I’ll comment (hopefully after visiting) in a few days but for now, more information can be found below.

http://www.bdonline.co.uk/news/first-pictures-from-serpentine-gallery-pavilion-2011-by-peter-zumthor/5020616.article

http://www.bdonline.co.uk/technical/serpentine-gallery-pavilion-by-peter-zumthor/5020460.article

While half of me (the jealous half) disagrees with his stance on client-involvement, the other is mesmerised by his architecture. Most of his work is in hard-to-reach parts of central Europe and as a result, they tend to become sites of pilgrimage for architects.

But having followed Zumthor’s work for a several years, I actually feel quite ashamed that I haven’t seen any of his structures in the flesh.

Therefore, as this will be his first building in the UK  – and within easy reach of my lodgings -  I will try and follow its progress and post some photos along the way.  Afterwards, I’ll start planning my central European holiday!

Link to Architects Journal article

Salter’s the type of architect who has only been commissioned to design a handful of buildings due to his unconventional approach to design and construction, besides his general awesomeness. On this occasion, he was invited to come and evaluate our studio’s final projects during and as I was an admirer of his work, I particularly wanted to hear his feedback.

Unfortunately he was quite unconvinced by my proposal to the point of saying “I just don’t get what you’re trying to achieve here”. Some architecture tutors, at this point, would leave to for a coffee or cigarette without explaining what they didn’t understand but to his credit, Peter continued ripping my scheme apart for a good half hour.

I think the best part of the discussion was that while it’s important to be emotionally attached to the building you’re designing, it was probably the first time I really felt a building actually change in my mind during a review, rather than in the studio afterwards. Previously, I had been too precious about my designs, despite knowing that an architecture school environment is aimed at developing your talents, not just being an arena to show them off.

Salter didn’t redesign my building for me, and the final design changed considerably from the scheme he saw, but it was a grounding experience that has honed way I question my designs ever since.

Building Design have just featured a brief summary of one of his lectures from 1991 (together with Chris Macdonald) and it reminded me how little press he receives compared to how much he rightly deserves.

There’s also some beautiful images by archidose of his work here.

This isn’t going to be a list of THINGS YOU MUST DEFINITELY DO TO GET AN ARCHITECTURE JOB. It’s just what worked for me so you’re welcome to take whatever you like from it and ignore the rest.

1. My portfolio wasn’t the most important thing.

When I first started looking for work I had a huge plan about streamlining my portfolio, making it cover all the right areas and basically convince anyone who saw it think that I was the best person in the world, ever. I’d then apply to a few practices I really wanted to work for and hopefully get a couple of interviews. I’d confidently stride into the interview room, sporting a sharp suit, shaking hands with the interviewer before unleashing the most amazing portfolio the universe has ever seen.

Unsurprisingly, I’d only updated a few pages by the time I was invited to interview. The firm literally only saw my single A4 page resume (featuring with the image below) and about 5 or six working drawings from my previous year in practice to make sure I could draft. According to the guy who interviewed me, the fact that I’d been through six years of uni was enough to convince them that I could design and everything else was based on how I acted at the interview.

Obviously I took whatever portfolio sheets I had finished, but it’s always better to apply for places straight away, rather than wait until you’ve perfected your presentation. If you’re anything like me, that could be forever!

2. It’s fun to apply for other jobs with your architecture CV.

Ok, so it’s maybe not “fun” but I noticed I was getting a lot more interviews for jobs outside architecture when I used my architecture cv – about four or five more interviews per month. These jobs were anything from working in John Lewis’ menswear department to tour guiding. And it’s all good interview experience.

First of all, you always know the first question is going to be “So, you’re an architect… why the hell are you applying to menswear??” I’d just be honest with my reply that architecture jobs are hard to find at the moment and that I was looking in other areas for the next couple of years. After the first question (always my least favourite one) I relaxed and after a couple of months’ practice, interviews became a lot less stressful.  I noticed how you could work out the best answers to the standard “bullshit” questions like “What does teamwork mean to you?” I’ve been informed by interviewers that these questions are more to find out how you talk, rather than your deep philosophical musings on working as a group.

