Off gallivanting -- back soon!

I'm off to the AIA National Convention in Miami for a few days, so I'll be reposting a few of the early posts from Intern 101 (for those of you new to the site) until middle of next week. Feel free to leave comments, and let me know if you'll be at the Convention as well--perhaps I'll see you there!

More great resources for budding architects

Many of you know of my blog as a resource for those already on the path to becoming an architect, whether you're in school, almost out of school, or have been out of school and working for a while now. But sometimes I get questions from people who what to know what it takes to be an architect: what kind of education do I need? What happens after college?

There are two great resources for those just in the very earliest part of their architectural careers (or thinking about undertaking an architectural career). One is a website maintained by the AIA called ARCHcareers.org, and it does a solid job of explaining the process from college to internship to licensure. (I especially appreciate that they mention that attending a prestigious school matters less than actually working, having a good portfolio, and being a decent human being.)

The original creator of that site is Dr. Architecture, who continues to answer questions at his own blog for anyone who has a question or concern about becoming an architect as well. Dr. Architecture, who in real life is the Assistant Director of the School of Architecture at UIUC, is like the A-Team of ARCHcareers.org: if you have a problem, and nobody can solve it, maybe he can help.

The meaning of the stamp

A recent project in my office required the services of a structural engineer to design a small metal frame indoors on an interior remodel. The structural engineer faxed the architectural project team his details to be drafted into the project's drawings. When it came time to stamp the construction documents for the city and for our and the owner's records, the project architect assumed that the architect's stamp would cover the whole set--after all, the engineer didn't issue a sheet in the drawings, and it was just a couple of sketches. Right?

Wrong. The structural engineer came in to stamp the one sheet on which an intern drafted his sketches...as it should be.

An architect's or engineer's professional stamp says that the architect or engineer vouches for the accuracy and appropriateness of the documents. The architect/engineer's stamp goes on the Contract Documents, which includes the drawings (the construction documents), the specifications, and any addenda that are issued after the CDs are issued. It goes on all these documents because these are the documents a contractor needs in order to build the project, and the stamp means that everything in the drawings and specs are correct, coordinated, and appropriate for the project. For the architect to allow their stamp to cover the structural engineer's sketches is to say that the architect 100% understands and approves of what the structural engineer sketched up. Furthermore, the structural engineer needs to review how his hand-drawn and faxed sketches were drafted into the architectural set. Is the engineer willing to rely on an intern over which he has no control or supervision to transcribe his notes and markups?

Ideally, the structural engineer would issue his own sheet, as empty as it might end up being, and he would stamp that sheet as well. If the engineer insists on having the architect draft up his sketches, then he must review them as well as stamp the sheet along with the architect.

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day to all my American readers (and happy whatever day to those of you in other countries, if you have this Monday off)! I hope all of you are enjoying some time off to hang out with family and/or friends, or maybe even catching up on some chores (like me) or rest (like my cat--oh wait, she rests every day).

I know I have a couple of questions in Lulu's Mailbag to answer, and I have a resume or two to redline and discuss. I'm in the throes of getting ready for a presentation out of town in a couple of weeks, so my energy is a bit diffused right now. I appreciate seeing all the new blog followers--it's rather humbling when I think that there are people actually wanting to know when I post something new here. Remember: this site works best when it's a two-way interaction, so if you have a question or a topic you 'd like to see discussed here, as always do please email me or ask it in a post comment.

Thanks again, and enjoy your day off!

Tooting your own (and your firm's) horn

I wanted to post something else towards the end of the week, but the time I would usually spend writing blog posts was spent this week writing press releases for an upcoming speaking engagement. I'm writing it on my own, and ultimately my firm's behalf, with a little input from a few internet sites and a friend who has done a few press releases in his time. It's important to remember that everyone at your firm is an architect first and a businessperson second, and marketing and PR tasks are way down on their list. It's not that we don't want to generate buzz about our firms and our accomplishments--it's just that the business of architecture gets in the way of tooting our own horns.

