Archinect - New Layout

I have linked to Archinect stuff in the past.  Well, I have not been on in a while and it looks like they did a complete revamp of the site... I have been exploring it and I really like the new layout...

CHECK IT OUT FOR YOURSELF

Archinect's Official Portfolio Guide

It is very rare to find this kind of information geared towards architecture so when I do I like to share with you all.

Introduction to the Series

For many of us architecture is a calling, for others it’s a job and for some it’s a lifestyle. Regardless of which description(s) best fits your personal perspective, as designers there are a few important questions that will unify our cause and help to shape our professional lives. These questions include: What type of architect do I want to be? What type of education or institution will help me to become that architect? How do I get the attention of employers in such a competitive field? And How do I realize my full potential in the professional world?

The following essay is the first in a series that will attempt to guide us in answering those questions. This series is written for designers who have firmly decided that architecture is a career path they wish to pursue. I do not intend to go through the arguments about whether anyone should become an architect and how to tell if you would be a good one. In addition, I will not digress into the pessimism about low salaries, long hours and poor working conditions that run throughout the profession. This series is meant to raise our spirits and ambitions within a tough economic climate, provide some helpful advice about portfolio preparation and the search for employment and contribute to the ongoing dialogue about the forces that shape our professional lives.

With the current economic downturn forcing many talented designers back into the academic world or into the realm of unemployment, we must remain focused on conveying our talents and experiences in the most effective manner to remain competitive. Part One of this series will include advice on preparing an academic portfolio and applying to graduate school while parts two and three will focus on the search for professional employment and the interview process. I have included examples of my design work and detailed some of my own personal experiences while engaged in these processes. The articles in this series will consider questions from hundreds of past discussion threads and provide one central resource for answers....

• Archinect's Official Portfolio Guide: Part 1 - The Academic Portfolio

• Archinect's Official Portfolio Guide: Part 2 - The Search for Employment

Some great advice, examples, and information! Thanks Jason at Archinect!

Revit not Stimulating??

Yet another Revit post over at Archinect.com . The same user who started the "Revit Sucks" thread (refer to my old post) started another post. Here is a little glimpse of the conversation:

Posted by Danger:

"So, after the initial frustration of getting started in Revit (see previous thread, "Revit Sucks") I am just finding it to be a BORING way to work...

...The sluggish work flow, odd command sequences and wrist-kinking point-clicking...are tiresome and distracting...I often losing track of what I was doing in the first place...

As someone who "thinks with their hands" I find this interface disturbing and dull...I believe there is something inherently STIMULATING about DRAWING (even in AutoCad) ... Although It is nice to work in 3D sometimes, I think there is an advantage to the abstract thinking and simplified problem solving done in 2D...

Any comments or thoughts?"

Posted by Me:

I guess I have to respond to this thread given that ff33 has dropped my name... plug my site next time you drop my name ff ;) (www.therevitkid.com).

First, since it was the last post I read there is one thing that Wurdan said that got me. The comment about "Drawing is dead". I can't see how people say such a thing. I find myself drawing just as much, if not more, when using Revit in the design process. I cannot see how that argument would hold.

Secondly, to respond to the initial post by Danger:

I have some thoughts. What program DO YOU USE? Do you like CAD? I can't quite figure it out. You must not use AutoCAD if you think Revit involves "wrist kinking point-clicking".

I love the reactions you grab in your threads and I truly do enjoy reading everyones opinions on the subject. I have to fully disagree with Revit not being "stimulating" and being boring. I used CAD at my firm for six years. Going Revit is the most stimulating thing to happen in the office.

Revit forces the user to think and visualize every little command you make. Every wall and every component has an effect in every view. Forcing the user to think about every action that is made and its reaction to the building as a whole is stimulating in itself. I would like to hear your rebuddle as to HOW 2D drafting could be more stimulating...

Great conversation and I enjoy reading everyones thoughts."

Click here to view the entire thread.

Thought I would share with my readers and maybe you all would like to join in on the discussion. I began this blog in hopes of opening dialects such as these...

Revit Sucks!

He Says: "That's right... you heard it..."

I ask: "But why?"  

He responds: "Uh... I don't know... it just does".

Oh it is an ongoing saga.  Is it really worth trying to force those non-believers into believing?  I say it's not.  I have yet to hear a plausible argument behind the idea "Revit Sucks!".

Here is your Proof.

A couple of the posts on that discussion I would like to pick apart:

• "As a schematic generator and scheduling, it's great.  I'm not to keen on it for C.D.s"

Definitely never used the program before.

• "Archicad is more flexible and was the innovator..."
  

Wow... Just wow...

• "Would be perfect if it was command based"
  

That is interesting... I just modeled half a building without clicking a single tool bar...

• "Projects with curves, non-standard wall assemblies, complex curtain walls, i.e. most of the stuff that makes architecture fun, is not so easy with Revit. You may as well use a good 3d model (rhino because of its acad compatibility seems like the best option these days) and adapt plans, sections, elevations, and details to documents in 2d. and in regards to who is using the program, i found its greatest proponents to be students and firm principals, both of whom have had little to no real world, hands-on project experience with the technology. not to say that revit will not become the industry standard. if clients and contractors begin to demand it, it goes without saying that it will be the future, but it will also have major implications for the way we design. (similar to the way acad changed design in the nineties.)"

First off, that was impossible to read without the use of capitol letters.  Secondly, you just don't get it!  People like that last response will never get it.  It is not worth it to try to make them get it.  Out of all the nonsense in that last response the idea that Revit will change design for the worse boggles my mind.

I want all of my readers and followers to remember that these arguments are simply not worth it.  Become an intelligent building modeler along with your ambition and your creativity and your actions will speak much louder.

Do not let people like that bring you down...  The Revitlution is stronger than that! Muwahaha.

Architectural Excess... hmm..

The economic crash has brought a decade of lavish “icon”-building to a halt. Does this mean an architecture of “excess” will be replaced by one of “relevance?” Frances Anderton speaks with Frank Gehry and Architecture for Humanity’s Cameron Sinclair.

Interesting podcast.  Intriguing interviews with Frank Gehry and Cameron Sinclair.  

Check it out here.