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Bob Borson, FAIA | Feb 26, 2024In the architecture and construction industry, delegated design refers to the process where certain design responsibilities are transferred from architects to contractors during the construction phase. This collaboration is considered crucial in ensuring that the project progresses smoothly from design to implementation.
Bob Borson, FAIA
| Aug 5, 2019
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 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
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
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, 2019Pull 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, 2019All 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, 2018As 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.
| Nov 29, 2018This is the 9th annual and highly anticipated What to Get an Architect for Christmas gift guide. It’s hard for me to process that when I wrote the very first gift guide back in 2010 that this would become the most requested blog post that I would write every single year. In that first year, the guide was just my own personal gift wish list, but now I spend almost an entire year curating what sort of items should make the final cut.
| Nov 11, 2018What does a day in the Life of an Architect look like? There are a lot of different answers to that question and even if I look at what my day looks like, it has varied over the years as I move through my career and took on different roles and responsibilities. The one thing that has not varied all that much over the years is that I start my day pretty early. Today is a good example of that since it was a Sunday, and I was still up pretty early because I had a lot of work to get done.
| Nov 9, 2018It was only a matter of time before I once again tackled the topic of an architect’s salary. This is actually the fourth post I’ve prepared on the subject, but I haven’t talked about it since January 2013 so maybe it was overdue. I have long been on record that I can’t stand when architects complain that they don’t make more money. Of course they want to make more money – who doesn’t?
