Life of an Architect
SEPTEMBER 27, 2015
Shadows on construction drawings … who would do such a thing?!? As it turns out, I would. I thought adding shadows to these elevations would help convey some additional information and despite the fact that I know you should never add shadows to construction drawings, I’m doing it anyways. Why? Because there are a lot of things that I am willing to try in an effort to get a better built project.
BD+C
JANUARY 22, 2015
'A video of the new home for the Atlanta Falcons has been released. The star of the show is a retractable roof designed by 360 Architecture (recently aquired by HOK) with eight "roof petals” that will rotate open in less than eight minutes, with the motion of a camera lens. Clad with translucent ETFE, the petals will allow natural light to pass into its interior even when closed.
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EntreArchitect
JUNE 29, 2015
When Annmarie and I launched Fivecat Studio more than 15 years ago we had no projects, no clients and no money. We were two young architects seeking the freedom of our own firm. A friend helped start us off with our first project; a new local restaurant named Meetinghouse located in Bedford, New York. Meetinghouse led to other local projects and soon we were in business.
Bruce F. Roth Architect
DECEMBER 1, 2015
Evangelical Covenant Church, Hinsdale. Located on a tight site in a mature neighborhood, this well-established congregation was looking to expand and renovate their facility. A master plan was undertaken to determine the best course of action with a goal of addressing existing infrastructure, expansion/reorganization possibilities, and budget concerns.
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A Detroit Architect's Journal
SEPTEMBER 10, 2015
Part 8 of 13 in our journey from Timbuktu to Kalamazoo (Connecting Landmarks in Michigan and African History) Highland Park Ford Plant Highland Park, MI was launched into the spotlight when Henry Ford purchased 160 acres of land just north of Manchester Street between Woodward Avenue and Oakland Street. Construction of the Highland Park Ford Plant (designed by Albert Kahn) was completed in 1909.
Architecture Focus brings together the best content for architecture professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Dwell
JANUARY 14, 2015
Before Isamu Noguchi created the classic 20th-century furniture item, the Japanese American sculptor was imprisoned at an internment camp. While there, his design was ripped off by a colleague. The very table that cemented Isamu Noguchi ’s status as a breakout 20th-century designer was almost lost to theft. The influential Japanese American artist himself nearly ended up a doctor, but in 1922, he dropped out of Columbia premed to pursue sculpture full time.
Life of an Architect
JUNE 28, 2015
This was a day, just like any other day. I was minding my own business when I was visually assaulted by my hotel shower. ( That’s right … assaulted. ) For most people, they probably wouldn’t have even noticed. They would have taken their shower and moved on to the next part of their day without realizing just how close they had come with … THIS!!
Life of an Architect
AUGUST 23, 2015
Whenever I sit down to write one of these articles for the site, the first thing I tend to start with is the title I am going to use – I think it sets the tone for the rest of the piece. For today’s article, I went back and forth on a bunch of different titles, including; Working for Grandmothers has its Benefits Projects that Make You Feel Good It’s Like a Playhouse, Only Bigger Yeah, I didn’t like any of those either so I settled in on a title that was the shortest I co
Life of an Architect
MARCH 15, 2015
'Two simple sentences could be used to respond to about 1/3rd of all the emails I receive: “If studying to become an architect is making you miserable, don’t be one.” “If being an architect is making you miserable, don’t be one.” Those are two sentences that I rarely write – although I probably should use them more often.
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Life of an Architect
MARCH 8, 2015
'10 Words – “Let’s make it look like we draw for a living.” I think I am going to make this my mantra – maybe put it on a coffee mug or a tee-shirt – because I seem to be saying it a lot. I look at drawings that are created (not just from my office) and think “these don’t look right” There’s no pen weight, I have to look at the plans to determine what’s near or far.
Life of an Architect
FEBRUARY 22, 2015
'Pull up a chair, order your favorite drink, and let me tell you about architecture in the “ real ” world. I thought I would try to make this an upbeat article but as I sit down to write it, I’m not so sure how successful a job I am going to do (good thing we’re drinking here, right?) One of the things having a web site like mine affords you is a peek behind the curtain – curtains in just about every nook and cranny of the planet.
Life of an Architect
FEBRUARY 8, 2015
'Do you really want to be an architect? Despite having days when I really don’t feel like coming to work, I consider myself extremely lucky to do what I do for a living. Being an architect is rewarding in ways that I don’t think could be easily replicated in a different field of work. My heart goes out to anyone who is miserable in their job, regardless of what that job actually entails.
Life of an Architect
JANUARY 11, 2015
'I typically don’t give it a lot of thought – as soon as my architectural sketches have served their purpose, they get thrown away. I don’t consider them valuable or even worthwhile to keep. Am I crazy? ( with specific regards to this particular item ) Unlike a lot of firms, we do have several stacks of flat files in our office and starting about a 3 months ago, I decided that my sketches might live on in these archives.
