T-Square Dad's Brown Bag
Professional practice and parenthood can be challenging. As a father, a husband and an architect we embrace the challenge but we understand how difficult it is to navigate through these obligations. In this podcast we focus our discussion and base our opinion from a father's perspective. The T-Square Dad's podcast will focus our experience, reading habits, lesson's learned while practicing architects and how the practice impacts our daily life as a father. We will also focus on how technology impacts our profession and how the lack of experts and training fails our profession. We hope that our podcast bring value to others and is a constant reminder of how life can change quickly and impact us all and our profession.
T-Square Dad's Brown Bag
#030 - Dan Lamontagne - AE Design Group LLC - Life after college
Welcome to our podcast. If you're new to our podcast, the podcast was created by two Architect that felt they needed to share their experience and hardships not only in our profession but in life and family.
On today's episode we invited Dan LaMontagne with AE Design Group LLC. They are an architectural firm located in Connecticut. They specialize in hospital and medical facilities. He joins us to share what he did after graduating with his Master's from the University of Florida. Go Gators!
Grab a seat and some coffee and take a few minutes to join us in our podcast.
If you guys have any questions or comments please reach out to us at our Facebook pages or via email.
Audio file
Podcast #30 - Dan Lamontagne - AE Design Group LLC - Life after school.mp3
Transcript
Welcome to the T ^2 dad's Brown Bag podcast. Here's your host, Kyle Baker and Dieter Burrell.
It's, you know, it felt like it was just yesterday that.
It was only about four days ago.
I mean, you hit some amazing topics when when I was listening to to the recording.
And I know that this one's going to be sounding so much better for everybody that's listening.
I hope this MIC is working well.
Let me do one little thing here.
I'm going to turn my AC unit off.
Make sure there's no background noise.
You hit on some amazing topics even though we kind of rushed through it all.
And and when I know we didn't talk about that, that's her.
So this is where the story kind of starts getting interesting.
Well before I met you, I got my bachelors from University of Florida.
It's a weird name for it, but Bachelor of design.
And I worked for a firm called Centerbrook Architects.
It's a pretty nice, a pretty prestigious firm in Connecticut, centerbrook.
It was started by Charles Moore.
Now Charles Moore used to kind of go around and.
Them there in this case Centerbrook was basically run by all Yale grads.
And so that's where I worked and I thought I after I'd get out of with my masters.
I thought when I got out, I worked there again and.
And I was surprised to hear that because they won.
The AIA firm of the Year and I think 1998.
And they just said didn't work well.
I ended up working for another company.
Small firm in New Haven, CT and then I got a call from representing from Centerbrook.
Just checking in on me and seeing if I.
And I did, and it sounded like they were interested in having me come back, but.
But I already found work and so I started working for this.
Who is he is now the person who ran the company.
He is now the chief architect of the state of Connecticut, so he closed his firm.
But from there I went to another firm called Taisu.
Kim Partners, another well known renowned firm in Connecticut.
They used to be called like the Hartford.
But they're taisu Kim partners, and now they're tsk P partners because Mr.
I ended up going to JJ architecture.
Now that JJ is really where I sort of became an architect.
All my previous firms I worked for, you know, centerbrook.
Between degrees, bark and associates in New Haven.
You know, just kind of doing similar stuff that I do right now.
Prior to that, I felt like an intern the whole time.
Was it right when you got license that they looked at you though?
Or was it before you got license?
I got licensed in 06, so I got licensed, you know, four years after, four years after we graduated.
But I was at Tyson Chem partners at the time, but going see, here's the problem.
And for anyone listening, going into a firm without your license.
It it sort of puts you at a disadvantage when you get that license.
Maybe, maybe that's not the case today, but back then I just it's hard to break that sort of intern.
Intern architect or I think I the AIA got removed.
Apparently you can't say in turn anymore.
So graduate architect, let's call it.
It's hard to remove that that tag.
Respect it's time to move on it.
You're it's really true what you said because when I once I got license at the firm that I was at.
And I sat down with them and I said they were gonna.
They were gonna sit down and and they told me it's like we're gonna.
Your yearly salary, and we're going to increase it.
And it kind of shocked me and I'm thinking I'm already kind of managing projects.
It took me a while to get a license.
I'm already managing projects so.
You know you you you put an architect to supervise me.
You have me doing everything and he's not checking my work, he says.
He's checking my work and then I.
Go back in there and I I have to check my own work because he's not doing it.
To move on to move somewhere else, and that that's how I got my.
