Architects Bob Borson, FAIA, and Andrew Hawkins, AIA, LEED AP, produced 25 episodes of the Life of an Architect podcast in 2019. That's more than 28 hours of content on everything from the legal side of architecture, to presentation tips and techniques, to the construction bid process.
Here are the five most popular episodes of Life of an Architect based on the number of downloads by readers of Life of an Architect, Building Design+Construction, and Professional Builder. Enjoy!
1. Episode 30: Start Your Own Architectural Firm
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. When I sat down and started to come up with potential topics to discuss on the podcast, “Starting Your Own Firm” was one of the very first topics that I wrote down. It has taken me 29 previous episodes before we finally made it around to this topic because I wanted to get the right guest for this episode. Listen to this episode.
2. Episode 28: Social Media for Small Firms
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. Listen to this episode.
3. Episode 26: First Jobs
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. Listen to this episode.
4. Episode 31: Obsession
Do architects have obsessive personalities? I tend to think so, and only partially based on my own behavior. I should throw out the caveat that I don’t think you should have to explain why you obsess over something. Isn’t that the nature of any obsession—that there is some level of irrationality associated behind it? Listen to this episode.
5. Episode 27: Is That Even Legal?
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. Listen to this episode.
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Life of an Architect Podcast | Sep 30, 2018
The ‘Low Cost Modern House’
Modern Design used to be about the mechanization of the process, thereby making a thing affordable to the masses. But that’s not the case anymore. With their clarity often confused with simplicity, modern houses require a far greater attention to execution and as a result, seem to surprise everyone with how expensive modern houses actually cost. The phrase “big bag of nothing” comes out of my mouth more times than I care to admit.
Life of an Architect Podcast | Sep 20, 2018
Top Ten Reasons to be an Architect
If there is one moment I can look back and single out the moment when everything changed, it was February 22, 2010. That was the day I decided to write the post “Top Ten Reasons to be an Architect,” and nothing has been the same for me ever since. This was the post the put me on the radar screen of hundreds of thousands of people. As of this writing, this post by itself has been read a mind-boggling 845,924 times.
Life of an Architect Podcast | Sep 3, 2018
A Survivor’s Guide to Architecture School
Fall is just around the corner and that means it’s time for students around the country to return to their desk’s at architecture school. For most, this time is a mixture of excitement and enthusiasm, while for others, it’s a mixture of anxiety and sleepless nights … during my time in school is experienced a mixture of the two. Landon and I sat down in this episode to talk about architecture studio and how to come out with not only the best possible experience, but to make your time in school a little less stressful.
Life of an Architect Podcast | Aug 19, 2018
Inside an Architect’s Office
Work environments are important – they tell visitors a lot about what to expect from the place they are visiting. I almost always enjoy visiting other architects office because it seems like there is always something wacky going on somewhere. I’m not talking about the office’s of large architectural firms – no. I like going into the offices of firms with 30 people or less…15 or less is even better. It’s at the point where the budget is still the major obstacle and the possibility of seeing saw-horse desks and reclaimed bookshelves is a distinct and sometimes necessary component.
Life of an Architect Podcast | Aug 5, 2018
Architects and Chefs
Architects and chefs share a great number of personality characteristics with one another, and in my extremely scientific poll (conducted by me) a vast majority of architects actually like to cook, although, even more dislike cleaning up after cooking. In this fifth episode of the Life of an Architect podcast, Landon and I take on the topic of Architects and cooking and how those two things come together in a way that could be unique.
Life of an Architect Podcast | Jul 23, 2018
Architects and Traveling
Architects like to travel, at least that’s what all my friends who are architects would like you to believe. While I will agree that this is a true statement, I think it’s a fairly generic statement because don’t all people like to travel? In this fourth episode of the Life of an Architect podcast, Landon and I take on the topic of traveling – or at least we start a conversation about traveling. When we sat down to prepare our show notes, it quickly became apparent that this was a topic worthy of several episodes.
Life of an Architect Podcast | Jul 9, 2018
Sketching
Sketching is a hot topic regardless of the people having the discussion, but I have learned over the last nine years of writing this site that sketching is one of the more hotly contested topics. While few architects would dispute the value in sketching, HOW that sketch is generated seems to fall into camps of individuals: Team Analog versus Team Digital and I don’t think anyone would be surprised to learn that the age of the individual seems to decide (more times than not, but not a guarantee) which camp an individual belongs.
Life of an Architect Podcast | Jun 27, 2018
The College Years
In this second episode of the Life of an Architect podcast, we turn our attention towards the college years. I graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1992, while Landon received his diploma from Virginia Tech in 2016 … so how has college changed over this time? There are a lot of unknowns when it comes to architecture school: How do I pick which college is right for me? Is it hard to get admitted? Is there a portfolio requirement? Will I have a social life? What sort of classes should I take?
Life of an Architect Podcast | Jun 14, 2018
Character Development
So after eight and a half years, I have finally decided to enter the world of podcasting. I am excited to add this medium to my toolkit as I think podcasting my actually be a more natural medium for me rather than writing a blog post. I have maintained that I ama terrible writer, but I actually think I am a fairly engaging speaker – especially in the casual environment of a conversation between friends and colleagues.
