Stairway to Architecture (beta)

Stairway to Architecture
(beta)

kindergarten charts

The profession of architecture, as it is practiced in America today is undergoing profound and significant changes.
The fundamental purpose of our building codes is changing; sustainable design criteria are being established; joint venture project delivery now dominates the top of the market; the introduction of BIM systems challenges the fundamental relationships between the Owner, Architect, and Contractor that the courts are familar with; expectations for performance and quality have never been higher. Our economy -- the world's economy -- is under more stress than at any time in history.
These are just a few of the challenges we face as a group. What should the future be like?

And at a time like this, we don't know how long internship lasts in our profession.

This is an attempt to examine the duration and success rates of the Intern Development Program.

September 2008

Download pdf files:

Request for Information to IDP Advisory Committee

Fig 2

Fig 3

Essay 1 -
Need

1996 saw the publication of the Boyer Report. Commissioned by the AIA, AIAS, NCARB, NAAB, and ACSI, the report, entitled Building Community: A New Future for Architecture Education and Practice, called for a reinvigoration of architectural education and a more comprehensive integration of education and practice. Abstracts of the recommendations can be found at this site and this one.

The report caused a stir in the architectural community. Practitioners and educators alike acknowledged the cogency and merit of its recommendations, and many of us participated in more than a few roundtable discussions where representatives of the academy and practitioners were united in voicing commitment to their implementation.

Recently, I got to wondering, how are we doing now, twelve years later.

read more...

Essay 2 -
Background

The two components we have in place -- school plus internship -- prepares a candidate for independent practice. In my experience, the current divorce that exists between the academic world and the world of practice does not contribute positively to this effort, to the detriment of all of us. Before we can ask what can we do better, we have to answer the question, what are we doing? Good decisions require more than good judgement, they also require an accurate understanding of what is. read more...

Essay 3 -
Plea

This page consists of the text of Appendix 1 of the Request for Information submitted to the IDP Advisory Committee in August of 2008. read more...

Essay 4 -
Letter

Dear Boss:

We both have good people in our employ, you and I. There are a few things our people would like us to know, and they’ve asked me to tell you. They are counting on us to take action on these items, they are also interested in discussion, but less so.

First of all, they would like us to check their work more often and more thoroughly. They do not have the kind of access to us that they need. They are not stupid, but they are occasionally ignorant, and they need our help if they are to become more knowledgable. They need to have a clear understanding of our expectations if they are to going to have a chance to meet them.

They know how we hate to be interrupted-- read more...

Essay 5 -
Headphones

Mr Cranky goes off on the subject of why he doesn't like headphones. read more...

Essay 6 -
Letter to the Editor

Spring 2009, state of the art. Dear Al: ...read more...

Essay 7 -
Sustainability; a screed

There was a lunch-and-learn on sustainability in the office the other day. I could hear the guy on the other side of the wall reading his powerpoint presentation to the others, who munched their paninis and sipped Sprites while they filled out forms.

Afterwards, someone asked me if I could define sustainability.

...read more...

If you think this investigation needs to be completed, please let the folks on the IDP Advisory Committee know.
The email address at the AIA for this is idp@aia.org,
please cc matt@stairwaytoarchitecture.com if you like to be notified of any developments that come to my attention.

Until we get our discussion forum set up here, the subject is being discussed at the ARE Forum. Some comments are also posted on the Feedback page.

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