Some Ideas

Architecture as an extention to the virtural realm

The La Esperanza Project, here's a quick test for the tablet sketch to see how well it works:
Seems okay for now, the interface still seem a bit rough around the edges in sketch mode. But its more important at this point to start utilizing the tool rather then waste more time on optimization.

La Esperanza is located in the basement of a large existing church. The layout is a stubby T shape with a large horizontal main hall towards the back of the building.
My first thought were to expand upon the main theme already present from the name of the organization, the "plaza". An characteristic that jumped out at me was the idea of "crossroad" which is traditionally where the Cardo and Decumanus intersects. It is an location where ideas are discussed and new ideas brought in.
An undefined idea in my head is the intersection of architecture and internet. In the past, the process of developing architecture has often been exclusive rather then inclusive. Even for public institutional structure, a small community of selected representative are often the only people who are privy to the decision making process. Very much in parallel to the political system in this country. The 08 presidential run, the highlighted the potential the internet and the new mobile technology possessed. It would be interesting to see how similar technique can be integrated into the project delivery process.

Back on the horse called Monday

There were some wild swing of productivity, I traveled to Philadelphia on Monday to scope out the prospective job with Dad's friend George at his recently acquired engineering firm. Unquestionably there were some real possibilities, I can see the real growth potentials here if I can take the rein. At the same time the challenges are also great, the firm is far from what I had in mind. We can only move forward if I can secure the contract with the community university, we must.

This is a short 3 day week, but I need to ramp things up a bit to prepare for 2009 so lets be productive:
1. Spend 2 hours a day studying for LEED.
2. Respond to two job listing.
3. Spend 2 hours on planning on a new photograph project.
4. Work with Evan to redesign my maticlab site.
5. Work on the design of my personal business card.
6.Email Margery Perlmutter regarding her suggestion for joining the community board, ask her about the prospect of an Architect/ Attorney combo.

We have a snowy Christmas!

I need to send Paul Seletsky an email expressing my interest in what he had mentioned about the implementation of BIM in our field.

Paul,
Being a an early adaptor of CAD technology (AES, a name that few seem to remember) and a recent initiates of Revit. I was very interested by what you had mentioned as a potential push by the government for integrating BIM at the recent Business Not as Usual discussion.
Although most of my experience has focus on the production of documents, I can see the many opportunities BIM can create if the current hurdle of liability and ownership could be overcome.
I recently join the NYC Metro BIM meetup group and would love to learn of any other resources or opportunities you can think of (and the video you had mentioned).

After some additional reading (volume of writing Paul seem to have done) it does appear that BIM present some interesting promises for Architect. I don't see any immediate financial incentives yet, yes BIM will stream line the coordination and production process but that was the same promise CAD brought and I don't believe Architect saw any financial pay offs in the past ten years. It will simply be an expected component like rendering. What would be interesting would be how to market the finished model and use it as an alternate profit stream, via. different type of data analysis. I do need to read up more on the subject as it does hold tremendous amount potential and will be required knowledge for the practice of architecture.

Next, lets do some additional initial analysis and research of the of the community school project.

Follow by some more time looking at the Architectural for Humanity project and see what the first step we can take.

Mid week recap

A slew of ideas as well as task list was generated from yesterday:

1. Join the community board. Look up Borough president's office and Contact Margery Perlmutter for other suggestions.
2. Two potential source for jobs listing, chic.net and constructionwire.com
3. Investigate the possibility of building information system work for the city and state government. Contact Paul Seletsky from SOM regarding the video.
4. Email Maria, Christi and Brandon.
5. AIA is looking for exhibit designer.
6. Look into "the building congress" these guys are architect lobbying group, they need list of jobs that have been put on hold due to funding problems.

Business not as usual

I made it to the Business not as usual forum at AIA today, and saw Barbara afterward. I did walk away with some contacts since I bump into Maria, Brandon and Christi from RGA. As well as lots of new ideas, its been a week of potential ideas and I will need to take advantage of them. The meeting next Monday with dad's friend Phillip is very important and I need to make sure that I am fully prepared for it.
I need to digest and outline what needs to be done as well as contact all the people right away to keep the connection fresh. Lots to do tommrow!

Competitions and more Events

I still feel that I focus too much on maintenance and not enough on exploratory side of things.
I also need to move and renew my old maticlab webpage, going to get Evan to change it.

2009 Young Architects Forum (The Architectural League) DL: 2-11-09
"Foresight" portfolio showing several work that relates to the idea of foresight.

