red ink, xrefs, and attitude

dear architect...

2007-07-26T10:52:00.000-04:00

Written by Annie Choi, the ‘open letter’ was published in Pidgin Magazine - a publication of the graduate students of the Princeton School of Architecture [for sale - looks like it could be siiick] - and is HILARIOUS.
Enjoy.

Once, a long time ago in the days of yore, I had a friend who was studying architecture to become, presumably, an architect.This friend introduced me to other friends, who were also studying architecture. Then these friends had other friends who were architects - real architects doing real architecture like designing luxury condos that look a lot like glass dildos. And these real architects knew other real architects and now the only people I know are architects. And they all design glass dildos that I will never work or live in and serve only to obstruct my view of New Jersey.

Do not get me wrong, architects. I like you as a person. I think you are nice, smell good most of the time, and I like your glasses. You have crazy hair, and if you are lucky, most of it is on your head. But I do not care about architecture. It is true. This is what I do care about:

* burritos
* hedgehogs
* coffee

As you can see, architecture is not on the list. I believe that architecture falls somewhere between toenail fungus and invasive colonoscopy in the list of things that interest me.
Perhaps if you didn’t talk about it so much, I would be more interested. When you point to a glass cylinder and say proudly, hey my office designed that, I giggle and say it looks like a bong. You turn your head in disgust and shame. You think, obviously she does not understand. What does she know? She is just a writer. She is no architect. She respects vowels, not glass cocks. And then you say now I am designing a lifestyle center, and I ask what is that, and you say it is a place that offers goods and services and retail opportunities and I say you mean like a mall and you say no. It is a lifestyle center. I say it sounds like a mall. I am from the Valley, bitch. I know malls.

Architects, I will not lie, you confuse me. You work sixty, eighty hours a week and yet you are always poor. Why aren’t you buying me a drink? Where is your bounty of riches? Maybe you spent it on merlot. Maybe you spent it on hookers and blow. I cannot be sure. It is a mystery. I will leave that to the scientists to figure out.

Architects love to discuss how much sleep they have gotten. One will say how he was at the studio until five in the morning, only to return again two hours later. Then another will say, oh that is nothing. I haven’t slept in a week. And then another will say, guess what, I have never slept ever. My dear architects, the measure of how hard you’ve worked and how much you’ve accomplished is not related to the number of hours you have not slept. Have you heard of Rem Koolhaas? He is a famous architect. I know this because you tell me he is a famous architect. I hear that Rem Koolhaas is always sleeping. He is, I presume, sleeping right now. And I hear he gets shit done. And I also hear that in a stunning move, he is making a building that looks not like a glass cock, but like a concrete vagina. When you sleep more, you get vagina. You can all take a lesson from Rem Koolhaas.

Life is hard for me, please understand. Architects are an important part of my existence. They call me at eleven at night and say they just got off work, am I hungry? Listen, it is practically midnight. I ate hours ago. So long ago that, in fact, I am hungry again. So yes, I will go. Then I will go and there will be other architects talking about AutoCAD shortcuts and something about electric panels and can you believe that is all I did today, what a drag. I look around the table at the poor, tired, and hungry, and think to myself, I have but only one bullet left in the gun. Who will I choose?

I have a friend who is a doctor. He gives me drugs. I enjoy them. I have a friend who is a lawyer. He helped me sue my landlord. My architect friends have given me nothing. No drugs, no medical advice, and they don’t know how to spell subpoena. One architect friend figured out that my apartment was one hundred and eighty seven square feet. That was nice. Thanks for that.
I suppose one could ask what someone like me brings to architects like yourselves. I bring cheer. I yell at architects when they start talking about architecture. I force them to discuss far more interesting topics, like turkey eggs. Why do we eat chicken eggs, but not turkey eggs? They are bigger. And people really like turkey. See? I am not afraid to ask the tough questions.
So, dear architects, I will stick around, for only a little while. I hope that one day some of you will become doctors and lawyers or will figure out my taxes. And we will laugh at the days when you spent the entire evening talking about some European you’ve never met who designed a building you will never see because you are too busy working on something that will never get built. But even if that day doesn’t arrive, give me a call anyway, I am free.

Yours truly,
Annie Choi

free-range friday...

2007-07-06T14:26:00.000-04:00

drinking....

