Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Architecture Resources ~ Architects USA and Archiplanet

Yesterday in architecture, the whole class was discussing an assignment and sharing resources.  I promised to share a website I found a while ago Architects USA (20,000 firms).  Initially I did not see a good method to filter the list of firms so I only previewed those which had a website.  Later I found a nice filter for the largest firms with more than 100 employees.

Tonight I was reading information on each architecture firm’s official website, to better prepare for my college report.  Outside of the Architects USA website - I was Googling for specific architecture firms by company name, when I discovered Archiplanet.  They have one of the longest lists of architecture firms I have found, organized by state and city, e.g., Architecture Firms in Utah.  The opening paragraph on their main page states, “Find, browse, read, view, post, and edit the facts, photos, and drawings here on your favorite structures of all kinds, anywhere, from your own cottage to the latest skyscraper to your nation's capitol.” 

Archiplanet Highlights:
·    "Community-constructed" like Wikipedia
·    118,737 pages
·    Viewed more than 76 million times to date
·    Thousands of registered contributors
·    Several hundred thousand visitors each month
·    100,000 buildings
·    25,000 architects and firms
·    Sponsored by ArchitectureWeek

Archiplanet Categories
·    Buildings
·    Houses
·    Images
·    Skyscrapers
·    Architects
·    Architecture Firms
·    Architecture Firms in USA
·    Construction Firms
·    Countries
·    Cities
·    Great Buildings
·    Historic Buildings
·    Buildings by Country
·    Buildings in England
·    Buildings in the United Kingdom

I have many other architecture bookmarks and thought these would be good sites to begin a resource list.  I will probably update this blog page with more architecture resources later.  I would be interested in your favorite architecture websites, books, and other resources.  Please send the URL and tell me about them.

Architecture is a wonderful life.
~۩~

© Copyright 2010 Michael Rybin, All Rights Reserved.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Career Paradigm Shift from Software Engineering Architect to Building Architect

Is it a paradigm shift to change careers from Software Engineering Architect to Building Architect?

I was/am a Software Engineering Architect (aka Project, Program, or Product Manager depending on the company) leading the user-centered design and architecture of profitable websites and products through contextual inquiry, heuristic evaluations, and human-computer interaction research.  My peers say I am self-motivated to seek product improvements that have delivered a ROI at every previous company. 

My Expert Skills
~ Ownership of customers’ and company goals
~ Keen understanding and listener of the “Voice of the Customer”
~ Thorough competitors’ research and comparative analysis
~ Envision and architect insightful products that are easy-to-use
~ Translate and communicate requirements between stakeholders
~ Identify unforeseen website and business process inefficiencies
~ Tenacious discoverer of the root-cause and their solutions

After a lot of soul searching, I decided to change careers and become a licensed building architect.  My preliminary research shows the University of Utah Master of Architecture program is required for the State License.  The U of U Bachelor of Architecture Studies is a prerequisite and is also articulated with the AS Architecture Technology program at Salt Lake Community College.  To maximize the transferability of my past college credits, SLCC is where I will begin this journey.  To start I aced the college math placement exam.  Also, I earned an A on my first architecture project. 

Granted I have only just begun, yet I don’t feel this is a paradigm shift.  After reading a few chapters in “Architect?” by Roger K. Lewis and in comparison to my past professional experience, I already have some architect skills plus transferable skills.  Also, I absolutely breathe LEED.  With my past interest in NASA SEL, the LEED Green Building Facts make me feel right at home.

So now I am a full-time architecture student searching for a job.  Considering my background I applied for an intern product manager job at Autodesk, the owner of AutoCAD and Revit Architecture software.  

Life is wonderful
~۩~

© Copyright 2010 Michael Rybin, All Rights Reserved.