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Life of an Architect
MAY 10, 2015
Prediction – if you can’t get a handle on scale and proportion, you are going to make for a bad architect (at least one that considers themselves a designer). One of the very most important skill sets a designer can have is their ability to visualize space and the things that occupy that space. This means having a good feeling when something is – or isn’t as is frequently the case – the right size.
Life of an Architect
APRIL 26, 2015
The Finalists – 2015 Life of an Architect Playhouse Design Competition … there are a lot of people from around the planet who are anxiously awaiting these results. The evening kicked off with the judges arriving at 6:00pm for a cocktail hour prior to beginning their duties as judges. Since I am the only person who actually knows everyone, this period is really about allowing the judges a chance to meet one another and build some camaraderie before settling down to the task at hand.
Life of an Architect
JANUARY 18, 2015
'If you ever thought about being an architect but thought you couldn’t handle the math, you aren’t alone. At parties across the land, as soon as someone finds out there is an architect in the crowd, there is a story being told about how they wanted to be an architect but since they couldn’t draw or weren’t very good at math, they decided to do something else.
Life of an Architect
FEBRUARY 2, 2015
'Hi. My name is Bob and I seem to talk about toilets a lot here at Life of an Architect. Not because I love toilets – which maybe I do, they are kind of funny – but because there are a lot of bathroom layouts out there that drive me crazy. Since I am an architect that does residential design, I spend more time on bathroom layouts than your average person, I’m not just some guy in the next cubicle.
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Life of an Architect
NOVEMBER 8, 2015
It’s possible that I have lost my mind by showing you this project. Not only does it date me as someone who pre-dates computers, but it also could potentially expose me to vast amounts of ridicule. When I decided to select “My First Project” as a topic for this month’s ArchiTalks topic, I knew instantly which project I would choose to focus on – not because it’s so good, but because I had all sorts of attachments that I could refer to (which is an important co
Life of an Architect
APRIL 19, 2015
'The Life of an Architect playhouse competition for 2015 is coming to a close – even though it seems like it just got started. All the entries for this year are required (give or take) to me in my email inbox by midnight tonight (April 20th). Actually, since this is for charity and I consider myself a decent human being, as long as I have your entry by the time I wake up, you’re good to go.
Life of an Architect
AUGUST 9, 2015
Every now and again, someone will try to convince me that the design process is faster using computer software than sketching. I used to respond to those comments, try to build an intelligent perspective of why I inherently don’t believe this is true, but now, I rarely bother. Just like talking politics or religion, the “sketching versus computer” debate rarely seems to change anybody’s mind.
Life of an Architect
NOVEMBER 1, 2015
Want to see some of the best architectural delineations in the world? You’ve come to the right place because today is a special day. Collected here for you to get your architectural eye candy fix, are the 2015 winners and finalists from the 41st annual Ken Roberts Memorial Delineation Competition, the longest running architectural delineation competition in the world.
Speaker: Pedro Clarke – Principal Architect at A+ Architecture, In Loco Program Director
Sustainability begins with a conversation, and acquiring customer buy-in is entirely dependent on how the conversation is framed. Clients may not see sustainability as a priority out of fear of operational costs and quality. While these are legitimate concerns, it is our responsibility as architects to listen and foster a collaborative culture that answers client issues while also reducing our carbon footprint.
Life of an Architect
MARCH 1, 2015
'The Best Architectural Websites in the World. … or as I call them, my “current favorite websites”, but let’s not split hairs. After exhaustive research ( a.k.a. my internet explorer history ) and peer feedback ( I sent some emails, reviewed suggestions in the comment area, and asked the people in my office ) I have created the definitive listing of the Best Architectural Websites in the World for 2015.
Life of an Architect
MAY 3, 2015
On Friday, May 1st – 6 highly focused and dedicated judges walked in to my home with the monumental task of selecting the winners of the 4th Annual Life of an Architect Playhouse Design Competition. This is no small task and while it may seem a fairly simple enough process to select awesome playhouses – it’s not. These are surprisingly complicated little buildings and the criteria for evaluation is specific, but yet open for a wide range of interpretation.
BD+C
JANUARY 28, 2015
'The compact, building-top wind turbine has been receiving a lot of heat for not being able to deliver what it promises in terms of energy production. This has led to accusations of the building developer putting these little turbines not to generate power, but to make an environmental statement. Body Image: read more.
Life of an Architect
OCTOBER 28, 2015
Some people simply lose their minds when it comes to Halloween … I am not one of those people. In fact, I generally don’t like dressing up in a costume and I definitely don’t like putting stuff on my face. Drama club never had a shot at me … But a lot of that changed once I had a child, which should be obvious to anyone (unless you are a heartless jerk).
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