2007-04-24T15:54:00.000-04:00

and drawing can
lead to casual sections

heard in crit:

“Why are you here? Don’t come back next semester.”
“Here’s a quarter. go call your mom and tell her you’re not going to be an architect.”
"Your design is like masturbation, you want to know why? That is because only you yourself enjoyed and like it.
"What is that boxy thing (model)? A coffin?
"Your design sucks!
Y"our design is very tasteful… … for the tasteless.
“Is this a … structural… glob of glue?”
“When I went to school, at a different school than this one, there were students who would present projects like this one.And they would fail.”
“Your project looks like something that’s been through a trash compactor”
“This space that you’ve designed is the type place where beggars and dogs go to die”
“Are you in interior design?”
“Why are you studying architecture if you’re producing things like that?”
“Hey, everyone, gather round this project, come in close…because this is a great example for everyone of exactly what NOT to do..”
“This drawing isn’t worth the paper it is printed on.”
“This (model) is great…..just don’t let your dog play with it next time.”
“The program you invented was meant solely for your architectural masturbation……”
If you build this and after 10000 years the aliens see it, they would understand why humans extinguish
“Have you ever considered a career in accounting?”
“oh, so it’s like some kind of orgy pit!”
“So your parents are pay $20000 a year for this.”
“Your theory is bullshit. You don’t need that”
Prof pointing to part of a model, “Did you chew this?”

we'll take your souls please...

2007-04-18T12:00:00.000-04:00

http://www.architectmagazine.com/industry-news.asp?sectionID=1006&articleID=471542

The $34,000 Question
Intern architects weigh the creative rewards of their profession against its financial drawbacks.

Source: ARCHITECT MagazinePublication date: April 1, 2007

By Ernest Beck

also, courtesey of W4W:

Why do women leave Architecture?
http://www.riba.org/go/RIBA/Also/Education_2691.html

http://wednesday-for-women.blogspot.com/

So True...

2007-04-09T09:27:00.000-04:00

You know you're an architecture student when......

you know the janitors by name....

your roommates say "good morning," and you reply "good night."...

you carry a toothbrush in your backpack....

you start paying rent for your desk space in studio....

you ask Santa Clause for a sleeping bag....

you have 3 or more cups of double shot coffee espressos in one night...

You know the different taste between UHU and Pritt glue...

You can stay alive without sunlight, communicate with people norhaving foods but you would commit suicide if the plotter doesn't plotyour work out...

You've lost your house key and u realized week later...

you sleep more than 16 hrs at weekends...

You are an expert and Photoshop, illustrator and auto cadbut u don't know how to use MS excel...

your parents are complaining that you're not having enough fun....

you only leave studio to buy supplies....

you haven't taken a shower in a week....

you see showering as a waste of time....

your parents have more of a social life than you....

you enjoy hanging out at 'Home and Garden Fair'....

you know all the 24-hour food places in the area....

your friends get more sleep in one night than you do in one week...

You consider 3AM an early night....

everything you eat comes in single serving baggies....

you're out on Friday nights in studio....

you say "It's only midnight- I have plenty of time to finish."...

you confuse sunrise with sunset....

you ask what time it is, then ask "AM or PM?"...

you strangle your roommate because she said she stayed up late studying....

your Friday night is 68 hours long....

you slice your finger, and the first thing you think of is ifyou'll be able to finish your model....

you understand why architects have glasses and white hair (are alcoholics, divorcees, etc...)....

you know all of these are true, no exaggerations....

you can conceptually compose the food on your plate....

you go to the food shop, and order the "usual", and they understand....

you use architecture tools to eat....

you only buy groceries once a month (and your groceries come from a vending machine)....

you wake up to go to school and you're already there....

you bring your friends to studio to keep you company....

you refer to outside studio as the "Real World."...

you confuse today and tomorrow....

you can write a 6-page term paper by procrastinating....

you hear "Didn't you wear that yesterday?' followed by "and the daybefore that?"...

you think days are 48 hours long....

concept of time is not forward, but a countdown from the time aproject is due ("What time is it?""4 hours 'till")....

doing models all night long excites you....

They know the phrase "Always done, never done" all too well andwish the professors would stop saying it...

And if you have been drunk while in the studio working on aproject, join the club.....

you use your T-square or straight edge as a baseball bat (guitar, fiddle, light saber..)....

when you use words like "gratuitous"....

when you have to use spellchecker to see if you spelled "gratuitous" right....

