For most of us in the architectural profession, this past year has been painful. Many have lost their jobs, and a good amount of us have had pay cuts, which is equally stressful with the amount of strain it puts on our families. However I have taken the attitude that even though the time is difficult, you just need to push through it. Because even with the few jobs that are out there, the competition is fierce. I interviewed for a new job a couple of weeks ago to try and get my salary back to normal just to be able to provide for my family better, and I was up against 15 other people. That was just how many they interviewed, who knows how many resumes they actually received. Because I think the latest statistic that I heard was that close to 30% of the architectural profession is without a job.
I also believe you need to prepare for the worst. Now for a lot of us, stashing money in a savings account is not an option. But there are other things that can be done. My local AIA chapter (AIA Columbus) recently held a seminar for the recently unemployed on various issues to consider if you decide to work for yourself. Believe it or not, a lot of architectural firms get their start during a recession (article). Attend AIA meetings and other events and start networking with colleagues. Let them know who you are and what you are up to. Even though they may not have work to take you on at that time, keeping an open line of communication with others will put you in the loop when new jobs are available and that personal connection may help you get your foot in the door. Because it truly is not always what you know, but who you know.
I had the great pleasure of spending some time with Edward Mazria from Architecture 2030® last week at the AIA Ohio Valley Regional Convention. Architecture 2030 was a major sponsor of the AIA Ohio Affordable Green Home Design Competition, and Ed Mazria sat in on the Best of Show jury, along with presenting, “Architecture: On the Brink of Greatness” to the convention attendees. Therefore as I start posting season two of the e2 series, I am going to skip to the last episode on Architecture 2030 and hope you get inspired as I did.
Back in November I announced the AIA Ohio boards acceptance of a proposal to host a statewide design competition (here) that would be run by the AIA Ohio Committee On The Environment (COTE). Well after 6 months of work we are wrapping things up and getting the word out to the AIA Ohio membership. Registration for the competition is set to open on June 19th.
AIA OHIO AFFORDABLE GREEN HOME DESIGN COMPETITION
It has been a difficult but rewarding experience to organize and coordinate an event like this. My only hope at this time is that we receive a good amount of submissions and that we can raise enough money to provide the stipends necessary for our winning design teams to produce final documents of their designs.
So I encourage you to visit the competition website at www.aiaohiogreenhome.com and consider entering if you are eligible.
I was able to set up a sneek peak preview of the Ohio State University Solar Decathlon project through the local AIA Committee On The Environment which I chair. Although the project it in the early stages of construction, it was a good chance to hear from the architecture students on what went into the design of the project and in general learn more about the competition. So it was more of an informal question answer type presentation than tour. But the general idea was to make the local architecture community that OSU will be apart of the 2009 Solar Decathlon. We are hoping to tour the project again when it is closer to compeletion in September and hopefully I can make the journey to D.C. to see the project sitting in the mall.
So in the meantime enjoy the few pictures that I have and visit the projects website to learn more. OSU Solar Decathlon Website
The Carbon Neutral Curriculum Materials Project is a joint research effort between members of the Society of Building Science Educators, the American Institute of Architects, and a private donor, the purpose of which is to provide practitioners, faculty and students with the means to meet the 2030 Challenge — that is, to be able to design and construct buildings to a state of carbon neutrality by the year 2030.
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