This show is a roller coaster and a good one.  We go from rubber sidewalks, high school projects to World Architecture Festival in Barcelona.  Plus Tim goes off on a rant about the design profession again.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about us, join our Facebook Group, leave reviews on iTunes, vote for us on Podcast Alley, and follow us on Twitter!

Check out the show notes for links and more!

We talk about the 10 year anniversary of 9/11, an innovative project to make “light bulbs” at home out of 100% post consumer plastic and a cool German product that is a plastic substitute.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about us, join our Facebook Group, leave reviews on iTunes, vote for us on Podcast Alley, and follow us on Twitter!

Check out the show notes for links and more!

Justin Ribble, LEED AP, Associate AIA, B’Arch ’03 joins us for a conversation about a number of great three letter acronyms:  CAB, CSE, IDP, AIA, ARE, ACE, and BIM.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about us, join our Facebook Group, leave reviews on iTunes, vote for us on Podcast Alley, and follow us on Twitter!

Show Notes

Site News

• New Facebook Fans
  • Monica Shahrokhfar
  • Greg Wynn

• Tim’s big adventure with the CAB
  • A Big thank you to Elise Drakes and Mark Drwyer
  • What are the CAB offices like?
    • Shout out to Erin, receptionist at the CAB
    • Number of employees in the CAB office
  • Why do commissioners volunteer to give the oral exam?
    • They care about the profession
    • Free Food!
  • Shout out to Lily Dong!
  • What about loosing the oral component of the test?
    • Can IDP add it?
  • Pass rate of the California Supplemental Exam (CSE)
    • Haley has some numbers!
      • 2006-2007 –  1,082 candidates – pass rate = 47%
      • 2007-2008 – 901 candidates – pass rate = 50%
      • 2008-2009 – 1,043 candidates – pass rate = 48%
      • 2009-2010 – 838 candidates – pass rate = 51%
    • Tim thinks the pass rate is fair given his understanding of the process
  • Are Californian architects better than other architects from other states?

General News

• THE SIX-MONTH RULE
  • By the time you’re probably listening to this, it’s probably in effect, so get informed and get to logging those IDP hours!!
  • Due to system performance under severe volume pressure the reporting deadline for the Six-Month Rule has been extended to Friday, July 2, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The e-EVR is operating at full capacity. Please be patient as you may encounter lengthy response times. It is strongly recommended that you continue to be diligent in your efforts to access the e-EVR during off-business hours.
  • http://ncarb.org/

Rapid Fire Questions:

• Cal Poly or Berkeley? Cal Poly
• Autocad or Revit? urgh… Revit
• Parallel bar or T-Square? T-square
• Facebook or LinkedIn? Facebook
• Arch Record, Arch Digest, or Architect? Record
• Drafting dots or tape? tape
• Yellow trace or white? yellow… only communists use white
• Ad Markers or Prisma? Ad
• Pen or Pencil? pen, all the way
• Mac or PC? both… Mac for home, PC for work
• What’s the Meaning of Life? FUN (to enjoy the time that you have while you’re still here)

