practice news
The Valencia Effect
Is this a sign of things to come? As austerity measures dig in, are “los indignados” of Spain wondering about the money that fed a cultural building boom? Where complex buildings were designed by foreign architects, who didn’t seem to know that their hefty fees were being added to the country’s debt.
14.05.12 in practice
Architect / protaganist:
Comment [1]
Councils and fees
Grand Designs (Oz) presenter Peter Maddison recently advised Ballarat’s media what to do with its Civic Hall project, which was mainly not to ape historic styles.
16.02.11 in practice
Office
Another way to sell your practice. Sell your office. From David Baker and Partners, San Francisco. It comes complete with bicycle hangers and compost bins.
03.12.10 in practice video-clips
Architect / protaganist:
Sage advice
Rather blunt warning to a potential architecture student. Content warning: Language is that of an architecture office on a bad day.
05.11.10 in practice video-clips
Comment [1]
Sharing it around
Richard Rogers on Rogers Stirk Harbour:
29.05.10 in practice
Architect / protaganist:
The opposite of stimulus
Still in Chicago – the Tribune has a great architecture blog – the council there (still under Mayor Daley) has decided to ask architects and others to reduce their fees on current contracts by 10%. That’s after asking for a 2% drop last year. Tough huh? Especially so because the council’s, “challenging procurement, permitting and payment process already represents a financial burden to many architecture and design firms”, according to the AIA’s local VP.
15.05.10 in practice
Over-budget in Kinglake
Is The Age getting sponsored by the HIA, did an architect just make a shocking mistake, or did they go to the wrong builder? A kinglake family’s efforts to rebuild come to nowt.
20.04.10 in practice
Comment [1]
Cheap at a quarter the price
A 2000sqm site in Auckland’s Paratai Drive, previously home to two dogs, is expected to sell soon for over $10M. Who would pay that? The NZ Herald asks “high end home” architect Architect Simon Carnachan . No problem he reckons – cashed up JAFAs like, “showing the world you’ve got the money and you’re not afraid to flaunt it. Success in New Zealand seems to be judged by wealth rather than anything else.” Presumeably a buyer would then build a house on said site, and Carnachan thinks they’d get a bargain.
11.11.09 in practice
Comment [1]
Building Commission says..
The Building Commission of Victoria has small profiles on many careers within the building industry. They forgot architecture, but most of the rest are covered. Including the draftsperson:
12.08.09 in practice
Comment [5]
Pulling teeth?
Will Alsop leaves architecture for painting:
“I love architecture but one of the things that gets up my nose, particularly in London, is that doing anything is like pulling teeth… There are so many hangers on and architectural advisers who know nothing and it gets in the way.”
09.08.09 in architects practice
What does an architect do again?
A survey commissioned by Engineers Australia asked over 2000 Australains what they thought of various careers. In terms of understanding what the career was about, architecture came bottom, alongside science, engineering, and, erm… politics.
09.08.09 in practice
Architecture terribly exclusive, except for the pay
Flying around twitter… “Architecture is the most socially exclusive profession in the UK, ahead of law, medicine and accountancy, according to research by the Cabinet Office… Documents released by the Cabinet Office’s panel for Fair Access to the Professions show it costs more to qualify as an architect — over £60,000 — than any other profession. The panel also found newly qualified architects earned just over £20,000 a year, one of the lowest starting salaries in the professions.” BD Online
30.06.09 in practice education
Comment [1]
Architects twittering
Here is a long article at the AIA (U.S.) with a good deal more than you need to know about twittering as a way to boost your practice. Seems not a very twittery thing to do, but it’s nevertheless interesting for newbies like me.
13.06.09 in practice
SA misses out
South Australia is now the only Australian state without a givernment architect, following recent appointments in Western Australia (Steve Woodland) and Tasmania (Peter Poulet). The Institute chapter president in SA, Tim Horton, is keen for an in-government architect to be appointed there soon, seeing it as an important way to capitalise on the federal government’s lolly scramble (stimulus funding).
24.05.09 in practice
Comment [2]
First Rate 4 kaput
For those many architects able to assess energy efficiency with First Rate version 4, your licence expires tomorrow. It’s 5 or nowt now. Seems they are trying to reduce the number of assessors by making everything expensive – like the required training course. One more external consultant to add to the list?
29.04.09 in sustainability practice
Architects adapting
Same number of architects, but much less to do – so what are we doing with all this free time. This DnA radio show, beaming out of L.A., describes the surge in interest in competitions and furthering education. It includes stories from the retrenched.
10.04.09 in practice
Bushfire homes service
Modelled on the 1950s The Age Small Home Service, the ®AIA with the Victorian Government Architect has just launched its Bushfire Homes Service. Registered AIA architects, working pro bono, are asked to submit intent by April 6th and ‘uncomplicated’ designs by April 13th. Details attached.
04.04.09 in practice
I want that one
Some architects in the States have quite a sideline going in selling “readymade” plans through their websites. There lots of cons planting a house designed for snow loads in a desert earthquake belt, but for some customers the savings outweigh the lack of customisation. Design and documentation fees run at about a quarter of normal fees. And it does keep drawings from gathering dust in the archive.
09.08.08 in practice