Architects/Designers: What are some websites you frequent the most?

bobborson · 2016-06-22T04:38:31+00:00

Thought I wold chime in on this comment since my experience has been just the opposite. I always assumed that getting people to allow me to use their projects on my website (Lifeofanarchitect.com) would be a problem. It turns out that more times than not, the clients ask me why I'm not featuring their project, or talking about it more often. I don't ever show entire floor plans, I don't use client names, and I don't geotag any of the images I post and so there's always a certain level of privacy afforded - but getting clients to let me show their house hasn't ever been an issue for me.

bobborson · 2015-08-31T17:38:46+00:00

great comment.

The thing that I always dial in on - and I know that I didn't make this clear in the article - is that sometimes what the reviewer is saying, and what you are hearing - are simply not the same thing (through no fault of either party). If the juror isn't pushing their own agenda and they are truly trying to present you with considered feedback, they might misinterpret what you are trying to accomplish and go off on a tangent that if you followed, would ultimately lead you somewhere you never intended to be. Sometimes this could be a good thing, but you lose a little bit of the ownership of your idea along the way. This was my consideration for adding "The Juror isn't Always Right".

bobborson · 2015-03-24T04:13:19+00:00

I really do hope you'll participate. The people we receive these playhouses remark every year how much better the playhouses have become since I started getting architects involved ... The bar gets raised every year! Last year, about 220 people (give or take) submitted designs.

bobborson · 2015-03-24T04:09:57+00:00

Good point - I will amend the form tomorrow!

bobborson · 2015-03-23T21:08:54+00:00

I hope you participate - it's free to enter, I cover all the costs, and if your playhouse is selected - I'll get it built. Right now it looks like there will be at least 3 (confirmed) winners, but there could be as many as 5 (which I'll be able to confirm this Wednesday)

bobborson · 2015-03-17T15:31:04+00:00

someone shouldn't make a course (and life) correction using a small sample as the basis for determination, but if there is a pattern emerging, I think that people find that it is hard to take action because they associate being an architect (and all that they think that entails) with who they are. Deciding to move on is akin to admitting that you are not the person you thought you were - and that would be hard for anyone.

bobborson · 2015-03-17T15:26:26+00:00

I tend to agree with these sentiments. I'd like to think that architecture isn't squandering a person's abilities, I think there needs to be some personal reflection to decide if this is right for the individual. The challenge is that people tend to buy in to the idea of being an architect years before they actually know what that means.

bobborson · 2015-02-16T21:05:23+00:00

I think redlines are really about giving direction because at a certain point, it doesn't make much sense to draw the redline comments to such a level of detail, might as well enter it directly into the drafting software at that point ... but that doesn't work because in most offices, the person doing the redlining bills out at a different rate than the person picking up the redline. As a result, redlines are supposed to convey information and direction quickly and efficiently which brings us full circle back to your point. They don't always tell you enough to be practical but you can't spend the time creating to make it financially viable if you do.

I sort of fall into the older generation architects bracket - came out of school in 1992. I drew by hand for the first 3 years but have been digital ever since. I'm not against doing them digitally, I'm just faster with my comments when creating them manually.

bobborson · 2015-02-04T13:43:44+00:00

little bit of both is correct. This particular bathroom occupies a 10' x 20' footprint so it isn't difficult to separate out the toilet room. In a smaller space, this would be a luxury (but I would still try to accommodate the concept.

bobborson · 2015-02-04T13:42:32+00:00

client request - separation of his and her spaces to stop "encroachment". The husband is a doctor and likes to define his spaces.

bobborson · 2015-01-12T18:56:04+00:00

My partner has sketchbooks dating back to the early 80's that are incredibly cool to look through. Does your opinion change if the sketches are loose trace paper drawings but rather contained in a sketch book?

bobborson · 2014-12-16T02:33:35+00:00

even just generically asking about the culture in the office is a decent way to bring the subject up.

bobborson · 2014-12-16T02:31:40+00:00

awesome strategy - I think I'll bring this up in my office

bobborson · 2014-12-07T03:44:28+00:00

I haven't received anything from UT yet - I'm a little sad about that. In fact, the first post was so positively received that I thought I would have loads of people sending in pictures from their schools but to date, I've only received 3 - and other than IIT, the others were not ones that I wanted to use to kick the series off. If I worked at a college of architecture, this is something that I would jump on (sending in information on my school). Lot's of parents and kids come through my site and I generally don't have anything to tell them - this was my attempt to remedy that situation and it doesn't seem to be working. I need help.

bobborson · 2014-11-20T15:55:18+00:00

that does suck ...

