The light rail struggle sounds alot like Seattle, but I don't think it's quite as bad as in LA... You can't live without a car in LA. In Seattle, downtown is small... I live in the South end of downtown and work at the north end and I walk home every day, and it only takes about 30 minutes... You can walk almost anywhere, or hop on a bus... Busses in downtown are free, and some people bike all over... And the latest light rail development which is already being used as an underground transit tunnel for buses is scheduled to open end of this year... Once construction is fully complete, the line is going to extend from the University of Washington, through downtown to SeaTac airport...
The major problem in Seattle is more from the "east-siders", who are more spread out, basically the people who live to the east of Lake Washington, in the expanding cities there, Bellevue, Redmond, and Kirkland... These are more car driven, less pedestrian, the microsoft type corporate campuses and shopping malls, etc... There were a number of proposals here to expand the light rail to extend from downtown to the east side, but they didn't get voted through... I think here it's less the car driven interest groups that shut it down, and more actually the environmentally conscious citizens, who are all in favor of the project, but simply cannot agree on a right solution... It's not a car problem on the scale of LA, which is basically automobile city... Alot of people bike... Seattle has its traffic and transportation issues, but I think it's a cakewalk compared to what you're probably used to in LA...
i was almost arrested for J-biking, they held me in custody for a few hours trinna make stuff up, make threats and be intimidating. and in the end they wanted to race my e-bike and clock my speed (48). what a bunch of corrupt individuals, i sure don't want them to be in control if anything economically bad goes down. you can't trust authoritarians
hello all this is my first post and a sorry one i might add,
Two months ago I received my B.S. in Arch.... I can't even get an interview let alone a job.
I had an internship for a year, taught a design course to high school kids the next summer. Architecture has been my life and I love it.
I am just so frustrated though with this economy situation where hundreds of businesses have told me that they aren't hiring because they are slow. I just don't know what to do.
Is there anything out there? I am beginning to think architecture doesn't exist outside of our schools.
sorry for the complainin
Doesn't help that more and more drafting is being shipped off shore.
Architecture as a business exists outside of school. Business is slow, so there will not be good jobs for a while.
Shipping off shore reduces risk, increases profits - win-win for business.
Eric - friends of mine graduated just before 911 when the economy was last tanking, couldnt get a job for a year - then the jobless recovery started and residential took off. 2 of them were working in a condo sweatshop turning out replica's of the same plan for a tract home developer and the other entered the wonderful world of hospital architecture. All three are were earning about 75% of what architects were earning 20 years ago adjusted for inflation and 2 have since been laid off. So dont fret about the current economic situation, its actualy perpetualy disappointing and fragile, even in "good times"
: the Career Center at AIA.org currently shows 494 job ads, of which 81 are for architectural interns. There are hundreds of additional job ads posted right here on Archinect.
If you want a job, you will need to be flexible about where you're willing to go ... but there's work out there for those who want it.
Back when I was an intern, one of my mentors always emphasized to me that an architect needs to work in a community where there's a vibrant construction economy. If you live in a place where that's not the case (maybe, say Detroit) you need to be flexible enough to relocate to where the jobs are located.
From what I've seen Texas is largely immune to the current recession. They didn't really partake in the real-estate run up, thus their crash won't be as extreme. It's home to more energy companies than any other state, all of which are doing quite well. Houston is more closely linked with oil exporting regions than any other city in the US, and needless to say those regions have $$$. And the cost of living is way cheaper there than most other places in the nation. Only drawback is you have to live in Texas.
These days I like Houston just as much...that coming from someone who grew up in Austin...it is hard for me to enjoy it today, Austin that is, knowing what it was.
Austin is just like Portland. Yeah, its a nice place, but it's not the mecca everyone makes it out to be. Spent extended periods of time in both mentioned cities and have yet to figure out why they deserve the overabundance of pub they get on this site.
