To all family and friends who don't understand my lifestyle

When you’re an architect …

· you spend hours looking at & buying arch books but never have the time to actually read them
· you can’t afford your own taste
· CAD is your co-pilot
· your closet is mostly full of black clothing
· there are no people in your travel photos
· you don’t think twice about taking notes on your lunch napkin
· instead of scissors, you use an x-acto knife to cut everything
· you turn impossibilities into possibilities
· folks want free design advice during dinner parties
· you’ve paid too much for your education, but don’t get paid enough in your job
· CD’s don’t mean money or music
· obsessive compulsive disorder is not a disorder at all… it’s your way of life
· you will go into an off-limit area to look at a construction detail
· you will die an architect, there is no retirement
· you go to the theater and look at the ceiling
· you can buy glossy coffee table books and claim them as a work-related tax expense
· you can live without human contact, sunlight, water or real food for days … but if you can’t plot (print), that’s bad
· paying $200 for a paper lamp seems perfectly normal
· if someone asks “can you model that?” is not because you are attractive
· your vacations always become research.
· you stare more at the buildings than the people gathered around them
· you draw, write, sketch and plan on a Moleskine · you like to complain about other’s work
· you hate the font ‘times new roman’
· you see the sun rise… and set… and rise…
· the statement “It’s only 1 A.M.” seems perfectly reasonable
· you visit an art museum and take pictures of the building
· everybody at parties will tell you “I thought about being an architect but I couldn’t do the math”
· when you go to a restaurant, you look at the walls, roof, and structure before you check the menu
· you slice your finger and the first thing you think is “don’t bleed on the model”
· you know CAD, REVIT, Sketch up, 3dmax, Corel, Illustrator, and Photoshop … but struggle with Microsoft Excel
· "your preferred evening entertainment is a lecture"
· Everyone assumes you design houses for a living, as if commercial buildings just magically get designed by non-architects.
· You are pretty much forced to just talk about the weather with your non-architect friends.
· you will be kick-ass and admired as much as you are unappreciated and misunderstood
And by the way I am not an architect since still working towards state license.

Your Weekend . . . (Fairy Tale Castles)

The Princess and the Pea Castle Construction

In this photo: Khoi Nguyen, Hilda M Rodriguez, Iara Bachmann
@the opening!!! :)Cheers!!!!

"Dallas Arboretum Fairy Tale Castle - The Princess and the Pea! All done!!! We were awarded the "The Most Interactive Design" cheers! This was a great challenge for us. We had to build it ourselves (by our last minute surprise)... It did not come as expect...ed... of course but I guess in the end it wasn't too bad! :-) Check our process pictures. We can't wait on the landscape design which will bring a layer of beauty and lush!!! More pictures coming!!!! and in July children will vote for the castle they like the most... one I heard wants "Shrek’s" to win (Jack and the Beanstalk little house)." -- Hilda M Rodriguez

This time I wanted to share a project I helped build back in February 2011. The Princess and The Pea Castle by NRBM is part of this one-of-a-kind exhibit that will capture the imagination of any little prince or princess and encourage literacy through classic tales like Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid. Designed and built by local architecture and construction firms, this castle plus other six castles bring to life beloved stories for you and your family to enjoy. Each castle will be placed in specific locations in the gardens of the Dallas Arboretum to optimize the overall look. ‘It’s a Fairy Tale World’ from March 5 - December 31, 2011. Other featured castles include:

Beauty and the Beast by PGAL and Turner Construction
Aladdin by HKS Inc.
Rapunzel by Baez Consulting
The Little Mermaid by GHA Architects
Jack and the Beanstalk by The Beck Group
Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughter’s by Corgan Associates, Inc. and Turner Construction

Getting Around to It

Your Weekend . . . (Retrospect 2011)

It is National Architecture Week

April 10-April 16 2011

On Saturday, I attended Retrospect 2011 sponsor by AIA Dallas @ NorthPark Center. RETROSPECT is AIA Dallas' opportunity to introduce architects and architecture to the public with over 50 display pieces in an exhibit at NorthPark Center. The exhibit further informs the public of the many endeavors of AIA Dallas and the benefits and contributions that quality design has on the built environment and many other aspects of our lives.

This year, AIA Dallas wants to be more interactive and are rolling out a new feature to the NorthPark Center exhibit called “Ask an Architect.” They will have a table set up on both weekends of the exhibit, with AIA Dallas volunteers there to answer questions from the public about architecture and hand out brochures and literature about AIA Dallas and why architecture matters. The booth hours will be 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. on Saturday April 9th and 16th and from 12 noon-4:00 p.m. on Sunday the 10th and 17th.

That’s where you come in! What would you like to ask? RETROSPECT 2011 will run from April 7th through April 17th. Its free and open to the public.

The photographs are just some of the exhibits you may find @ Retrospect 2011

What's Your Manifesto?

Manifestos are a powerful catalyst. By publicly stating your views and intentions, you create a pact for taking action. If you want to change the world, even in just a small way, creating a personal or business manifesto is a great place to start. Needless to say, developing a set of principles that you believe in and constantly strive to stand by is an invaluable tool.

To spark your imagination, I have posted one of my favorite manifestos below.

The Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright

Via Gretchen Rubin, we discovered this manifesto from architect Frank Lloyd Wright, written as a series of “fellowship assets” meant to guide the apprentices who worked with him at his school, Taliesin. I particularly love number 10, the idea that working with others should come naturally.