Belated Holiday Greeting

Dear
I really enjoyed my past year working with you and the rest of the Carter Ledyard & Milburn team, and will always think fondly of that experience. I am sorry that I did not have the chance to say good-bye, but I hope we will cross paths again in the near future.
In the meantime, enjoy your holiday and have a wonderful New Year.

Here's one for every one else!
To all my dear friends whom I wished I could ....
There are simply too many different friends to whom I must write to, and no message will fit them all. sooo I have no choice but to write them individually..

Monday Monday Monday

I didn't really feel like I accomplished very much last week. My start time suffered due to the changing schedule and the unpredictable start time, lunch and so on. Which I am wholly blame and cause my missing morning coffee. How ever the case I wanted to make sure that the same thing don't happen again this week.

So off we go to organizing this week, we're heavy on the maintenance part since there are much to do regarding the house in Syracuse:

1. Process the photographs from Neil's show and post, email Neil.
2. Write the Christmas card for Professional contacts.
3. Purchase paper for message and photo print.
4. Print and process game return (Evan)
5. Schedule museum and AIA event for the week.
6. Register for LEED exam.
- Pending response from P. Elliott.
7. Spend 2 hrs a day studying for LEED.
8. Dust and begin restoration on the sculpture.
9. Contact insurance company regarding the letter from tenant's attorney.
- Waiting for call back from Patti 315.453.2172
- Fax Letter to Patty
10. press P Rushford regarding the inspection and completion of work on stairs.
-Follow up at the end of the week to see if inspection has been arranged.
11. Spend 1 hours studying the back ground of the La Esperanza project.
12. Process servicing of flash.
13. process servicing of camera sensor. (see if it can be repaired)
14. look into the flat mounted outlet
15. Get Evan to look into the status of my maticlab website
16. Follow up on Citi site on payment for the rental of my work.

Friday Shmiday!

Its almost 1 in the afternoon and I am still trying hard to wake up! I took a single nitequil capisole and it had me knock out for a full 12 hours.
Two things I need to focus on this afternoon, find out more information for registering for LEED, email Charles to request for permission to register under BRB. And write out those Christmas cards. Oh, and email Julia and Amanda. Lets have a recap latter on the day.

I went to the AFHny's Christmas party last night, since I didn't know any one it took me some time to warm up to get the necessary information. I spoke with Courtney, whom was very helpful and gotten the general break down. I also spoke with Julia and gotten a bit more detail information on the La Esperanza Green Indoor Plaza which sounds like the project with the most immediate needs. Still from what she described, it does not sound like there are anything more then five to six hours of commitment a month and that project will be moving very slowly. So perhaps I will need to sign up for more then on project at a time. Any how, lets send Julia a quick note:

Julia, It was very nice meeting you last night. I am very interested in contributing what I can to help with the La Esperanza project, please add me to your list and let me know what is needed.

Hmmm.. really not much to it I guess.. Okay now on to Christmas card writing and the CAD software installations. I can go to late lunch with Evan latter maybe

Something is amiss

I lost a day and half and plus I am once again under the weather. Not sure how it happened since we just had the two of the warmest day this time of the year. How ever the case, I need to pick my self back up and start to get moving again with purpose.

Tuesday, Scramble!!!

This week started a bit slow, my day was waylayed with having to help Evan. But no excuses, so lets get moving already!
Few other things that needs to be completed.
The first priority is still the Christmas card list, it is in progress but will take a bit longer due to addresses that I don't have.
3pm: Nearing completion, I need to start compiling what I wanted to write on the cards them selves. I am still sticking to the two catagories of professional contact and personal. both will probably require a photograph which will have to be taken with in the next few days.

The listing from At architect sounds very interesting and might be a potential fit for me. To get more information I'll need to send resume and work samples, so lets get that together and have it send out by tomorrow. I should write the cover letter now and have it corrected since I can pull the sample sheets without outside help.

Dear Ms. Torres:

I am writing to you in regard to the senior architect position you have posted on Archinect. With ten years of professional experience in completing a wide range of project types, from commercial interiors to public institutions, combined with running an indepandent architectural consultation practice from the trenches. I am certain that I can provide a substantial contribution towards the success of At Architects.

As the account manager for several international law firms, I have led and managed a team that successfully delivered multiple renovation and expansion projects on schedule, on budget and on a consistent basis. More importantly, I maintained a close relationship with all clients and successfully negotiated $500K of contracts for additional projects.

