NCARB Ad Compaign

I was flipping through a copy of Dwell the other day, and I came across this advertisement from NCARB:

NCARB is the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, which is the organization that forces architects to undergo at least seven different wallet-drains, I mean exams, in order to become an architect. I think it's safe to say this group should have their finger on the pulse of the industry.

And this is why I found the ad disgraceful and a confirmation of why I deviated from the profession (into structural engineering). First statement: "change the WORLD your WAY," a great summary of how many architects see themselves: as self-prophesied global impact changers. Okay, fine, we all know architects are egomaniacs. We kinda love them for that. Let's continue...

"The demanding academic schedule. The years of internship. The rigorous exam. All to earn a license and call yourself an architect. No one said it would be easy. If you're going to change the world, would you want it any other way?"

So if I knew little about the profession, I would surmise that architects are most proud of 1. Having a really laborious education, 2. Having a really long internship, 3. Taking a hard exam, and the best one, 4. Simply being able to call yourself an "architect."

I'm sure NCARB had good intentions for this kind of campaign, but I think their aiming is quite off. Architects are proud of being expert collaborators, cutting-edge technical experts, deep carers for both the built and natural environments, and creators of buildings that -- yes -- change the world around you. But most of my (licensed) architect friends could pretty much care less what people call them.

Just for a counter-example, I find this short article, despite it being a sponsored advertisement, a far better motivator for one to consider becoming an architect:
http://www.archdaily.com/358419/clients-want-to-know-how-to-get-your-dream-home/

Here's more on the NCARB campaign:
http://www.ncarb.org/becoming-an-architect/change-the-world

My soon-to-be-wife, an architect, got a raise after becoming licensed. How much? 2.5%. While she loved the company, she also has the mathematical skills to figure that that raise would take her years to pay back the cost of the exams. To be fair, you need a license to make it into any top-tier position at a firm. Period. So it has that value -- heaven forbid that be part of an ad campaign. But no, we're left advertising to the world that we aspire to simply being able to call ourselves "architects." Comon, NCARB, do better.

Facebook Favorites Privacy

After pulling my hair out and nearly deciding to quit Facebook altogether, I finally came across this post that helped explain how to control the privacy of your "Favorites."

For example, I was doing my regular check-up on my online presence, and I found that Facebook was sharing with the world several new "Favorites" of mine, such as music, books, and other... well, private things. I was confounded because to my knowledge I had set "Friends of Friends" as pretty much the circle of privacy for everything.

So to a solution:

1. View your profile
2. Click "Likes" under the "Apps" section
3. There you will find the section labelled, "Favorites"
   (seriously, monkeys are doing FB's semantic design)
4. Click "Edit" and finally you may discover like I did, that all this is still Public

To be fair, I don't think I ever edited these privacy settings because I never added anything to my "Favorites." But what I've learned is that "Liking" things automatically adds those things to my "Favorites."

Can someone inform FB that there is a world of difference between "Liking" something and calling something my "Favorite?"

Sparkframe

While working several years in structural engineering / architecture and dealing with the crude marriage between email and Revit, I decided to finally push out a platform to provide what I see as a much better way to communicate with written words (emails / texts / chats / etc). This add-in for Revit, Sparkframe, provides a straight-forward way to continue communicating but adds some key features: in particular, live chat, direct linking to BIM elements, screenshot attachments, and simple-to-use task management.

It may sound like another personal information management system (i.e. Outlook), but because everything is directly tied to Revit elements, workflows can be more efficient, consistent, and less error-prone.

So instead of emailing a team member about "the wall between gridlines A-2 and A-5," send your comment to that person and attach the actual wall to the comment.

In the same way, instead of writing on a post-it "re-layout bathrooms," add yourself a task in Sparkframe attached to the actual bathroom.

By doing so, design intentions and decisions (DIDs) are made more clear, team members can follow along better (managers in particular), and design processes can be more easily transferred from one member to another, adding flexibility to design teams.

And what's better? It's all browser-based, meaning accessibility from mobile devices. More clarity, more flexibility, less errors. Check it out:

Sparkframe

Adam

3D Doodling

This project was announced very recently on Kickstarter:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1351910088/3doodler-the-worlds-first-3d-printing-pen


While the immediate application is interesting for a design studio, I think combining it with a more rigorous digital model could open many doors to increasing the production of study models for an architectural design studio. For instance, this approach could produce the paper stencils over which a 3Doodler could produce a  quick wireframe for construction.