Tosh K

I find it strange that infrastructure maintenance budget is part of the annual general congressional budget and doesn’t have it’s funding avenue.
 
Sadly many towns in MN were struggling with the debt taken on putting in all the roads and sewers for developments that probably will never get built.

HR or someone specific?  I think I’ve got the info somewhere.  They’re a fun office from what I gather, and busy.

A building architecture office pushing “green” houses that’s doing well in VA:
http://www.nbc29.com/story/14952980/gaines-group-celebrates-expansion-with-ribbon-cutting-ceremony
 
Granted, 3 of the biggest private developers are pulling out of the area and limiting competition, but they’ve been marketing themselves into success.
 
The lack of c…[Read more]

Much prefer part I.  Now that they got the water feature working that part has a nice variation of spaces.
The canopy walk is nice and the idea of the lawn is neat, but the rest seems rather forced – they must have rushed some parts b/c the stain job on the decking is pretty bad.  
 
Still trying to figure out why it’s so freaking expensive… it…[Read more]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/01/AR2010120106870.html?sid=ST2010120106876
I’m guessing the “bail out” ensured thousands of people got paid and their companies stayed afloat – personally I’d like to see this type of lending to small businesses, but at least it kept a lot of folks employed and companies afloat.…[Read more]

Let’s see the top 3 NG reserves are in Russia, Iran and Qatar… not liking where this is going.  Just saying…  of course we could go nuke as Japan did in a desperate attempt to keep to the Kyoto protocol while turning away from conserving energy (running the bullet train every 10~15 minutes empty between Osaka and Kyoto, etc).
 
Germany in…[Read more]

Govt is in rail b/c most of our freight is moved on rail – there’s a reason Buffet’s been buying out nice chunks of it the last few years.  Our passenger rail doesn’t do as well b/c be subsidize sprawl through our heavy “investment” in roads (paved with oil) via heavy lobbying from big auto (though I suspect this has lessened).  I would think r…[Read more]

Depends on what software you’re required to use – I went with an old mac to school and used their machines for the first year (most of our work could be done adequately and I chose to do a lot more hand models and drawings); bought a top of the line mac laptop that hasn’t slowed done yet (5 years later).  I had to use the school computers for…[Read more]

Paris:
Citroen is an oft cited precedent, Vaux le Vicomte is worth half a day is you can spare it, Promenade Planteé a precedent for the High Line in NYC, La Defense is interesting in its scale (big), the plaza in front of the Pompidou is worth looking at (slope and it’s use b/c of the slope).
Parc des Buttes-Chaumont & Parc de la Villette (rea…[Read more]

This seems obscenely shallow…  
I would have liked to have read an article articulating the challenges Duany and Waldheim were responding to when they began taking their positions regarding urbanism (Duany I believe is responding to post-WWII suburban sprawl and Waldheim to the urban areas lacking consideration of pre-existing ecological…[Read more]

I agree with the above, I did the same wherever I visited.  Started with alumni that I knew or critics that came through the school, some firms I cold called (email with CV, cover letter explaining why I thought their firm was interesting, and a short work sample), firms I was most interested in I sent hardcopies.  During the worst months of the r…[Read more]

Let’s add a few of Walter Hood’s work in Oakland as contemporary examples.
 
I agree with Olmsted and Hood on the need for public landscapes to embody a democratic society, though I must say there were (probably still are) some parks in Tokyo where some residents have decided to stake out their turf and fight to retain their claim which is a tad…[Read more]

Ha… I think I know that park you speak of… from a rather awkward personal experience.
 
I find the rather subtle curved surfaces of OLIN’s benches to be unfriendly for long term sleeping (it felt like Columbus Circle is similar if not same as Washington Memorial)
 
It is rather sad that the city didn’t consider this, on a another note there i…[Read more]

1. Wondering the same thing, at the moment using my network to feel things out; I’ve known people who made nice handmade packaging for their work samples that seemed to have had a positive effect (nice card stock envelope that had a foldout type of thing).
 
2. I keep myself busy by networking (volunteering, attending lectures, informational…[Read more]

I don’t like the idea of a service profession having unions – especially since, as I understand it, LAs work for LAs and rarely for someone else.  Though I would like the profession as a whole to be better able to position ourselves in society as the lawyers and doctors do; the ASLA ought to be the means to do that.  
 
My thought is that pr…[Read more]

I remember a student a few years ahead of me did a “Homeland Security garden” for planted form – included the above mentioned prickly plants along with poison ivy.

I don’t know what the acceptable range is in Canada, but in the US a general rule of thumb for negotiation is +/- 10%~20% difference in numbers is the range when people are not offended (either being offered too low or too high).
 
I agree with much of those posting above:
 
1) don’t bring it up unless asked; and when asked try to have them make a…[Read more]

Agree with the previous replies.
 
Both architectural schools i went to had a transition in curriculum, both to address weaknesses related to its core pedagogy and the new methods of working in digital media.  There were several classes that were not taught in a cohesive fashion as a result, but graduates as a whole could produce and show their w…[Read more]

I’ve worked in 40 hr offices and 60 hr offices. I would think that the differences are in billable vs worked hours.  Firms can get things done and stay afloat if everyone works at a reasonable pace and projects are billed around the going rate for projects; to spend more time on non-billable (early schematic/conceptual, etc) portions of design,…[Read more]

I thought political blogs were around to deal with this – sheesh.  I was taught in college that politics made for impolite work conversations.
 
Anywho, speaking of positioning ourselves I thought this was interesting:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/business/12yec.html?pagewanted=all