced to LA

Banksy nominated for an Academy Award for Exit Thorugh the Gift Shop

2010

1975

LOS ANGELES The first book to focus on cholo graffiti is pubished

Banksy tags the Israeli/Palestinian border with thought provoking images

LOS ANGELES Ed Templeton opens a skate shop with strong ties to graffiti

1993

1949

Edward Seymour invents spray paint

LOS ANGELES Saber paitns the largest graffiti piece in history in the LA river

LOS ANGELES A graffiti war in the Belmont Tunnel is televised

NEW YORK The term Wild Style is coined to describe a writing style that is more complex and almost illegible.

1973

LOS ANGELES Zoot Suit Riots break out amongst Mexican American Youth.

LOS ANGELES A street art exhibit opens on East First St. The sloped concrete floors attract skaters.

LOS ANGELES Chaz Bojorquez first tags his senor suerte motiff on the 110 freeway. Later the symbol is adopted by chiano gangs for protection

1969

LOS ANGELES The Venice Beach Pavillion is built - later to be a large graffiti site

1943

WWII - James J Kilroy writes “kilroy was here on ship parts and equipment. These pieces spread all across the world

1961

1941

1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Shepard Fairey designs Obama’s iconic campaign imagery

Though the beginnings of modern day graffiti are often attributed to New York , Los Angeles has had a much older history of graffiti in the barrios. While the New Yorkers spread their styles through tagging subway cars, the taggers of LA were much more provincial. Graffiti was most prevalent amongst Latino youth and concentrated in East Los Angeles. Beyond tagging, the painting of full size murals became very popular. The act of painting larger more intricate graffiti was named “piecing.” Rather than being a name quickly scrawled, pieces take more artistic thought, time, and skill. While the pieces were often more beautiful and intricate than regular tags, they were also more disruptive and harder to remove. While its easy to admire the international and commercial street artists such as Banksy and Shepard Fairey and look down upon messy scribbles on a freeway sign, one must remember that the simple graffiti is just as legitimate. Almost all of the critically renowned street artists today had their roots in simply tagging their names. For some, graffiti is the only means of expressing his or her thoughts; it is an accessible art that does not require any sort of expensive training. Graffiti and street art in general is unique in that it is predominantly practised and spread by youth. It is also one of the oldest arts, as many of the first signs of painting showed up on the walls of caves or ancient greek scratchings in temples. Anthropologically speaking, graffiti lends light to a generation’s thoughts, styles, and lingual patterns. Though much of the graffiti in LA can have gang- related, violent connotations, these marks act as a clear sign of a much larger problem beyond vandalism and can be used to create change. As seen through these works, street art can have a large impact on a community and even on a nation. Hopefully LA can house and encourage the next generation of street artists.

2.45 miles/ 12,945 ft

Los Angeles - Summer Internship Program 2010

2.41 miles/ 11,303 ft

LINEAR CITY: a morphology Tiffany Chen Summer 2010 Many have assumed that Downtown LA will never qualify as the heart of the city, in part because Wilshire Boulevard already exists as a “linear downtown,” but the geometries, nodes, solids, voids, and temporal dimensions of the city are all variables that ultimately make up a dynamic network of relationships that evolve and define it. The evolution of the LA freeway system has also redefined transportation from an interstitiary element to a solid formal foundation of Los Angeles urban language. Wilshire Boulevard was the first traffic corridor to the ocean after the automobile became the primary means of transportation. Though initially the street was residential, the amount of traffic using Wilshire gradually became more attractive for commerce and YAF CONNECTION 11.06