When you're not sure what day of the week it is...

When lack of sleep makes you feel and act as if you are high...

When any flat surface is seen as a place to take a nap (underneaththe tables in the computer room (that's where it is the warmest), inhallways, on drafting boards...

When the books that you read consist primarily of photographs andnot so much of words...

You have given a final presentation with your fly open...

When you skip classes because you have too much work to do...

when people stop you in hallways and say "hey, I like your beard"and you realize that you haven't shaved in three projects...

when you refer to your computer as your "significant other"...

when you have nicknames for all your tools...

when a triple shot espresso just doesn't have enough "kick"...

when you try to talk to another person and realize that you'veinvented your own language and nobody else understands you...

when a 102 degree fever or strep throat is to you no excuse to miss a crit.

thanks for sending this miss h.

xrefs, lies, and mental video tape

2007-03-28T10:11:00.000-04:00

okay, i jsut caught t in a bold faced lie! & of course mr. m ate it up.if i say something, i just look like a tattle tell!!!

what was he lying about??

UH, in a nut shell....
yesterday mr. m asked t to get some things together to ship (dwg sheets, specs, the usual) to D.O.I. and have it go out UPS (who comes around daily b/t 3 30 and 3 47 like clock work).

i watched t assle around for about 3 hours then start to hustle.... fnally he was printing labels (for UPS) and i said..."t, i hear the truck pulling around"

t didn't even run to wave at the guy, to say he'd be a few extra mins.
the driver then came to the door, looked in our 'spot' waved and left...

so this morining, says t "um, mr. m, UPS never came yesterday..."

whoa!!!

more trouble than it's worth:

2007-03-05T12:34:00.000-05:00

give 'm what they want...

2007-02-08T15:04:00.000-05:00

ditto

2007-02-08T15:00:00.000-05:00

He is really screwing things up by reinstalling Acad each time.
All his paths get wiped out then.
Look in options and see all the added paths he is wiping out.
What an indiot!!!!
He is just doing that because he doesn't know how to use the program.
That is a shame too since my machine was finely tuned and in the best working order of all the machines there.
That is typical though if you think about it. Something goes wrong so it has to be the computer - as if it couldn't be operator use problem!
That means he doesn't have access to the setups or printer files or utility buttons or all the neat shortcut buttons that you have.
What an idiot!!!!
He has what kind of experience?
He went to school where? He has a degree in what?
I'd be so irritated if I was there still.
We'd have had words already. Good for you holding your composure!!!
I used to mutter "Kill kill" under my breath all the time. It drives you crazy after a while. If mr. m irritated me that bad I can only imagine how bad t would have bothered me.
It might just have listened to myself and acted on my desires.
I am glad I only have three 500 level classes and an online classs to deal with or my blood preswure would be sky high again.
XXX

initiative

2007-02-06T13:35:00.000-05:00

t: what division in wood in.
og: look it up in sweets.
t: what's that?
og: silently pondering...what kind of school did he go to?

i love it!

2007-01-24T12:02:00.000-05:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070122/ap_on_fe_st/tiny_apartment

LONDON - Location, location, location. Almost anywhere else, the tiny dilapidated studio wouldn't attract much more than mice. But this is London and the 77-square-foot former storage room — slightly bigger than a prison cell and without electricity — is going for $335,000.

in the beginning...

2007-01-23T09:15:00.000-05:00

a short essay to my friend and co-conspiritor here at red ink, xrefs, and attitude:

remember how we met, sharing a copy (i'm sure it was yours) of archt'l graphic standards, sorting site photos, and sharing blades as we cut the gigantic panorama of Broughton and MLK Jr streets.

then i gave you a ride home in that humid savannah summer...

who would know four years later we would've gone through two theses, five jobs (one together), two official breakups (others questionable) and blog(s) on the architectural experience.

writing/reading this makes me realise...wow, we are full on archi-dorks!!! get a life i say, but what else would we do?

a few highlights:

-the november 1st party that turned emo (really i was scared)
-thesis insanity/delerium (sp) where i actually by accident put a sign on my project that read 'do not review' instead of 'do not remove'
-beer
-outstanding student award (evr, not me)
-IMing
-beer
-and finally, beer.

thanks for the memories...
now i have to get back to work.