Seattle is recession proof as well!!!!!!!!! I was talking to a friend up there yesterday who works for Microsoft and he said the same thing...the economy is strong
About those recession proof cities... It's kind of interesting to look at the factors that this article lists as reasons why those cities are more robust in a recession.
It seems like there are specific industries, or factors that contribute to being "recession proof"... Some, like the texas cities have historically lower home prices, and abundance of land, and little zoning... "Instead of competing for homes, Texans could move to a new subdivision a little farther out"... Is sprawl actually a buffer against recession?
For better or for worse, energy industry cities also seem to be benefitting from all people's energy issues... But also big internationally focused companies, or diversified industries that employ people seem to be another plus...
10. Dallas Fort Worth: "The region is home to a diverse set of companies, including Exxon Mobil, American Airlines parent company AMR, Southwest Airlines, home builder Centex, Dean Foods, Texas Instruments and Tenet Healthcare."
9. Charlotte, NC: "Home prices have shown healthy growth, and broad classes of industries like professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, transportation, education, and health are expected to float the local economy this year."
8. Seattle, WA: "The region around Puget Sound is home to Microsoft, Amazon.com, Starbucks, Costco, Nordstrom and Washington Mutual. What's more, home prices are only half that in the San Francisco Bay Area, and unemployment in the region is falling. Of the 50 largest metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S., Seattle had the strongest growth in manufacturing in the past year."
7. Houston, TX: "Call it Energy City, USA. Houston's economy has been so robust that it's one of the few cities in the country where manufacturing is growing. The city's future is heavily tied to energy, as the home to ConocoPhillips, Marathon Oil, Plains All American Pipeline, Halliburton and Reliant Energy."
6. Salt Lake City, Utah: "Though Salt Lake City's unemployment rate is rising, it's still among the lowest of the country's 50 largest cities (Washington, D.C., is second, but declining home prices kept it off our list). The state is still creating jobs, just not as quickly as its labor force is growing. A November 2007 report from the U.S. Conference of Mayors projected that Salt Lake City would be one of the few large cities in the country not to suffer a decline in gross metropolitan product from the mortgage crisis."
5. Raleigh, NC: "Stable home prices and growth across the different sectors of its economy have kept Raleigh strong. In the last 12 months, all industries measured by the U.S. Department of Labor have grown except for the city's small information sector."
4. San Jose, CA: "Unemployment in the Bay Area is on the rise, and home prices seem impossibly high, but unlike Southern California, things haven't come crashing down in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara region. Or at least not yet. Legions of high-salaried workers at Intel, Sun Microsystems, Google, Advanced Micro Devices and the rest of Silicon Valley are keeping the region afloat."
3. Austin, TX: "One of the hippest cities in the country has one of the lowest unemployment rates. The Austin region is home to Dell, and many tech companies from Apple to Sun Microsystems also maintain a significant presence. One difference between "Silicon Hills," as some call Austin's tech sector, and Silicon Valley? In Austin, the median home price is still under $200,000."
2. San Antonio, TX: "San Antonio boasts solid employment numbers as well as rising home prices. Its industries are growing, and it can't hurt that the new AT&T was formed when San Antonio-based SBC Communications swallowed the former AT&T Corp. and BellSouth. The home of the Alamo has leisure and hospitality growth in part from its appeal as a tourist destination."
1. Oklahoma City: "Did someone say something about a recession? With falling unemployment, one of the strongest housing markets in the country, and strong growth in agriculture, energy and manufacturing, Oklahoma City might not have received the recession memo, and it looks best positioned of the nation's metropolitan areas to ride out the current crisis. Booming valuations of Oklahoma City's largest companies, like Devon Energy and Chesapeake Energy, suggest the energy sector is the right place to be."
What can architects take from this info...? Aside from what markets we should get into...
For one, maybe if architects can read into why certain market sectors are safer than others... Why, in a recession, some sectors actually grow rather than decline?