2.72 miles/ 14,308 ft

2.9 miles/ 15, 325 ft

2.71 miles/ 14, 306 ft

2.58 miles/ 13,622 ft

2.64 miles/ 13,982 ft

METRIC: Green vs.inGrey goo” the “in-betweens”

business. As Los Angeles developed, Wilshire became a city within a city on a linear trajectory. With Wilshire Boulevard stringing together the dialogue between the city’s many distinct neighborhoods, it is perhaps these variable iterations of scale and proportion fundamental to the city block, which can ultimately enable the dissection of LA’s diverse spatial DNA. While the shiny towers of the “centralized” city nuclei are indeed present along the stretches of Wilshire Boulevard, what then lies in the interstitiary spaces within the urban fabric? Not quite city, yet not exactly surburban, “Grey Goo,” is the massive territory between city centers and the “exburbs.” Endless and without clear structure, this “goo” is quite literally the grey concrete and asphalt that has seeped into the infrastructure of transportation throughways and city blocks. Wilshire illustrates the graphic proliferation of “grey

of defined neighborhood fabrics. With the quaint proportions of LA’s Westwood Village morphing into the corporate scale of Century City, the significant increase in buildable FAR perhaps gives an indication of Grey Goo as “the actual material apparatus necessary to sustain the shiny façade of the city center.” Perhaps development of green space or pedestrian space is most advantageous at these nodes of transition, where travel, time, and interactivity with the built environment are often forgotten. Whether green or built, it is an experiential “intention” that these abandoned spaces are missing. In reinterpreting Wilshire’s cyclical structure through scale, distance, and time, we can transform a disjointed linear city into an urban rhythm of interactivity and informed spatial anomalies.

#aiachat #archcareers4

1,276 Twitter Followers Repositioning and Career Advancement 60 Minutes 18 September, 2:00pm Eastern Time

# aiachat

@AIAYAF [Moderator] Welcome to the September 2013 AIA YAF Tweet-Up. This is the 4th in a series designed to illuminate best practices. #archcareers4 @AIAYAF [Moderator] I’m Joe Benesh, the AIA YAF Public Relations Director. I’ll be your host for the chat today. Just a note on format: #archcareers4 @AIAYAF [Moderator] I will ask a question “Q1”. Please use “A1” or the corresponding number so we can track your responses. #archcareers4 @AIAYAF [Moderator] At the end of 2013, we will produce an electronic document with some of the highlights of these chats for distribution.

@AIAYAF [Moderator] Q1 - How do you see the AIA Repositioning will change the way you present yourself as an Architect or your firm to the public? #archcareers4

@Architect1122 (Rob Anderson) A1 - I can specifically show others how our profession is beginning to chisel its way out of the past and into the 21st century #archcareers4

@AIAYAF [Moderator] Q2 - Do you consider yourself a designer or something else? #archcareers4

@Architect1122 (Rob Anderson) A2 - No, I am an Architect. #archcareers4

@BLENDarchCom (Deepika Padam) A2 - Almost every architect thinks he/she is a designer first. But this term is so vast, the whole humanity can fit into it! #archcareers4

@AIAYAF [Moderator] @BLENDarchCom That’s true. It is a vast term. Does it need to be refined? #archcareers4

@BLENDarchCom (Deepika Padam) A2 - Not really, it’s like everybody speaks English. Everybody designs. No need to narrow down the scope of it! #archcareers4

@BLENDarchCom (Deepika Padam) A2 - What architecture needs to do instead is to embrace & collaborate with designers beyond architecture. #archcareers4

@Shoegnome (Jared Banks) A2 - architect #archcareers4 http://t.co/0oOPtpDPgl

LOOK FOR FUTURE TWITTER CHATS @AIAYAF

@AIAYAF [Moderator] Q3 - What things are important to you as an Architect from the standpoint of design? #archcareers4

@Architect1122 (Rob Anderson) A3 - Conviction in decision making. #archcareers4

@BLENDarchCom (Deepika Padam) A3 - Doing work that makes a difference. I want to help people before anything else. Not the best business model some might say #archcareers4

@Shoegnome (Jared Banks) @AIAYAF A3 - The why behind what the team is trying to create. http://tco/2c5FzfUNl2 #archcareers4

