IT'S THE ECONOMY, STUPID:

... Remember the Clinton Administration's rallying cry during the 1992 Election win over Bush Senior? - Well that was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Now we are faced with an overwhelming deficit, a staggering recession and a major surplus of empty commercial real estate...Did I mention I am an Architect? - Do you know anyone hiring?!?!? - But I digress. Vacant properties, empty green fields and a surplus of stock-piled and abandoned construction material - We see these things everyday; take this gem for instance.

What was once dicey hotels and tourist-trap type shops (...Alpaca hand bags anyone?) - Was snapped up at State Line and demolished in the hopes of building high-end condos. Yeah, well now what? - This property sits vacant with its foundation snow tipped; its only impact on South Lake Tahoe is being a place for taggers to congregate...Oh, and by the way, it has been like this for nearly a decade - Sorry, did I bum you out?

My Bad.

SHHHHHHH! - JUST LISTEN FOR ONCE:

... NEWSFLASH: Do you want to know what makes you a good Architect? - Drawing ability? Keen sense of style? An all black wardrobe? - Oh wait, I know - Carrying a sketchbook everywhere you go, right? Well, certainly these attributes can not hurt. But, I tell you what - Next time you you really, really want to get your point across about that really, really hip stairwell you have designed or how the compression and release of the foyer has to be just right to evoke the proper feeling upon entry to that steakhouse in New York - Try listening first. Seriously. Listen to your clients, listen to your boss, your peers, your interns, yourself...Listen to what the design is telling you - Just, listen. I think you will find that even though you may not agree with them all the time they actually have something valid to say; especially when you are NOT talking over them...I am reminded of a quote from the 2007 Film, 'American Gangster' - "The loudest one in the room is also the weakest one in the room."

Shhhhhhh...Can you hear it? - You just might make it in this industry; you just might make it as an Architect...Hell, you just might make it in life.

NICHE CONSULTANTS - SPECIALIZE MUCH?

... Okay, so off and on for the last two days at work - When not responding to gobs and gobs of e-mails about Potential Change Orders and selecting light fixtures that are cool but just not "that" cool - I have been distilling acoustic recommendations down into palatable client-sized bites. Do not get me wrong, I am not saying that clients are incapable of understanding this stuff; far from it - But I realized yesterday that I have been working on this particular building for over eighteen months - Managing user-group meetings, considering site configurations, discussing the project with state and local agencies, working with the interns - AND - Dealing with the consultants. Essentially being a middle man between the clients and the consultants. It is not that this has never hit me before but yesterday, as I poured over eighteen pages of STC/NIC ratings, wall and ceiling assembly revisions - And, dare I say, reverberation times - I realized that my Acoustician (...who interestingly enough has a very French sounding name, a PhD, a full head of hair, drives an Audi, wears black rim eye glasses and tight black jeans; oh yeah, and lives in Marin) - Sits in his office every day and deals with not only such a niche portion of the process but also the industry; totally important and valid, but still niche none the less.

It reminds me of a quote from a great little nightstand book by Matthew Frederick called '101 Things I Learned in Architecture School' - Snap it here at Amazon: ( http://www.amazon.com/101-Things-Learned-Architecture-School/dp/0262062666/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328749710&sr=8-1 ) - Anyway, the quote is, "An Architect knows something about everything. An Engineer knows everything about one thing."

Oh yeah; and yes, it was not lost on me that my Acoustician happens to very closely resemble what I thought I would look like as Architect - Happy Wednesday.

SAN FRANCISCO CA, 2005:

... Snaps from a family vacation to San Francisco for New Year's Eve in 2005 - Specifically, our day trip to Alcatraz which probably ranks up there with one of the coolest things I have done and THAT is saying something - (Left to right, top to bottom) - 1.) Our navigator during the boat ride over...Note the city in background 2.) The fireplace and building shell of the old Warden's Mansion that was burned during the Native American Occupation of the island during the early 1970's. 3.) Seagull at the pier 4.) View back towards the Bay Bridge from The Rock 5.) The Rock 6.) San Francisco as viewed from Alcatraz; imagine having that view everyday while being locked-up...Crazy 7.) Structural beams and columns in the downstairs bathing facility 8.) More Seagull love.

Cheers...B.

HAPPY FRIDAY:

... I am not typically into these types of things but this is just cool - Check out this sweet old school GMC Travel Bus parked in downtown Chico this morning; complete with  two-top stove, bed and all wood interior paneling:

MY 5X5 "LEAVE BEHIND" PORTFOLIO TEASER:

... A little out of date now but it was effective at one point; enjoy:

WHY BUILDINGS STAND UP:

... And no, I am not talking about Salvadori's book - I am talking about steel and concrete. Miles of rebar, thousands of ties and concrete dobies, hard work and cleanly mucked footings after the rain - Minimum steel embedment, 3" minimum concrete coverage; that delicate balance of cement, aggregate and water - Add a little fly ash - Grey murky semi-liquid being pumped or fallen from the back of a truck while workers walk behind diligently shoving their stingers into the freshly settled muck - And finish it all off with a medium broom finish.

Don't you just love it when I use my Archi-speak? - Oh yeah baby, oh yeah.