You could make a sweet wood box/locker out of plywood and buy a metal fastening that a padlock can fit in...if you make it yourself people prob. won't mess with it.

I had my super special coffee cup stolen from studio and put up posters in the room and made an announcement to my class about it. I guess it worked because my coffee cup appeared back on my desk a week later!

The under table filing cabinet is a definite win.

You should mark ALL of your things with some sort of permanent symbol (your name?). This will probably take a little while, but will ensure that you aren't getting your things stolen by the klepto. Well, they might still steal them but if you find them you can have them punished through appropriate channels, or, failing that, give them a thorough beat down.

Once we identified the klepto in our studio, everyone's things were safe (they were kicked out of the class, and eventually dropped out of the major). Make sure that the door to your studio gets locked when no one is around, otherwise everyone's things will continue to get stolen, art students especially are notorious for stealing.

Most ppl brought in filing cabs like your friend, or fashioned their own padlocked box of some sort, but remember that you ALSO need to buy a chain to connect the box itself to your desk somehow. Otherwise someone may just make off with the padlocked box.

This is HUGELY common, btw... at our uni the minority of thievery was from other architects (you could tell, because they were stealing model-making supplies, pens, rolls of trace etc - who else uses those?!) but the worst thieving was actually from outside the arch community - other students would find out about our studios, figure out that they were open 24hrs under zero supervision, and just go to town. The worst cases back in my day had to do with ppl stealing entire giant cases of CDs (guess that's probably not an issue now)... but imagine walking in to work one night and finding your entire music collection stolen. Bummer. I've heard more recent stories of stolen laptops from the uni here in town -- the student literally leaves to check a plot in the print room and comes back to a missing laptop, that kind of thing.

My structures book was stolen, which annoyed me when I went to take my AREs years later. It's really annoying when its one of your own studio mates (like that was - no one else takes structures!) because there's only 40 or so potential thief candidates and you know them all so intimately.

Thanks for the replies guys!

Ye well i definatley know it is other architects as our studios use a security card reader system for access.

At one point i actually looked into the Casing for the Military's Ammunition as its really cheap at like $16/£8 ish a box.

Although alas, I think i might actually buy a small filing cabinet for next year as that would be my last year of my BA (Hons) Architecture, and if anyone takes the mick well it would only be for one year.
Its so annoying as i always hear about the unwritten code of not stealing other architects stuff, clearly not in my studio!

I Study in the UK and our studio isnt 24 hours, as they say insurance would be tooo expensive.At the minute its open from 6am-8pm, im soooo jealous of you guys with 24 hour access!

SMS

Buy one of those heavy duty plastic trunk things (not the thin ones). Put a combo lock on it and a cable lock to the desk. That should keep everyone out.

ALWAYS put your initials or names on everything! I can't tell you how many exacto's I rediscovered on someone elses desk, even years later (and, I'll admit, ended up with others that I thought were mine, but eventually saw the initials).


Late night desperation results in some sloppy working. Do what you can, but accept that it is a studio. People will grab whatever late at night and forget where they got it (not all thievery is malicious)

a long, long time ago someone maliciously stole one of my rem koolhaas/oma books back in summer studio. i don't remember which one it was but it was some rare publication (not s,m,l,xl or let's get delirious, ny or anything like that) and while i'm sorta over it i still think seriously, wtf?

trust no one.

I made a box similar in appearance to a shipping crate, all screwed together from the inside faces. I think it only took a single piece of OSB, maybe two. A couple hinges and and hasp . . . whole thing cost maybe $25, and I was able to size it to fit under the desks we had. Put some stencils on it over the course of a few late nights and it looked like it came off a tour van. It held up for two years of school and several years in the shop after that, ultimately died during a move. It wasn't an impenetrable fortress, but it's main purpose was to keep things out of sight.

I had a box that was marketed for storing tools securely in the back of a pick-up bed that my dad bought me. My camera was stolen when I left it on my drafting table overnight though. Had to be one of my studio mates. I really miss that camera.

