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- Posted by: @ontarget1
Why bother with an architect?
Because you don’t have his license. Even though that license doesn’t prove they are competent.
. Was he good looking?
@murphy I remember one set of plans where the architect wanted the outside building line to jog back and forth, for a decorative effect, and it did look nice. The problem is he had the interior building line parallel, so it went back and forth, instead of a nice straight interior line. Kind of hard to place furniture when the wall goes back and forth.
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She was less good looking the longer I was married to her and subjected to her shrew like antagonist pusilanimous attacks…
And FWIW….toms toothpaste burns when spit into your eyes.
That being said….there are a few amazing architects out there. Unfortunately we never usually get to work with them,just the frustrated not as talented dreamers that the field is full of that give them a less than stellar reputation….
- Posted by: @jitterboogie
just the frustrated not as talented dreamers that the field is full of
I started college as an architecture major. Philip Johnson spoke to my class about 1/3 of the way into the first semester. He basically said “odds are that none of you are geniuses, so do the world a favor and copy the work of those who are”. You could actually hear the little gasping noises as their dreams died.
I’m sharing this with my friend (whose wedding I presided over) whom decided after gettting his degree in architectural engineering and after drafting toilets and stairs for 4 years became a curtain wall consultant. He laughs all the the time about the frustrated field of them.
Hes had an awesome career too not being an artichoke, and has worked on some of the most interesting projects and with some of those rare air few architects the flotsam is so driven to try to be like…. They ( the great ones) never wanted to be like anybody….they literally took off on their own directions and is most of the reason why they are so highly revered.
@bruce-small
Remember the old tin ceilings in stores years ago. Now imagine something like that being used for external sheathing of a building except the scale is greatly exaggerated such that the outies are a foot further out than the innies.
FYI I came close to marrying an engineer. She was very nice to me. Our differences (over 600 miles) became a bit too much for us.
- Posted by: @james-fleming
little gasping noises as their dreams died
Poetry
I was staking steel in NJ years ago and the archs issued new structural plans to address a design change. My client calls me and tells me he is ready for layout, so, I start calculating. After multiple attempts to close out the building, no matter how I tried, it was out 4″. I advise the client of the problem, he contacts the Arch, the Arch calls me and tells me I’m wrong, after verifying that we were both looking at the same plan. The client comes to sit with me while I show him, he is satisfied that I am correct, calls the Arch again and tells him to fix it, meanwhile, the steel has been manufactured and delivered to the site. The next day, the Arch calls me and asks me where the problem is, he was not happy when I told him that it’s not my design, so, I don’t know. He sends me a new plan and it still doesn’t work. To make a long story short, we go through the same exercise four times until the plan works. What a pain it was!
First thing I look for with arch plans is to see what everything is rounded off to. If it isn’t 1/8 of an inch, I don’t expect to close to 0.01′. Then I ask for their CAD…it often gives clues as to what their intention is.
When (because it happens more often than not) the CAD disagrees with the signed plans, then there is an RFI.
No, the architects get a fine, but unfortunately the client pays for their lack of detail.
-All thoughts my own, except my typos and when I am wrong.@ontarget1 That disclaimer is ridiculous and would not hold up in court. It’s like the sign on the back of dump trucks that reads:
Not true. ALL vehicles are responsible for stuff that flys off and damages a following vehicle, except for hay & straw shards (not bales), live chicken feathers and clear water (in most States).
As far as I understand, CAD files are not construction documents, rather a convenience one may use to divine intent. *heraldic angel chorus
Whenever I worked with a house or building that had angular portions I just said to myself “Architects only own 30?ø-60?ø-90?ø and 45?ø-45?ø-90?ø triangles.” Problem solved.
This is one of several reasons that I have stopped staking buildings. Most Foundation Plans we see are completely un-dimensioned. When we ask the Architect how we would stake such a thing, they usually reply “The floor plan is dimensioned.” In some, but not all cases, this is true, but we often find that the foundation and floor are not identical. Many times there are overhangs or setbacks from one to the other, rarely even noted on either drawing, and generally not dimensioned. We have been told a number of ways to deal with this, ranging from “just scale it” to “just make it work.” I was also recently told not to use a CAD file because “the lines might not be drawn correctly”! You can’t make this stuff up!!
I have been told several times that the AIA recommends that only one drawing in a plan set should be dimensioned to help eliminate discrepancies…
“I can explain it to you, BUT I can’t understand it for you.”
“Any relationship between these plans, and the finished product, is purely coincidental”.
“These plans are only true in concept, not design”.
“The truly artistic type person, may not understand mathematical soundness”
“2+2 is a variable on these plans”
Ha ha ha
N
@mike-marks That, and you generally can’t read the font until you’re within fifty feet of it
@mike-marks what duty do we have to the inspectors? None. Our duty is to our client to stake something from a plan that is mathematically correct and closes. What happens from there is not our problem until they ask us to fix their mess.
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