Life of an Architect

What you want from architecture can change considerably over a career. Bob and Andrew explore four career stages, from finding your footing and developing your abilities to guiding others and deciding what comes next. We discuss how experience shapes your contribution, why priorities shift, and how your definition of success can evolve. Apparently, figuring out what you want to be when you grow up requires periodic updates.

Ep 212: Schedules - Who Owns Your Time explores the demands of architectural practice, shifting deadlines, and the hidden cost of making every commitment work.

The universe has rules, and apparently so does the office - most of them explaining why schedules expand, promotions go sideways, and adding more people can make a late project even later. In Episode 211, Andrew and I use 11 laws, principles, effects, and razors as a practical lens for making better decisions, managing people, and surviving the occasional meeting that should have been an email.

In Episode 210, “The Cost of Loyalty,” we look at how the relationship between employees and firms has changed, why loyalty can no longer be assumed, and what research says about engagement, compensation, career growth, flexibility, and retention. The conversation explores how architecture firms can rebuild genuine commitment by creating clearer opportunities, investing in people, and making professional growth worth staying for.

Ep 209: Understanding Residential Contracts breaks down five ways architects charge for residential work, along with the tradeoffs of each.