SCORE: 746

Interview

• Who are you?
  • From Oregon, decided to see the world and rather than go to Univeristy of Oregon he decided to go to Cal Poly.
  • San Luis Obispo was actually like his hometown, so the adjustment was good.
  • He finished in 6 years, and is glad that he took the time to enjoy his senior year rather than hurrying up to finish and get out.
  • He was able to work in a few offices before he , so when he needed to find a “real job in the real world” he was able to apply those past experiences.
• He has felt disconnected in the years since graduation?
  • When he found sloarch.com, after searching for a Revit question, he was happy to have a place to feel more connected.
  • He’s only a few hours away from SLO and feels that he should get back and get involved.
  • It’s interesting since it is a larger program and students move all over the place after graduation, so having a chance to reconnect and get back into the network being created is a really good thing.
• He’s worked with a lot of Cal Poly grads.
• He spent his 4th year in the east coast program:
  • While here in CA, you can almost always find a Cal Poly grad in a firm, on the east coast it was “Cal Poly what?”
  • Living outside of D.C. and Alexandria makes you feel the political pressure in the area, so there is more competition and rivalry in all aspects of life let alone the program you come from.
  • It was a great experience, he was able to step outside and feel a part of programs outside Cal Poly, which was a great experience since it gave him persepctive.
  • The diversity of professors at the program, where they came from and their specialties was great.
  • It was nice to see how other schools teach design.
• Why stay in CA after graduation?
  • Looking back he wanted to get back east, it’s a great place to live but it’s hard to afford it.
  • Sacramento was a good market and affordable.
  • While there are parts of Oregon that he misses he feels that he has experienced all he could for the time being there, so he’s happy in Sacramento for the time being.
  • Oregon is to California as Sacramento is to San Francisco, to put it in perspective.
• Working towards licensure?
  • Doesn’t have to complete IDP, so he’s happy about that.
  • Took his first exam about a year or so ago, then work got really busy and it was hard to come home after a long day and study, so recently he’s getting back into studying, taking ARE study classes at the local AIA Chapter.
  • The goal is to take 4 exams between now and September.
  • The firm he works at currently is really supportive about professional development. Use this time to do what you’ve always wanted to do but didn’t have time, to become better.
• ACE Mentoring, how is he involved?
  • It’s one of those things that he always wanted to do, mentoring high school students about what the profession is and what a career in the building industry is really like.
  • Pay it forward a bit.
  • He’s learned a lot about how others view our field, their perception of “architects” and what they do.
  • Exposing students to the multidisciplinary aspect of our profession as well as the professional and office conduct that you need to know to be a professional.
• Strong feelings about Autodesk??
  • His office recognizes that Revit is the direction to go, so they’re in the process of transitioning everyone to Revit one by one and they’re currently working on their first Revit project.
  • After going to an outside training session there was a need to develop their own way to use Revit based on the type of high end design and modern work his firm does.
  • His biggest gripe is the license process and releases, having to re-up every year isn’t sustainable or do-able, especially right now with the economy.
  • He’s slowly prying himself away from Sketchup and CAD.
  • He recognizes how powerful Revit is and how you can make it do what you want it to do… as long as you keep up your subscription.
  • Transistion is always slow and has it’s hang ups and resistance.
  • Revit is changing the role of the “CAD drafter”.
  • On the flip side, students now are learning Revit, and by the time they become employees think of the change the profession will have seen.

Long time Poly Canyon resident Ben Ross talks about his experiences living in two of the residences in the canyon and why he got a Bachelor of Architecture, two minors and is now working for a general contractor!   Tim also reveals some exciting information about the new California Supplemental Exam.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about us, join our Facebook Group, leave reviews on iTunes, vote for us on Podcast Alley, and follow us on Twitter!

Show Notes

Site News

• Facebook Update:
  • Hao Phung
  • Angelica Ting Steinmeier
  • Ben Ross
• Haley talks about NCARB live
• Tim is going help write the CSE!

Cal Poly News

• New interim President
  • Robert Glidden, president emeritus of Ohio University, was named today as interim president of Cal Poly, effective August 1. (The CSU press release can be viewed at www.calpoly.edu.)
• CAED & AIA CCC Design Awards Gala
  • http://www.caed.calpoly.edu/
  • CAED: The college and the local American Institute of Architects Central Coast Chapter invite you to the 2010 Design Awards Gala Reception on Saturday June 26 at the PAC. It will feature professional work and highlight projects by five CAED architecture students who recently displayed at the Cal Poly 5th Year Architecture Show. RSVPs are appreciated by June 10.
  • Download the Gala Reception Invitation (pdf)
  • Email Laura Gough at laura@studio-2g.com