@BLENDarchCom (Deepika Padam) Hey, we could have met over coffee and done this! Looks like it’s just the three of us today! #archcareers4

@AIAYAF [Moderator] Q4 - Are there values you try and instill in your clients? #archcareers4

@Architect1122 (Rob Anderson) A4 - Perspective of use outside their specific interests. Further development of meaningfulness in a community context. #archcareers4

@BLENDarchCom (Deepika Padam) A4 - Look beyond profits. Haven’t been lucky to find responsible clients on my own yet, but have worked w/ a few in past firms. #archcareers4

@Shoegnome (Jared Banks) @AIAYAF A4 - hire me. #archcareers4

@Shoegnome (Jared Banks) @AIAYAF A4 - pay your bills. #archcareers4

@AIAYAF [Moderator] @BLENDarchCom Do you think that clients understand the value of what you do? #archcareers4

@BLENDarchCom (Deepika Padam) No way! Talk of environment/responsibility to community & clients deduce architects r crazy romantics w/ no sense of business. #archcareers4

@AIAYAF [Moderator] Q5 What do you think of the AIA’s repositioning manifesto? #archcareers4

@_rockhill (J. James Rockhill) A5 - I’d like to give a thoughtful answer but I’m going to need a modest salary. ;) #archcareers4

@BLENDarchCom (Deepika Padam) A5 - It’s a great step forward to educate the masses about architecture as a profession. There’s a long road ahead! #archcareers4

@BLENDarchCom (Deepika Padam) A5 - Even architects don’t know what repositioning is.

YAF CONNECTION 11.06

#aiachat #archcareers4

Rather AIA members at local level don’t know what it is! #archcareers4

@_rockhill (J. James Rockhill) A5 - Look at the Facebook page of @KohnPedersenFox or @ FosterPartners. You’ll find less than 3 or 4 direct interactions. #archcareers4

@AIAYAF [Moderator] Q6 What’s your PERSONAL design manifesto? #archcareers4

@BLENDarchCom (Deepika Padam) A6 - Refer to A3 and A4. ;) #archcareers4

@AIAYAF [Moderator] Q7 How does your personal design manifesto impact others? How do you evangelize your “brand”? #archcareers4

@BLENDarchCom (Deepika Padam) A7 - Evangelize! I like to believe that our values/ commitment inspire others even if they don’t act on it. Stick to your guts. #archcareers4

@AIAYAF [Moderator] Q8 - What is the best way to interact about design in the virtual world? #archcareers4

@BLENDarchCom (Deepika Padam) A8 - Post valuable content everywhere. Not just your marketing material. @CannonDesign is a good example. #archcareers4

@BLENDarchCom (Deepika Padam) A8 - @Architizer and @ArchDaily are great platforms to utilize. Now @ArchitectMag is also offering firms to self-publish! #archcareers4

@rkitekt (Adam Palmer) A8 - Making intentional posts on all media outlets about your own and other great design. Support design by recognizing others #archcareers4

@AIAYAF [Moderator] Q9 - What have you learned from your clients about design? #archcareers4

@rkitekt (Adam Palmer) A9 - Many simply don’t know what it means, so we always need to encourage and teach them that design should be in everything! #archcareers4

@BLENDarchCom (Deepika Padam) A9 - They rely on you, and they actually TRUST you. That’s why they hired you! Folks that don’t hire an architect are trouble. #archcareers4

About the Moderator: Joseph R. Benesh AIA is currently a Focus Market Leader and Project Manager for RDG Planning + Design in Des Moines, Iowa and is licensed in Illinois and Florida. He is currently President of the AIA Iowa Central Iowa Architects Council in addition to serving as the AIA YAF Public Relations Director. Joe received his Bachelor of Architecture from Iowa State University. @joebenesh

@AIAYAF [Moderator] Q10 What is the one thing you want to be remembered for? #archcareers4