And and people ask me it's like, do you should I stay?
If that happened to me too, and it wasn't that.
So Taisu Kim is Tychem Partners was a great firm to work for.
I thought I was going to stay there.
There was an issue there as well.
It wasn't just that when I got licensed, I didn't see the bump of pay that I thought I'd get.
Less about pay for me, they are a great firm and I really like everyone there.
Now we're I'm friends with, with, with many of them.
The IT the issue was it was a smaller firm as well.
That's just the other thing people have to think about.
There's who's in front of you.
And there was a a person that was in front of me that was at my same level.
And but she was there before me, and now I come in and she's a very capable architect.
Well, you know, kind of well-rounded, great detailer, great manager.
And we're at the same level, but I came.
After her, and if the size of firm we were in, there's no way for me to to to go up.
And so I had to evaluate that and not I have no ill will toward her.
She's a Cape architect and one of my very good friends.
It's just that I I recognize you.
You can't just start stabbing people in the back to climb the ladder like some people do.
You just say, well, you know, I it's time for me to move on.
It's time for me to find my place.
Was time for me to find my place.
Yeah, there was a couple of cases and I shared this with another.
There was another intern architect there.
Once I got licensed, he was getting his testing.
Done in his IDP completed and I remember there was this one incident.
I'm not going to name companies and I'm sure that if they listen they you know take.
They yet there was a few of us.
Are now being invited to this and.
And then I later found out from not directly from the people in charge, but indirectly that.
And I'm sort of that type of personality that I'm not afraid to walk up to the damn boss.
And say something to him that's going to ****.
Up to the office manager and I said what is the deal?
Why didn't we not get invited?
Oh, did you not get received the?
That, that, that response kind of seemed like idiotic to me.
It's like I hadn't received the e-mail you talking about.
You should have sent an e-mail to everybody.
I've been sent getting emails from the company all year long.
You know, how can you miss me?
And one person and another person that you absolutely removed.
This is me you talking you tell.
Alright guys, you know you don't have to spell it out.
I'm moving on and going somewhere else.
I went somewhere else and and and that was the best race I ever had.
And and I worked for them for quite a while.
And of course, you know, every office has their internal conference.
How many people was that firm?
What was the size of the firm?
That one was about a close to a twenty person firm.
So you have to make a decision.
Yeah, I hear I hear your plight.
They're already planning who's next and.
They have the ability to open it up, right?
I can't speak on your your situation, and maybe you're right.
And the the owner, the owners were.
I like, oh, and the managers were all.
I knew they had their favorites.
And what is really the weirdest.
The favorites that were up and coming to go into those positions.
Once I got licensed literally like.
A week after those people were leaving the company.
Developing or nurturing to to, to, to come into those positions we're no longer there.
It almost seemed like he was a showing.
They may have not felt like it was the appropriate person.
To put in so you know it, it is what it is, it not in the past.
But you know, if you're listening, it's like, you know, as a boss just.
Know what your people bring to the table because you may think I I think I worked for them.
Three years and when I sat in front of SAT in front of.
Bosses that were managing the company and I told them this, the kind of stuff that I've done.
I've done this in the past and I can do this now and I goes.
I don't know anything about what you do.
And it's like they they seem absentee.
Like they know that they, they think they know their staff, but they really don't.
And and and it's it's kind of it happens you get low.
And the work and you get lost in the staff.
Well, you definitely have to promote yourself.
Honestly, anyone who starts bragging about themselves turns me off immediately.
Let me take care of that for you.
Yeah, that's that's different.
I'll go and do this for for the.
Like I think when you're doing it behind.
So when we were in school, when we were going for our masters.
I worked for a company in Gainesville.
Yeah, it was just sort of part-time, small, firm.
And the owner of the principal.
He had me do something and I we used to put him on zip drives.
Remember those hundred MB zip drives.
I threw mine out, but he would take those two to the printer and get it printed well.
This is I mean I can't believe this.
I had to do updates and I put them on the zip drive.
I went to school, I handed him the previous.
Of the of the the, the, the building that we're working on.
She was actually a professional as well.
But I think she ended up running the office, she said.
Yeah, that that wasn't good, Dan, that was.
And from that that day forward it it was my first time feeling shame.
And it my phrase from there is, you know, my job is to make him look good or her look good.
The person I'm working for my job isn't to make me look good.
My I look good when I make them look good.
So my my job first is to make them look good and I hope that that's how my.
You're here to make me look good.
