The Toughest Rejection of All

October 20, 2009 in Architecture, Los Angeles, Recession, Unemployment by Linda W | No comments

The contrast in the job market from 18 months ago to now is night and day.  Rolling back to early 2008, I was starting to email my resume to architectural firms advertising for staff in Los Angeles, plus contacting firms that I was just interested in working for on the off chance they had any opportunities.  My skill set and professional experience being quite rare (I’ve working in pretty much every scale of building type as a project architect in my short career), I remember receiving multiple emails, if not phone calls, within 48 hours.  The market was still so hot there were not enough experienced people available, and a highly skilled individual had a nice selection of jobs to choose from.

For the past year, since the downturn really started to take hold and I was still employed, I would send my resume off to a few advertised jobs.  I quickly learned that myself and hundreds of other applicants were swooping on employment opportunities within hours of a posting going online.  In the couple of rare interviews I was granted (neither of which ended up in the an actual job offer), the interviewer would tell me that they had received hundred and hundreds of responses from a range of people that had the specific skill set required, to those that were well under or over qualified.  The whole job application process has become a desperate scramble to get noticed first, and then pray to be one of the lucky few selected for an interview.

Applying for an architectural position has become so demoralizing, it is hard to get excited about any future job prospects.  Personally, the hardest situation was when I would send off an application, and then hear absolutely nothing back on my inquiry.  It was as if I didn’t exist, along with the hundreds of other people who tried and failed to get through the tide of applications.  How, after some many years of excellent professional experience, can this market so undervalue what I have to offer? I knew I had to stop myself from thinking myself into a corner and feeling miserable.  Creative minds must be extended, otherwise we feel dull and uninspired, leading to a depressive mood that is hard to move beyond.  I figure that branching into design communications and writing is as good as opportunity as any in this dismal economy, and I can always say to myself, I tried my absolute best given the circumstances.  I would encourage all you well-qualified, unemployed architects to not get demoralized by our current situation.  Its not you, or me.  Its the market. We’re all valuable and we still have much to offer.

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Musical Jackhammers

October 19, 2009 in Architecture, Los Angeles by Linda W | No comments

dsc07427Walking around the idyllic gardens of Village Green, the birdsong has been strangely silenced by a constant “rat-tat-tat-tat.”  At just over 65 years of age, the well worn sewers around our condo complex are getting a much needed replacement.  Not an easy undertaking with over 650 condominium sewer lines to overhaul. Big kudos to the Property Management team and the HOA Board of Directors for keeping to push the upgrade work along.

Only a few buildings are being redone at a time, and I have no idea when on the schedule our building will be done, but it is heartening to see some work being carried out.  The lush landscape of trees in the Green has been an neverending sewer management problem for the maintenance staff, as tree and plant roots regularly grown into the aged drains and back up the plumbing system.  The maintenance staff are always very quick to attend to a sewer overflow (of which we have had happen to us a couple of times in the past few months), and they come into our patio with a sewer snake and clear the drain for free.  Of course, I’d prefer to never have to call them to unblock our sewer, but when you live in a Historic Landmark, one has to be accepting of these occasional inconveniences.

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The Mid-Century Reupholstery Challenge

October 16, 2009 in Architecture, Design, Los Angeles by Linda W | 2 comments

sofa-beforeQuite by chance I spotted this neglected old sofa in the trash area of my condo complex, and I was struck by how mid-century modern it looked.  Determined to save it, we hauled in back to our patio, and we’ve been enjoying it as our outdoor lounger freebie for a while. It still bears a faded tag with the year manufactured (1967), and its origin, the now defunct Barker Bros. furniture chain of Los Angeles. A sad story of the decline of a once iconic, luxury furniture and home decor store, Barker Bros. closed their doors and declared bankruptcy in the early 1990s, after over a hundred years in business.  The Barker Bros. factory and store, still standing in Downtown Los Angeles, is now an uber-hip loft conversion development for nouveau creative Angelenos.

