Consultants

I will start this discussion with a short parable: Two masons were working on installing brick veneer column bases on a colonnade as part of one of my projects. The first mason, when asked what he was doing, replied that he was installing masonry veneer column bases. True enough. An accurate statement. The second mason responded to the same question with the reply that he was helping build this building. It is possible that the first mason would perform just as...

Learning Curves and Technology

As the profession moves towards ever more integrated design processes, it has become incumbent upon the new members of the profession, fresh from their successful collegiate studies, to present themselves to architect employers with an ever increasing list of already-owned and developed skills. Back in the old days, when drawings were produced by hand – pencil or pen upon vellum or film – the freshly minted architectural graduate could be assured of at least a couple of years of laboring over...

Architects See Things Differently

I was conversing with an engineer the other day about a public works project for a local city we had been asked to help his firm work on. We were going to prepare renderings of the proposed street elevations for the property where they were designing and installing a water tank and a pump house building. The project manager for the city – a city engineer – asked to see examples of our work prior to authorizing the engineering firm to...

Blog Introduction

I am an architect in private practice in Southern California. I graduated from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, in 1981 with a Masters in Architecture. I actually began working in the profession as a draftsman in 1976. From 1987 through most of 1991 I was a partner in a private architectural firm, which grew to a staff of twenty before eventually being dissolved. Since that time, I have been the Chief Cook and Bottle Washer at Musser: Architects, Inc. My staff...