Sounds it sounds sort of, you know, horrible.
Why would I have gone through the?
I mean that's honestly how I hope things go because that's how I worked for everyone else.
Project architect both can become principals, but it just depends on.
Yeah, whoever we had to go in front of a client looked good and I I think that everyone should.
Thing I think we're losing that, but.
You know it's the only way to work.
Otherwise I might just do this out of my basement.
You know, if someone's not going to work for me and.
Have my best interest in mind and I don't need to employ them.
That's true. That's true, yeah.
And that's a mean thing to say, but I could do everything they could do.
You know, every aspect of architecture that needs to be done.
Does it poorly or consistently?
Does it poorly and that doesn't care about it?
All the dynamics of the office either we could talk all day about that stuff and you know just.
Tell us a little bit, just general.
We understand why, because I think you wanted to kind of do your own thing and and.
Different paths to this you just.
Hung a shingle and said I'm doing this right?
You just hung a shingle like boom, bro, I'm doing it.
That's a hard one to do and I'm I'm proud of you for doing that.
I thought about doing it that way.
That I went to Community College in Connecticut.
Too, and I met an architect in the Community College who ran an apartment.
They had a firm called the Design group.
And it was a sole proprietor and same size as what I have now.
Pretty much, I mean, I have more.
When I got there, he he hired me while I was in.
Excuse me, after Community College, I came home with my bachelors.
During my bachelors, I came home in like 90 summer 96.
Or 97 and I asked if I could work for him for the summer. So I did. He hired me.
I got paid nothing, I I remember.
Oh, how bad that pay was, right?
And I didn't really learn much.
Honestly, you know, I mean, I'm still getting my my bachelors.
I'm home for the summer up, you know, from Florida and Connecticut.
I don't think I helped much, but he let me, you know, work.
There and we, we stayed in touch.
And we stayed in touch a few times.
And you know, we've we collaborated on a few things here and there.
Small little things. When I was at JJ. This is between 2007 to 2014. I left there so around.
2012 I found an e-mail because I have.
I found an e-mail where I don't know what happened at the firm and I was mad.
I was upset at something and I just wrote him.
I was just like, just like that.
They were in their 60s, et cetera.
These guys already made the money.
They didn't find anyone to buy.
Some just got merged with another firm.
That's what's happening again at Connecticut.
Xers like me and you and we we you know we're still go getters who want to own a firm.
But then below us, there's nobody.
So here I am. He already knows this. In 2012 his pre COVID, you know, 2012.
He's like looking at this and going.
I didn't know I could sell my firm.
You're buying computers that are probably five years old, yeah.
You know you're buying a client list.
But like, you have to make sure that you maintain them those clients.
So I just wrote him in 2012 and.
We talked about it at Hampden Hall a bit, and by 2014 we decided.
We haven't talked anything and you know I have no idea and he?
To work for him, for the for two years, from from 14 to 16.
And in that time I was to learn his company.
Also in that time he got evaluation done of his firm.
And then we had to agree to a price.
And let me tell you something.
When I saw that price, I almost lost my mind.
I looked at him and I said yeah, this isn't.
And it's not that there's anything wrong with that.
I always said that he's fair to a fault, like he is fair and fair is fair to him.
And it took me a while to swallow that cause.
I didn't think it was going to be that far.
Because I doubt no, no, don't.
I mean, he was not mean about it.
I mean, what do you think, Dan, you know?
I I couldn't believe I talked to my wife about it, all this stuff.
He and I talked and we said, well, how do we structure the deal?
He got a lawyer, sat down together and cashed it out, put a payment plan together.
There was some, you know, I I he had to have a non compete clause, the covenant.
You know, that was part of what I was buying too is for.
Hang a shingle elsewhere and be like hey, I'm.
Still here, a lot of stuff like that had to be talked about.
And so when you buy a firm, what I did was I bought the assets.
So you buy a firm and you say, OK, I'm not buying the business.
So I had to open a new entity.
Now the way you did it, Dieter.
You're gonna open the door, talk to get clients and you get them.
I come in, have to pay some money.
Already have clients I have to maintain and staff and computers and everything ready to go.
I gotta be thankful my first because I left in 21 summer of 21 and that half that year.
With I had a couple of little jobs here and there and it kept me going till December and.
Buildings and that they needed to have code assessment done.
Well, I'll go ahead and do it.
And it started just being like, OK, can we do like, you know, half of them, like 50 of them?
They kept asking me, hey, can you do the rest?