As the weather turns cooler and wetter, leaving it outside was not going to work, so we talked about getting it reupholstered.  Learning about its manufacturing origins made me more determined to save the tired vinyl sofa with no legs and a resident spider colony.  As I’ve completed several mid-century furniture revival projects in the past few years (mainly with designer chairs) I’ve set myself an even bigger challenge - to reupholster this tired vinyl sofa myself, and bring it back to modern day glory.  I’d really like to use a recycled fabric, such as 100% recycled polyester, or a sustainable textile such as 100% pure wool, plus purchase some mid century reclaimed sofa legs if they are available.

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500 emails…and counting

October 15, 2009 in Architecture, Creativity, Writing by Linda W | No comments

To date I’ve sent out half a millenia of emails to inboxes of architects all over Los Angeles.  Partly dogged determination, partly habit, mostly motivation to make the best out of this depressing economy, it has been a very interesting exercise in self-promotion and provides valuable insight into the current mindset of the architectural community towards writing well about one’s work.  I’m pleased to report that my endless hours of Google Map search efforts have not been in vain, and I’ve received a couple of great writing commissions and several very interested inquiries into my work for future projects. My direct marketing experiment has uncovered that architects do want to represent their work eloquently and critically, both to their clients and to other architects, but if the in-house or personal skills in writing are lacking, then they rely on images or photographs to convey their message.  Several responses to my email were out of curiosity as to what I do and how I found them.  It is a bit strange that architects would be surprised they were “found”…I would have guessed that business visibility, whether it be in the profession or on the web, is a desirable trait.

From writing website copy to outlining magazine articles,  my intermittent architectural writing projects are a lot of fun, and I hope they become more frequent. After more than a decade of working in the profession as an architect, it is certainly seen as an advantage to my potential clients that I  have the depth of knowledge to write about architecture and architects in a way most writers cannot.

With regards to workload, I’m a little worried as to what will happen over the Thanksgiving / Christmas / New Years slowdown period in the construction industry.  Some ideas I have include offering to write humorous holiday letters for practices, or, my less favored option, is to spend more time writing for “Content Mills” - websites that pay writers a small fee for writing articles for them.  From my perspective, working on polishing an architectural marketing portfolio is a great way to spend these quiet weeks, ready for the 2010 Spring Economic Bounce-Back!  However, the reality I think will be closer to it being a marketing dormant, focus-on-survival period for many architects.  Spending money on an architectural writer may well be the furthest priority from architects’ minds, which is why finishing my ARE exams sounds like a brilliant pre-New Year’s resolution.

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A Grey Day in LA

October 14, 2009 in Architecture, Creativity, Los Angeles, Recession, Unemployment, Writing by Linda W | No comments

As late summer transitions into the LA fall, the city cools down and the cloudy days become more frequent.  Los Angeles on a grey day is a different place to its sun-kissed, stereotypically Southern Californian persona.  It feels quieter and more reflective.  Objects, buildings and colors are more sharply defined when you don’t have 80 degree days and sunglasses glare.  Sitting in a cafe having breakfast this morning, the more somber mood made me think about being here in this frenetic city, state and country.

While there are some positive signs of life in the USA economy, particularly in the stock market, the widespread opinion is that the employment and housing markets will still take years to recover.  Without stability in the housing and construction industries, the architectural profession is hit with a double whammy, given the soft labor market, thousands of architects and recent graduates looking for work, and developers waiting for funding for their stalled projects.  Even if the employment market springs back to life, the architectural profession, as it was hit in the early 1990s, will not be the same as the profession prior to the “Great Recession.”  A  huge swathe of currently unemployed architects will find work in different industries, and even once the economy recovers, they may never return to architecture full-time, myself included.

While potentially depressing, I haven’t given up hope of finding a way through this downturn.  Sure, I don’t have a steady job in architecture right now, but I do have some interesting, intermittent projects with architects, writing about their work.  Its as if what I have been doing for the past 10 years has all culminated in being able to branch into media and writing in an industry sector that is select and highly technical.  With so much to lose right now, I think I have no choice but to be as fully vested as I can be in my new writing venture.  As the rain starts to fall, is Los Angeles painted in more technicolor vividness and creative possibility  for me than ever before.