1. An honest ego in a healthy body.
2. An eye to see nature.

3. A heart to feel nature.

4. Courage to follow nature.

5. The sense of proportion (humor).

6. Appreciation of work as idea and idea as work.

7. Fertility of imagination.
8. Capacity for faith and rebellion.

9. Disregard for commonplace (inorganic) elegance.
10. Instinctive cooperation.

What's your Manifesto?

My Manifesto is composed of three simple sentences:

1. "Our essential purpose is to become the best version of Ourselves"
2. "Wisdom is knowing what to do next, Skill is knowing how to do it, And virtue is doing it.
3. "Listen with the night falling we are saying thank you”

These sentences remind me daily to:

1. live with one sole purpose - to be my best
2. wisdom, skill, and virtue are steps that lead to progress and success
3. gratitude it’s a must have

Do you have a personal manifesto that you’d like to share?


How about a manifesto that you’ve always admired?

@laurajuarez

10 lessons for young designers by John C Jay of Wieden+Kennedy

Some insightful lessons from Wieden+Kennedy’s Executive Creative Director, John C Jay. Although focused from a design perspective, I feel that these lessons would apply just as well for anyone working within the creative industry. Via AIGA.

1: Be authentic. The most powerful asset you have is your individuality, what makes you unique. It’s time to stop listening to others on what you should do.

2: Work harder than anyone else and you will always benefit from the effort.

3: Get off the computer and connect with real people and culture. Life is visceral.

4: Constantly improve your craft. Make things with your hands. Innovation in thinking is not enough.

5: Travel as much as you can. It is a humbling and inspiring experience to learn just how much you don’t know.

6: Being original is still king, especially in this tech-driven, group-grope world.

7: Try not to work for stupid people or you’ll soon become one of them.

8: Instinct and intuition are all-powerful. Learn to trust them.

9: The Golden Rule actually works. Do good.

10: If all else fails, No. 2 is the greatest competitive advantage of any career.

Source edwinhimself.com

27: a journey through contemporary architecture in europe

27: a journey through contemporary architecture in europe from FatCat Films on Vimeo “27” is a joint venture between a filmmaker, two architects and a designer. They travel together to meet people engaging in the process of making the Europe of tomorrow. “27” is a journey into the heart of contemporary European architecture, under a permanent state of mutation. 27countries, 27 cultures, 27 architects build according to their own rules, and their own history while giving contribution for the construction of a common space : Europe. -- It would be great to complete a film like this on the Americas.

@laurajuarez

Your Weekend . . .

On Saturday morning, I tour the exceptional Frank Lloyd Wright-style home designed by John Rattenbury, who became a member of the Taliesin Fellowship in 1950 and worked on sixty of Wright’s projects, including the Guggenheim Museum, the Gammage Auditorium, and the Marin County Civic Center. Following Wright’s death in 1959, he helped to establish Taliesin Architects, where he continued to serve as a Principal Architect and Planner, until 2003. He has designed over 250 projects around the globe.

Theilen Home Tour

The Theilen home offers an unsurpassed pedigree for those who appreciate Wright’s work. It was designed by John Rattenbury, who was an apprentice under Wright and senior architect at Taliesin West when he designed this secluded Preston Hollow residence. The home’s interior designer, Kay Rattenbury, had lived and studied with the Wright’s since she was 14 years old. The result is a stunning residence that is as close to a Frank Lloyd Wright house as one could possibly achieve in the 1990’s when it was built.

Located on a cul-de-sac minutes from Dallas’ most respected private schools, 9100 Guernsey is in harmony with nature and blends seamlessly with the surrounding wooded grounds of approximately 1.1 acres. Truly a rare find, it offers an architecturally significant home in a private and picturesque setting.

The Ten Commandments of Architecture

Thou Shalt not Compartmentalize: in addition to learning to design, thou should write well, spell correctly, figure out how to get jobs and keep clients happy, take out the trash, make a good cup of Joe, be able to build models, master sustainability as well as the latest technological tools. Do all this and more, EXCEPT … hire a really good professional to photograph your work. It will pay off in awards and in landing new jobs.

Don’t Be Disappointed When A Client Rejects Your Design: It only means another opportunity to design. In architecture there are many solutions to the same question and designing is what you do.
Always Exceed Your Client’s Expectations: The corollary is: establish attainable expectations.

Cost Counts: No matter what clients may say, or how deep their pockets, cost is foremost in the minds of all clients great and small. Make sure there is a clear, written understanding of the expected project cost and have a plan in case the budget gets out of whack.

Problems are Opportunities: Show them how good you are in a pinch.

Bad News Travels Fast: An unhappy client is your worst nightmare. The corollary is: Satisfied clients become good friends and good references.

Art First, Mammon Second: Make every project an artistic success, and you will thrive. If your first priority is making money, you will go broke.

Go Forth and Collaborate: Architecture is a team sport. Surround yourself with talented and enjoyable people, in the office and outside. Share the credit with colleagues and consultants. Run an open office. The fewer doors the better; and just one coffee pot where the designing herd can gather and ruminate.

Listen: Believe it or not, people besides you have good ideas and insights. This applies to clients, staff, consultants, building users, even your spouse. In the end it will be your client’s building, not yours. If you want to be a star, move to Hollywood.

Do Right, Have Fun: Clients are spending a lot of money; they expect something special. There also should be some fun in the mix, for your client and for you as well.

If there were an eleventh commandment, it would be: have a sense of humor.

-Created By: Childress, James