When it came to having my first architecture interview it was even easier because I didn’t have to explain why I wanted the job. I found I could relax and just concentrate on answering the questions more honestly because they actually were related to the job, rather than my feelings on “teamwork”.

3. I had to find the right balance between too intense and too relaxed.

I found this quite hard. On one hand you need to actually be enthusiastic enough to look for jobs and show potential all your good qualities. On the other, if all you do all day is crawl the internet for jobs, it’s probably going to reflect somehow in your personality. During my first few interviews I was probably a bit too desperate and I didn’t feel like I was acting like my real self. This did change over time as I became more familiar with wearing a suit and talking to random people about myself for half an hour.

After a few months I got to a point where I if I did get an interview I’d dress well, briefly research the company but generally treat the interview as a chance for me to interview the employer. I found my balance in that I’d do everything I could to attend an interview and be polite as possible but basically treat it as a fact finding exercise. Obviously I’d never say this to the interviewer but it felt good to know I was in control of the situation, regardless of whether or not they were going to give me the job. Every person will probably have their own balance but once I found mine, things became a lot less stressful.

4. I tried to apply for two or three jobs per day… before breakfast.

Looking for jobs online is like a really boring game of hide and seek. But unlike hide and seek, it’s easier at different parts of the day. I went on the hunch that since jobs were being advertised all the time, I’d have less competition from other applicants during the hours of midnight and 9am. Also with hundreds of people going for the same job, the sooner I could respond, the more chance I’d have of being invited to interview. This does mean getting out of bed in the morning which is difficult at the best of times, and even more so when you have nothing in particular to do that day. I found I could sometimes bribe myself out of bed with breakfast… although some days even that didn’t help. :S However, on the days I could manage it, applying earlier really improved my chances.

A few of my friends and relatives were kind enough to forward any jobs they thought I should apply for and this really helped widen my search. This was really cool and groovy of them so it’s worth making sure people know that you’re looking for work.

Also, from over 500 general applications and around 200 architecture applications, I only heard back from about 50 companies. At first this kinda sucked but after a while I got used to not expecting a reply and then when companies did respond, it was pretty cool. In fact, when I applied to the firm I’m currently with, I almost immediately forgot about it and had a few beers. Which brings me back to my original point…

5. Getting a job didn’t happen how I thought it would.

I was invited to interview one late December morning while I was packing to go home for Christmas – I was also going up to Edinburgh for Hogmanay straight afterwards so there was quite a lot of packing to do. On top of that, I was hardly prepared for an interview due to a combination of being slightly hung over, already in holiday mode and from not having washed properly for a few days (damn you, broken shower). It was also too late to change my train tickets so I was faced with the choice of either catching my train and passing up my first architecture interview, or risk missing my train (that had already cost £70) but with the possibility of getting a job.

I decided to risk it and go to the interview. There was about enough time to stuff some clothes in my rucksack before rushing out the door. Since I didn’t have space in my bag to bring a suit back with me, I ended up wearing what I was going to travel home in – a bedraggled jeans/sweater combo – but by this time I was hardly in the mood to care.

When I arrived for the interview I dumped my rucksack outside the meeting room door and walked in with only a couple of portfolio sheets. The interview seemed to go pretty well and they didn’t seem to mind my less-than-dapper attire. Not even the hiking boots. The interviewer really just wanted to find out who I was and tell me more about the role. After about fifteen minutes I was taken on a tour of the office and was introduced to the other members of staff. It was probably one of the least stressful interviews I’ve ever had.

As I was leaving, they gave me a list of later trains (as I’d almost definitely missed my original one) and asked me to email them some of my previous working drawings over the next few days. After that, they’d make their decision.

The following day I visited my previous practice and emailed off a few sample drawings. Half an hour later they called to offer me the job – the whole process from first contact to being offered the position lasted a little over 24 hours. It took quite a while to sink in but it did make for a rather awesome Christmas present. It was only over the next few days that I realised how it was probably the worst I’ve ever looked (and smelled) in an interview, how underprepared I was and how I’d risked £160 on train tickets (that’s still a LOT of money to me) on the slight possibility of getting a job.

