Celebrating Collaboration in All Forms

That workshop is great and all, but in and of itself, it won't create work for architects. It seems to me that one of the main problems for local creatives is that we are still looking for clients in this area. To be recognized nationally as the creative hotbed we are, we need to do more design work for clients outside of Detroit while keeping our offices here. We need to attend these types of events in cities other than Detroit.

Detroit is a long ways from directly competing with New York City and Chicago in this manner, but creatives here need to offer a compelling viewpoint based on their experiences living here. That is the asset that creatives in NYC or Chicago won't ever have. We have to cultivate a viewpoint beyond a single trendy style to a point that it can't be replicated. Selling that way of thinking to the world will put Detroit creatives back to work.

I think that we have to face it as Pierre Heftler once said to me, "You have the most difficult Profession of all" as he shook his head.

That is true.

But in the WPA days they had enough presence of mind to hire architects just as they did artists to create great things.

Never forget being out in Cedar Rapids, I believe, with a bright young friend and he commented about a beautiful log cabin Indian Museum saying that they really knew how to build them back then.

I told him that the building was indeed beautiful but that it was designed by an architect in the WPA days. He came up with Naaaw just some smart ole guys did it. So I took him into the building and sure enough there was a bronze plack on a wall indicating who the architect was and that it was a WPA Project.

What I simply don't get is why hasn't Baraq done something similar? Finally after all these years there is and Architect in the President's Cabinet. He's from Harvard they say. So why hasn't he protected us by advocating for work for us?

Foo on Harvard.

When an architect starts to work on a project it means that many more people will have work probably at a ratio of 20 to 1.

So the Architectural Schools are turning out Architects like hotcakes? Why are they admitting students into a profession that already has far more than enough professionals, some with lots of experiece.

If the Deans do not have moral convition to forewarn the young people that the field is overcrowded and extremely difficult then who will do it?

One of the side effects of this situation is the lack of integrity that is showing up in all aspects of architecture.

Someone better do something, and do it soon.

Bill

I think that we ought to get this straight...

Detroit has not had a legitamate Architect-Planner for over 25 years and what we see happening is the product of that.

The Medical Center was the product of that, Lafayette Park was the product of that.

Now we get the produce of the evil demolishers.

Detroit has no planning commission at all so everything is Ad Hoc.

And a lot of disgusting stuff comes from Ad Hoc and cackamamie "cool" stuff.

When is someone going to get serious?

Bill

Instead of focusing on the negative aspects of architectural practice in Detroit it's much more useful to be a part of a creative community that strives for something better.

The AIA, in not perfect but it is working with these young professionals and other groups to improve our state of affairs.

I, like many architects, thought the AIA was a rather useless organization time but I changed my mind about 4 years ago.

I changed my mind because I see an absolute need for architects to be part of a community that advocate for the architectural profession. Like it or not the AIA is the organization that can be the place where we come together as architects to discuss and solve the issues that plague the art and practice of architecture. It hasn't been perfect over the years but I believe it is getting better and with dedicated professionals we can make the AIA a great community.

I am currently on the AIA Board. Since becoming a Board member here is what I have witnessed in no particular order.

A strong Emerging Professionals group that provides ARE instructions and support for fledgling architects. They also organize the Pecha Kucha events that bring architects and other creative types together to share their work in this fast paced presentation format. Check it out http://www.pecha-kucha.org/night/detroit/

A strong awards program that now gives notoriety to all entries and helps to bring a view quality architecture to the public at large. http://www.aiami.com/Chapters/Detroit/awards/design/2009_detroit_design_awards.htm

Dedicated committees that provide education on codes, building enclosures and environmental issues.

A small firm forum that holds quarterly meetings focused on the issues specific to small firms. I recently attended the small firms forum in Birmingham and there was invaluable information on legal issues and marketing for small firms. This was especially good because we were able to ask question of the speakers and many issues important to us where addressed.

A legislative committee that works very hard to make sure the people in Lansing are working in the best interest of the environment and architects. Recently we assisted in the passage of the new ARE law which allows interns to take the ARE immediately upon graduation thus avoiding the problem of forgetting all of that good stuff you learned and having to relearn it 3 years later.

This committee is also working tirelessly to get the statute of limitations law changed. Did you know that Michigan has the longest period for statute of limitation (6 years) of any state in the nation. This affects our insurance rates. It used to be 2 years and the AIA Legislative committee has worked very hard to get it changed back to the 2 years. It's almost there.

We are also working with legislators to fashion new energy codes that will help make buildings in Michigan more sustainable.

The Annual Design retreat sponsored by AIA Michigan is a wonderful way to see and talk about award winning architecture and to escape with for a couple of days your colleagues to beautiful Torch Lake.

We are working hard to make the AIA Detroit Website a valuable portal of information for architects and the public. The current website is not really up to snuff. This new site will be up in running in a couple of months and it will hopefully be very useful to all members.

In the end all of these events and actions are done by architects because they believe that being a part of a community of architects is a worthwhile use of our time. We are here to help improve our life as architects and to show the public that architecture matters. Being a member is not so much, what is in it for me, but rather it is about the opportunity to be a part of this great effort to make the profession and our built environment a better place.

It would be great to have every architect join the AIA so we could be a more effective force for positive change.

Frank Arvan

Karen: Do you really think that part-time, single project,contract work at a competetive wage (Read'as low as you'll go') with no medical insurance benefits or 401K program and no possibility of continuous, predictable income is a legitimate and positive substitute for a career? Really?