Bob Borson, FAIA | Apr 8, 2024

Life of an Architect Podcast Ep. 148: Meetings are a Waste of Time

You check the time and realize that you have four minutes before your next meeting. Maybe it’s an internal meeting, maybe clients are coming in. Is it in person or online? Depending on how you answer those questions, time to start scrambling so that you are where you need to be and have the information required to make this meeting a good use of your time. But guess what? I promise that you will end up waiting on someone (maybe you are that someone). Either way, you aren’t getting that time back and you haven’t even started yet. Welcome to Life of an Architect Podcast Ep. 148: Meetings are a Waste of Time.

Bob Borson, FAIA | Sep 16, 2019

Taking the Architectural Registration Exam

Since Andrew and I completed our architectural registration exams in a previous decade than the one we are currently in, we brought in someone a bit younger to assist us with today’s topic, someone who has just recently gone through the process of taking the ARE. Welcome back to the show, my former podcast co-conspirator, Landon Williams. Episode sponsor: Sherwin-Williams Coil Coatings

Bob Borson, FAIA | Sep 3, 2019

Projects in Architecture School are Silly

The projects that architects-in-training work on while in school are rarely about solving practical problems and issues—the real objectives are almost always lurking just below the surface. Your projects from architecture school are silly, but for good reasons. Episode sponsor: CONSTRUCT

Bob Borson, FAIA | Aug 19, 2019

Obsession

Do architects have obsessive personalities? I tend to think so, and only partially based on my own behavior. I should throw out the caveat that I don’t think you should have to explain why you obsess over something. Isn’t that the nature of any obsession—that there is some level of irrationality associated behind it? Episode sponsor: NUDURA

Bob Borson, FAIA | Aug 5, 2019

Starting Your Own Architecture Firm

Is it the dream of every architect to have their own firm one day? I can recall hours and hours of conversations that I’ve had with other architects throughout my career where this topic was front and center of our discussions. Episode sponsor: Sherwin-Williams Coil Coatings

Bob Borson, FAIA | Jul 21, 2019

Architects Should Work Construction

If I have one regret during my college education is that I never worked on a construction site. Once I graduated from college, I went straight to work in an architectural office, drawing up all sorts of stuff that I had literally never seen before in my life. I managed to get along, but I was acutely aware of my lack of practical knowledge and I have been trying to make up for it over the last 20+ years. Episode sponsor: Huber Engineered Woods

Bob Borson, FAIA | Jul 8, 2019

Social Media for Architects

The thing with social media is that there are a lot of people out there that hold themselves out as experts, and if I am being forthright, a lot of those people drive me crazy. There is a big difference between knowing what you should do and then actually being able to do it. Just because I know how to deadlift 400 lbs doesn’t mean that I can actually do it [for the record, I can’t], or that you should be listening to somebody just because they hold themselves out as an expert. Episode sponsor: CENTRIA

Bob Borson, FAIA | Jun 24, 2019

Is That Even Legal?

How much time have you spent thinking about the legal side of architecture? If you are like most architects, you probably haven’t spent enough time thinking about it. While it may not be the sexiest part of the architectural profession, it is something that every licensed architect must consider on every single project. Episode sponsor: AIA Contract Documents

Bob Borson, FAIA | Jun 9, 2019

First Jobs

Pretty simple and straightforward sentence: “Your first architectural job is important.” Let me clarify that I’m not talking about summer jobs or internships. Those don’t really count because they have a known shelf-life associated with them. What I’m talking about is the first real job a person takes once they’ve graduated from college–the job that signals the beginning of their professional career and more times than not is a predictor for the path your career will follow. Episode sponsor: Kingspan

Bob Borson, FAIA | May 27, 2019

Architectural Bucket List

Today we are talking about Architectural Bucket lists. Everyone knows what a bucket list is – things you want to do or achieve in your life. For an architect, this could be visiting Therme Vals in Switzerland by Peter Zumthor, or if this was prior to 1969, maybe it would be smoking cigars with Mies van der Rohe.