None of this happened the way I’d imagined. The mistakes I’d made (or had just worried about) didn’t seem to matter, while the risks paid off.

Like I said at the beginning of this post, this is just what I’ll try and do if I ever find myself in the job market again. Other people’s responsibilities may be completely different to mine (for instance, if you have a family to provide for) but from my postion, I found the best strategy was to apply as soon as possible and work on your portfolio later. Secondly, apply for jobs when you’ll have the least competition (like just before Christmas… or before breakfast). Finally, try to relax. Being unemployed screws with your self esteem but remember that it is a temporary situation – and it’ll make your eventual autobiography a much more thrilling read!

Good luck.

The main reason I began the blog was to keep my mind somewhere in the realm of architecture while being unemployed/exploring other lines of work. In past experience, practice life naturally kept me quite well-informed of internal architecture news but I still needed to find the more arts-related stories for myself. At least in this respect, the blog should carry on as normal.

Admittedly, I also used this as a design outlet for not being in practice. I’ve been spending a lot of time on my portfolio lately and haven’t done much in the way of blogging but the original intention was to publish my ideas and maybe gain feedback. I suppose I won’t need this element so much but I’ll aim to post some of my non-practice work when possible.

Thirdly, I tried to write constructively about my unemployment and my adventures trying to find work but (hopefully) this shouldn’t be an issue for a while. Instead I’ll try to post any adverts, websites etc that I found useful or discover in the coming months. I know there are lots of supercool people who helped me look for work, many of whom are still on the lookout themselves so I owe plenty of favours. Also, while it’s beyond brilliant to have found a job, I have to remind myself that the market is still rather unstable and that any minute I could be back to square one. For now though, I feel very fortunate.

I think the previous aim flows into my experiences returning to practice. I’ve been away from the office for about two and a half years so there are bound to be a few problems to overcome as I get up to speed. Obviously I won’t disclose any information about the firm on here or its projects for confidentiality reasons but I’ll keep this updated on my general progress adjusting back to practice life.

So while my viewpoint has shifted, I still hope to continue with the blog’s original intentions. Not to mention the fact that I am still not an architect… yet!

I’ve been meaning to revise my architecture resume’s images for a while.

Up until now I’ve had several images, each showing a different program or skill, but this is visually messy and not very economical – especially when you only have one sheet of A4 to impress employers. Hopefully this combination of 3ds Max, Photoshop and my sketches is a more efficient portrayal.

I hope to add an AutoCAD detail in the near future to complete the set.

This is such a beautiful experience – provided you have the bandwidth. You can play any of these twenty youtube videos at any time and the end result is (usually) gorgeous, regardless of the combination. It reminded me of Eno’s sound landscapes.

http://www.multiurl.com/ga/audiogravity-18th-september-2k9

The main opposition arrises in that the new stadium in Harringey, London would sit on 15 historically listed buildings. Spurs are arguing that their 434 new homes, club museum and adjacent hotel will more than compensate the local population but complaints have already been made by Save Britain’s Heritage who have drawn up their alternative vision of the site.

Grade II listed buildings can currently only be altered under strict planning restraints so it will be interesting to see how this scheme fares at the planning stage over the next few weeks. I can’t see it sailing through but maybe the roof’s “NAMING RIGHTS” should read “WATCH THIS SPACE”.

This short video was submitted for the end of year show and features a site model approximately ten miles across.

The location is Drancy, just north of the Paris. The existing 1930′s housing block was used as a deportation camp during the war and has itself been abused throughout its lifetime. It seems to exhibit the building equivalent of “survivor guilt”, yet little effort has been made to remedy this.

My fifth year project was to alter the facade with passive ventilation scheme. This would also provide a range of environments to encourage the residents to interact, develop a sense of community and appreciate their building in a more positive light. The scheme made use of the courtyard, the amazing views over Paris and the vast but unused roof terrace.

The original structure and facade are by Jean Prouvé.