First it’s important to clarify; I don’t think any of us feels particularly guilty about our work. We aren’t killing kittens or doing anything as unseemly as that. We are making a minor contribution to the world: people need a place to live. We are fulfilling a need. It’s not great that they seem to love living in little cubicles in the sky but what can we do about that? Also, our buildings don’t completely suck. They have a little detail, are typically not un-pleasant to walk by and they sure as hell aren't the worse things on the street.
One of the problems is that work is somewhat mundane. How many cubicles in the sky can you really design while keeping it interesting? Some architects get more excited if those cubicles in the sky are glass and steel instead of brick and wood but I am not sure there is that great a distinction between the two. Others are excited if you just change the shape of the cubicle – boy, if only that apartment were round or obtuse – now that would be more fun to design. Please…I am not sure that the product is the problem. Part of the problem with designing these things is that we are only concerned with what sells. Granite counters, body sprays and rain cans, that perfect “sweet spot” of square footage. Oh, and it has to have a little outdoor space – even if that space is a 25 square foot checker-plate deck facing an garbage-filled alley, it has to have it. These are all that really matters in the condo world. And why is this so? It is easiest to blame the lemmings that seem to be lining the streets to buy this stuff. Or is it the developers who believe that this is all people want so this is what they are going to serve them. Perhaps it’s a combination of the two.
Another line of thought is that architects are to blame for this entire dilemma. Since we are the harbingers of architectural culture, it is our job to educate the public about quality space and design. If this were the case, wouldn’t we have spent more time learning how to teach and communicate then how to draw and design?Ultimately, cheaper and bigger end up being the goal and in order to make the client happy (so we can get paid and commissioned to designed more “bigger and cheaper” cubicles) we do whatever it takes. Cheaper and bigger is what the client wants and it is what the client sells to the consumers – which is, in this city, most of us. What a screwed up circle.
One of the ladies formerly in our office informed us that Oprah had a show on “living small” (as if this would eventually change the world). The show featured one guy that lives in 94 square feet of space. This guy is obviously not married and he certainly doesn’t rake in the kind of dough that Oprah does. Does Nate Berkus live in 94 sq feet? Shit, I don’t think Oprah can confine herself to 9400 square feet (and I am not making a crack about her body here)!
Who knows, maybe Oprah is the answer. Perhaps she can begin to assist architects in the education of the general public about quality space through her show!!! Then again, I am not sure I could stomach a talk show filled with architects. HGTV and the DIY network are bad enough. Perhaps if we can convince Oprah what quality design is and that quantity is not everything, I am sure we are well on our way to not designing crappy buildings anymore.
9. You have covered every inch of your yard with landscape fabric to prevent weeds.
8. You put all your “empties” neatly back into the case but still can’t find the energy to recycle.
7. You own a battery-operated Roundup gun.
6. You choose to drive to work even though it takes longer than public transportation.
5. You are frightened by compost.
4. You bring a television with you... ...camping.
3. Your idea of watering the lawn is leaving the sprinkler on until puddles form on the sidewalks.
2. You are convinced that compact flourescent bulbs are part of a communist conspiracy.
1. You believe it when the president says that scientists are unsure about global warming. 
I am not sure that Maxim is taking their important work seriously. Many men rely on Maxim for their fix of scantly clad women, to be kept up to date on the latest hot chicks, and a number of reasons that are better kept behind bathroom doors. In order to try and kick them into shape, here is a quick critique of their list. If I am way off base and guys actually think that LL is the hottest, then perhaps there is a greater sociological problem that just can't be addressed within the confines of this little blog.
As for how to create a better list, the folks at LWoA are working diligently on that. Since reading the news about Maxim's list, we have done very little except debate this critical issue. Stay tuned for poll results of the hottest women in the world as brought to you by LWoA. 
The warm optimism and anecdotes in this article about the few firms that offer alternative benefits to good salaries felt like veiled chastisement to those with second thoughts. This insultingly implies that people who are tired of bad pay just don't care enough and should get out or stop complaining. Or maybe the author's intent was to be that of a cheerleader pushing us on through the tough fight that is our careers. Well, I agree it's time to stop complaining. The reality is that most buildings that are designed and built in America are not works of art but works of economy and devoid of transcendental meaning.
The quote from the architect principle regarding interns, "We can't pay them $100,000 / year because they are not worth it." is especially poignant. Interns are not worth it, architects are not worth it. Why is that? Why after 5-6 years of high priced higher education are interns coming into the profession unprepared and therefore of little value? The undervaluing of one member of our profession undervalues the entire profession. Why is one of the main questions on the AIA website for perspective clients, "Why hire an architect?" Shouldn't our value be obvious? The other members of the construction and real estate industry, with few exceptions, are in it solely for the money. Architects are not on some higher plane. Architects play an important role in building but with increasing control and responsibility ceded to other professions: engineers, contractors, developers, architects are expendable.
Maybe architects need to go out of business. If we can not show our value and gain the respect through proper payment, we shouldn't just complain about it, or take it meekly as artistic martyrs. We should act to take more of the industry profit share, train to deserve better compensation or eliminate the profession altogether.
Upon getting hired, her bio was sent around the office. How can someone "into watersports" be boring? And she has looks to boot. With last weeks firings, (oops, I mean lay-offs) the male to female ratio has gone way off and losing Alison is just another nail in the coffin. Sexual innuendos took a nose dive after Stuart left. Now, I think they will be non-existent.
About 21 years ago, a poor couple was wandering the cold streets of Chicago with a newborn baby in their arms. The only place that would let them in out of the cold was a small architecture firm. This act of gratitude did not come without a hitch. For their act of “kindness”, the couple was to sign over their son, their first born, into servitude to the firm until the child graduated from college.
For years, this small band of architects nurtured the young baby into a full grown architect. Introduced to Froebel blocks at an early age, Andy developed a keen sense of space and form. The excitement in the office when Andy could hold his first exacto was something to behold only to be outdone by his prowess at computer aided drafting. 
This May, the day of reckoning has come. After years of cutting foam-core, rendering relentless masonry piers on Photoshop, writing transmittals, and creating fantasmagoric details of bathroom tile, this child, Andrew, will be graduating from college. It is a bittersweet time. A time when Andrew might realize his freedom or realize in his heart that those people that took him in years ago turned out not to be such bad guys after all. 
Will he return to assist in making those piers even more relentless, to make those bathroom tile designs really shine, to create the perfect office form so that transmittal writing becomes a joy for everyone or will he break out and leave Chicago for greener pastures?
As summer approaches, we know that Steve the younger will be returning and that there will be a number of new employees at SGW but will Andy be back. The big question is: how will we ever properly debate movie trivia without is facility with IMDB?
