selophane.blog

One of the things that has been the most disturbing to me since I graduated and joined the world of working architects is how little our craft seems to be understood in the United States, not to mention how little demand there is for architects to work on projects. There is a discussion raging over on archinect about the public conception that architects are wealthy, well paid, and always in high demand; while in reality compared to most of the other white collar professions (doctors, lawyers, et al.) it is the opposite. I for the past three weeks I’ve been trying to figure out how to explain why I think this is the case without devolving this post into a history lecture, and I think I’ve finally figured out how to do that. The root behind all of this confusion is two fold.

First, while architects work in the twenty-first century world, we still base our business on a nineteenth century business model. Unlike other doctors and lawyers who offer a mix of relatively small fee quick services (like sick visits and legal consultation) and large fee longterm services (complex procedures and trial and business law) architects perform mostly large fee longterm services for our clients. Most of our billing is for long drawn out projects, and even when we are involved in smaller home renovation services these projects still take weeks. What we need to discover is a way to sell single visit architectural consultation services which would be attractive to the public. To do this we have to determine a way to quantify the value that our services would add and why business and home owners should hire us instead of a less expensive builder driven solution. This leads into the second issue that architects face.

Architecture is a classist profession, it is only seen as necessity for business and government and as a luxury for upper and upper-middle class people. This contrasts sharply with Doctors and Lawyers who are seen as vital components to the modern way of life. Even the person of the most modest means will most likely visit a doctor in their life, whether through a medical clinic, hospital, or health care plan of some sort. In addition, since 50% of marriages end in divorce, even the poorest person has a very good chance of needing legal counsel if not for divorce, for some other reason. Whereas, most people will never work with an architect directly, and if they live in rural or suburban America, they will probably never live in a home designed by an Architect; the closest they will come will be working in buildings which are required by law to be designed by an Architect. This detachment from our industry prevents people from realizing not only the value of our services, but why we charge what we do for them. This lack of knowledge and detachment makes architecture and design a mysterious luxury, one which is far outside the world of most Americans. This will only change when we as a field discovers a way to make quick small fee services which will make us more accessible and affordable and not such a luxury.

After 6 years of schooling, 4 years of internship, 7 exams, and 12 weeks of waiting since my last exam I finally found out unofficially last night and officially today that I am now a licensed Architect registered with the Commonwealth of Virginia. While this does not affect my unemployment, it opens worlds of possibility for me as far as freelancing and my own firm is concerned. Once I get my paperwork in the mail I will be qualified to stamp and sign drawings which makes me able to undertake a whole lot more work.

There is something to be said about the feeling you get when you achieve a long term goal. When I transferred into the architecture program at Tulane I not only promised myself that I would make it through and graduate within the standard time period, but I also made myself a promise, that I would be licensed at least before I was 30 and at best before my High School Reunion. I achieved both goals. I am currently 28 and my reunion (which I won’t be attending, another long story) is at the end of November. This accomplishment makes my unemployment seem like a blessing, because without it I would not have had the time to study and take my exams, nor would I have had the motivation to get my own firm started.

Now to start on my next professional goal. I have 7 years to accomplish it, so that should be doable. I want my work to be exhibited in a 35 under 35 magazine article or gallery show. All that I need is some clients looking to act less like their own designer and more like an art patron. Any takers?

I have now been waiting for my last Architecture Registration Exam result for 11 weeks (13 if you include the penultimate exam which I have also yet to receive scores for). This delay apparently has been caused by the private company that administers and grades the exam (Prometric Services); specifically they have not graded a 5 of the 7 exam sections since the start of July. I was only informed of this delay from my state board last week, at week 10(12), which was the first time they had heard of this as well. This delay, which is not the first time Prometric has failed to perform, has affected at a minimum 3,300 people in the state of Virginia alone. The thing that is the most infuriating about this whole exam process is the lack of both transparency and communication.

The exam, which is written by and property of the National Council of Architecture Registration Boards (a non-profit NGO in DC), is treated with the utmost level of secrecy and security. Not only are examinees not allowed to discuss the content of the exam, they are also not allowed to know the grading scheme that is used to determine passing and failing. There is neither communication about how this exam is graded – on a bell curve, if some questions are weighted more than others or if there is a strict pass/fail point ratio – nor is there any information about how the design components factor into your test results. To further compound the secrecy, passing results for the exam just say you passed, whereas failing results give a small analysis of what subject areas need further study. In addition, if NCARB suspects “Testing Irregularities,” their code for cheating, they can and will hold results form all affected sections until the matter is resolved, which can be as much as 6 months.