Bernard Tschumi says

2007-01-19T13:21:00.000-05:00

"In America, it's more difficult because architects have lost a lot of power; power has fallen into the hands of the builders... the general strategy is determined by the client himself... That's a big problem. And that's what we want to avoid."

in thinking about how BIM will transform this market, there is a chance that builders will get pushed out, and architects will rise again!

LEED might happen to you

2007-01-19T11:59:00.000-05:00

this is amazing news! the ugly brick box library (uglier than a big yellow school bus) is a baltimore county project and they actually have notified us today that they are willing to extend their fast-track schedule by 6-weeks, and increase their budget by 40K to go for LEED silver! i am truly shocked and surprised.

so today i will start generating the checklist/ wish list of credits we will need to incorporate into the design, that is after i do a preliminary code review to determine if we are going combustible or non. but the trend in baltimore region these days is that it is relatively easy and quicker to get high-recycled content metals than it is to get that forest stewardship council certified wood. i am sure the area calcs will turn up that we can use wood, but i am fairly certain it will be faster, cheaper, and worth some LEED credits to use metal studs, AND to top it all more fire-resistant. NICE!

btw- the REVIT seminar was the exact same one i attended back in November, same instructor who speaks worse english than most of the non-native english speakers i know. the worst part about it is that he tries to correct himself, thereby amplyfing the fact that that he doesn't know the difference between singular/plural past tense verbs. (like using was, instead of were, etc.) anyway, he's a nice enough guy and does know a bit about revit, but considering this is very basic, basic, intro stuff, which we had seen, we left and i am back in the office, ie. not working at home. and that is how i find out about this LEED business.

i am still leaving here for the aforementioned tour of unit ventilators for my other project, which i am actually managing for the most part. next set of renovations to a private school, 1950's building. the kitchen and cafeteria renovations/ additions are almost finished. and i should swing by there to check out the masonry work. i also still need to draw up the new conc. stairs, ramps, walks, etc. funny that this project as been draw as you build. . .

don't ever let anyone tell you that renovations are easy, this project is a bear, not to mention they are private school, don't get public funds, and they have to do everything peice-male, based on how kind their benefactors are. but while they can't afford LEED and their catholic mind-set doesn't really enable them to understand the ideas behind the environmental movement, they actually did pay for an energy model, and part of these renovations is to essentially re-wrap the entire facade section by section using a typical brick module with an increased R-value. The energy model predicted that this will save enormous amounts of energy. even the catholics are making strides. (last meeting we did try to talk them into geothermal, but they shot that one right down!)

actually, today i think we will be looking at/ listening to an installation of the below window units, not the vertical. but after they see the window units, we are fairly certain they will decide that the verticals are far better (air distribution wise, noise, cleaner, etc.) and then next week the mechanical engineers can generate their CDs, in the next couple of weeks we will coordinate and get County approval and renovations will begin as soon as school lets out!

ANYWAY, yeah, LEED. silver. in your face.

the upside of practice...by evr

2007-01-19T08:53:00.000-05:00

okay good morning! it is friday, and i am still at home, but going to a revit seminar, coming HOME for lunch, and then going to meet engineers and our client at a fancy prep school near where i live to look at their vertical unit ventilators at 3pm. pretty exciting friday! i decided it was a waste of time and travel to go into the office. so i brought some things home with me to do this afternoon. i LOVE working at home. so don't send any emails to my work address today. thanks.new print guy?

2007-01-18T13:14:00.000-05:00

teaching gives us the hope (perhaps dillusional) that we can educate, instill, and empower those coming up.
they are smart, receptive, impressionable, and not yet beaten by the budget.

i believe this, and i love the opportunity to teach. i realise i am much more radical (maybe stupborn) than i ever knew...and for this, i am possible making the biggest sacrifice yet...that sacrifice is teaching for paractice in small town USA...
there is so much wrong here (USA), and if i can get one small office to use cork instead of polyester, to recycle their binders...that is something.
some people are called to God,
I am called to reality.
I despise the US media,
but fuel/energy shortages, global warming, crime, lack of values, over population...these are our reality.
am i being radical by becoming a resident (which is what i must do in four months time to stay) of an ideal country.
or am i being a draft dodger by leaving the country that needs the most help?

a word about xrefs

2007-01-18T09:30:00.000-05:00

“This note is on Defpoints in the Building Shell Construct and refers to that file. If you think you need to attach the furniture xref in this file, you're probably mistaken.... This file should not be changing unless dictated by the Interior walls - not by the Furniture. So you really shouldn't need it in here. If you still feel compelled, Make sure its on layer XREF2.”