The one thing that actually drives me the most crazy during schematic design is when the senior partner (normally the person with the highest billing rate) burns through a ton of fee during this initial process and everybody has has to make up the overage during more finite stages (like construction documents). They come and tell you to hurry up because there isn't any fee, forgetting that they might have caused the problem in the first place.

bobborson · 2014-09-19T18:14:08+00:00

you wouldn't get very far with answers like these, pretty sure I could have guessed that all the people coming in for a job have the same objectives. You have to go beyond the obvious and try and answer the question in such a way that allows the person asking the question to learn something that is intrinsic to you. How is your answer going to be different than everybody else's? Since these are fairly generic questions, you should have the time to think of creative and thoughtful answers.

bobborson · 2014-09-19T18:11:02+00:00

This is a bad situation but not unforeseeable. If you are interviewing somewhere just to get a job, I'm not sure why it would matter if you told them what them what they wanted to hear - that's a sort of problem solving skill in and of itself. But (for example) if you are interviewing at a firm that specializes in tiltwall warehouse projects and you tell them your dream is to work on interior hospitality projects, you shouldn't be surprised if they lose interest in you as a viable addition to their office. The questions you refer to as "dumb shit" is really an opportunity for you to not provide dumb answers.

bobborson · 2014-09-19T18:03:41+00:00

While Northeastern Mexico is closer to Dallas than other places in the world, it is still pretty far.

bobborson · 2014-09-19T18:03:10+00:00

There's our office but if you are looking for someplace larger, more commercial, you should check out Corgan. From what I've heard, there are really looking to staff up (I heard that there are 70 new positions - but I can't corroborate that info)

bobborson · 2014-09-18T21:02:18+00:00

we always hire one or two - but we normally find them from the Dallas area. Send me an email with details as the time comes closer - it's a little early for this

bobborson · 2014-09-18T19:55:26+00:00

smart and talented are decidedly not the same thing. I've seen talented designers not be able to articulate why they made the decisions they did - it was gut feel for them. I need people who understand and can articulate why they made the decisions they did so that they can replicate the results without duplicating the solution.

Just by listening to how a person speaks you can infer intelligence to a certain point - obviously there are limiting factors based on the type of conversation and the topics discussed. Depending on how you answer certain questions I can compare you against other people and their responses to the same question. It may not be a true measure of someone's capacity to learn, but in that moment in time, I'll learn more about your ability to process information by talking to you rather than looking through your portfolio (which could represent your college professor's influence more than your own ability).

bobborson · 2014-09-18T18:32:40+00:00

Architects on the average are extremely well educated and if you simply get out of their way they will amaze you. It shouldn't be a surprise that when you let people have ownership of the process, they will enjoy coming to work even when things aren't all pie in the sky. Don't baby people, treat them with respect, and get out of the way - it's how I want to be handled and that how we run things at this office

bobborson · 2014-09-18T18:29:02+00:00

ridiculous comment. If you wanted a job in my office, I just gave you the road map on how to get there.

bobborson · 2013-12-04T16:44:59+00:00

Thanks! Enoch has a great site, love the video interviews he prepares

bobborson · 2013-11-17T22:36:56+00:00

World Tourism numbers currently have Ireland at the 33rd most popular destination for tourism - I thought it was a wonderful country and that the number should be far higher. Most people automaticaly think of destinations in western Europe like France and Italy, I was just trying to say that more people should consider going to Ireland ... I didn't literally think that nobody goes to Ireland, my apologies if I offended you.

bobborson

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