It's my hope (and hopefully one of your goals) that interns get to work on marketing and PR for your firms. It's enlightening to see your firm from the point of view of the firm partners as well as from the point of view of the general public. How can you and/or your firm contribute to a conversation about new zoning laws or perhaps ideas on home renovation? What service can you provide to building owners that no other firm can? What is it about your best projects that make them so special? And why should anybody care? Those are questions you can ask yourself when thinking about PR for your firm as well as your own accomplishments at or outside a firm.

More on saying what you mean, coming up...

I just got back into town after one of two speaking engagements and checked my work email to find more examples of written imprecision and casualness. While I appreciated my colleagues making sure that our clients were taken care of and staying on top of our projects, it's a bit disconcerting to see casualness in emails coming out of your office to new consultants. Here's the email I got from a consultant:

Lulu,

[The owner's rep] asked if you could provide me with a PDF of the [project name] lobby.
Can you turn off the notes and reflective ceiling plan... we just need a simple plan (PDF) that can be opened in Illustrator and used for a temporary signage plan.

Thanks,

[Consultant's name]

I forwarded the email to a colleague and asked him to send this consultant the plan he needed. He did so the very next day, attached to an email that said:

[Consultant],
Morning, please find attached a pdf that should work for ya
[Colleague]

It's the "ya" that is a little too informal for writing to someone with whom we have not worked before and have not met face to face. The brevity of the email is fine, although I would also include a "please let me know if you need anything else. Thanks, Lulu."

A couple of weeks ago, I emailed another colleague regarding whether she would be making a visit to the project where we were renovating a pharmacy, receiving area, and laboratory. I also complimented her on her Revit skills (she was finally learning the software after a long time working in CAD), and I offered to help her with it when she needed it. Her reply was this:

You are a rock star

I need to get meds figured out.

Here's the thing: She had had a medical scare that landed her in the hospital a couple of months before, so I couldn't quite tell if she was saying "My medication from that health scare is still not settled, so please be patient with me while I readjust at work" or if she was saying "I need to do some more on-site research and measurements so I can show the correct equipment and shelving in the medication storage area of the pharmacy" or if she was saying "I need to do some more work on the project's drawings before I go back to the site." Turns out she meant the second of those three responses, but how was I to know from the two short lines above? A simple "yes, I'll be going to the site to take some measurements and photos tomorrow morning" would have told me everything I needed to know. Instead, I had to call her to clarify the yes-or-no I was seeking.

I cannot stress enough to you how important it is to write clearly, and writing clearly is a product of thinking clearly. Have a clear purpose to your correspondence--do you need a drawing by a certain time, or specific information on a product?--and then read and reread your email to make sure the question is plain to understand.

Say what you mean and mean what you say, Part 1b

I recently received another slappy, sloppy, informal email from a colleague, and I realize that I'm going to have to post some of these on the blog just so you can point and laugh--um, I mean learn from them. But reading his email did more than mildly annoy me: it also sent a small shiver of memory down my spine.

Back when I first started as an intern at my firm, nearly ten years ago, I worked on a hospital and clinic project for a project manager who is no longer with my firm. A couple of years ago, this facility sued us and the contractor for a variety of design and construction issues--some legitimate and some not, in my opinion. As the only person from that project team left, it was up to me to sort through all the files and drawings--and yes, emails--from the project records to see if we'd done our job as architects. Talk about a walk down memory lane...well, it was more like being dragged down memory lane by one foot.

Two things struck me as I went through the records. One, my boss at the time kept horrible records. Supposedly, we had made decisions with the owners that absolved us of any wrongdoing in the project, but we had no records of those decisions--no meeting notes, no emails recapping important phone calls, nothing. And two, I wrote some pretty ridiculously informal and unclear messages to my engineers and contractors. Who would have ever thought that one day I'd have to send a $200-per-hour lawyer a copy of an RFI I had written as if I were Mr. T? Had I but known then, I would have thought twice about being cute in my correspondence. I pity the fool indeed.

As part of writing good emails, RFIs, and memos/letters, ask yourself two things: one, would it bother me if this was on a billboard? and two, would it bother me if this was submitted for evidence in court? Anything you work on for a project is submittable evidence, so keep good, clear records of all decisions and discussions, and make sure they're all G-rated and professional.