@BLENDarchCom (Deepika Padam) A10 - Educating #archcareers4

@rkitekt (Adam Palmer) A10 - Mentoring and educating the profession and the public about the profession and design. #archcareers4

@Shoegnome (Jared Banks) @AIAYAF A10 - not something I worry or think about. #archcareers4

@AIAYAF [Moderator] For those of you playing along at home, I have gotten through the INXS albums Shoobah Shoobah and The Swing. Kick up next. #archcareers4

@BLENDarchCom (Deepika Padam) @JoeBenesh TY for your sense of humor. You enliven any dead space! #archcareers4

@rkitekt (Adam Palmer) Totally off topic, but ... @rkitekt - Adam, I cut my hair. I am sorry you had to find out this way. #archcareers4

@rkitekt (Adam Palmer) I am so distraught right now! Short is the way to go though, keeps it out of your eyes so you can think more clearly!?! #archcareers4

@rkitekt (Adam Palmer) You could make the argument that I never think clearly. =) #archcareers4

@AIAYAF [Moderator] This has been a good discussion, even though we didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have the turnout we have had in the last few chats. #archcareers4

@rkitekt (Adam Palmer) Small crowd today, i hope everyone remembers to tip their bartenders and waitresses! I need to bounce, thx and great job Joe. #archcareers4

YAF CONNECTION 11.06

LEADERSHIP PROFILE

A SEAT AT THE LEADERSHIP TABLE BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN ACADEMIA AND PRACTICE Haley M. Gipe Assoc. AIA is a Project Manager at Darden Architects in Fresno CA, the 2013 Chair of the NAC, and has recently been awarded the 2013 California Architectural Foundation Paul W. Welch Jr. ARE Scholarship, as well as the 2013 AIACC AEP Associates Award.

The transition from academia to practice, school to the ‘real-world’, university studio to professional firm, student to intern; it can all feel a bit vast at times. While I graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, (gasp) seven years ago, I still find myself gravitating to the ‘recent graduate’ corner of any room. They always told us in school that your education didn’t stop at graduation, that you’d continue to learn about architecture and how to be an ‘architect’ well after receiving your diploma. It still rings true for me today, with my diploma on the wall, six years of ‘real-world’ experience, IDP finished, and halfway through my AREs, I still inevitably feel like a student of Architecture. When I started at Darden Architects as a wide-eyed architecture graduate, I was eager and anxious to start my professional career. A few months into my architectural-intern position I joined the AIA, which I believed to be the logical next step in career development. The AIA symbolized a community to be a part of, something bigger than me alone. My local AIA San Joaquin Chapter is a modest smaller chapter, and their events and meetings became an integral part of my schedule. The more I became involved, the more I learned about the licensure process, our profession, the three tiers of the AIA, and the role of the five collaterals as a whole. This newfound understanding ultimately led to my desire to deepen my volunteer involvement on the single principal of making an impact in the profession.

The opportunity to advocate on behalf of AIA Associate membership came when I was elected to serve as the California Regional Associate Director (RAD) to the National Associates Committee (NAC) in 2012.

This

coincided with being selected to serve as the AIA Internat-Large to the IDP Advisory Committee. Both volunteer opportunities gave me the national perspective of volunteer involvement and the greater ability to affect positive change. In 2013, I was elected to a three year term, first serving as Chair of the NAC, then the 2014 Associate Director to the National Board, and the 2015 Associate Director to the Executive Committee. My national involvement has remained fueled by that initial desire to be part of the larger professional community through the AIA. While my story and journey to national leadership volunteer work is somewhat unique in the speed in which it’s happened, I don’t think it’s unusual to the recent generation of architecture school graduates. Having been engrained with this conceptual gap between education and practice, along with the negative economic climate of recent years, has fueled a generation to seek out leadership in the collateral organizations in order to make a difference. We recognize that our voice, our input, our perspective, is vital to making the changes we