Bob Borson, FAIA | May 14, 2019

Presentation Skills, Tips and Techniques

Unlike most professions, architects are fairly accustomed to standing up in front of a group of people and speaking … but that doesn’t mean they like it (or even worse) – that they are any good at doing it. The concern going through almost everyone’s head before they get up in front of a group is that they will look stupid, sound stupid, or generally come across as someone who shouldn’t be talking about whatever it is they are talking about. If that’s you, the good news is that you are not alone. Episode sponsor: PAC-CLAD by Petersen Aluminum

Bob Borson, FAIA | Apr 18, 2019

The Fun Show

Sometimes bad things happen, and it impacts you in a way that you weren’t anticipating – takes you out of your normal head space. Since I don’t like feeling bad, we’re going to do something about it. Welcome to “The Fun Show.”

Bob Borson, FAIA | Apr 15, 2019

Residential Construction Costs

In the beginning, when you are starting to plan your budget for building a new house, residential construction costs are not that complicated unless you really want to make them that way. There are some general broad stroke pieces of information that if you know them, you will not be surprised when it comes time to plan your budget.

Bob Borson, FAIA | Apr 1, 2019

Making an Architect

There isn’t an architect walking the planet that hasn’t questioned if they were making the right decision when they decided to become an architect—at least not if they’re being honest with themselves—which leads us to today’s topic of “Making an Architect.”

Bob Borson, FAIA | Mar 17, 2019

The Construction Bid Process

Every client wants to know what their project is going to cost and who’s going to build it. That means sending the drawings out and getting contractors involved … Let’s get ready to rumble because “The Construction Bid Process ” is today’s topic. Episode sponsor: Pella Architectural Solutions

Bob Borson, FAIA | Mar 4, 2019

Architectural Fees

Architectural fees are a mystery to most people, and there is no shortage of methods that architects charge for their services. How do you make sense of the options? Which method works best for you? How do you provide a method that suits the needs of both the architect and their clients? In Episode 19, we have an excellent discussion on the many different ways architects charge for their professional services. Episode sponsor: Pella Architectural Solutions

Bob Borson, FAIA | Feb 18, 2019

Crafting an Image

Architecture and photography have a symbiotic relationship, and every architect knows that a picture is worth a 1,000 words. For today’s episode, Andrew and I sit down with photographer Poul Ober to discuss the role photography plays in telling an architectural story, as well as the evolving impact photography is having on popular culture. Poul is a highly sought-after commercial photographer, but is most notably my next door neighbor. Episode sponsor: Pella Architectural Solutions

Bob Borson, FAIA | Feb 3, 2019

Quitting Your Job

It happens to almost all of us eventually, and for pretty much everybody, the experience ranges from unpleasant to downright panic-inducing … so get your moving box ready because “Quitting Your Job” is today’s topic, something that I, unfortunately, know a lot about. There is one job I quit that I have remorse over. Not because it was my dream job but because I acted in a way that I am still embarrassed about some 20 years later. Episode sponsor: Pella Architectural Solutions

Bob Borson, FAIA | Jan 20, 2019

Architecture in the Real World

Pull up a chair, order your favorite drink, and let me tell you about architecture in the “real” world. I thought I would try to make this an upbeat article but as I sit down to write it, I’m not so sure how successful a job I am going to do. Andrew Hawkins and I recently got together to discuss the perception of being an architect versus the realities of being a practicing architect and the disconnect that frequently exists between the two.

Bob Borson, FAIA | Jan 6, 2019

Tools of an Architect

All industries have specific tools that make their business work – and architects are no different in this regard. During the 26+ years that have passed since I graduated from college, I have seen tools that I had previously used every day become obsolete while new tools have taken their place. Few architects actually draft anymore (I’ve got one left in my office) so once common names like “Borco” and “Mayline” have been replaced with “Revit” and “VR.”

Bob Borson | Dec 14, 2018

Being an Architect is Hell

As an architect, every space I walk in to, I look at … intensely. I scrutinize, evaluate, process, and redesign. Every. Single. Space. There are times when I wish this didn’t happen … most of the time actually. Being blissfully unaware of unresolved plan geometries – particularly when I am not “on the clock” sounds pretty good but I know it won’t be that way for me any longer. I have completely crossed over to the architect side.