'"You know, I would love for some people who say “bullshitting architects” to design a building."'

In 1989 it was the age of LISP machines and I went to Vocational School to study architectural drafting in order to get my hands on AutoCad in order to get my hands on AutoLISP. Whereas a couple of years earlier a certificate could land a person a job doing CAD making about as much as a typical March or Barch graduate earns today [without adjusting for inflation], I had the distinct good fortune to complete my certificate in 1991 when construction was on the downswing cycle due to the changes to passive loss taxation and the S&L crisis. Sure real estate was changing hands - from bankrupt thrifts to the Resolution Land Trust.

I pounded the pavement daily. I walked into VOA with my resume and the receptionist fetched the manager and the manager simply told me they had let eleven people go the previous week. No pretending, he handed my resume back to me without reading it, never mind a "I'll keep it on file." That was pretty typical.

One afternoon though, I walked into a small office with my roll of drawings. The architect came out of the back with a big grin and said, "We need the work." That was pretty much the low point.

Eventually, through the grapevine I landed a job in the engineering department of a precast plant. My first task was drawing up manufacturing drawings for double tees. The project was a new prison - this was the start of that boom. $7.35 and hour and unpaid overtime. During the time I was there, construction cratered, I moved to payroll as the pipeline dried up, happy to have a job. I got to handle the layoffs in the summer of 1992 when the last big project came out of the pipeline and the plant went from 112 employees to 19 in about three weeks. One day the brother of one the laid off workers came in to pickup COBRA paperwork. There'd been a heart-attack. He hadn't had the money to extend his company provided benefit.

The job market got better and I moved on, and in 1996 I negotiated a deal to purchase equity in a new firm started by two former coworkers [both licensed architects]. As that evolved, by the late 90's I was back in school pursuing an MArch and ultimately licensure. With impeccable timing, I graduated into the construction slump job market following 9/11 - wife, child and mortgage already in place.

Let your sister know that I've been in this business for more than 20 years. I designed buildings and owned a piece of an architecture firm before I experienced the architecture school experience, but I've done that too. I've been through IDP and taken the ARE and shuffled paper for an NCARB certificate and completed CEU's and written contracts. All things she can look forward to in a few years if she has the bottle.

Along the way, I've worked for directly as an employee for a developer. I've worked for a Fortune 100 homebuilder. I've worked in large offices. And small offices. And for myself. I've chased projects against firms who have already won them, been lied to by clients, disagreed with the decisions of building and zoning and planning officials - however since I've also worked as a municipal planner and a building plans examiner, I am more sympathetic to their plight than is typical in the privileged profession.

I have been involved in the design of more than a few buildings. I've put my seal on the plans for some of them, and consequently my ass on the line.

So when I say "bullshitting architects" I have particular insight into the phrase because I have worked for and with and as one of them for nearly a quarter century.