The thieves at my school only happen to be 1st and 2nd year students, now since we are in thesis we have our own private studio only accessible via card reader. The balls on some of these people... last year someone went into my professors jacket and stole her money.

You can get a big heavy duty bin at a home depot, lock it up and stick it under a desk.

Actually you're all reminding me, one of my favorite watches was stolen out of my bag while I sat on a jury at a university.

yeah i hadn't thought of my stolen book until i saw this thread title. of course it cost a lot less then Straw's camera and (probably) manta's watch but it was still a source of inspiration at the time.

it was probably a group of about 40 students (1 grad studio and 1 undergrad studio) and i had my books in a box under my desk. the spine was broken and pages were falling out and i just wonder, whose shelf that book is sitting on today?

who's taking pics with Strawbeary's camera and keeping time with mantaray's watch? do they feel any guilt when they use their stolen property?

bah :'(

Ha well sorry to bring all those mental scars back up!

At least I’ll have something meaningful to do in the summer, which will either turn out resembling an armoured tank or the more probable ashes after I’ve lost my temper.

I think once I’ve got this "box" setup I’ll have one of my old laptops running inside linked up to a webcam hiding amongst stuff recording my studio space , so I’ll know just who is snooping around my stuff.

Gosh I think I’m going a bit extreme now and venturing on Home Alone, intact f**k it boobie traps will be laid down! Lol

SMS

infact*
Cant stand reading my own spelling mistakes.

back in undergrad I had a pair of nasty old steel-toe boots and a hardhat stolen from my desk (which was locked up). someone had gone around during spring break and broke everyone's lock off their cubby... I think it was a naked bandit because they also stole a pair of sweatpants and jacket from someone else.

Just put an NRA sticker on you desk in plain sight, and talk alot about going to the shooting range.....brag up your score....just so they know you mean business if anyone if pissing with your things.
Nothing like the feel of a Colt 45....with all those beautiful curves,and the gun metal stock is something to behold. You might even want to leave a few empty casings around and well a photo of Charleton Heston, and a bumper stick which says we take no thiefs just kill them.

Snook Dude, haha! Think ive just found a life advisor...

In my first year, we had to buy a "tool kit" from the school which included everything from scale rulers to measuring tapes to drafting pencils. Needless to say, everything was taken.

I guess it's just the late nights where people are looking for tools like an exacto... and just happen to find one on your desk. Then it's a matter of forgetting to put it back.

I had someone steal a cheap shoulder bag that I got for free at some conference. The bag was full of books, drafting goodies, a TI-83 calc. But only the bag was stolen; the contents were in a pile on top of my desk.

My rule was to keep stuff I wanted to keep close to me or at home. If not, then lock it up and hide it. I never had anything major stole at school. At work however...

I remember after spring graduation going to the 5th year studio and scabbing the cabinets that were left behind. Most of the nice home made lockable cabinets were passed down year after year. Some people had the time and resources to make pretty elaborate cabinets of their own, but free worked for me.

I say get secured box, who cares what people say! They'll look like the fool when their stuff is taken, not yours.

Everyone in the studios I was in locked EVERYTHING up (we weren't very trusting people apparently). I agree with the cable locks for the computers, but even those aren't going to guarantee that it'll be safe. We had 3 laptops stolen from studio in our second year, and all of them were locked up. However, that was over Thanksgiving, so no one was around fo a long time.

There’s no avoiding this. Your stuff will get snatch! Accidently or purposely…especially during finals when people are using other people’s space areas and become lazy to go back to theirs, so they start collecting items. It’s part of the experience while at school. I look back and laugh at it now. I probably lost a few hundred dollars worth of equipment and gained at back (by accident) my final semester. Scrap pieces, museum boards, foam core, and other expensive items I knew people just grab at any given time, but I was smart enough to collect as many scraps after reviews were over and saved them for the next semester, only to taken by other peeps. It’s the circle of life!! Why fight it? We’re all kleptos!