What attracts me to your firm is the combination of your interest in simplicity of design and sustainable architecture, and the spirit of exploration in the fields of both art and architecture. I have enclosed a copy of my resume and sample built projects for your perusal. Thank you for your time and courtesy in reviewing my qualifications, I look forward to meeting you and At Architects.

One of my best yet! probably have to do with the fact that I am genuantly interested in this job. People are important also but we'll find out more during the interview process.
btw, I schedule my self to attend the decal design event at the AIA center. Not sure if I'll be able to get some food in, we'll see.
Now go back and revised your damn todo list!

Smack me its Monday!

I managed to get up early enough to make it to the World Trade Center walk, but my plan was foiled when I could not get the parking brake on the MP3 to release. A bit annoying as I was looking forward to the tour.
With out further ado, lets get the week started:
Specifics:
1. Install autoCAD
2. Compose list of Christmas card receiptian, by end of the day Monday.
3. Send resume out to NYC DOB.
4. Call John to arrange for a lunch.
5. BRB office party.
6. Install sketch up.
7. Install IM software
8. Ask for Kerry's IM handle

General:
1. The Christmas cards needs to go out this week.
2. I need to keep looking for more volunteer opportunities.
3. Take the photo sculpture down and dust them so the restoration work can start.
4. clean out the printer so it can start spitting out artist print again.
5. look into buying a new (lazer?) printer for label and office work.
6. organize the Christmas party! we sure are down to the wire on this.
7. Do more research into available competitions. And ask Kerry if she's interested in doing one.

Sure is hard to type with a shirt on

The labor data is in, not sure why I am so interested in these things. Trying to figure where the world's heading so as to better align my self with the overall directions?
Here's some interesting tip bit: Unemployment rates for college graduates is 3.1 % as compare with 10.5% for high school graduates. Average length of unemployment time is 4 month. Unemployment rates in construction is 12.1%, as compare with 6.9% last November.
A crosses the board employments are down, except for two sectors; government at +.4%, negligible I would say. And health care/ education grown + 1.3%, a bit more significant. Not much surprises here, these are the two sector that traditionally aren't effected by economy that much. The population is aging and well, the government ain't going to get any smaller anytime soon.

I am falling a bit behind my goals outlined at the beginning of the week, but I would say that the overall holding pattern in regards to the additional resumes are deliberate. There just aren't too many good potentials opening right now. Better to concentrate on the other development aspects.

I should do more general out reach though, lets check and see what's available at AIA NY. Okay signed up for the ground floor at the world trade center tour. Have to get up and make it into the city by 8am on Monday!!

Especially in regards to the Christmas Cards, it usually takes quite a bit of time to do and needs to be started ASAP!

And the Art World is going where?

I spend the early part of the morning reading up on some tip bits of what's going on in the art world. Well, Art Basel Miami Beach is whats going on! This giant (sounding) orgy of art world convention to end all convention is going to take place this weekend. Given the insulated nature of the art world, only a teeny portion of the world will actually care. Wish I could have been there to see it though, the now officially declared "twilight" period before every one have to officially say goodbye to the unending optimism as late as a year ago. The economy weights heavily every where you look it seems.
I am stopping by the office latter on to drop off a check for the insurance, I do need to outline a list of items I need to get from the office, let see:
1. half size CD sets from the projects I worked on, CLM 11&12 floor, D&L 30th Floor, 21st Floor.
2. Photograph of CLM and D&L.

Add my crazy sculpture to my portfolio.

I should email Eric this list (or just tell him) and then arrange to get these items either tomorrow or early next week.
I will need to update my completed project portfolio with one additional photo. There are nothing substantial to add due to the none-design role I have take on during the past year.

There was a point in my life, overwhelmed by crazy ideas. I decided that I must learn the skills required to bring them into reality. Now that I felt that I am closer towards that goal, I sometime wonder if the those crazy ideas are there still?

Eradication of the dust bunnies

I spend the morning battling dust bunnies in my room, it has gotten quite out of hand lately. They are stealing vegetables from my fridge and had to be stopped!
I send out my first resume this morning to the Polo Ralph Lauren job, I am not sure if the opening is still available. But I am considering it to be a warm up exercise just to get started. Looking around there still seem to be some position available for project architect/ manager level people. But I really want to stick with interior design this time instead of jumping back into architecture, the faster pace and variety of work still appeals to me more.
I should start looking into more opportunities for volunteer work, I got the the impression from the presentation AFHny did that they work quite slowly. I do want to take advantage of the down time now to start doing some volunteer work right away, so let see what else is out there.
UNops: This sounds interesting, I would love to volunteer for them. So let see....