By itself this would all be frustrating but workable. The real annoyance comes from the lack of available channels for communication. Before an examinee can take an exam they make have their NCARB council record transferred to their state board. NCARB does not have a collective repository of state testing requirements, so an examinee must work through their state testing application on their own. Once the application is completed, examinees then register directly with Prometric for their exams, by providing a clearance code issued to them by their state. When the day of the exam occurs and an examinee leaves the testing center, that is the last moment they may have any contact with Prometric; from that moment on they can only contact their state to determine why they have not received their results. Grading is supposed to take anywhere form 4 to 6 weeks, but usually takes more like 6 to 8. Prometric has a habit of bunching exams and sending scores to the states all at once. This has lead people to speculate that Prometric only grades at certain intervals or holds all grades form a specific time period to establish a bell curve, but because there is no discussion of grading policy this is all speculation. The thing that convolutes all of this even more is that the state boards do not contact Prometric directly. Instead they eagerly await results but must phrase all of their inquires through NCARB. So to summarize as an individual, if you are fearful that your test has been lost or delayed, you must contact your state, your state contacts NCARB, who contacts Prometric. In this game of bureaucratic telephone it is easy to understand why results can be delayed by 10 weeks or more. 10 weeks, which result in lost wages associated with passing results and being declared a licensed architect, nto to mention anxiety and nervousness.

So this posting by noon thing is getting harder, especially when I have morning meetings. But, work takes priority over this blog.

This morning I had a meeting in Bethesda to interview an accountant for my design firm. This was a really interesting experience for me, because for the first time in my professional career I was not the one trying to sell their services, but instead the prospective client. It has made me understand something that has been a subconscious motivator for many of my previous life decisions; I want to feel that I am being treated as a potential investment not just a future client.

Interviewing an accountant is very similar to choosing a university, it is a decision that will affect your professional life for years to come. When I chose my university one of the major motivating factors was not a rational factor like class size or endowment or even the location of the school, instead I felt the need to go someplace where I felt welcomed and wanted. Now, I was in a unique situation, I could not afford to choose any school, I could only afford a school If i was getting a significant merit based financial aid package. In the end my decision came down to Tulane and Brandeis, both had offered me comparable scholarship and both were comparable programs, but they differed greatly in my personal interaction with the admissions staff and the department faculty. At Brandeis I had a hard time making an appointment to see anyone in the admissions office for what would have been at most a 15 minute chat even though I had already been awarded one of their top scholarships. It made me feel like my presence was putting them out and that I should be grateful for the opportunity and prestige that they would be offering me. My interaction with Tulane was completely different. I had received a number of letters from their admissions office and phone calls from an admissions counselor, one of the Tulane College academic advisors and the chair of their classics department. This personal attention not only made me feel important, but it made me believe that the scholarship they were offering me was an investment. They wanted me to come to their university so that someday my name would bring them prestige and opportunity. This simple reversal was all that was needed to make my decision.

This anecdote is not intended to brag about my education, instead it is intended to highlight the fact that when choosing an accountant I need to find someone who will look at my business as an investment and not just as a source of present revenue. Sure we may be small and just starting out now, and as such we will have to use their budget services or whatever “Starter business” package they have. But, one day we will have a much larger client base and bring their firm not only a good revenue stream but some prestige.

[Image via The Washington Post.]

The Washington Post ran an article recently highlighting the human side of how this recession (depression?) is affecting architects in the DC area.

One of the people they interviewed is a former co-worker of mine from a few years back. I’m saddened to hear that she is also going through what I am dealing with. Like most of us unemployed architectural professionals, she is a hard worker and team player and does not deserve to be jobless. Unfortunately she is in a worse situation than I. She’s a foreign national and when she lost her job she lost her work visa. I can’t imagine having to deal with the pressure of knowing that not only do you need a job to pay the bills, but also to keep living here.

In a time such as this, when illegal immigration has become such a hot button issue, you would think there would be some outcry for the legal immigrants who came through all of the right channels. Now face a horrible decision; give up all that they have accomplished and move back because someone let them go, or overstay their visa and risk deportation. I think there should be some sort of federal stimulus based amnesty/leniency for work visa holders who have been laid off through no fault of their own. The immigrants rights groups need to address this before we start to lose all the foreign talent we have attracted.

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:

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 …

I may be able to do some freelance presentation work. I’ve never done that before, does anyone have some suggestions as to appropriate freelance architectural presentation rates?