We don't get the phone call first the.
First, does anything with a civil engineer.
Exactly. Now The funny thing is, in 2014 when I got there in 2005.
13 I picked up other clients myself.
They you know, they they're trying to figure out this house.
Was trying to figure out their own.
Facilities Group and how they function because they have a.
Created so many people that were running facilities groups.
Engineering groups within large semi facilities.
So and that's how I like to work.
But I I work on a continual basis with the same clients.
Well, this local hospital is one of them.
In place to properly manage the jobs.
I could say I still have them, but not much work comes from them because because of that reason.
Yeah, COVID caused a lot of this dealer.
Like we don't know how to work.
Hiring people into the facilities groups and they're like, OK, well, what, what do you have?
You know, what is your organization?
Do and you know, some people like, well, we used to rely on Gary.
Way to run the the facility so you run into this often now and.
The old guys work or girls work, whatever, or women's work.
That that kind of passing down the torch.
Isn't is a way in which the United States worked from the beginning up until COVID?
That passing of the torch ended at COVID.
So we have to either bring it back or or come up with.
We're all reinventing ourselves through zoom.
We're all reinventing how we work.
And and and we're reinventing our entire society.
I could go all day on this one.
You then pass that off to someone else, and you have this succession plan.
Every single company from the beginning of time and in the United States.
Well, COVID, that was the way it.
It's it's, it's weird, it's I I laugh at it because I don't.
Now someone will probably hear me.
I'm sure some facilities, some businesses.
But the turnover that occurred from the baby boomers that just said, I'm done.
You know, they don't want to spend time.
You know, it's like the whole this whole summer, the last summer I spent it.
You know at home with the kids and we did stuff, you know, we went places.
We went to the beach this summer.
You know, these kids are more like.
Like, my daughter wants to go out and hang out with her friends.
My son wants to kind of just walk around the house and just kind of.
Play winning games and stuff like that.
Just I was thinking I was gonna get to spend more time with him and do more stuff.
I've actually have to force him.
Watching all these people getting sick.
So I I felt my mortality like I go.
It's like I need to think about what I want.
Where I want to spend my time doing.
In an office with a bunch of strangers.
There's where they tell me that they're my friend in some cases, or that they are just amicable.
This was even before it became an architect.
I always wanted to make sure that my team was.
I just had a natural tendency of of a of a manager.
I I took some managerial classes.
I think that that I'm hoping that's the case.
I treat every well my staff like because they are my friends.
I treat them like my friends, like that's it.
We have a common goal, but someone.
Someone has to say, wait, where are we with this job?
Why haven't we put that out yet?
You know, you go over, you talk to him and tell me what's going on.
Tell me where you're where you're at and how can I help?
You just figure it, you figure it out.
You know, it's like if you hire someone to manage a job, but you're saying what?
How come that set hasn't gone out yet?
I thought I was supposed to go out yesterday.
Oh, well, you know, we had to do this or there was a change of documents.
Well, the client called and you know wanted to make a change.
So it's nice to have that interaction, but I always have to be on top of things.
That's sort of what I'm saying is you have to be on top of things.
Your clients are expecting fast.
But you know when you get someone says listen, you have 8 weeks to finish those CD's from zero.
OK, you're going to get 8 weeks worth of drawings.
It's like that picture of the horse with the guy.
It's so meticulous, the head of the horse and it's like, no, you have to go faster.
It's like a stick figure of two two legs and a bushy tail.
It's like, I mean, you're going to get what you're going to get.
God, I could talk all day about.
Not only do I think we have a brain drain, but it I want to go back to what you said.
Where should I be spending my time?
Whether some people believe the numbers were inflated or not, or in terms of death.
We're starting to think well, we have kids and why should I go through this effort?
I'm just my kids are growing up.
You know, and I'm not experiencing them.
Then you have the young ones saying I don't want to live that life, that those people live.
I don't want to go to the office for 60 hours a week.
We'll see what happened with COVID.
It created all these people that are staying at home.
Want to go back to the office?
Unproductive home is maybe some?
There's something you could do just as effectively.
You know, some of the, you know, general admin.
You know, bookkeeping maybe, but architecture.
Architecture is a team sport, my friend.
We have to be in the same room.
Been realizing when I work with some of the interns and drafts people.
Yeah, I tell them I say do as much as you can.
And I tell them say just grab everything that's here.
A certain amount of hours on it and then once you hit 10 hours.
Get back with me and then get back with me.