To whom it may concern,
I am interested in volunteering my service as an licensed architect in the United States for any appropriate UNOPS operations. Having taken on the capacity of project manager and architect for the past twelve years on a wide range of projects, I offer a substantial amount of expertise both in the field of architecture as well as the general project delivery structure.

I am currently between jobs and primarily interested in contributing my efforts either to operations local to the region of New York City or further afield but less than six month in length.

I have enclosed a copy of my resume for your perusal. Thank you for your time and courtesy in reviewing this material and for your consideration of my qualifications in relates to any opportunities. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you like to further our discussion.

More cover letter fun!

Working on figuring out a few varieties of cover letters:

(I like this opening for the body, I do need to think of a few variation on the follow up)
As the account manager for several international law firms, I have led and managed a team that successfully delivered multiple renovation and expansion projects on schedule, on budget and on a consistent basis. Combine with a diverse portfolio of built projects ranging from institutional, educational to retail interior, I am able to draw on a wide range of experiences and create I also maintain a close relationship with the clients and sucessfully negotiated five hundred thoughsand dollars worth of contract in addtional projects.

Here's a tiny piece, I find that I am a lot more attracted to international project now. I don't see my self traveling at this point, unless something really compelling appears, but I do like to work on something over sea, that would be interesting.

My allergic reaction

I woke up sniffling a bit again and came to the conclusion that I must be developing an allergy to not having a job. Ha!
I did have a funny thoughts yesterday; I have often thought of a having a job is like having a girlfriend/ boyfriend, certain level of comfort is developed from implicit approval from holding the job/ relationship each day. Its often said that the most important thing to do to recover from a broken relationship is to learn how to be happy by you self, the same would apply to loosing a job. Its also funny that I have spend most of my life being single while the opposite is true for having a job. Hmmm.. you think I'll learn a thing or two..

There are a few things I need to follow up on in regards to the Helen street house in Syracuse this afternoon. The other item I need to act on is sending out my resume to the Polo Ralph Lauren job as well as two others. Here's my first stab at the cover letter:
Dear Ms. Higgins,

I am writing to you in regard to the project manager position at the global store planning division, which I found through the Syracuse University alumni network. With twelve years of experience in the fields of architecture and commercial interior, I believe I am an excellent candidate for this position.

As the account manager for several international law firms, I have led and managed a team that successfully delivered multiple renovation and expansion projects on schedule, on budget, and on a consistent basis. More importantly, I have developed a holistic perspective towards the connection of design, branding and project delivery, and a deep appreciation for the importance of effective communication. In addition, I would like to respectfully highlight my previous experience with JCrew, in that having completed eight retail stores in the Northeast region, I have become intimately familiar with the nuances of retail store construction.

I have enclosed a copy of my resume for your perusal. Thank you for your time and courtesy in reviewing this material, and for your consideration of my qualifications for the open position. Please contact me at your earliest convenience so that I may share with you my background and enthusiasm for this position.

I feel like I am working terribly slowly today, my allergy hasn't gotten better at all and is very distracting. Any how, I am still having some trouble with my grammar on the cover sheet. I do need to develop something more standard so I can start hitting more places. Any how, here's a few more posting that might be good potential hook ups:

Architect 2/ Dror - a bit more on the junior side for me.
Architect 3/ Nelligan White Architects - this looks like a good fit, but not interior.
Architect 3/ Wood Bagot- This looks very interesting, but I might need to beef up more CAD skills

Start of the week!

I had some trouble sleeping last night, for me it was highly unusual, but then again it is a unusual week, first in 8 years to not have a formal job to report to.
However what this opportunity allow, no demand that I take stock and figure out where my next step should be. What that is, will emerge as a composite of the work I produce in this period. The most important thing of all, is to find something truly inspiring. Something that will get me excited to get out of bed each day.
Enough talk, below is the list of work I like to complete this week.

Specifics:
1. Contact Polo Ralph Lauren regarding the job opening.
2. Contact 5 other potential leads. (terribly knee jerk, needs more creativity)
3. Need to get my LEED study guide from work, lets do it tomorrow morning first thing. That will get me out of bed.
4. Christmas card: outline the the mailing list and

General:
1. Meet up with John again and see how he's doing.
2. Check with David and see how he's doing at studio.
3. Stay in better contact with Kerry.
4. learn sketch up.
5. Become more active in NY AIA chapter.