Also, it seems like there's a lesson on "building a robust portfolio of employment"... In stocks or investment or mutual funds for example, diversifying means economic stability and long term success... Reducing your risk by not putting all your eggs in one basket... Is this also true for architecture firms? Is it better to spread out risk by taking on different kinds of work? Diversify your portfolio of work, like investors diversify their portfolio of investments? Larger firms that are involved in many different sectors of work seem to have an edge in that when one market is weak, they can shift employees to other markets that might be stronger... What about smaller firms that target very specific niche markets? Is there a way, for example maybe by partnering with other smaller firms in different sectors that they can trade off employees and gain security in numbers and in breadth?
I was just talking to a guy who lives in my building, talking about the stock market, and it's interesting but the value of rice and soybeans and corn have gone up quite a bit this year... In California, the price of a bag of rice has doubled...
He was talking about why, when the stock markets are so down, the price of rice has gone up so much... We were speculating that it seems like when things are bad, and alot of stocks are seen as risky, and falling, people tend to cling to those commodities that hold real tangible and essential value... People need to eat, but more significantly, when the market creates a demand for that thing, and the value is holding or going up, people who own it will cling to it, and hoard it, and the supply seems to limited... Everyone trying to buy that thing, and there is a perceived shortage, supply decreases, and price increases...
I'm not sure how this relates to what we are talking about here, architecture... But talking to this neighbor sort of made me realize how little I, and I think most architects think about the economy, or understand these forces, at play, demand and supply and the influences on them, etc... It seems like most of us are so busy working, and who really has time to think about the movements in the market? So many people in other professions spend a great deal of time analyzing the markets, is there any point, is it just a waste of time? Should we all be more aware of the prices of things like steel, or concrete, or lumber, or different kinds of labor, and what is happening in those markets for building materials that make or break our budgets? Or are changes in these markets too unpredictable, or not significant enough to factor into design? Quite often it seems like architects have alot of general ideas about costs, rules of thumb, ideas about square footage costs, but rarely do we follow closely the fluctuations in the markets or pay attention to the trends or happenings in the markets that are affecting these prices... It sometime seems like it's more of a rude awakening when we realize how costs have changed... Or is it just me?
i have been told by more than a dozen people (principles, architects, and interns alike), some that i have interviewed with and others acquaintances, --who ALL say the work is slowed down in seattle. the number of permits going through the city is down. obviously, the work isn't drying up but it's certainly not exploding. now granted, i'm being stubborn/picky about where i work (i'm SURE i could get a job a callison), but the fact is the market isn't where it was a year ago.
no city is recession proof. hopefully this is cyclical, not long-term.
architects should watch "mad money"... you can't afford to miss it.
more on point. diversification is key for both big and small firms. w/ lower tax revenue in illinois school firms are going to be hurting this time next year. but hey its an election year!
Smaller firms cut too lean can not ramp up fast enough for the odd opportunity that finally comes their way.
partnering w/ other firms in other geographic areas is ok. however it is a bit hard on the ego.
Living in LA & working for some of the kings in the Urban housing sector. Needless to say our firm just had "the talk" ...pay freezes, hiring freezes & round 1 of layoffs.
We have been stratigizing how to keep our jobs:
1.) Work VERY slow & surf the web often = if no work gets done then there is no chance of running out of work!
2.) Wear low cut shirts... when all else fails the guy wearing a plaid shirt will be cut before the chick in a low cut top :)
architects should watch "mad money"... you can't afford to miss it.
I couldn't agree more. Cramer has made me 10's of thousands of dollars. BOOYAH SKEE-DADDY!
The best hour of my day starts out with "Hey, I'm Cramer, welcome to Mad Money, welcome to Cramerica, other people want to make friends, I just want to make you money, because my job is not just to entertain you, but to educate you, so call me at 1-800-743-CNBC"
I just scanned the thread. Aqua, I'm hurt by your statement about TX. Living in Texas is not a problem. In fact, I freaking love it. So do Lance Armstrong, Sandra Bullock, Matthew McConaughey, Carol Burnette, Steve Martin, Walter Cronkite, Jamie Fox, George Foreman, Tommy Lee Jones, Dan Rather, and Renee Zellweger amongst many others.