I didn’t write this. I found it in a file from the previous architect who is responsible for the “worse than a school-bus” design. Now I am starting to understand how we arrive at this. Too much CAD, not enough brain power or design. On a 25,000SF, one story project, I wouldn’t use xrefs at all. This statement is what I would call “attitude with an xref problem!”

There is good architecture in the states, at least I think there is. It is just not typically done by your run of the mill firms. There are school designers who have childcare consultants, but the school market is a niche. Those people designing schools know about schools, and they’re in the inner circle and they will do just about anything to stay within that circle, including reducing design costs to keep the newer, better designers out. On the other hand, I have attended many a meeting collaborating with the needs of the teachers, taking copious amounts of notes. I probably still have them somewhere. . .

Anyway, it is a shame that there are these types of projects. It is bad for the general welfare of all people and for the environment, but these people need a library, and they need to save a few bucks in order to get it. and no one has the time, patience, or money to loan them for them to investigate how to really do it the right way. . . who is going to fix this problem? The architect?

Architects have become little wussies, afraid to push the envelope, and WHY?? Thanks to the combo of the Iraq war, (influx of soldiers coming home), and Hurricane Katrina, there is a construction boom in this country, one that is unprecedented. Labor is actually cheaper than materials right now. . . regardless, the point is that there is so much work for architects right now, they can afford to say no, stand up and say something about the state of affairs. Very few care enough to think this far ahead. And those people with half a brain, who CARE decide to teach, instead of practice!! We need it to be the other way around!

too much attitude, not enough red

2007-01-17T10:14:00.000-05:00

add ARE to the list, after IDP. maybe throw in LEED, too.

did i tell you that i passed the contracts exams? next up is MEP! before they change the format in feb.

i have so many tales of my professional life, but i wouldn't change a thing. all that red ink gave me a humble perspective, and made me not only a nicer co-worker (ie, team player), but a better thinker. unfortunately, i can't speak for my design skills. i am not even allowed to "pretty up" this horrid little box the people of Perry Hall, Maryland think is sacred for the design of their community library.
Oh, and this is good, yesterday, i find out that they voted down the bus parking, for school buses, etc, because they don't want buses near their precious homes! DO THEY EVEN REALIZE THAT A BIG YELLOW BUS IS MORE ATTRACTIVE THAN THIS PROPOSED BRICK SHED?

no, and that is that. this is what architecture is in the united states, people. but never fear, all is not lost, i think this project will make a good exercise for learning revit.

a new blog from Oyster Girl

2007-01-16T12:11:00.000-05:00

please be patient while i prepare those files,
i'll do it right now....

bemused

2007-01-16T11:54:00.000-05:00

red ink, xrefs, and attitude sounds like a GREAT blog title!!
sounds like he needs a kick in the arse from mr. c and mr.l! ha!
you didn't come across that way at all! they never would have hired someone like that. things are quiet here, yes.
i am working on the ugliest building you ever saw.
but it might be a chance for me to prove that i can actually do construction drawings (on my own.)
editor in chiefhttp://wednesday-for-women.blogspot.com/---

On Tue 01/16, XXXXXXX <> wrote:
From: XXXXXX [mailto: XXXXXXX]To: XXXXXXXX:
Tue, 16 Jan 2007 06:50:02 -0800 (PST)Subject: red ink, xrefs, and attitude...

i am so busy here, the architect hired a recent graduate to help.he is sooo cocky, knows everytnng, but i feel like i am looking bad to 'mr. m' because i run behind "t" to fix everyting.
he does not do what you explain....and now we have a med/lg proj. going out to bid and i want to cry b/c i just saw that he did something crazy to all the files for the job.
-the scale is off in all the sheets , either drawings are teeny tiny, orr there are just the letters XREF pasted across the front.
-he saves job #0000 in job #0XXX, etc....
-never admits his mistakes, etc...
-says we should be using mac, etc.
i am very nice though, b/c i am usually in his shoes, i'm really sorry you had to train me, i hope i didnt' come across that way.
have a good one!

p.s. musing memoirs, it was weird working yesterday, we were busy, but it was so quiet, strange working when it felt the rest of the country wasnt...