selophane.blog » economic issues

The Problem with Architects

spencer — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:34:44 +0000

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 [...]

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The Problem with Architects

A catch 22

spencer — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 02:37:01 +0000

So I’ve been on the job market since February; in that time, I’ve applied for over 175 different positions. Some of these have been outside of the world of architecture, while most have been with architecture practices. I can see the writing on the wall, the architecture industry is changing and until it finds its new face there are not going to be many new positions out there working for other people. This is one of the reasons I’ve started my own residential design firm, studioSML, with a good friend of mine. On one hand we have the dream of working for ourselves, but on the other we are trying to be realists and understand that it is very likely that we will not bring in enough money to be self sufficient for years. This means that we both need full time positions elsewhere, and not just temporary ones. We are looking for long term (a number of years) positions that will allow us the ability to work on our own projects while still paying the rent/mortgage. In my mind, the best way to accomplish this is to find jobs outside of architecture, and for me that means looking to [...]

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A catch 22

Unemployed and legally in the Nation’s Capital

spencer — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 22:56:37 +0000

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.

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Unemployed and legally in the Nation’s Capital

Economic Crisis – 5 months In

spencer — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 04:20:16 +0000

We've been in this crisis since September and I've been wondering how this has affected other people.

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Economic Crisis – 5 months In