This whole "Dixiephobia" thing that I keep seeing on Archinect is completely ignorant. It makes you look like a pompous, ignorant, arrogant ass. Its not clever or funny. And its not any different than cracking Polish or Mexican jokes because basically you're judging people (unfairly) based upon where they live/were born.
Shit like that is why I haven't been stopping by much lately.
As things are getting tighter I am finding contractors trying to get in the design business. I am also finding steel building and pannelized building mfg'rs getting into the act. With structural engineers on staff they are attempting to cut the middle man (us architects) from the development process. Why pay the architect 3 percent when you can bury it in your project price?
I've heard of that... Contractors going design build... How would architecture firms compete with that? Can this go the other way? Architects getting into the contractor business, or maybe entering some kind of partnership with contractors?
It seems like this kind of thing priveleges the contractor, saves the client money, but by taking out the design intermediary, the contractor has all the incentive to act in their own best interests, cutting cost, etc... I mean, the architect in some ways acts on behalf of the client while working with the contractor... Would this really benefit the client to eliminate the architect, or in other words, hand over the architect to the employ of the contractor?
Work has been getting dangerously slow lately. I hope that they will do a reduced hours scheme instead of laying off 1 or 2 people, seeing as I was the 2nd to last hired.
The last office I worked in laid me off in october. The amount of projects went to about a third of what they were the previous 3 years.
Is this what our career will be like every 5 years when there is an economic slow down? It will be hard to take getting laid off a second time as well as how other potential employers may view it.
I can't help but think of all the stuff my previous job failed to do during the slow down that could have helped the firm in the long run.
For one, instead of developing marketing materials and nice renderings they just seemed to go on a relaxed cycle and delay getting reds back and going over projects ect. Or have us archive old work.
i doubt many (prospective) new employers will look at getting laid off in a definite slowdown as a negative quality. we can empathize with the 'last in, first out' rationale.
making suggestions about what the firm can do, either in marketing, staffing, etc. seems like a positive thing. as long as you're not sounding like an arrogant ass on the delivery, i would hope it's fairly well received.
It can be very hard to deliver suggestions here. They take it as not knowing your place. So I definatley won't do it in an arrogant manner. At the same time suggestions often seem to go in one ear and out the other while we are supposed to read their minds and take initiative when there isn't really anything to do.
I've worked for offices that have both contractor and architect license to gain my experience along my education free route. it makes lots of sense, but it's hard work.
ya Friday... time to party, after i finish these renderings i got 1 done in 3 hours, i don't think i could preform with out hot female bosses and hard to meet deadlines ;)
I think that the architect turned contractor will need to get a contractor's liscense but a contractor wont need to be a liscensed architect depending on the scope of the project
Design Build contractors are just filling the market demand and actualy are the best way to go in order to get the best design for your money. But like everything else as it gets more popular it will eventually get misused and trashed and end up another buzz word.
let's talk about the economy...
Lets not talk about this and say we have.
The light rail struggle sounds alot like Seattle, but I don't think it's quite as bad as in LA... You can't live without a car in LA. In Seattle, downtown is small... I live in the South end of downtown and work at the north end and I walk home every day, and it only takes about 30 minutes... You can walk almost anywhere, or hop on a bus... Busses in downtown are free, and some people bike all over... And the latest light rail development which is already being used as an underground transit tunnel for buses is scheduled to open end of this year... Once construction is fully complete, the line is going to extend from the University of Washington, through downtown to SeaTac airport...
