Episodes

It takes 5 people to answer 3 questions on this, The Hypothetical Show. Three questions of varying degrees of absurdity are discussed, but all will brighten up your Holiday week.

Answering the question of what exactly does a typical day in the life of an architect look like is nearly impossible - but we are going to give it a go. Typical days for an architect vary wildly and are more often than not a reflection of your role, where you work, the market sector, the size of the firm, and how far along in your career you have journeyed.

It’s that gift-giving time of the year and if you have an architect in your life, you know that getting them a gift is rough since they are sooo particular – but that’s why we’re here. Now in its 11th consecutive year, Life of an Architect is once again putting out the definitive gift guide for architects so you don’t have to figure these things out for yourself.

The phrase "Virtual Office" has a much different ring and connotation to it now than it did just a few months ago. As more and more people work from home (more times than not in a spare bedroom or from the dining room table) what changes will take place within the architectural profession moving forward? Has anyone else noticed that everyone seems to be nesting in their makeshift home offices these days?

When I say the word “architect” what do you imagine? It seems that most people imagine architects in black clothing, heavy rimmed glasses, and they most-likely possess other-worldly glue skills. We are going to set the record straight regarding the disconnect between the public’s perception and the reality of architects.

At one point or another, every architecture student or graduate has a portfolio of their work that they have agonized over creating. Portfolios are important, they demonstrate your range of skills and will most likely play a significant role in whether or not you land your dream job … so why are so many of them completely ineffective? Today we are talking about the “Perfect Portfolio” and what that actually means. [Note: If you are reading this via email, click here to access the on-site audio p...

Do you have architectural visualization skills? Maybe you’re asking yourself “what does even mean?” Well, you are in luck because today on the Life of an Architect Podcast we are dedicated to discussing all things related to architectural visualization and graphics and we have the perfect guest, Alex Hogrefe.

Understanding the physical behavior of the building as a system and how it impacts the energy efficiency, durability, comfort, and indoor air quality is pivotal in the creation of high-performance buildings. This means we are talking Building Science Fight Club with Christine Williamson.

Leaving your mark on the place where you live is built into the DNA of most architects and designers. This can manifest itself in many different ways but for many of us, working on the place where we live is the most obvious choice. Today we are talking about Renovating your House – the good, the bad, and (hopefully not) the ugly.

If you’ve ever dreamed of starting your own design firm, maybe you’ve just graduated from school, perhaps you’ve worked for another firm and seen first-hand what not to do and decided it’s time to go out on your own, today is the show for you because today’s topic is “Starting a Design Firm”.

How does scale factor into the practice of architecture? For any architect, scale and proportion are two skills that appear to be the most challenging to master.

Ep. 054 dives into what makes a great architectural leader, exploring communication, responsibility, and the impact of leadership styles.

Do you have a design culture in your office? Why is it that some firms have it and others don’t? A culture of design isn’t something that just happens, there has to be a plan, it needs to be cultivated, and even then, without the right sort of people in place, you might be fighting an uphill battle.

When an architect goes to work … what happens? Do they pull out a pen and sketch paper? Maybe they power up some hardware – quite possibly a bit of both. Ask and architect what they need to do their job and they’ll all give you different answers but we’ll give you the real scope on today’s episode … Architectural Tools

We are all familiar with the phrase “style over substance” but those words might mean something else to architects. Is this considered a negative concept in every circumstance? We discuss those notions in this episode.

We have special guest Marlon Blackwell, FAIA on the podcast today and if you are not intimately familiar with his work, I am excited to be in a position to share it with you. Marlon and I go back a long way and it seemed only fitting that we should finally ask him to be on the podcast.

For every architect and designer, there are objects out there that resonate for them in a profound manner and can even shape their design philosophies. These can be buildings, products – even materials – but no matter what you call them, they are "Objects of Design".

Today we are talking about the design process and how different that process is between residential projects and commercial projects. While you might think that this is a conversation about scale, budgets, and complexities, it's really about something quite different.

Architects are using technology more and more and with each passing day, more of this technology is available from the comforts of your cellphone or smart tablet. This list has been curated and categorized to provide the best mobile apps for architects.

A lot can happen in just a few weeks. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, business as usual is anything but … and Andrew and I felt like we should interrupt our regularly scheduled podcast to take some time and talk about working from home – something that we all are going to have to deal with for the foreseeable future. Since so many of the people we listen to this podcast are single or small office practitioners, we thought that instead of running our scheduled (and completed - DOH!) podcast episode – w...