Small Project Design

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  • 1.  There is hope out there.

    Posted 12-13-2010 10:09 AM
    This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Small Project Practitioners and Residential Knowledge Community .
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    Dear Knowledge Community,
    I am saddened to hear about David Ludwig's career ending on a sore note, although I fear this won't be the first or last of these stories. I wanted to express my respect to architects in this position, for I have also faced this a few years ago in my practice.

    However, I want to portray a message of hope to all the residential and small project practicioners out there.  The midwest, from where I practice took longer to be affected by the economy, but is still hanging in there. I feel they are recovering, due to the more conservative culture in the Midwest. I believe it is just as much the psychology of a recession that affects people than the economy. 

    We are doing well, in fact this year has been one of our best. This is not stated as bragging, but a reminder of the cycle of life and our creative process. I believe the midwestern conservative culture will rebuild this nation starting in the middle, and working its way to both of the coasts.

    Although the nation looks for renewable energy, oil, coal and wind proove to be the strongest in our state. 30% or our local energy is already powered by wind.  Oil prices have reopened the North Dakota oil fields, billions of dollars will be produced in the next decade alone.  Our coal power plants have been updated to be the cleanest in the nation, but also sit right on top of the coal mining, so our energy is the cheapest around.

    Our governor has declared a need for 4,000 to 6,000 housing units in the areas of oil; to date less than 2,000 have been created for all the oil workers.  By the way, the oil people are making more than we do as architects.
    Come on over to the western part of the state, or at least check it out.

    People once went west, perhaps it's time to head back east.

    A last note of hope. Believe in yourself! You are all creative people. One needn't stay in architecture to express oneself creatively.  You are designers, so creatively design a new path for yourself. Take courage!

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    Philip Stahl AIA
    Stahl Architects
    Fargo ND
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  • 2.  RE:There is hope out there.

    Posted 12-14-2010 08:05 AM
    It is very unfortunate for those like Mr. Ludwig who happen to practice in the epicenter of the housing crisis. Many folks don't understand, but the CA housing crash happened in 2005, not 2007 like it did for the majority of the country. Because of CA, we were able to see the avalanche coming our way, but many wanted to get that last project in before the bust and got nailed for it. 

    There are pockets of the country that are doing better than others. In the Metro-Atlanta area there is a vast difference between the health of our northern suburban areas and those of the in-town urban areas. The conservative suburbs, like Marietta where Newt G. is from, over built their housing and were deemed #17 on the top 100 foreclosed areas in the country in 2009. The more liberal areas like Decatur, where the Indigo Girls are from, haven't seen a dip in property value and are in fact going up! I have to politely disagree with Mr. Stahl's political distinction of housing success. I doubt conservative or liberal values have anything to do with the success or lack of failure in certain pockets of the nation. 

    The areas that over built the typical American subdivisions of 2 floor plan communities of cheaply built McManisions that require a lengthy commute to the city center, were most deeply affected by the property value crash! These are the places with the better schools where you can buy much more house for less, yet the fuel expense of the commute easily balances things out not to mention wasting 3 hours of your life on the road instead of with your kids which most can't put a price on. This is where the majority of American families think they want to be and Exxon and BP thank you. This development model was no coincidence. 

    There are too many areas of the country that have been swallowed up by Corporate America. Two generations ago we saw the family farm replaced by the factory farm. This generation we saw the diversity and personality of Ma & Pa shops be replaced by one rural American retail monopoly, AKA Walmart. This, along with our tax haven rewards for outsourcing the factories these people relied on for work, has left rural America with nothing local to generate GDP. Now some areas are so miserable that even Walmart has left. Local economies have been destroyed by this mentality that everything needs to go corporate (and therefore overseas). For our own good, we need to restore balance and common sense in a country full of polarized extremists calling themselves patriots while depending on the illegals they want to kick out of the country, but can't live without. 

    Giant corporations have an upside, but the communities with strong local economies are doing much better right now and this should be a wake up call! Corporate America will eventually spend their trillions of dollars they currently sit on once the little guys have slugged it out and brought the economy back up to a safe fiscal place. Rich people don't buy low and then sell low. That's what we little guys have no choice to do, but there are less of us little guys left after the Corporate take over of America, so we all just sit and wait for someone else to do the hard work.

    Mr. Ludwig, I truly understand your point! I'm sorry you're winding down your career at a time like this. I spent my entire college career working construction and believe I was given many advantages with the experience of actually putting 2x4s and plywood together rather than just drawing it. The AIA should give continuing education credit to those that get their hands dirty actually building something. Habitat for Humanity could be a great opportunity to learn and earn and maybe it already is? Due to the illegal hiring practices of builders during the last decade, it's difficult for Architecture students to get the same experience that I got in the early 90s. I know very few Architects that have designed a wood framed building and the overwhelming majority of structures built in this country are wood framed single family homes of which we are designing only a small fraction. Gee, I wonder why our profession has suffered for so long in this country. We aren't even designing the majority of our buildings. We're too concerned about designing large public buildings and not concerned enough about designing the buildings that everyday people spend the majority of their time. The buildings that the majority of Americans have a personal attachment.

    The AIA needs to focus on getting Architects involved in the largest share of the work that regular people actually care about! SINGLE FAMILY HOUSING! Until people spend most of their time in Libraries or Banks, until they fall in love with their hospital or strip mall, I don't think we'll ever get across to them! That's why they don't know us or care about us. Only a small fraction of their lives are spent in commercial buildings and very few people aspire to rent an apartment all of their life. There's no place like HOME!!!!!

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    Eric Rawlings AIA
    Owner
    Rawlings Design, Inc.
    Decatur GA
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