The major problem in Seattle is more from the "east-siders", who are more spread out, basically the people who live to the east of Lake Washington, in the expanding cities there, Bellevue, Redmond, and Kirkland... These are more car driven, less pedestrian, the microsoft type corporate campuses and shopping malls, etc... There were a number of proposals here to expand the light rail to extend from downtown to the east side, but they didn't get voted through... I think here it's less the car driven interest groups that shut it down, and more actually the environmentally conscious citizens, who are all in favor of the project, but simply cannot agree on a right solution... It's not a car problem on the scale of LA, which is basically automobile city... Alot of people bike... Seattle has its traffic and transportation issues, but I think it's a cakewalk compared to what you're probably used to in LA...
i was arrested in LA for walking once
i was almost arrested for J-biking, they held me in custody for a few hours trinna make stuff up, make threats and be intimidating. and in the end they wanted to race my e-bike and clock my speed (48). what a bunch of corrupt individuals, i sure don't want them to be in control if anything economically bad goes down. you can't trust authoritarians
they are now talking about SAG (studio actors guild) going on strike in LA...
if that is the case, LA is FUCKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have a friend who was booked for speeding on his bike in the Big Apple pre 9-11. He was fined $150.00
hello all this is my first post and a sorry one i might add,
Two months ago I received my B.S. in Arch.... I can't even get an interview let alone a job.
I had an internship for a year, taught a design course to high school kids the next summer. Architecture has been my life and I love it.
I am just so frustrated though with this economy situation where hundreds of businesses have told me that they aren't hiring because they are slow. I just don't know what to do.
Is there anything out there? I am beginning to think architecture doesn't exist outside of our schools.
sorry for the complainin
Doesn't help that more and more drafting is being shipped off shore.
Architecture as a business exists outside of school. Business is slow, so there will not be good jobs for a while.
Shipping off shore reduces risk, increases profits - win-win for business.
Bad-bad for the less talented cad monkey.
Recessions are a super time to go back to school
Eric - friends of mine graduated just before 911 when the economy was last tanking, couldnt get a job for a year - then the jobless recovery started and residential took off. 2 of them were working in a condo sweatshop turning out replica's of the same plan for a tract home developer and the other entered the wonderful world of hospital architecture. All three are were earning about 75% of what architects were earning 20 years ago adjusted for inflation and 2 have since been laid off. So dont fret about the current economic situation, its actualy perpetualy disappointing and fragile, even in "good times"
: the Career Center at AIA.org currently shows 494 job ads, of which 81 are for architectural interns. There are hundreds of additional job ads posted right here on Archinect.
If you want a job, you will need to be flexible about where you're willing to go ... but there's work out there for those who want it.
Back when I was an intern, one of my mentors always emphasized to me that an architect needs to work in a community where there's a vibrant construction economy. If you live in a place where that's not the case (maybe, say Detroit) you need to be flexible enough to relocate to where the jobs are located.
I am visiting Vancouver in June...thinking about moving there upon graduation.
not to mention the dock workers are closing all the west coast ports today to protest the illegal immoral wars of aggression started by bush on lies
Im surprised a certain someone hasnt "chimmed in" to offer their "2cents" on the economics in Texas.
Eric, come to New York.
We are hiring, rent's a bitch but at least its a job.
From what I've seen Texas is largely immune to the current recession. They didn't really partake in the real-estate run up, thus their crash won't be as extreme. It's home to more energy companies than any other state, all of which are doing quite well. Houston is more closely linked with oil exporting regions than any other city in the US, and needless to say those regions have $$$. And the cost of living is way cheaper there than most other places in the nation. Only drawback is you have to live in Texas.
and most people drive long distances to and from work...Gas is already causing a stir here and it is still under $4 a gallon.
"Only drawback is you have to live in Texas."
What an annoying statement.
Just move to Austin and things will be fine.
These days I like Houston just as much...that coming from someone who grew up in Austin...it is hard for me to enjoy it today, Austin that is, knowing what it was.
I hear word austin is the shit.
Austin is just like Portland. Yeah, its a nice place, but it's not the mecca everyone makes it out to be. Spent extended periods of time in both mentioned cities and have yet to figure out why they deserve the overabundance of pub they get on this site.
pdx over austin. shit.
Two new projects in our office this week! Ya Hoo! One is a total redo of a project we did three years ago...Restaraunt....new owners...new image.
