Architect Magazine

January 2010
Pittsburgh Opera Building Can Be Torn Down
By Bill Zlatos, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

The old Pittsburgh Opera Building, Downtown, soon could sing its swan song. Common Pleas Judge Joseph James gave the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust permission Monday to tear down the building at the corner of Penn Avenue and Eighth Street, but said Washington, D.C.-based developer Concord Eastridge Inc. could seek damages from the nonprofit group to pay for demolition. The building lies within the boundaries of RiverParc, a nearly half-billion-dollar, proposed development on six acres from Seventh Street to Ninth Street between Penn Avenue and Fort Duquesne Boulevard.  Read More...

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January 2010
Stimulus for Students
By Ned Cramer
It doesn’t take a neurosurgeon to recognize that a lot of Americans are in a lot of pain. Even if Congress manages to enact a world-class healthcare system in our lifetimes, it won’t cure the unemployment that’s crippling the nation right now. In October, the jobless rate hit 10.2 percent—or 17.5 percent, if you include those who have quit looking for work or have taken part-time gigs for lack of full-time options. Wall Street may be on the rebound, but the rest of the country is lurching toward that infamous benchmark—the 25 percent unemployment rate of the Great Depression.  Read More...

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November 2009
Annual Design Review
By Katie Gerfen
A new awards program showcasing the best American architecture of the year.
A well-known fact about the design industry is that there are a lot of award programs. ARCHITECT already has two—the P/A Awards, recognizing innovative unbuilt work, and the R+D Awards, celebrating advances in building technology. Even so, we wanted a way to honor built projects as well. Thus was born the Annual Design Review.  Read More...

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November 2009
If a Tree Falls
Using local materials is no joke
By Lance Hosey
Comedian Brian Regan has a joke about log trucks: “Sometimes, you’ll be out on a highway, and you’ll see two big trucks, each loaded up with logs, and they pass each other. I don’t understand. I mean, if they need logs over here, and they need them over there, you’d think a phone call would save a whole lot of trouble.”  Read More...

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August 2009
You Are the Brand
First up in a three-part series for job-seekers: the résumé. How to get your credentials considered? Target the pitch, nix the hard copy, and make that cover letter sing.
By: Edward Keegan
"Architects are good at taking complex problems and figuring out innovative solutions," says Marjanne Pearson, head of the eponymous design consulting and headhunting business. "Apply that to the resume process."
The job hunt starts with a pitch-perfect résumé, and design consultant-slash-headhunter Marjanne Pearson is the ultimate judge. She knows the business from the inside—despite a lack of architectural training, she’s been partner in a firm—and her ability to communicate and network are legendary. Pearson’s first client when she launched her own consulting practice in 1987 was Frank Gehry. Today, she offers a seemingly uninterrupted feed of news, information, and advice for designers as @NextMoon on Twitter.  Read More...

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September 2009
Picture Perfect
Part 2 in our series for job hunters considers the portfolio. Make sure there's context for each image—and that the print version is user friendly.
By: Edward Keegan
More than a visual complement to the text-only résumé, the portfolio needs to communicate a designer’s experience and skills on its own. Recruiter David Brown runs his own business placing people in architecture, engineering, interior design, and planning firms across the country, and has also worked in this capacity for Callison and for Starbucks’ in-house architectural department. So he’s seen enough of these picture books cross his desk to offer good advice on the best ways of telling the story of you.  Read More....

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September 2009
Small Steps Toward IPD
It may revolutionize the AEC industry, but not until IPD contracts and insurance precedents become more common. In the meantime, why not experiment with IPD at your own pace?
By: Amanda Kolson Hurley 
 
If any idea is being heralded as a game-changer for architectural practice, it’s integrated project delivery, or IPD. Those three letters, to enthusiasts, symbolize a future in which barriers between project team members are broken down, communication flows freely, and clashes and conflicts are obsolete (thanks to advances in BIM technology). For others, though, IPD—a collaborative process potentially involving owner, architect, general contractor, engineers, and subcontractors—seems like a Shangri-La vision whose implementation must be a very long way off.  Read More....