David Cristiani

I don’t think that “need’ will pan out. Many firms are trying to find how to function in the current economy. Some are trying to look more prestigious, some are trying to take advantage of interns/new hires, and some are trying other things. My belief is that it will be the market that will shake it out and prestige will not be the force that the…[Read more]

I think we are all looking at this from a narrow perspective of professional landscape architects. Clearly, this degree is for people who want training in landscape design without all the other subject matter that makes up the profession of landscape architecture or the time commitment that comes with it.
 
I don’t think the use of the term…[Read more]

My opinion is that this excercise is a good one for indiviuals or firms to do within the context of their own markets. I think it is a complete waste of time to try to do it as an entire profession.
 
I know what I do, why I am able to keep busy, why I am making some money, and why it works where I am. Just yesterday a friend from school who is…[Read more]

It looks like a good two year preparation for landscape design. I would not be threatened by it. Harvard University used to have a certificate program through Radcliffe College for years – it has move to Boston Arhitecture College (or something like that). It was/is a very good program for landscape designers. It has not killed landscape…[Read more]

That is a vague and general question in a very diverse field where most within it work in specific areas of this field. It really comes down to what a specific landscape architect or firm brings on a specific project compared to what others potentially working on such a project are bringing.
 
The idea that all landscape architects are the same…[Read more]

This is the type of stuff that matters when nothing else matters. While some will adjust how they do business, how they market, and what deliverables they produce in order to function in this economy, others are going to attempt to adapt through font or type face selection. Brilliant!

The biggest difference is that landscape architects have to adapt to a lot more variables beyond our own control where an architect is, more often than not, able to adjust his variables to suit his needs.
 
We’ve got to meet grade at the property line, water has to run down hill, plants have to live in the environment that we are working with,…[Read more]

One of the differences between schools is that some principals in the profession prefer students from the school that they went to themselves or ones that they view as part of their group. If there is a presence of principals in the city that you want to work in, you may want to consider that.
 
I’ll second Dave’s caution of accumulating debt,…[Read more]

Yellow-bellied sapsuckers drill holes let sap accumulate and eat the sap. They can over do it and kill what was once a healthy tree, but generally don’t over do it.
 

Rose colored glasses are when you operate on what should be instead of what is. If you base the state of the profession on what it should be, then it is dead. If you base it on what it is and always was, it has not changed.
 
What many think it should be is what they were lead to believe, what they hoped it would be, or maybe anything that they…[Read more]

My point is not “ha-ha screw you, you are on the outside” (except in your case Bob). It is only that landscape architecture is not dead unless you are on the outside because situationally, you can get on the inside right now. Yes, that is because of the economy. Without those things – network, built work, connections, reputation, … it is dead…[Read more]

Elitists are the ones who are too proud to vary from the script that they learned in school. They don’t want to take a position beneath them. Or they took on another profession and have to continually repeat that the profession failed in order to keep thinking that they did not fail within it.
 
Yes, hard working skilled people are laid off.…[Read more]

Craig,
You are on the inside as a fellow recession start up. The reason that you are on the inside is that you not only learned to design, but you learned where work comes from and what you had to do to position yourself to get work. If you did not, you’d be on the outside.
 
So many on the outside complain that they have skills that the firms…[Read more]

Robert,
 
There is nothing in your post that I did not cover in mine. Employees got laid off – they are now on the outside. The three or four people left are on the inside … doing their LA thing.

There are two perspectives – one is from those on the inside and one is from those on the outside.
 
Those on the outside – Job seekers are in the dumps for good reason. The profession has gone through some shrinkage in the last six years which added previously employed to the usual job seekers coming out of school. Universities and others…[Read more]

Lipstick on a pig.
 
Champaign taste on a Thunderbird budget.
 
We should remember that there are lots of places in the design or in the management of the project where this bench may have gone bad. When product and budget don’y meet, some try to preserve the frosting on the cake while others might save the cake with less emphasis on the fr…[Read more]

Invseting some rationed free time can have great payoffs sometimes. Why not do exactly that? When one of these comes along that you see as an investment for potential work, write up a proposal for x amount of free time and an hourly rate for additional time if the consulting time goes beyond that. This would be done for the individual project…[Read more]

It sounds like you are in the drivers seat for a substantial raise!

I have not been there, but it has always bothered me that it seems to celebrate the holes. I hoped for something more Pheonix like to celebrate moving forward. In that regard, I see how it could intensify the depression many feel from the event.

When working independently, start by seeing if you can get ANY work. If you do get work, incease your prices as your schedule fills and as people depend on you more. Remember that you can always increase your prices in the future, but if you start with a high price you might not get the initial opportunity. The important thing is to get your foot…[Read more]