With 20 questions and I used to do the same kind of sort of exercise with people in the office.
It's like I don't want you to come over here and ask me like every five seconds.
There's like, a lot of work, but there's a lot of questions and a lot of these details.
Because that's when he did that to me.
And I go, man, this has got this is ingenious.
With this, this is what you do and then.
Hey, what do we do with that we go.
There's no there's no way I could.
I could be answering questions.
My work and stopping whatever I'm doing.
You need to go sit down 20 questions, you know, or 10 questions, you know, before the.
Well, I'll come running over cause I've actually had.
People where they've done work.
Bring me the drawing and I look at the drawing and I go.
And then there's more like errors.
And I I've done some of that myself, the kind of all nighter to fix things.
I'm I'm I think my staff is to a point where I don't have to do that anymore.
That happens it it it's a it's a trust.
And then I keep getting like and and you you said at the in the in the previous podcast.
It's like, yeah, I can't afford five times to kind of be following up on somebody that.
But it comes to a point where it's like if I have to tell you like five times.
Back to the you know, your job is to make someone make the next.
And if you're not doing that, then why, why bother, you know?
But COVID released this sort of different way of doing work.
Different way of thinking the me, me, me attitude.
That that's something that's always been there.
Right now it's social media, it's.
OK, there were people that were off for two years, Peter, and they were just hanging out.
And now you're going to tell them.
So listen, guys, we're in the same team.
And and and and when things get combative in an office or demanding or demeaning.
Or, you know, you belittle people.
Listen, you're not helping anyone, anything at all.
We're all inside this building because we're all our goal is to make sure that.
The job that's being done, if it's being done poorly by certain people, you are not to.
Your job is to prop them and teach them to a certain point.
And like again, we go back to the five to the five, the five error rule, it's a, it comes a point.
My my friend, you are not meant to practice architecture.
You're not meant to do this kind of work, because if I have to correct you.
My God, I just went two times.
You know the single architect visionary.
That's not what I mean by like a team effort.
That's a team effort that, that's that's vitally important.
So the single architect, the sole person that comes up with the design.
And I'm talking big picture because you always have them put from even right down to the drafter on.
The simple I'm gonna give you the simple answer because when you work for a.
Holy ****, I didn't know we have one.
I don't know anything about current walls because I'm fresh off.
And it's like, I know, bathroom toilets.
But I don't know what a curtain wall system is.
The way he drew the curtain wall and I go, you know that.
And I'm staring at my older architect.
So you know you're showing the glass on the inside of the building.
That's how a curtain wall system works.
Well, I don't mean I don't mean the person who details the curveball.
I mean, the person who actually said there will be curtain wall there, this form will look this way.
I want these materials I want.
I want you know these sight lines and that's what I mean.
Like the person the the generator of the full package, not necessarily how to put together.
Person yeah, there has to be one person you can't have, like, consensus.
Now, if you're the one person that says, hey, the budget is.
The budget can afford to have curtain wall systems, but the there's a reason too.
You're not putting storefront on a.
High rise curtain wall system.
So for pressure alone you need the curtain wall system, right?
And you got a hospital that's on the on the 10th floor.
You not put in storefront systems you put in curtain wall system.
There's a reason as to that's why you have one designer.
If he doesn't, you can have buy the bad designs.
You can have a sure red and that call.
I love the sure Reds in in, in, in.
They want to do an addition and.
Because they already have a design, you're going.
Already have a standards package that you're going to have to adhere to.
I work for a university in New Haven, but I.
When they're doing interior renovations, well, that's when I come in.
You know, they kind of tenant fed out.
It's kind of the the nuts and bolts the.
You know, #1 University in New Haven, so.
Just like you know, the number one university in Cambridge here.
They are going to put they are using a starchitect.
They're not just using me to put, give them a building.
You know, it is what it is when.
But at the same time, I agree with you that you should have.
There is this idea to push the consensus design works.
The good idea, some of the best ideas are from just.
That has to be glass, you know?
You know, you start talking and sometimes some of the best ideas are from crazy thoughts.
I think that once you get into consensus design, everyone's afraid to say.
Best things come from the crazy just, you know, the crazy.
Actually there is a, there is a project.
There is a project Bayview Community Center here in Pensacola.
What they ended up doing, imagine a piece of paper and we're kind of looking at it and you grab.
So the roof on this building was twisted and I thought we talked to the engineer and I go.
Why is it that it has so much?
You're grabbing straight lines from here to here, yeah.
The the young lady that designed that facility.