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Five Secrets to Thriving in Design Studio

October 13, 2009 in Architecture, Creativity, Design by Linda W | 2 comments

So you’re working through your architectural degree, and you’re struggling with design studio. No matter what you seem to do, or how hard you try, great grades are elusive and you don’t understand why your professor thinks your project is, at best, competent, but boring. At first I was going to name this post “Five Secrets to Surviving Design Studio” but I decided against it because it sounded a little desperate.  The whole point of design studio is to hone a young architect / designer’s design skills and prepare them for a career of defending their design ideas to less design-enlightened clients. As a former studio tutor, here are a few tips that could help turn a negative studio experience into an enjoyable, creative one.

One: Find a unique voice. Create a project that you really like formally and conceptually, and is entirely your own.  Don’t just follow the herd or what your studio desk mate happens to be doing.  Don’t try to develop a project to please your professor, because you may be surprised at the lack luster review you get of it. Your work will be judged on its own merits, and if your project looks and feels forced, you won’t have the confidence to defend it.

Two: Don’t take criticism of your design work personally.  This is very important, both in school and in your future career. Get used to the fact that not everyone will like your projects, especially real world clients.  Design professors are there to help you see different, and at times weaker view points of your work.  This is all good, constructive feedback, and even if you don’t at first agree with it, realize that a harsh though thoughtful criticism of your project will be 100 times more helpful than a positive review lacking detail.

Three:  Exude confidence.  By confidence, I don’t mean arrogance, which, by the way, is a huge turnoff to studio professors.  Being arrogant means you’re not listening to valuable critical feedback.  Being confident in your project work is strongly linked to having a unique idea that you enjoy exploring.  If you are confident in the presentation, both verbally and visually of your work, then your belief in it will also support your professor’s belief in your work too.

Four: Don’t be afraid to take risks. You’re in design school - there is no more nurturing and academically stimulating environment to explore your ideas.  Explore design from other design disciplines, such as art, media, popular culture, photography, or, look to non-design disciplines.  Early in my architectural degree, I did a whole design project based on surgical amputation (of limbs).  Morbid, I know, but approach my design work from a totally different perspective gave me freedom from the banal and unlocked possibilities for my design work that I hadn’t even realized existed.

Five: Enjoy the design freedom.  Design should not be a hardship.  A former professor of mine told me that the architectural degree course was only five years, and it would be over all too quickly.  At the time, in my second year, I felt like it would never end, but he was right.  School is a golden opportunity to let loose with your creative ideas, so rather than stressing about your grades, try to relax and enjoy the design process.

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Object Envy - Maharam Design 9297

October 12, 2009 in Design, Object Envy by Linda W | No comments

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Ever since I discovered Maharam, after they released their Charles and Ray Eames textile line, I’ve been a huge fan of this New York based, fourth generation family run fabric house.  In the 1960s, Maharam ventured into contract textile production, a market that didn’t really existing at the time, focusing on developing texiles for commercial and theatrical applications.  Among their 20th Century Modern Design Classics, by the Eames and Alexander Girard, my favorite design is No. 9297 by Josef Hoffman.  Designed in 1913, Design 9297 was never commercially produced until now, thus it was never given a name beyond its sample number.  With densely woven, almost tapestry-like feel, given half a chance I would reupholster most of my furniture in this amazing design.  In rich colorways ranging from deep raspberry / fushia to moody grey blue, the decoratively geometric, striking pattern would look amazing in accent cushions or an entire sofa.

I’m so looking forward to seeing this amazing fabric on a piece of furniture and as it so happens, a friend of mine just had a mid-century chair reupholstered in Design 9297.  I’ve already warned her to chain it up or secure the chair down to the floor, lest, in a moment of weakness, I pick it up and run away with it.

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Taking the Creative Leap

October 10, 2009 in Book Review, Creativity, Writing by Linda W | No comments

In my trawling of Amazon’s limitless supply of self-help books, I came across a writing book with overwhelmingly positive reviews.  It’s called “Becoming a Writer” by Dorothea Brande, and, wait for it…it was written in 1934.  Curious at its creativity unleashing potential, I ordered it and eagerly started thumbing through the slim text upon its arrival. What I had read about the book was that it was perhaps one of few texts out there that doesn’t teach you how to write, but shows you how to become a writer.  An important distinction, given that it often isn’t the lack of technical skill in writing that holds a would-be-writer back, but the consistent ability to write; to be greatly inspired on a regular basis, and to see the world, as Dorothea puts it “with innocence of eye.”

