DesignDialogue.org

Having been in a different profession prior to architecture, I can say for certain that architecture is a profession unlike any other profession. Architects, have to be very adept, changing constantly with time. Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci understood about being adept. They understood that to be innovative and to be able to create, they can not be just artists, they needed to be an architect and an engineer. They had change not only themselves, but their way of working.

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In Chicago, the large number of architects without work is not the only problem caused by the impact of a 40% unemployment rate in this industry. What this number means is that the market is now flooded with freelance architects. Many of whom are not knowledgeable in doing business, and are actually compromising the future of architects.

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Why 8? because I couldn’t find 10…

I just saw an article in the New York Times, 20 Smartphone Apps for the Home and Garden. Although some of the applications were interesting and “neat”, I didn’t think all of them would be that useful. I took it upon myself as a good excuse to spend some time to find some applications that I would actually use for myself!

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My friend over at Chicago Green Design and I just had a wonderful opportunity to help out a local school, the A.N Pritzker School, with another fundraising effort. Like last year, they opted to do something creative to get the kids involved – designing birdhouses. Having two kids, I understand how important these school fundraisers can be. More importantly, how important it is for preschoolers to have well maintained playgrounds that allows them to explore, imagine and be creative.

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Have you ever seen one of those “Future Home” shows and had one of those, “wow, I wish I could have a fully automated house” moment? Well, its about time you stop dreaming and do something about it. Home automation has come a long way. It used to be that only the rich and famous could afford those gadgets at today’s prices, but not any longer. With today’s technology advancing so much and so quickly, you can find many do-it-yourself solutions for home automation, and it’s not going to cut a hole in your pocket.

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As the housing market bubble settles, now we start to see the implication and role of architecture design in housing. During the housing boom, many people we’re buying houses just to turn around and sell them right away. Because of the frenzy to meet demand, many developers neglected the time tested principle that good architecture can withstand time and recession. In this article, I’ll take a look at some basic design ideas and principles that many developers have ignored. These basic principles should be addressed when designing a home or anything else for that matter.

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With St Patrick’s Day right around the corner, what better time to bring up the topic of being green. Many companies are now jumping on the green movement, and to a certain extent, its great, any bit helps. What bothers me is that, so many of these companies are just not doing enough, mostly they’re just doing a lot of talking. As an individual, you don’t need to do much talking, taking action is easy. Lowering your carbon footprint is simpler than you’d expect.

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The Southport project was not the biggest nor was it the most complex, however, considering its size and scope, it was one of my most memorable project due to all its challenges. As it turn out, this is the first residential roof top with a sports court!

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Understanding Process. This is part 2 of clarifying architects and architecture, see part 1: understanding values

This is a clip of the Simpson’s episode featuring “the design process”, where Frank Gehry receives a letter from Marge urging him to design a Cultural Center for Springfield. Gehry crumples the letter, disgusted, and throws it to the ground, then sees the resulting form and has an architectural epiphany. The resultant design is the balled-paper-as-building. Although some architects do use this method, and it is accepted by a few clients, this process is usually not the norm.

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In thinking about the last post, I wonder if people who have these unreasonable thoughts are just unaware of who architects are, what the architectural process is, and how architects get things built? Personally I have to say that, I for one, used to be unclear as to what architects do.

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