selophane.blog

So I’ve been sworn to secrecy that I cannot divulge any information about the licensing exam section I took yesterday. But I can discuss my preparation, my opinions and the testing center.

I’ve spent the last few weeks splitting my time between looking for work and studying for the Construction Documents and Services ARE section. My studying consisted of the NOVA AIA study sessions, Kaplan prep books, and the NCARB study materials available on their website. As I was told at the AIA NOVA roundtable, the NCARB study questions were the most helpful, they focused more on content and less on tricky grammar hang-ups which seemed to be similar to what I experienced. The Kaplan book was really helpful as a kind of general overview and primer for the exam, but its questions were very much the opposite of the NCARB questions and were more helpful as a general kind of review of each chapter. The study session I attended focused on the AIA documents and while duplicated a lot of the information I read in the book, was very helpful because it was organized in a much easier to understand way. As far as the vignette was concerned I have to say that the Kaplan sample problems just don’t stack up to the NCARB software. Drawing by hand is very different from the drawing program and the Kaplan problems included things like doors, windows, and clerestories which were not a part of the NCARB software.

The testing center itself was an interesting experience. I had no problem finding the place and it wasn’t very busy. I was able to start my exam almost an hour earlier than scheduled. The weird thing is the whole sign-in and sign-out during breaks and the fact that each time you have to show your ID, also the absolute silence of the testing room save for the clicking of mice and keyboards can be quite disconcerting. I did have the testing program crash on me, but the proctor was able to restart the program without a problem and I didn’t loose any time. Luckily I was just checking my answers when it happened, if it had happened mid-vignette I think it could have really affected my performance.

All told, the experience was a lot less stressful than I imagined that it would be. I was worried that it would be as nerve wracking as the AP and SAT exams I took in High School, but instead it was almost relaxing. I’ve scheduled for my next exam – Building Design and Construction Systems – in three weeks.

I just read a great article on the New York Times about a new product from Autodesk (Design Your Dream House, Lamps and All – Bits Blog – NYTimes.com).

It looks like Autodesk is getting into the 3-D home architect/interior design business with their new product “Project Dragonfly”. But instead of charging an arm, a leg, and the blood of your first grandchild like they usually do, Autodesk is giving it away to the public and charging the product manufacturers to list their products. I don’t know what to think about this. On one hand its great that there is a free way for people to redesign their interior spaces without having to use the IKEA planner or The Sims. But on the other, the product placement aspect and limitations to using Autodesk’s approved library of products rubs me the wrong way. In addition, I can just see the army of housewives and weekend warriors storming their local home depot with print outs from this website in hand believing that they should get a “trade” discount because now, they too are designers.

Here are some of the links I’ve been looking at today:

• The washington post has a column discussing the trials and tribulations of the new apple store in Georgetown and what this protracted historic design board rejection/approval process means for future developments here and elsewhere.
• Icon Magazine has an interesting article about an exhibition at the Tate Modern of two of my favorite Modern Russian Artists: Rodchenko and Popova. I love their creation of three dimensional space within an abstract medium.
• The Washington Post has an article naming four architecture firms (Morphosis Architects, Richard Meier and Partners, Kieran Timberlake and PEI Cobb Freed and Partners) as having been awarded new embassy building contracts by the State Department. Anyone looking for work near one of these firms office mght stand a good chance of getting employed, especially if you have past government experience.
• Washington Spaces has a post about McInturff Architects wining an award from Spark Modern Fires for a fireplace design using one of their products. Their design has the fireplace surrounded by glass shelves filled with books. The other entries are presented on the site as well. I particularly like the fireplace in the tiled bathroom.

I am now scheduled to take the Construction Documents and Services exam on Thursday March 26, 2009 at 5pm.

Now that I have a firm calendar date, this should put the heat on my studying.

This week the New Orleans Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) announced the recipients of the 2009 Design Awards. Out of 70 entries, 12 were chosen for awards, 3 of which were awards of Honor and the other 9 were awards of Merit.

The theme for this year’s awards was “Responsive, Responsible, Timeless,” which was chosen to emphasis the importance of classical architecture and design. The awards were chosen by a Jury featuring Jim Evans, AIA; Andrew Vrana, AIA; and Kimberly Hickson, AIA and were presented in a ceremony presided over by Jeffrey Smith, AIA 2009 President of the AIA New Orleans Chapter and Design Awards Chair Michael Piazza, AIA.

Of the 12 winners there are only 6 firms represented; I have to wonder why this is. Is there a lack of architects doing good work in New Orleans, or is this phenomenon the result of the 70 project pool that was judged? If the former, then there seems to be an opportunity waiting for a young rising star to make their name, if its the latter I wonder why so few offices are entering work to be judged. I would hate to think that the results of the awards show a bias on the part of the judges towards these 6 firms, considering that 3 of which – Wayne Troyer Architects, Eskew+Dumez+Ripple, and Bild Design – happen to be the top four winners from last year (see this article I posted last April). Of course, not knowing the rest of the applicant pool these could simply be the best entries who fit with the theme, and no one wants a jury choosing projects to give awards to based on a desire to show variety. In addition, I have to wonder how fast and loose the jury played with the stated theme. Many of these projects, with the exception of the historic preservation awards, do not seem to emphasis classical architecture or classical design proportions. While I would not disagree that they are good examples of contemporary or modern design, I have to wonder how the jury would defend the classification of them as “timeless.”

Listed below are the winners and their respective categories:

I have been twittering about my lay off experience and one of the people I’ve been talking to is Laura Conaway from the Planet Money Podcast by NPR. Today I had a phone interview with her and we discussed my situation. You can hear me at the end of today’s podcast (here is a link to their post about today’s show).

I have a great deal of respect for this podcast. They are one of the few media outlets that is really helping to explain what is going on and make it a whole lot less frightening. Yes, it still sucks, but at least it doesn’t feel like a giant economic cataclysm without any meaning.

Archipreneur has a great post (Archipreneur: Archipreneur’s Guide to Surviving Layoffs & the Recession) on things to do in today’s market if you are unemployed like me. I think it’s a great read, though I have to add an additional item to it.

Get licensed, make your full time job studying for and taking your exams. Take any prep classes out there, the other students will be intern-architects as well and it’s a great way to meet people and network. You never know, you may get some job leads — like I did today. If you can get through all of your exams in one big burst, statistically you should have passed a bunch of them and you’ll only have a few to retake in 6 months.

In light of my current situation, I was happy to find that Architecture Record is finally good for something other than product mailings and precedent studies for architecture students. The most recent issue is dedicated to surviving the current recession, including articles for the unemployed and the firms that are still operating. The advice they have to offer for the unemployed is mostly common sense, but the article on starting your own firm peaked my interest. Now if I was only licensed …

So my new plan is to cash out my safety net and spend the next few months studying for my ARE’s as a full time job and spend 1-2 hours a day doing job hunting. If I get any freelance work it can be like a part time job. But my real job is getting licensed. Once I am there seem to be more opportunities for licensed architects than interns right now. Plus i can always strike out on my own and hang my own shingle so to speak.

The only real hitch is I cannot fail any exams. If i do i will need to wait 6 months to re-test.

So, look forward to a lot more ARE based posts.

After 5 days of effort and months of procrastination, I have finally gotten a full digital portfolio up and running on this site. Click here or on the link in the page header to check it out. Just make sure you wait to start clicking links until the page is fully loaded, otherwise you may find yourself on a page that doesn’t exist.