One of the first startling observations Brande makes in the book is that there are dual parts of a writer’s character; one is the conscious, rational, logical and critical.  The other, the genius, emotional, and creative subconscious. When you start the write, you often feel self conscious…a great story, that you know is just waiting to be told (your subconscious self) is embattled by logical, self critical reality (the conscious self).  There in lies an amazing observation.  If we just stop ourselves from being critical of our work, until we’ve finished at least our first draft, and allow our subconscious creativity to flow, unhindered…we can go on the create great things.

As I was reading this, I couldn’t help but make connections between Brande’s advice and my own experience in architecture.  As designers, we are so influenced by what we see and it’s hard not to imitate stylistically what is in vogue at the moment.  Truly unique work comes deep from within us, and I can recall during times of my optimal creative strength, being in a mode of drawing or making models and being completely absorbed in my work.  Enjoying the process of making, without judging the outcome.  Architectural design is so aligned with the creative process of writing.  Thank you, Dorothea.  I look forward to finishing your wonderful book.

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Resisting the Government Handout

October 1, 2009 in Creativity, Recession, Unemployment by Linda W | No comments

Our family unit has survived two layoffs, the first one in May 2009, and my one in August. So we’re coming up to 6 months, living on a greatly reduced household income, finances and bills paid up-to-date and intact, and we haven’t needed to collect an unemployment check yet. We’re making enough to stay afloat financially, pay all our bills and feel happily content with our efforts. I feel slightly crazy and very lucky to be in this position.

How did we do it? We had prior warning at the beginning of this year that one of our jobs was not very stable. From the time we heard this until know, we’ve done a lot of cutting back of our household expenses and took the reins with our household budget. We starting buying our groceries at Albertsons rather than Wholefoods. I started a little vegetable patch in our patio, which has netted us some wonderful organic produce. We cancelled our non-essential monthly subscriptions, purchased more in cash and starting watching our credit card spending very carefully. In fact, I put my credit card with the biggest limit in a very safe place so I wouldn’t be tempted to spend on it. Now, I can’t recall where my very safe place is.

Hardest of all, I’ve sold some of our beloved mid-century furniture collection. We had too much furniture in the first place, but some of these pieces we were intending to keep for a lifetime. On the bright side, original collectable pieces don’t fluctuate in value, so we’ve really been sitting on a tidy little cash deposit in the form of an Eames Lounge Chair.

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Village Green in the LA Times

September 25, 2009 in Architecture, Los Angeles by Linda W | No comments

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The Los Angeles Times recently featured an article on Village Green in the weekend edition.  It was great to see our unique condominium complex written up, however there was no mention of the fantastic community activities we’ve enjoyed recently.  Every year, the Village Green stages two free jazz concerts, which have become outdoor institutions with the residents and their guests.  It is amazing being able to walk a few short steps outside our front door to the grassy meadow, unfurl our picnic rug and sip Savignion Blanc with our friends, the strains of a jazz band in the background.  Children with their families come out in force, informal games of touch and football spontaneous erupt amongst groups of people, and everyone has a great afternoon.

Most recently, the Village Green has started to show ‘Movies in the Green’.  On cooler summer evenings, we’ll head out and watch a movie on a 14 foot inflatable screen with surround sound, munching on free, freshly popped popcorn.  We’ve watched “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Ghostbusters” so far, and I really hope they continue the movie series as a regular event.

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So, you want to be an Architect.

September 23, 2009 in Architecture by Linda W | No comments

It is a surprisingly common story among members of the architectural profession - you’re at a party or event somewhere and you start talking with a stranger. You tell them that you are an architect, and their eyes light up. “I wanted to be an architect, once upon a time,” they say, “but I ended up studying XYZ instead.” Their impression of architects, and the profession at large, is that architects do a lot of fun design work, we wear a lot of black, drink a lot of coffee and talk in big words like “juxtaposition” and “urban contextualization.” We appear to live well and be surrounded by well designed accoutrements, such as furniture, gadgets, and of course, architectural houses.