You gotta have a a valley, you gotta go.
And then she asked, you know, can we just twist it?
And then there's says that should be that.
So she went around other people.
I don't understand why my idea is so difficult.
She went around all these project managers that are their brain where it's like fix it.
Things when she she she has such a freedom of like she wasn't.
I don't know how to do it but I like to see.
She asked people and then went back from the engineer and spoke to the owner and said.
And they had that, like, sort of like 2 buildings in front of the main.
City of Pensacola and he says, I love your design.
And it was like like a rinky, dinky.
Looks like a little house in the Prairie kind of looking thing and.
So that goes back to like some somehow sometimes just the.
When somebody has a great idea.
I think we're as an architect, we're we gotta be there to support it.
Help I need to help my my interns.
I need to help my young architects.
You know, uh, you know, their their vision.
They come up with contemporary designs.
It was it a little more expensive?
There was a little more, more steel than your your standard, you know, like age buildings.
But there comes a point where it's like if the client loves it.
And what happened was in that design we had to VE a.
Third of the building, but the mayor was so in love with that building that he said.
We're building that because he was a he was about to lose.
He was about to get out of his term and he wasn't coming back as mayor.
Asked me for it's a long building.
Tell me about architecture in Florida and and before you tell me.
Gonna tell you something quick about Connecticut.
Connecticut is a state that is.
Everything here is cookie cutter metal boxes.
When someone today, when new buildings go up.
I talked to this general, you know, steel building company.
Know split ground face or split split face block to the bottom of it.
You know it's a good, good God, man.
The architecture is gone and I'm just looking at it and and I just don't.
And then when they do put something up that is supposed to be, let's call it high design.
It's it's basically glass, some precast panel.
And there's no thought to the facade, it's just flat, everything's just flat.
Let me let me do something real quick for.
Today's culture, I mean, I know Florida actually.
I'm going to show you just the.
The Panhandle, the, the, the the Panhandle had a what they call the a award for designs.
In the past, I guess what three years?
They they do this thing every year here in, in, in the Panhandle, Northwest.
For a award I'm going to, I'm going to share with you.
I want to share with you what I I I just received.
Happening here in Panama City to some extent, these are the ones that are getting the awards.
So this is just the Panhandle.
We're not even going out into Central Florida, South Florida.
Every, every so often you know, I just I I just had.
A guest the other day on our podcast, which were released this coming Monday.
He's he works for general contribution architect in his in his his name is Curtis Reed in.
He says the growth in the Panhandle is exploding.
He says he doesn't understand why big.
But here's something that's truly a fact.
1200 people moved to Florida every day.
Now they don't seem like, you know, crazy designs, but they do have an edge.
You know, some of these churches and some of these.
But that church, excuse me, that church and it's, I mean.
It it creates the modern, let's say inspire, you know.
Bell Tower, you know Bell Tower there.
It's like I like how they bring it to a point at the cross to the top.
Just the way they did it in a modern fashion is is very nice.
It's like a crescendo to the top.
I love that Gothic feel of those of.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's it's.
And that's a very interesting building right there.
Well, you know, you got something.
This one looks like it's a repeat.
And then of course, this is this.
This this is what you'll see a lot more AA play of materials, a play of of Lovering.
So we know that Penn Air has deep pockets any, any banking or credit.
Federal credit unions have deep pockets.
These these folks, they push the envelope this particular.
The colors they're just playing with colors.
First a comment and a question.
This is where architecture is going folded planes.
It's almost like the inverse of the folded plane.
You know, playing off each other.
Only human isn't like a living thing.
Does it feel like it is of human scale of does it?
Does it feel like it's supporting or denying humanity?
Weird question, but I need to know.
This building got, oh, exactly.
Well, everything about the Bauhaus school.
There's a lot of similarities because that.
OK, but this gets deeper into my like society.
This gets very deep in into how society is functioning today.
We start with Bauhaus and we add things to it like we need to filter some light here.
Hey, what if I add this little you know this ribbon that continues around and that's color to it.
There is something about the architecture today that.
I mean this in saying do you feel good about that when you see that?
Well, will the general public feel?
Will they want to protect this building?
Will they appreciate this in 10 years?
I mean, it's a question, I don't know if that's the answer.
No, I I'm concerned with modern architecture today, not modern, but like today's.
I don't mean modern architecture in the 50s.
Modern architecture, I mean today's architecture.
Yeah, you know, nowadays I think architect.
When I and I work for a company out there, architect on it was called.