SmSedge you could also go the Chuck Norris Way! No one messes with Chuckie!

I second the rolling metal toolboxes - just the right size, good organization, lockable and built to last. Plus they're cheap enough when weighed against the cost of lost s**t.

Best thing I ever bought for studio, its plastic rolls on wheels and can be locked or secured to your desk with a bike cable. Almost everyone in our studios has some version of this. I had an eighty dollar curtain wall Detail book stolen and finally bought this tool chest. Do it.

Stanley Tool Chest

its pretty easy to pick a lock now a days. i wouldn't take anything but i like picking locks for for the heck of it.

thank goodness your not in my studio!
Sure your going for the right career? ha

thank goodness 'your' not in my studio either.

don't need no people with bad grammerz dilutin' down the value of mah degree.

In my freshman studio, It was an under statement to say that everyone stole from each other. We were forced to buy a starting bag of goodies like some other programs. If anyone of us every lost a scale or a role of tape, we would simply walk around studio to find what foolish person left another of said item on their drafting table.

By senior year, it was a joke to refer to the freshman studio as the supply store because you could find whatever you needed just laying out. It was almost considered "fair game."

On a more serious note, we had several laptop stolen over the course of one semester. i think it totalled up to 10 computers. Needless to say, one student did in fact hide a video camera and recorded a janitor attempting to steal the laptop which was chained to the inside of this desk.

if you have a building workshop at your school go to town and make your own. In undergrad we commissioned a few and sold them back to the school/students at the end of the year.

To be honest I used to joke that the end of the school year was like a sale, the day after final crit the studio was filled with unclaimed tools. I have a collection of about a dozen scale rules but did loose a few markers/pencil crayons

During the first month of 1st year, our materials class was spent building personal lockers that would fit under the desk. They were CNC'd and everybody would build their own, mark it, and then put a unique lock into it. It worked great as a psychological deterrent, if nothing else.

hmm. so there's one person with a locked cabinet in your studio and you "scowled" (or scoured, perhaps) the studio after hours to no avail... sounds like you have your thief right there, who like all good pirates, keeps his treasure under lock.

I think FLM nailed it!

What about laptops, desktop workstations or harddrives? Were these ever stolen from studio desks? Don't tell me that architects steal from architects... both ideas and equipment?

^ ^ ^

Actually, that's an interesting point. I was told by a friend who just finished her first year of architecture undergrad (ironically at a school I was rejected from) that you absolutely cannot keep your project out & unattended for long periods of time, because people WILL steal your idea and sell it as their own. Whether this actually worked in their favor or not, I'm not sure, but I'd be interested to find out if other people on here have had similar problems?

At my school there was one person that seriously did steal everything for his project. He had no shame about it. One person used a real unique technique to finish some copper or aluminium. The person got called out during his final crit by basically the a quarter of thestudio (mabye 7-8 people). Needless to say the teachers caught on and he failed a studio or two after that... ouch.

I know of it happening and have had ideas, solutions to particular problems "borrowed" from me during undergrad. In my undergrad experience, the professors did not exactly acknowledge the originators, but instead often referred to it as us all learning from one another. Anyway that you choose to call it, "Steal," "Borrow," or "Learn," it is frustrating.

I'm wondering about physical items being stolen. The idea from "Graphite" (above) is great. But what about a pc workstation, laptop, external hardrives? Were those items ever stolen from arch studios?

not to say anything about the over-glorification of innovation at the expense of good design, but I'd hope that someone wouldn't be able to copy your ideas based on leaving a few sketches out while you run to the bathroom

In my school, there were cleaning crews every night, and some people believe they were stealing tools and supplies, but worse thing, just a day after the finals week, they were probably ordered to toss out all the junk (including wood models) into trash, thats how my final project and couple of others just vanished...