I love being an architect. It is, without a doubt, a fascinating, broad line of work that can take you from designing houses, to restaurants, to airport terminals. Being an architect automatically gives you street cred in terms of any design field, be it industrial design, furniture design or fashion. Our broad education and training in critical thinking allows architectural graduates to apply themselves in many different fields of design, academia or business.

There are industry truths I will reveal to temper the popular opinion of architects in society. What we do is often misrepresented and misunderstood. Architects actually do a lot of project management and paper shuffling. The designing / modeling / sketching phase of a project is only a blip in a very long time frame of gaining city approvals, negotiating with builders, managing consultants, delays in construction schedules and sleepless nights. We are notorious for undervaluing and undercharging for the actual work that we do. Like artists, our end goal is to see the vision on paper actually get built, but we spend so much more time than there is fee to hone a design detail, or rework a design because a client has changed their mind. Again. Architects are, typically, terrible business people.

After so many years working as an architect, I’ve made a conscious decision to write about architects in order to help others better understand the value of architectural services. I can provide insight into what it is really, truly, like to be a successful architect.

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300 emails and counting…

September 21, 2009 in Architecture, Writing by Linda W | No comments

Getting the message out there that I’m available for architectural writing projects hasn’t been easy. To date, I’ve sent out over 300 emails to architecture firms in the Los Angeles area. Statistically, for every 100 emails, I’ve received 1 reply about a potential writing project, or a “thank you, but we don’t have anything for you” email. So I’ve been contacted by 3 firms so far.

How do I feel about this? Pretty good, actually. If I send out 1000 emails to architects near and far, I can expect 10 replies. If I send out 5000 emails, I’ll probably get 50 replies. Not all of these opportunities will become projects, but it’s very encouraging to know there is interest out there for my services. I would be really happy with a steady stream of little writing projects…if only it didn’t take so long to find the contact details for architectural firms through Google searches.

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Architectural Writing

September 18, 2009 in Architecture, Creativity, Writing by Linda W | No comments

In an attempt to spread my job hunting net as wide as possible, I’m looking to finding a position as an architect, designer or writer. I think that I am uniquely qualified to write about architecture and other design professions. The thought of writing for print publications and proposals is really exciting to me. My experience in writing has grown from working in the marketing and business development areas of my previous workplace. I know the fundamentals of what a good fee proposal should be, and the written text often suffers due to lack of time.

I contacted some business development people that I worked with in my previous job, and they were very encouraging about the prospect of working in an allied field to architecture. Architects are a very peculiar design professional. We like certain, specific concepts and objects, such as modernism or contemporary furniture, and we quickly form opinions about new information. Architects are such visually oriented people, we can take in a lot of information and quickly decide if it works or not. I think the same logic can be applied to architectural writing. I think if it sounds right, feels right, first time, architects will warm to it.

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Hello, Unemployment.

September 15, 2009 in Architecture, Creativity, Recession, Unemployment by Linda W | No comments

Just over 3 weeks ago, I was laid off from my job in an architectural firm. Times are tough, people. In many ways, I am grateful I had a full / almost full-time job for the first year of this recession nightmare. In that time, I’ve had a chance to adjust and to some extent answer the question of “what if I was laid off?” I really didn’t see it coming, but then I wasn’t really looking for signs.

With the number of talented, experienced and out of work architects here in Los Angeles, I know I have a very tough road ahead to find another full time job. Conversely, this could be the most amazing opportunity to explore my design ideas without the pressure of a career breathing down my neck. I now empathize with the thousands of other creatives out there wondering, “why me?”. I know I’m not alone, and that knowledge is strangely comforting. We’re all going to have to find out way out of this energy-sapping environment, one way or another. I have to hope some of us will come out the other side better and stronger for it.

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Intelligentsia, where art thou?

June 5, 2009 in Coffee, Los Angeles by Linda W | 2 comments

For months now, we’ve been waiting with baited breath for the concept Intelligentsia coffee bar on Abbott Kinney to open. February 2009 has been and gone, and finally…could it be this week?