General News

• Razing the City to Save the City
  • http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/21/us/21detroit.html
  • The residential vacancy rate in Detroit is 27.8 percent. This is up from the 10.3 percent rate found in 2000 by the US census.
• Inflatable Buildings That Could Earn $10 Million a Year
  • http://www.fastcompany.com/1662273/stalled-sites
  • “The biggest challenge is creating a quality scheme that can go in quickly, and be taken away even quicker,” says Holmes.
  • It’s hard for a temporary building to have a big, good-looking presence on the street–rather than being just a glorified drywall tent.
• Hold This Site
  • http://www.architectmagazine.com/articles/development/hold-this-site.aspx?playlist=playlist____20_396841&plitem=1
  • One of the most glaring symbols of the recession is the frozen construction site. Now, some cities and private developers are trying to create beautiful, publicly beneficial interim uses for lots that would otherwise sit in limbo.
• June 2010 Digital issue of ARCHITECT:
  • http://mydigimag.rrd.com/publication/frame.php?i=39037&p=&pn=&ver=swf
  • Forgot to post it at the beginning of the month, so enjoy!
• The Karma Cup
  • Brilliant Karma Cup System Greens Your Coffee Routine (this isn’t really architecture but it’s a really interesting design problem and solution);
  • http://www.inhabitat.com/2010/06/21/brilliant-karma-cup-system-greens-your-coffee-routine/

Rapid Fire Questions:

• Cal Poly or Berkeley? Cal Poly
• Autocad or Revit? Autocad
• Parallel bar or T-Square? Parallel bar
• Facebook or MySpace? Facebook
• Arch Record, Arch Digest, or Architect? no comment… Dwell
• Drafting dots or tape? tape
• Yellow trace or white? yellow
• Ad Markers or Prisma? Ad markers
• Pen or Pencil? Pen
• Mac or PC? MAC
• What’s the Meaning of Life? Living

SCORE: 252FW%

Interview

• What has he been up to?
  • Working for a General Contractor (Hensel Phelps) since graduating from Cal Poly
• Why did he take this route?
  • took his time through Cal Poly, while working on his general ed he started working on his construction managment minor
• What’s it like working on both sides, the architecture side and the construction side?
  • he’s able to bring equal parts to each side but feels that each needs the other, he loves design
• What’s he been working on?
  • recently, hospitals, when he interviewed he asked to be put on the most difficult projects and that was hospital design build
  • prior to his current job he did custom residential, so now it’s really about team work since it takes a team to get the project through construction
  • there are many consultants and owners involved with healthcare work
• How has the economy hit him and his work?
  • his company is pretty open about work flow and backlogs, it’s about how much work you have and if you don’t have enough backlog you have to move to where it is or find another job
• Working in 3D?
  • the subs are usually the ones having to put the design into 3D, they’re the ones that know the ins and outs of their materials so in some ways they’re the best ones to be modeling their scope
• Has he been able to use his minor in sustainable environments?
  • not directly, but he has helped a bit with another LEED project achieving gold certification
  • there are other little things involved with his projects that are sustainable such as reusing forms and recycling programs
• Ben lived in Poly Canyon for three years while he was at Cal Poly!
  • he had interviewed to become a caretaker out in Poly Canyon and was selected
  • Poly Canyon and Design Village were why he came to Cal Poly and study architecture
  • he hasn’t missed a Design Village since he first competed in 1998
  • he grew up in south Georgia, so he liked the open land and the rolling hills up there in Poly Canyon
  • plus living there, surrounded by the student architecture projects, was really living the “learn by doing” mantra, which Design Village just further supports
  • Check out the photos from Design Village 2010
• Currently working towards licensure? progress?
  • he was before the IDP cut off, so he doesn’t have to complete that, but he does need to start his ARE
• Is there something you wish you had done or known when you were still at Cal Poly?
  • would have loved to have gone abroad, but living out in Poly Canyon was more important
• What kind of advice can you give to current Cal Poly students?
  • don’t give up!! take any of your failures and make them into positives, learn from your failures and don’t make the same failure twice

David Lee ’11 and Anthony Stahl ’11, winners of the 2010 Mock Firms International Skyscraper Challenge talk about their award winning project, their team, and make us all feel like underachievers.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about us, join our Facebook Group, leave reviews on iTunes, vote for us on Podcast Alley, and follow us on Twitter!