Uh. If you ever get it. If anybody's listening, it's like and it's a very contemporary designs.
A lot of medals in in Arizona.
It's so dry, you can have to you can you can oxidize.
You know, I think I saw some documentary about how the the the smog.
All this kind of stuff is like corroding quicker, you know, cause you always worried about salt.
And that was one of those things that.
I just had a conversation with a client and say, hey, what should I do?
Should I use a standing seam, metal roof, steel or with the galvalume or aluminum?
The coast, I don't know, but I'm.
You know, you could have a roof last.
20 years, 30 years of metal roof or or you can go full aluminum.
You cannot have the last 50 years again.
He he kind of out, it was sort of like a let me see.
It was called the Taipei Performing Arts Center.
But when you said is this, does this talk to the?
To the people in the city and and they and then you see these these guys when they do things.
Performing Arts Center is what we're Speaking of, yes.
And and it's like great as an intern architect or an A student at the university.
Yeah, you can look at it, say, oh, this is amazing.
And then teachers are boasting about it and it's like, right.
We're we're always worried about.
On the fact that Heat island effect is real and it's like.
When I saw this, I saw all this concrete down.
Why wouldn't you make some of that grassy area?
Get up there. No one's going to get. Yeah. No one's going to.
Get the the maintenance guy to go take care of the plants.
The irrigation system doesn't operate anymore.
Make sure that they don't look like brown dead weeds up there, right?
I tell you, you know, I am interested.
And more of what Zaha Hadid has been doing and I know that she's passed.
Yeah, it's always a a bad thing to have to mention that.
But the work that she has produced is something that I'd like to explore more.
She came at this with a much different perspective and Iraqi American and Iraqi.
Either way, Iraqi, I can't remember if she's actually become an American or not.
But yeah, I mean, amazing, amazing work that she has produced.
And I and although it's a much more fluid design.
It really pushes the envelope of of how to move a form through a landscape.
Sticking with a material for a skin or two materials for.
It's like a box of chocolates like.
There's a building in New Haven.
It's just I think the skin on one facade is like 7 different materials, like, OK, we're we're going.
About her work is just amazing.
Yeah, it's a sad shame that she did pass away.
And I'm looking quickly because I I felt that, oh, she's Iraqi, British, British, Iraqi, British.
So I guess she never became an American.
When you have people that have very deep pockets, it's almost like artist.
Not very well known, but if somebody that had that's well connected and is wants say filthy rich.
Yeah, likes you and he wants to promote.
And then that's you become a sahih that you become a Remco.
Are they gorgeous as an architect?
Why is that to be so Dang expensive to buy a unit in that apartment?
When does anyone have $1000 a square?
I know it comes down the cost.
When it stands, the test of time, do you know New York City, the most sought after lease or rent?
Apartment, our pre war buildings pre World War 2.
All this new you know, pencil tower, all the stuff, everything in the meatpacking district in Soho.
All these things the new modern buildings going up, yeah, they're they're relatively empty.
They people want to protect them.
You know, the the kind of pre World War 2 buildings, that's what.
That's those are the ones that people want to be.
I mean, who wants to be in that pencil tower?
Oh, God. I mean, look up 4th, I think 4th Cynthia and I did a podcast on. I think it's 432 park.
I think there's a lot of lawsuits on that. Yeah, residents sue developers for 125 million.
4:30 do you have any condominiums?
Get me the hell out of that building.
But you know you you can't get through the paywall of New York Times if you don't.
And battle billionaire skyscraper developer sued for shoddy construction.
I wouldn't want to be in there.
I wouldn't want to be there, no.
Sometimes we get a little too crazy.
There was another one that I heard about.
This building that's settling.
They're in litigation because they can't, they can't.
They can't do anything with it.
I think Jlo bought something there. She got her money back. I believe I. Yeah. No, there it is.
To park in 2018 for 15.3 million Holy Smoley.
Of course, they only kept their three bedroom condo as a three bedroom condo for a year.
So, you know, listen, we push the envelope I you know.
Let's let's make sure we know.
I mean, there's some common sense.
There's, like, I can just imagine.
It's like my engine asking my engineers.
I remember being in undergrad and we went to the World Trade Center.
And and me and a few of my friends in undergrad, we were up and window of the world.
And you look out the window and.
I was up there, so that was before.
And you're like, we're moving.
We're swaying a little here, you know, but.
It was dampened enough, you know, but.
There's there, they, they they use hydraulic systems to kind of anti sway the buildings.
