Brickchat

2017-09-14

Why acting in your client’s best interest doesn’t guarantee you’ll get paid

Understanding how to provide an excellent service is one thing, but the good architect also understands how to get paid for the work he does. This is a vital skill for all architects at any stage in their working life. This is done by managing the relationship with your clients very carefully such that you…

2017-09-10

How do you win at Architecture?

Like the environment it serves, architecture is in a constant state of change. Projects come and go, competitions are won and lost, businesses succeed and fail. As long as humans inhabit the earth, our interactions with it will continue to evolve. So to answer the question, how do you win in architecture, you can't and…

2017-08-20

Great times are great softeners

While the last thirty years have been some of the most peaceful in European history, they have been incredibly noisy. Much has been said, seen, heard and written about the stratospheric innovations in tech, retail and communication. The huge success of these sectors has skewed our perception of the world around us. Construction in particular…

2017-08-16

The mission statement…

"Do not act as if you had ten thousand years to throw away. Death stands at your elbow. Be good for something, while you live and it is in your power."Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

2017-08-09

How can I be useful?

I suppose that its ok to feel useless for a while when you start anything new. The discomfort is healthy. From it you learn your trade and more importantly about yourself. After several years in the architecture profession I am still trying to understand how we can truly add value for society while being paid…

2017-07-29

The BIM Question

Everyone likes the BIM (Building Information Modelling) process because it has sped up our ability to build, audit and manage every project we undertake, but are we running headlong into the next iteration of technological determinism? Parametricism grew from the adoption of 3D CAD software, leaving a collection of odd shaped buildings that to my…

2017-07-26

To be a good architect…

….you need to have lived. The questions that are asked of us require complex solutions, and in order to answer them we have to quickly understand and react to multiple issues at once. The process starts by understanding the events that have lead to the client's desire to engage an architect. What do they need…

2017-07-21

Looking backwards and forwards

Nothing dates faster than trying to capture the Zeitgeist. The present is the place we are told to inhabit in our daily lives but in order to change behaviour you have to look back before you can look forwards. How can we move on if we never learn from the past? Progress then is not…

2017-07-18

Day One Square One

It may be an eye rolling cliche, but the new start has shaken me. I’m surrounded by people who work hard to better themselves, and no doubt within that there is a desire to further improve their professional and financial circumstances