Show Notes

Site News

• We are looking for volunteers and contributors!  If you think there is something you can help out with let us know.  We need columnists, editors, reporters, graphic artists, designers, you name it!

Cal Poly News

• 3 new Facebook Pages (http://arch.calpoly.edu/alumni/documents/facebook-information.html)
  • Architecture At Cal Poly
    • http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000441798024
  • Architecturealumni At Cal Poly
    • http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100001229791854
  • Architectureparents At Cal Poly
    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001273681789
• Cal Poly Controversial Dean of Engineering Dismissed
  • http://calcoastnews.com/2010/06/cal-poly’s-controversial-dean-of-engineering-dismissed/
  • http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2010/06/15/1180137/cal-poly-college-of-engineering.html

General News

• ‘Masterpieces’ on hold, waiting for better times
  • http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/06/15/architecture.economy/
  • Also: “New American architecture, 10 standout buildings”
• Our Town Our Jobs
  • http://www.architectmagazine.com/government-projects/our-town-our.aspx
  • The locals are restless: local architects, that is. Around the country, architects are protesting when vied-for projects get awarded to out-of-state or out-of-town firms. But just because the economy has changed doesn’t mean the rules about hiring architects for public projects have, too.

Rapid Fire Questions:

• Cal Poly or Berkeley? Cal Poly
• Autocad or Revit? AutoCAD, neither
• Parallel bar or T-Square? parallel, T
• Facebook or LinkedIn? Facebook x2
• Arch Record, Arch Digest, or Architect? Record (A), Digest (D)
• Drafting dots or tape? Dots x2
• Yellow trace or white? White x2
• Ad Markers or Prisma? Prisma x2
• Pen or Pencil? pencil (D) pen (A)
• Mac or PC? MAC x2
• What’s the Meaning of Life? ARCHITECTURE mixed with a bit of fun… FUNCHITECTURE

SCORE:

31 (the number of entries in the competition they participate in)

Interview

Guests: David Lee ’11 and Anthony Stahl ’11

• Archdaily project writeup and gallery
• Cal Poly Architecture report on the competition
• Metous Blog