But you know there we're talking about another couple of $1,000,000 to be able to prevent it.
I think solid built different.
Like, it wouldn't collapse like it.
It was just built differently.
Just built differently, you know we.
Were you going to conspiracy theories next?
All I'm saying is the Empire State is solid.
The way we we do, what do they call it?
Procurement, the procurement process for this is like no.
So that was our project and students is what what's our design?
Anyway, you look this up, look up the Museum of American folk.
Are your was that your first semester 990?
That was that was designed 7:00.
So that was my third semester or no 4th semester, no.
Then I graduated in 97 than you were.
Yes, I graduated in 98I, graduated 98.
Because I was on my 4th year and you must have been done.
And then we must have seen Miss Summit eye contact and never.
One little punk kids, I was like a punk kid.
Said anything? Yeah, it's like.
Doing they actually gave me a lot of inspiration.
So if you go to see design one and two students, you see how enthusiastic, how crazy they are.
Know you go look at the studio.
You know that one common studio and they just beat the hell out of you.
To love going down there and seeing them anyway.
But we went to New York, we had the Museum, Museum of American folk Art anyway.
This building was actually built.
It was actually designed to build.
I think it was torn down five years later.
The moment tore it down because they wanted to expand and they had to apologize.
Was it Dylan Schofield who designed it?
The next architect had to apologize to them.
Building down well, you probably don't.
I don't know if you deal a lot with high rise, but there is something called.
Uh, A a 3030. It's either a 20 or a 35 year recertification.
A program here in the state of Florida and is to recertify.
High rise buildings and what's been happening here and people don't know this.
And I think depending on how close you are to the beach to the waterfront.
That was that there was reports and the association was trying to figure out.
What to do with these reports and in the mean time?
Things were just getting better, worse and worse and worse, and no one had.
They've been pushing this to be tighter, closer, closer apart.
So now there was one another, another condo that came out in the news.
$1,000,000 to renovate the facility because they had all kinds of deficiencies.
Uh, one of the people that was managing the association.
The company that bid the job to do the work, it was like a family member.
Oh, so there was a conflict of interest tremendously because all of a sudden the the.
And he came in at half the money that the this other entity wanted.
In the Miami Herald that you know, there was like.
Conflicts of interest possibility that the association that was managing managing the building.
Fine and all this kind of stuff anyways.
Florida, the insurance company, won't insure you.
They will not insure you unless you have the roof replaced.
Hey, should we do uh solar paneling for for heating water or photovoltaics for electricity?
Let's run a lifecycle cost and ask.
So there needs to be a different approach when it comes to.
Buildings that are energy efficient.
And and they save on energy and consumption and all that.
We need to take a different approach because.
Hey, I just want to go back and correct something that I said with the folk Art Museum.
New York Times article it was up for 12 years in 2013.
12 year old building at moment is doomed.
And the folk museum building, designed by Todd Williams and Billy, seen their husband, wife team.
You know they're famous, you know.
Project in Manhattan and then later she's, I think Billy says this.
It's a building that kids study in architecture school.
Well, it tore down 12 years so.
Money is flowing around Momma's like.
They couldn't even connect to buildings easily.
Even if they want to connect the two build.
It's being being being counting.
And VE I know we're probably wrapping up, but VE is one of the worst things that value engineering.
Used to be called VM value management.
But now we got value engineering to make it sound even more, you know for.
All you're doing is cutting the architecture.
Remember, remember how I told you that that that building for the for the city of Pensacola?
We tried everything we could not bring down the cost.
Was so much that we said we gotta find a good clean spot at the building.
And then we presented that and that's what we went with.
People think people keep thinking.
But you know labor, labor costs, people still don't want to go to.
Our federal, our wonderful federal.
Client continues to send checks out for people to stay home.
Well, I'm not getting that check.
My way I'm not getting the check.
Oh man, we could talk all day about VE.
There was a project in in Hartford quickly.
Can't afford that extra piece.
Well, it's kind of it's kind of we're running late here.
We're fast out 1:30, so I know you got.
Back to work and you know you you got you got clients got to attend to us.
But I appreciate you kind of taking another, you know, wonderful.
I think it took us what, an hour.
We've kind of been talking here for about an hour.
Probably the days here, but yeah.
Thank you, Dan, Dan from AE design, am I saying?
The right group AA design group?
Thanks for listening to the T.
Squared dads Brown Bag podcast please subscribe on your favorite platform and we will talk to.