Educating others about the licensure process was a way for me to fully understand the requirements, but also help others on their own path to licensure. Serving as the IDP State Coordinator for California from 2009-2011 was the beginning of my volunteer work with AIA California Council. With such a populous state of architects and AIA members, it was apparent that our Californian interns needed licensure outreach and education as IDP was a relatively newer requirement in our state. In California, our IDP State Coordinators are integrated into our Council of Advisors for the Academy for Emerging Professionals. This leadership position fueled my desire to volunteer on a much larger level, and gave me the perspective of statewide involvement.

want to see in the licensure process and practice itself. Astoundingly, all of the collaterals have collectively realized the profession is changing, with affects to both academia and practice. Relevance is at the forefront of many conversations and task forces, and historic decisions and revisions are being made in all arenas. Members at all levels of the AIA are continuing to volunteer their time and energy for the sake of something greater than the individual. This is what I love about the AIA, even in tough times, in times of change, members still believe in the profession and want to make it better.

Whether traditional career track, licensure track, alternative career, or unemployed, I have met emerging professionals that love being a part of this great profession. Harnessing their energy and passion is the key to relevance. Students, Interns, Associate AIA members, and Young Architect AIA members are coming together at all levels of our organizations to be a part of these conversations affecting our profession. This is the gap between academia and practice, the space where passion for this profession fuels great ideas for change. For all these reasons, it is paramount for emerging professionals to get involved and take a seat at the leadership table. My origins have been humble, but my passion for this profession and our AIA is great. I saw this gap between academia and practice as a world of opportunities. Opportunities for involvement and development as a professional as well as a person. My volunteer work has continued to shape the person I am and how I interact with my community. I challenge all emerging professionals to take advantage of the time between academia and practice, seek out opportunities, sharpen your skill set, and discover what kind of citizen architect you will be. â&#x2013;

This is the gap between academia and practice, the space where passion for this profession fuels great ideas for change. For all these reasons, it is paramount for emerging professionals to get involved and take a seat at the leadership table.

YAF CONNECTION 11.06

architecture + angst

COFFEE WITH AN ARCHITECT As written by Jody Brown and first published online at coffeewithanarchitect.com, June 15, 2011

ar·chi·tec·ture /ˈärkiˌtekCHər/

noun

The act of artfully placing complex forms in remote locations to be photographed for magazine covers.

noun

Public disinterest derived from a combination of self importance and greed.

noun

The memory of that which could have been, that is invoked by the residual form remaining after extensive value engineering.

noun

The compromise arrived at by the client and the designers after the president of the firm and the client played golf yesterday.

DEFINITION OF ARCHITECTURE I can’t believe I’ve written this blog for over a year [at that time] and never bothered to define Architecture. A glaring ommission to be sure. Perhaps I could get some help on this one? What’s a good definition of “Architecture” ?

Jody Brown is just an Architect, standing in front of an ideology, asking it to love him.

ar·chi·tec·ture /ˈärkiˌtekCHər/

noun

The hard metallic outer shell surrounding confused school children pointing at the large early period Calder mobile hanging from the ceiling.

noun

Profession wherein ones salary is amusing to the majority of other professionals.

noun

The touch, the feel of titanium. The fabric of our lives.

Creativity plus financing minus creativity.

Jody Brown AIA Brown is an Architect running his own firm (Jody Brown Architecture, pllc.) in Durham, NC. His work focuses on urban infill projects, mixed-use, urban design, and urban renewal. Over the last 18 years, he has built on his passion for planning and urban design, and has worked on enhancing, adding-to, re-using, renovating, and sometimes creating-from-scratch the places where people meet, learn, play, and become inspired. His work is grounded in the belief that Architecture can save cities. When he’s not doing that, he can be found making fun of himself and his profession, and blogging about his ideals at – Coffee with an Architect. Or, you can find him sipping coffee with someone at a cafe near you, blathering on-and-on about Le Corbusier, while looking aloof and interesting at the same time somewhere over in the corner.