Maintenance:
1. Transfer the principal account
2. Finalize my insurance with BRB
3. Find out requirement for unemployement

I need to think of work more in term of projects to work on then anything else.
And to follow up on some thoughts I had last week. I did some nosing around on the prospect of working in Dubai and it would appear that I am a bit late to the party, the same economic downturn is also effecting Dubai and several large construction company has let people go. The possibility is still there but the competition and pay scale would not be as good due to the competition from locals. Some one on the expat forum suggested India, which interestingly coincide with a listing for project Architect for the firm Chelsea West that do work in India. Should explore that one more a bit.

Now to get orgainzed!!

Getting organized is going to be the first priority, the change of setting from work to home creates a major shift in my working method. I didn't even know how to get coffee or breakfast this morning!! Speaking of which, I'll need to make a quick run to flushing for breakfast food. But before I go, following is a list of task I need to complete for the day.
1. Edit my resume, and update with information from BRB.
2. Email Matt regarding the 118 street opportunities and see when I can get started.
3. Look up habitat for humanity and see what opportunities are available.
4. Email the Ralph Lauren Polo job and see if it is still available.
5. Start my blog already!!

So check, check and check. Its five o'clock and do you know where your kids are? I gotten all of my tasks completed except for the email to the polo job, a bit late in the day so I'll send it out comes Monday.

There have been a few things I have thought about exploring further, like the nerd I am here's numbered list:
1. a listing for job in Kuwait came up, I have thought about working internationally before. It sounds exciting but I'll have to look into it further and talk to a few people who had done it to see what its like.
2. Strangely the thought about the Chinese temple had came up again today. I really liked my design for the temple and would really like to see it built, the last I have heard the new architect and contractor they picked after me gave the client a very high estimate which all but killed the project all together. I know that the desire to built it is still there, and I am willing to go very far to see my idea realized.
3. Competitions! I have talk about this before but now is the perfect time!
4. LEED, nough said.
That's it for now, to be expanded!

Architecture for Humanity

I was feeling restless after cleaning out my office, so I wanted to get started with doing some work for Architecture for Humanity right away. The AFHny website advice that prospect volunteer should attend their next monthly gathering on December 13th to see what projects are available, a look and see of sort. I certainly can't wait that long! So I decided to contact their director to see if they have anything available right away. Here's my email to her:

Dear Cynthia,
I have heard about Architecture for Humanity and the projects your chapter had done on several occasion and had always been interested in participating.
A recent round of layoff had given me quite a bit of free time and I thought that this would be a great opportunity to get involved and contribute what I can. I have gone through the website and saw that the next meeting is on December the 9th, not wanting to wait I thought to contact you directly to see if there are any projects that would require help immediately.
I am a NY state licensed architect and with 12 years of experiences, having worked on a pretty wide variety of project type from institution, education to retail interior. I have also served as a project manager for the past four years and have had a good amount of management and administration experiences.
I saw the 119th street Gatehouse posting and the call for a licensed architect to study the ADA accessibility issue, I will contact Matt directly regarding this project. In the mean time please do not hesitate to let me know if you can think of anything else I can be of help with.

-Hsiang Lin
917.686.0908

If they don't have anything, I'll call NY care next. What does guy have to do to give away free services???

My first thoughts

So these were my thoughts Tuesday morning on my way to work, after having found out about my layoff the day before:

The landmark engine is still there, buried under piles of complacencies over the years. Nothing like a challange to make things a bit more interesting.
In my conversation with Barbara the other night about her job, I realize that there are something missing from my life, the sense that I am helping some one and making a difference. My job was not supplying that. I was solving problems and making things happen. But there was not the sense that I was making a differences in some one's life.
Being on my own, I now have the means as well as the responsibility to full fill these aspects of my life.
I will have to Operate as a business entity,which means covering the varies aspects of the business; marketing, research, investment and philanthropy. Few of these might seem strange to consider at time like this, philanthropy? But I firmly believes (as burrowed from tony robin) that a person's strength directly relates to his abilities to give. And in time like these, it is all that more important to give, when it is needed the most.
But enough with the jibber jabber, it's time to get something done.
Oh, also. Speaking to my future self, it is terribly important to stay focused, organized and diciplined. Regular work hours should be maintained and I need to manage each aspect of my business as a project and develop a plan and schedule for it.

Why getting fired was the best thing that ever happend to me

Getting fired is like having a death in the family, every one who heard would often grow a long face and say things like "are you okay?", "I am terribly sorry to hear that".

Well its not, work had slow down to a trickle and I had spend the past few month mindlessly surfing the web and trying hard to look busy. In a way I feel some what liberated, in lieu of a slow certain death what I had received in return was uncertainly but also possibility and that, is a magical word.