Forbes just ranked Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston in the top 10 of cities that can withstand a recession.
http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/2008/04/29/cities-recession-places-forbeslife-cx_jz_0429realestate.html
Seattle is recession proof as well!!!!!!!!! I was talking to a friend up there yesterday who works for Microsoft and he said the same thing...the economy is strong
About those recession proof cities... It's kind of interesting to look at the factors that this article lists as reasons why those cities are more robust in a recession.
It seems like there are specific industries, or factors that contribute to being "recession proof"... Some, like the texas cities have historically lower home prices, and abundance of land, and little zoning... "Instead of competing for homes, Texans could move to a new subdivision a little farther out"... Is sprawl actually a buffer against recession?
For better or for worse, energy industry cities also seem to be benefitting from all people's energy issues... But also big internationally focused companies, or diversified industries that employ people seem to be another plus...
10. Dallas Fort Worth: "The region is home to a diverse set of companies, including Exxon Mobil, American Airlines parent company AMR, Southwest Airlines, home builder Centex, Dean Foods, Texas Instruments and Tenet Healthcare."
9. Charlotte, NC: "Home prices have shown healthy growth, and broad classes of industries like professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, transportation, education, and health are expected to float the local economy this year."
8. Seattle, WA: "The region around Puget Sound is home to Microsoft, Amazon.com, Starbucks, Costco, Nordstrom and Washington Mutual. What's more, home prices are only half that in the San Francisco Bay Area, and unemployment in the region is falling. Of the 50 largest metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S., Seattle had the strongest growth in manufacturing in the past year."
7. Houston, TX: "Call it Energy City, USA. Houston's economy has been so robust that it's one of the few cities in the country where manufacturing is growing. The city's future is heavily tied to energy, as the home to ConocoPhillips, Marathon Oil, Plains All American Pipeline, Halliburton and Reliant Energy."
6. Salt Lake City, Utah: "Though Salt Lake City's unemployment rate is rising, it's still among the lowest of the country's 50 largest cities (Washington, D.C., is second, but declining home prices kept it off our list). The state is still creating jobs, just not as quickly as its labor force is growing. A November 2007 report from the U.S. Conference of Mayors projected that Salt Lake City would be one of the few large cities in the country not to suffer a decline in gross metropolitan product from the mortgage crisis."
5. Raleigh, NC: "Stable home prices and growth across the different sectors of its economy have kept Raleigh strong. In the last 12 months, all industries measured by the U.S. Department of Labor have grown except for the city's small information sector."
4. San Jose, CA: "Unemployment in the Bay Area is on the rise, and home prices seem impossibly high, but unlike Southern California, things haven't come crashing down in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara region. Or at least not yet. Legions of high-salaried workers at Intel, Sun Microsystems, Google, Advanced Micro Devices and the rest of Silicon Valley are keeping the region afloat."
3. Austin, TX: "One of the hippest cities in the country has one of the lowest unemployment rates. The Austin region is home to Dell, and many tech companies from Apple to Sun Microsystems also maintain a significant presence. One difference between "Silicon Hills," as some call Austin's tech sector, and Silicon Valley? In Austin, the median home price is still under $200,000."
2. San Antonio, TX: "San Antonio boasts solid employment numbers as well as rising home prices. Its industries are growing, and it can't hurt that the new AT&T was formed when San Antonio-based SBC Communications swallowed the former AT&T Corp. and BellSouth. The home of the Alamo has leisure and hospitality growth in part from its appeal as a tourist destination."
1. Oklahoma City: "Did someone say something about a recession? With falling unemployment, one of the strongest housing markets in the country, and strong growth in agriculture, energy and manufacturing, Oklahoma City might not have received the recession memo, and it looks best positioned of the nation's metropolitan areas to ride out the current crisis. Booming valuations of Oklahoma City's largest companies, like Devon Energy and Chesapeake Energy, suggest the energy sector is the right place to be."
What can architects take from this info...? Aside from what markets we should get into...
