Sean Joyner published his first feature since 2022, titled On Becoming a Professional: Letter to an Architecture Student.
In it he writes “If there is anything I can say about becoming a professional, it is that it has less to do with status or mastery than with how one chooses to move through difficulty. It’s about how you show up when things are unclear. How you carry responsibility without fanfare. How you learn to see others—truly—and how you take yourself seriously enough to keep learning, especially when no one is watching.” rshugar “thoroughly enjoyed reading…really rings true, even after I’ve been practicing for 30 years. Hopefully your essay is read by by [sic] many young aspiring architects within the world of starchitacts [sic].“
Plus the latest Studio Snapshot features Portland, Maine-based design-build practice Woodhull.
News
The City of New York and Queens Public Library reached a settlement in a federal case surrounding accessibility issues at the Hunters Point Library. Unlike some, Bench thinks “The issues are clear as soon as you walk in…Donna’s on point, i dont [sic] know how this passed any internal QAQC” while edwardsinger pointed out the irony that “it won a 2020 AIANY Design Award and a 2017 PA Award“.
In light of all the turbulent economic news, Niall Patrick Walsh drew attention to five recommendations from Harvard Business Review on How Contracts Can Help Firms Navigate the Uncertainty of Global Tariffs. Later alberto quipped “Here come the change orders, another windfall event for the GCs.” Plus the March ABI dipped again and yet construction starts were up 3%.
Folks were into BLDUS’ Brown House in Washington, D.C. which uses an almost entirely cellulose-based material palette. Meanwhile at least one ‘Nector didn’t think their own office compared favorably, to Austin based A Parallel Architecture’s adaptive reuse of a long-abandoned auto parts warehouse.
Josh Niland spoke with 2025 Carnegie Fellow Aaron Cayer on his award-winning research. gwharton argued “he’s got it exactly backwards: Architecture reflects and is shaped by politics, not the other way around. In a past professional life, I led the design of a bunch of these kinds of mega-projects around the world…it is not the designers setting the agenda. It’s the patrons and politicians.“
Our Lady of Sorrows Chapel in Nesvačilka, Czech Republic by RCNKSK and Doppelscheune in Tübingen, Germany by KO/OK Architektur BDA are just two of the latest top images (in no particular order) to be found on the Archinect Pinterest board Wood.
We said goodbye to both Shelly Kappe and Kristin Feireiss-Commerell. Regarding the former Orhan Ayyüce offered up the following “She was one of the few irreplaceable founding educators who set the course of SCI-Arc.“
Blogs/Firms/Work Updates
Recently Constanza Chiozza worked on “Casa en Calafate“.
Over at A State of Architecture deepshah1991 posted a call (their first post since 2021) for “Reclaiming the Spirit of Place“, re-rooting people and “reclaiming meaning” in response to the growing homogenisation of India’s built environment.
Looking for work?
Laney LA LA has two openings and Richärd Kennedy Architects wants to hire a Project Architect with “5+ years of experience” in Phoenix. Or Halflants + Pichette has two openings for Project Architects “with at least 7 years of experience to work” in their Sarasota and Tampa offices.
Schools
In hiring news, The Institute of Architecture (I oA) at the University of Applied Arts Vienna appointed architect and academic Sam Jacob, Dean and Winka Dubbeldam will succeed Hernán Díaz Alonso as the next Director and CEO of Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc).
Back in April, The Assembly House partnered with the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning to host the opening of a new two-part exhibition in their space, Fragments: Then and Now. The exhibit features work from two architecture studios for which students were instructed to study an original historic piece, rebuild/recast it, and then reimagine it to inspire the creation of a contemporary design.
Looking for a new gig in academia?
SCI-Arc is seeking candidates for a Full-Time Faculty & Coordinator (History + Theory). Since you’d be starting this Fall, apply no later than June 6, 2025. Otherwise, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is accepting applications for the Bedford Visiting Professorship, a three-year non-tenure-track appointment. Candidates should be an “internationally renowned structural engineer“.
Discussion/Threads
ebonorino revived a 2013-16 thread on Wall Tags opining “It depends on the type of the project, its size, its typology if it can be shared or not, and preferences…Bottom line, good and updated information never hurts.” pj_heavy agreed with them “Correct, depending on the assembly / typology of the external wall…curtain wall facade is a good example. In some projects , we even tag each CW panel” and later atelier nobody agreed “with Bulgar & Wood Guy – exterior wall assemblies are critical to overall building performance and should all be fully detailed in Wall Sections.“
smaarch wanted to get a pulse of the community “The Architectural Billing index…doesn’t look good. My phone has gone mostly silent for the last few months…What is everyone else finding?” Most folks reported staying busy with JLC-1 sharing “Second or third vanity homes in the mountains are going strong, we’ve had several inquiries and breaking ground on a new 6500sf/5M house.” Brightbury is “Very busy” but is having challenges staffing up “slim pickings trying to hire experienced people.” On the other hand reallynotmyname is “seeing lots of uncertainty and weirdness with any client that receives federal funding. It’s often a big piece of building project budgets for local governments and universities. There’s enough on the books to make 2025 an ok year…Every forecast update we’ve done since January is adjusting downward.“
Finally, OddArchitect started a thread for Project Management Tips. Right out of the gate, BulgarBlogger offered up six while betonbrut emphasized “effective communication“. bowling_ball chimed in “90% of day to day job issues can be solved with a phone call in under ten minutes.” Then clarified “You always follow up a phone call with an email documenting what was discussed.“
Additionally
Back in April, Anna Pendergrast & Kelly Pendergrast published Moving House which touched on the “logistically sophisticated world” of professional moving companies, the gender differences of organizing vs moving YouTubers and whole home (in SF and NZ) and room-scale (The Frick) relocation.