YAF CONNECTION 11.06

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ARE YOU AN EMERGING VOICE? THEN BE HEARD! SUBMI SSI O N R E Q U I R E M E N TS Al l subm i ssi on s a r e r eq u i r ed to h a ve th e a t t a c h m en t s no ted bel ow . T ext Submi t th e b od y of y ou r tex t i n a s i n g l e , s e p a r a t e Wo rd do c u m en t w i th a tota l w or d cou n t b et we en 500-1000 w or d s. Fo rma t the f i l e n a m e a s s u ch : [ y ou r l a s tn am e _ a r t i c l e ti tl e.do c ] I mages Submi t all i m a g es i n J P E G f or m a t a t a m i n i m u m re so l uti o n of 300 d p i R G B m od e. I n cl u d e c a p t i o n s to a l l i m a g es i n th e b od y of y ou r e-m a i l tr a n s m i t t a l . Al l i m a ge s m u st b e a u th en ti c to th e p e r s o n subm i tti ng . D o n ot s u b m i t i m a g es w i th w h i c h yo u d o no t ho l d t h e r i g h ts. Fo rma t the f i l e n a m e(s ), s eq u en ti a l l y , a s s u c h : [ y o url a stnam e_i m a g e1. jp g ]

YAF CONNECTION

A u t h o r Bio Su b m i t a b r i ef , t wo - s e n t e n c e b i o i n t h e f o l l o wing format: [ yo u r l a s t n a m e ] [ A IA o r A s s o c i a t e A IA o r R A ] i s a [ yo u r t i t l e ] a t [ yo u r c o m p a n y ] i n [ c i t y, s t a t e ]. [ yo u r l a s t n a m e ] i s a l s o [ o n e s en t en c e d e s c r i b ing p r i m a r y c r e d en t i a l s o r r e c en t a c c o m p l i s h m e n t s ]. Fo r m a t t h e f i l e n a m e a s s u c h : [ yo u r l a s t n a m e _ a r t i c le t i t l e.d o c ] A u t h o r Ph o t o Su b m i t a r e c e n t h ea d s h o t i n JPE G f o r m a t a t a m i n i m u m r e s o l u t i o n o f 3 0 0 d p i G r a ys c a l e i n R G B mode. Fo r m a t t h e f i l e n a m e a s s u c h : [ yo u r l a s t n a me_ p o r t r a i t .d o c ] C L IC K H E R E t o r e f er e n c e p a s t i s s u e s o f CO N N E CT IO N

WHAT IS THE YOUNG ARCHITECTS FORUM? The Young Architects Forum is the voice of architects in the early stages of their career and the catalyst for change within the profession and our communities. Working closely with the AIA College of Fellows and the American Institute of Architects as a whole, the YAF is leading the future of the profession with a focus on architects licensed less than 10 years. The national YAF Advisory Committee is charged with encouraging the development of national and regional programs of interest to young architects and supporting the creation of YAF groups within local chapters. Approximately 23,000 AIA members are represented by the YAF. YAF programs, activities, and resources serve young architects by providing information and leadership; promoting excellence through fellowship with other professionals; and encouraging mentoring to enhance individual, community, and professional development. GOALS OF THE YOUNG ARCHITECTS FORUM To encourage professional growth and leadership development among recently licensed architects through interaction and collaboration within the AIA and allied groups. To build a national network and serve as a collective voice for young architects by working to ensure that issues of particular relevance to young architects are appropriately addressed by the Institute. To make AIA membership valuable to young architects and to develop the future leadership of the profession.

1991

2013

CELEBRATING YEARS OF ADVANCING THE CAREERS OF YOUNG ARCHITECTS

The American Institute of Architects Young Architects Forum 1735 New York Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20006 37

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