For one, maybe if architects can read into why certain market sectors are safer than others... Why, in a recession, some sectors actually grow rather than decline?
Also, it seems like there's a lesson on "building a robust portfolio of employment"... In stocks or investment or mutual funds for example, diversifying means economic stability and long term success... Reducing your risk by not putting all your eggs in one basket... Is this also true for architecture firms? Is it better to spread out risk by taking on different kinds of work? Diversify your portfolio of work, like investors diversify their portfolio of investments? Larger firms that are involved in many different sectors of work seem to have an edge in that when one market is weak, they can shift employees to other markets that might be stronger... What about smaller firms that target very specific niche markets? Is there a way, for example maybe by partnering with other smaller firms in different sectors that they can trade off employees and gain security in numbers and in breadth?
I was just talking to a guy who lives in my building, talking about the stock market, and it's interesting but the value of rice and soybeans and corn have gone up quite a bit this year... In California, the price of a bag of rice has doubled...
He was talking about why, when the stock markets are so down, the price of rice has gone up so much... We were speculating that it seems like when things are bad, and alot of stocks are seen as risky, and falling, people tend to cling to those commodities that hold real tangible and essential value... People need to eat, but more significantly, when the market creates a demand for that thing, and the value is holding or going up, people who own it will cling to it, and hoard it, and the supply seems to limited... Everyone trying to buy that thing, and there is a perceived shortage, supply decreases, and price increases...
I'm not sure how this relates to what we are talking about here, architecture... But talking to this neighbor sort of made me realize how little I, and I think most architects think about the economy, or understand these forces, at play, demand and supply and the influences on them, etc... It seems like most of us are so busy working, and who really has time to think about the movements in the market? So many people in other professions spend a great deal of time analyzing the markets, is there any point, is it just a waste of time? Should we all be more aware of the prices of things like steel, or concrete, or lumber, or different kinds of labor, and what is happening in those markets for building materials that make or break our budgets? Or are changes in these markets too unpredictable, or not significant enough to factor into design? Quite often it seems like architects have alot of general ideas about costs, rules of thumb, ideas about square footage costs, but rarely do we follow closely the fluctuations in the markets or pay attention to the trends or happenings in the markets that are affecting these prices... It sometime seems like it's more of a rude awakening when we realize how costs have changed... Or is it just me?
mdler, seattle is NOT recession proof. shut the fuck up! (seriously, it's cool if you move here, but if all of archinect does i'll have to bail)
Look like there is some good coming from all of this:
http://iht.com/articles/2008/05/02/business/02auto.php
mdler,
i have been told by more than a dozen people (principles, architects, and interns alike), some that i have interviewed with and others acquaintances, --who ALL say the work is slowed down in seattle. the number of permits going through the city is down. obviously, the work isn't drying up but it's certainly not exploding. now granted, i'm being stubborn/picky about where i work (i'm SURE i could get a job a callison), but the fact is the market isn't where it was a year ago.
no city is recession proof. hopefully this is cyclical, not long-term.
architects should watch "mad money"... you can't afford to miss it.
more on point. diversification is key for both big and small firms. w/ lower tax revenue in illinois school firms are going to be hurting this time next year. but hey its an election year!
Smaller firms cut too lean can not ramp up fast enough for the odd opportunity that finally comes their way.
partnering w/ other firms in other geographic areas is ok. however it is a bit hard on the ego.
Living in LA & working for some of the kings in the Urban housing sector. Needless to say our firm just had "the talk" ...pay freezes, hiring freezes & round 1 of layoffs.
We have been stratigizing how to keep our jobs:
1.) Work VERY slow & surf the web often = if no work gets done then there is no chance of running out of work!
2.) Wear low cut shirts... when all else fails the guy wearing a plaid shirt will be cut before the chick in a low cut top :)
wb, you could definitely get a job @ callison.
it'd be painful, but you might have to eat at some point.
Don't have time to read the whole thread.
architects should watch "mad money"... you can't afford to miss it.