• How did they get involved?
  • In the begining it was just the two of them. They discussed wanting to do the competition after David had heard about the competition. They formed the team of 11 students to work together to get the final product done.
  • The team was comprised of Cal Poly students expect for one a graphic designer out of the area.
• What’s with the titles of the group members?
  • it was about diverisfying the group
  • the team had hands in all aspects of the project
• What does Metous mean? (the name of their firm)
• Me-to-us – it’s derived from the greek word ‘metousiosis’ (μετουσίωσις)
  • In the begining, they were a bit unsure of the “mock firm” aspect of the competition, but they wanted to look at the competition on the whole and pay attention to all aspects.
  • They wanted to take a shot gun approach and try to win it all!
• The title of their project ‘Barrio de los Paracaidistas’:
  • they did a lot of research
  • slang term for ‘squatters’,
  • the name would have a connection to Mexico City and had a strong tie
• The Design Concept:
  • The tower was meant to be an extension of the City, a veritcal application of the city itself
  • The idea of a vertical community, while addressing the neighborhood and community aspect of Mexico: concept of the street extending up into the tower.
  • “vertical ghetto” – they recieved some comments in the bog relm
  • They approached the Tower as Urban Designers, so what would would be designer horizontally they did vertically
  • Over time, the tower builds itself in a sense
• Where did the inspiration come from
  • First they decided to do the competition, then went from there.
  • They looked at the problem given, and did a lot of research on Mexico City, realized that buiding up rather than out and creating architecture for the people from the very begining rather than based on structure or site perhaps
• The Chicago presentation:
  • It was a hard deadline, they had to meet their deadline, had to put a lot of time into the presentation, the boards, the model.
  • They had to carry on their presenations, packing the model and trusting it would make the flight.
  • The reality of going to Chicago first of all, but then to present their project ontop of it.
• Since the project is developed over time, how did they specifiy the green components over time and implementing them:
  • Part of the issue is all of these smaller buildings being built as part of a larger building.
  • So each building has to be somewhat selfcontained and sufficent, having PV for itsefl.
  • Pollution, density, these are big problems in Mexico City, air quality is a 2.3 in LA and a 97 in Mexico City to put it in perspective. So the Tower would help provide for the City with clean water and a carbon filter system throughout the tower to help clean the air. Slowly Mexico City becomes revived throughout the build out of the Tower.
• What was the “Mock Firm” component of this project like:
  • The team knew it was going to be a sprint towards the end. Everyone had their own projects going on, but there was a balance that had to be maintained for all of the students.
  • Most of the team was comprised of 3rd year students, and they were very dedicated from day one and excited to be a part of the project. Having the team interested in the project and invested in the project was key in it’s success.
• What else was comprised of the “Top Firm” award:
  • They addressed marketing of the firm, philosophy of the firm, really looked at being cohesive throughout.
  • They pretty much went above and beyond the requirements.
  • The whole presentation, from the project, the firm, the team, everything they presented was tight and cohesive so it all fit together.
• What was the most rewarding part of the process:
  • The team aspect of this project, it allowed them to essentially do more work, more complete work, really finish something from beginning to end. It felt like a more compelte project.
  • The fact that they got the chance to address an architecture problem that was real, the opportunity to invent something and push the envelope.
• What’s next:
  • Interning this summer in D.C. and then up in NY at TerraFarm, after graduation planning to go to NY and have a positive impact on architecture
  • Interning this summer in Orange County, then entering another competition with some friends abroad and eventually go to NY and practice as well.
  • Someday Metous may become a reality!!

Haley and Tim talk about the news of the week, we try to get to the bottom of the NCARB and CAB’s disciplinary action against an Architecture candidate, and we talk about the the future of the licensed Architect in the construction industry.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about us, join our Facebook Group, leave reviews on iTunes and vote for us on Podcast Alley!

Other Stuff:

• If you have a story about the CAB let us know!
  • What do you do if your supervisor isn’t supportive of the IDP?
• What’s the future of the Architect License
  • Do you need a license to be an expert?
  • The building profession is changing, it’s not just about the Architect anymore.
  • Is it even relevant to get a license anymore?
  • If I’m not an Architect what do I call myself?
• Tim’s taking the CSE on March 15th!
• We want to start a scholarship for CalPoly Architecture students!
  • Tell us what you think on our forums.

Rapid Fire with Haley and Tim

• Hilarity ensues…. too crazy to write!
• Shout out to David, Roger, Gino, Lisa, Richard and Justine at Frick, Frick & Jette Architects!

The road to becoming a licensed Architect is a long one.  The requirements vary from state to state, but generally they require an intership, a certain number of years of education, completing a series of nine NCARB (National Council of Architectural Registration Boards) exams (is now reduced to seven), and in California, passing an oral examination in front of a panel of three licensed Architects.

We endure this agonizing process for one simple reason, we want people to know we are an Architect and we want to call ourselves an Architect.  Really, I think it all comes down to ego.  I’ve been designing buildings and drafting plans for years; I ran my own housing plan business for a number of years and have worked under the direction of other Architects for almost a decade.  For all intents and purposes I have been an Architect for the last decade, but I can’t legally call myself one and there are certain things I can’t do without the stamp of a licensed Architect.  I know many great designers and “architects” who are not licensed and will never be licensed, they work in an Architecture firm and perform all the functions of an Architect.  Frank Loyd Wright is a famous example, although the practicalities of some of his structural and waterproofing details may have been aided by a licence, or not.

I have the potential of taking the CSE in November of this year if there is an opening, and IF I pass (big if, 50% pass rate) then I can call myself an Architect.  Will the thousands of dollars and years of my life be worth it?

What do you think?