Ever since happening across an Intelligentsia cafe during a sweltering September weekend in Chicago, I’ve been a huge fan. For the past couple of years we would trek out to Silver Lake to buy freshly roasted coffee beans and people-watch in the crowded blue and white tile terrace. Here you expect perfect crema on your espresso and flourishes of latte art. Hurry up, Intelligentsia Venice! La Pavoni is dying to meet you.

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How the Recession Can Make Us Happier

May 8, 2009 in Creativity, Recession by Linda W | 4 comments

Check out my recently published content on AC:

How the Recession Can Make Us Happier

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Urbanites like green grass too

March 28, 2009 in Architecture, Los Angeles, Renovation, Writing by Linda W | No comments

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On a beautiful Saturday afternoon, we took a walk in the grounds of Village Green.  This 68 acre urban park with 629 privately owned condominiums is an amazing hidden secret in Los Angeles.  Built in the early 1940s in response to the Garden City Movement lead by Ebenezer Howard and Clarence Stein’s “Radburn Plan”, architects Reginald Johnson, Lewis Wilson, Edwin Merrill and Robert Alexander set out to create a community for the automobile age.  Over 60 years later, Village Green is a very successful example of a enduring utopian housing experiment, winning an AIA Twenty Five Year Award in 1972, and distinguished as a National Historic Landmark in 2001.

The central garden space of the community is divided into three areas - the Main Green, West Green and East Green. The Main Green is an impressive green swathe of immaculately kept lawn, with a small golf practice area on one end. The sound of rustling leaves from a light breeze in the canopies of the trees and the twitter of birds accompanied us on our walk. Young couples entered the green from their condos (the front doors of all of the units face either the Greens or a Garden Court), then a group of people walked past us, laughing, picnic rug and ball in hand. Mothers pushed prams along the paths. The sense of community is strong, with neighbors encouraged to make eye contact and say hello, and there are social activities that are organized by the various committees formed by residents of Village Green.  We can’t wait to move in!

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Out with the Old Rules, in with the New

March 27, 2009 in Architecture, Creativity, Recession by Linda W | No comments

Nothing like a Happy Hour and friends to get the ideas machine cranked up and the conversation into top gear (well, maybe 2nd or 3rd gear, depending on the number of drinks). It is astonishing how the economic crisis we are currently facing is changing, perhaps forever, the way we approach our work. My new ex-colleagues are excited at the prospect of producing design drawings and models in the spare room, doing projects they enjoy with clients that they have a great relationship with. The ultimate in job fulfillment - working on what you like, when you like, and getting paid well for it. Sign me up!

The ability to telecommute to work appears to be a productive, time-flexible way to earn a living, but it is not a mode of working in architecture that has been encouraged.  The traditional studio environment has colleagues in the same room together, sharing the same work tables, files, code interpretations and white-out.  What is there now, in an economic environment where the most competitive businesses will be those willing and able to adapt quickly to a shifting market, to stop a successful architectural studio comprised of experienced individuals collaborating from satellite locations?  There are the significant advantages of sharing the workload, but maintaining ultra-low overheads and the flexibility in time to set your own schedule.  Thanks to high speed internet you could be patched into your studio partner’s web cam all day long, though you’d have to be satisfied flicking virtual, not actual rubber bands at each other.  A strong dose of self discipline mixed with cement bags full of self motivation must part of the successful business recipe, but there seems to be no better time than now, when larger architectural firms are getting hammered with high overheads and shareholders interests to take care of, to take on the market.

Then again, could be just the beer talking.

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Object Envy - VOLA

March 25, 2009 in Object Envy by Linda W | No comments

Image courtesy of VOLA

Image courtesy of VOLA

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What’s up, Derrick?

March 23, 2009 in Los Angeles by Linda W | No comments

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I enjoy going to Kenneth Hahn State Park for a leisurely walk with the dog. Not only can you get the most unreal 270 degree view of all of LA from Downtown to the Ocean from atop the former Baldwin Hills Reservoir, but it is also right next to the Ladera Heights / Baldwin Hills oil fields. Watching the oil derricks quietly and purposefully pumping away in the foreground while looking over the hill to the Pacific sums up the surreal urban environment that the city of Los Angeles is.

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