I couldn't agree more. Cramer has made me 10's of thousands of dollars. BOOYAH SKEE-DADDY!
The best hour of my day starts out with "Hey, I'm Cramer, welcome to Mad Money, welcome to Cramerica, other people want to make friends, I just want to make you money, because my job is not just to entertain you, but to educate you, so call me at 1-800-743-CNBC"
I just scanned the thread. Aqua, I'm hurt by your statement about TX. Living in Texas is not a problem. In fact, I freaking love it. So do Lance Armstrong, Sandra Bullock, Matthew McConaughey, Carol Burnette, Steve Martin, Walter Cronkite, Jamie Fox, George Foreman, Tommy Lee Jones, Dan Rather, and Renee Zellweger amongst many others.
This whole "Dixiephobia" thing that I keep seeing on Archinect is completely ignorant. It makes you look like a pompous, ignorant, arrogant ass. Its not clever or funny. And its not any different than cracking Polish or Mexican jokes because basically you're judging people (unfairly) based upon where they live/were born.
Shit like that is why I haven't been stopping by much lately.
AND we're basically recession proof.
LDS loves it too, well not so much any more ;)
Ugly Betty is moving out of LA...300+ jobs gone!!!!!!!!!
As things are getting tighter I am finding contractors trying to get in the design business. I am also finding steel building and pannelized building mfg'rs getting into the act. With structural engineers on staff they are attempting to cut the middle man (us architects) from the development process. Why pay the architect 3 percent when you can bury it in your project price?
Anyone else seeing this?
I've heard of that... Contractors going design build... How would architecture firms compete with that? Can this go the other way? Architects getting into the contractor business, or maybe entering some kind of partnership with contractors?
It seems like this kind of thing priveleges the contractor, saves the client money, but by taking out the design intermediary, the contractor has all the incentive to act in their own best interests, cutting cost, etc... I mean, the architect in some ways acts on behalf of the client while working with the contractor... Would this really benefit the client to eliminate the architect, or in other words, hand over the architect to the employ of the contractor?
Work has been getting dangerously slow lately. I hope that they will do a reduced hours scheme instead of laying off 1 or 2 people, seeing as I was the 2nd to last hired.
The last office I worked in laid me off in october. The amount of projects went to about a third of what they were the previous 3 years.
Is this what our career will be like every 5 years when there is an economic slow down? It will be hard to take getting laid off a second time as well as how other potential employers may view it.
I can't help but think of all the stuff my previous job failed to do during the slow down that could have helped the firm in the long run.
For one, instead of developing marketing materials and nice renderings they just seemed to go on a relaxed cycle and delay getting reds back and going over projects ect. Or have us archive old work.
pishta -
i doubt many (prospective) new employers will look at getting laid off in a definite slowdown as a negative quality. we can empathize with the 'last in, first out' rationale.
making suggestions about what the firm can do, either in marketing, staffing, etc. seems like a positive thing. as long as you're not sounding like an arrogant ass on the delivery, i would hope it's fairly well received.
good luck -
Thanks Laru,
It can be very hard to deliver suggestions here. They take it as not knowing your place. So I definatley won't do it in an arrogant manner. At the same time suggestions often seem to go in one ear and out the other while we are supposed to read their minds and take initiative when there isn't really anything to do.
Just happy it is friday.
I've worked for offices that have both contractor and architect license to gain my experience along my education free route. it makes lots of sense, but it's hard work.
ya Friday... time to party, after i finish these renderings i got 1 done in 3 hours, i don't think i could preform with out hot female bosses and hard to meet deadlines ;)
My division just laid off 10% of our workforce yesterday. Eek.
bRink
I think that the architect turned contractor will need to get a contractor's liscense but a contractor wont need to be a liscensed architect depending on the scope of the project
Design Build contractors are just filling the market demand and actualy are the best way to go in order to get the best design for your money. But like everything else as it gets more popular it will eventually get misused and trashed and end up another buzz word.
Want work? Get a license and Work Cheaper.
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