PROTO-ARCHITECTURE

This post is part of a coalition of architects posting on a single topic, each interpreting it in their own way, known as Architalks. This month the topic is “Homecoming”

I find the topic of a homecoming rather…disjointed…for an architect.  I can’t think of a literal analogy for it in my career, with then pushes me into thinking of it figuratively.  Home, being the safe, warm place one retreats to made me consider my intellectual refuge where I often find solace amidst the realities of this career.  When confronted with the banality of the profession, the overwhelmingly prosaic, the debilitatingly formulaic, I often revert to my first learned theories.

We work in a time where architectural theory is in decline.  We think in ‘systems’, not in processes.  There is an obsession with explicit solutions, technical achievements…green roofs and photo-voltaic curtain walls can be more important than human spaces and an appropriate sense of scale.

When I feel overwhelmed with this, I revert back to my educational years and remind myself again and again how to think about architecture.  How architecture isn’t just a derivative product of Archdaily images, nor is it assembly of Sweets catalogue pre-designed building components.  It is a process of innovation and discovery.

Read the rest of this entry →

This post is part of a coalition of architects posting on a single topic, each interpreting it in their own way, known as Architalks. This month the topic is your “Mentorship”

Mentorship.

Ugghh…

This is the kind of the topics I hate.  Architecture bloggers are going to write long posts about their favorite mentors, or plug a local professional organization’s mentorship program, or possibly elaborate on how wonderful their office structures their learning.

Blah, blah, blah…

You know who you greatest mentor is?

You.

Read the rest of this entry →

This post is part of a coalition of architects posting on a single topic, each interpreting it in their own way, known as Architalks. This month the topic is your “Advice to Clients”

There is a vast array of project types and the architects that design them, but in almost every instance, the role of the architect is much, much more than just another consultant.  We are their advocate, and it is our responsibility to protect their interests on the project. Read the rest of this entry →

Destroyed insurance company office on Hwy 66 in Rowlett

This post is part of a coalition of architects posting on a single topic, each interpreting it in their own way, known as Architalks. This month the topic is your “New Year, New _____”

On December 26th, around 7pm, my home town of Rowlett was hit by an EF4 tornado.  This is the sort of thing you hear about on the news, that you don’t see first hand.  I can’t recall that I’d ever seen a disaster of this scale in person, and certainly not in my community. It really makes you stop and think about your priorities.

Read the rest of this entry →

This post is part of a coalition of architects posting on a single topic, each interpreting it in their own way, known as Architalks. This month the topic is your “From an Architect’s Table”

Ok, never before seen, never before published, here is the official Brown Family Holiday Breakfast Quiche.  If you think you’re too manly for this meal, I dare you to get down two whole pieces and not unbutton your sleepy pants.  Read the rest of this entry →

Image via Forgemind ArchiMedia on Flickr

This post is part of a coalition of architects posting on a single topic, each interpreting it in their own way, known as Architalks. This month the topic is your “Citizen Architect”

The AIA has staunchly promoted the constructed notion of a Citizen Architect a sort of paragon within the profession who, by their definition, “…uses his/her insights, talents, training, and experience to contribute meaningfully, beyond self, to the improvement of the community and human condition.”   I’m generally not a fan of this distinction, as I feel every architect should conduct their practice in this way.  To elevate a certain constituency simply because they sit on local boards or get elected to office I think misses the point of the profession.  The value of the architect isn’t as a legislative tool or a cocktail party fundraiser, the value of the architect is in their power to see what the world can be, and help craft that world from  the trenches, not atop an ivory tower. Read the rest of this entry →

This post is part of a coalition of architects posting on a single topic, each interpreting it in their own way, known as Architalks. This month the topic is your “Work/Life”

How does work balance with life?  Architecture is the haven of horrific stories about all-nighters and coffee induced caffeine overloads.  It’s typically a tale rife with tragic figures suffering for their art and domineering villains cracking a whip to drive them on.

Well, let’s see:

Read the rest of this entry →

This post is part of a coalition of architects posting on a single topic, each interpreting it in their own way, known as Architalks. This month the topic is your “my three favorite words”

The Big Idea.

Three words I use, probably more than any other in my work.  Architecture is complicated.  It is so complicated that it can take many, many people to make it a reality, with a diverse web of scheduling, overlapping responsibilities, stacked phases, and hand offs from one team to another, and all the interdependent coordination that entails.  What is the one thing that keeps everything on track? Read the rest of this entry →

This post is part of a coalition of architects posting on a single topic, each interpreting it in their own way, known as Architalks. This month the topic is your “favorite place”

What is my favorite place?  Easy…my own mind.

Now, I know that sounds egotistical, indulgent, possibly narcissistic, and quite probably what you’d expect from a film noir archetypal mad scientist, but it’s true. Read the rest of this entry →

Liberal Arts colleges are struggling.   There are several articles that have been written on the demise of the liberal arts colleges and why students are chosing more targeted career driven curriculum.  It is a symptom of, what believe, to be a crisis in higher education in which college is being viewed less and less like “higher education” and rather more like a vocational training for higher paying jobs. Read the rest of this entry →