Just Do It! Building Construction Mistakes

Here is a good example of why line thickness is important. The contractor should have check the section of the CAD drawing.

A doctor can bury his mistakes but and architect can only advise his client to plant vines. – Frank Lloyd Wright

Don’t worry, we can always cover that odd spot with a potted plant.

Sandy Sucked

Finally got in the groove of things and sandy screwed that up. I was left without power for two weeks and now I'm starting over again. I just scheduled my exam for 12/22/12. I think this should be enough time with some hardcore studying. Below is a picture of my front door.

Finally In the Swing of Things.

Well I finally got in the swing of things and started to study and it feels great. What I noticed so far is that just preparing and finding a starting point is the hardest part. I tried to dive in and that didn't work. 

Since I was completely lost in "the gauntlet" I decided to sign up for the Fall 2012 ARE Boot Camp: Construction Documents and Services class held at the AIA NY Chapter. This helped me in two very big ways. 

1. The class pointed me in a direction on where to obtain some very valuable material.
2. It boosted my confidence by looking at some of the idiots that were sitting next to me. I personally feel the saying "there is no stupid question" is a load of crap. If you ask a stupid question that means you didn't do your due diligence and prepare properly.

The golden ticket that I received from the class was a link to audio recordings from Schiff Hardin LLP. They are a national law firm who gives architects seminars going over each document and they discuss them in depth. Below is a link to where you can find the lectures. You can also search their website to find the other recordings.

http://schiffhardin.com/design-build/lecture-notes/architecture-544---spring-2011

I downloaded them and played them on my Android phone. The problem I had was that I was unable to rewind the phone by a couple of seconds, if I missed something. My phone has some slide thing that is great for music but is horrible for lectures. I then found an application called Maple Player. It has a rewind and fast forward button just like a normal voice recorder. It has an equalizer too!

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sqr5.android.audioplayer&hl=en

Now I'm going over each document while listening to each lecture. B101 is about 3 hours long. I finally feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I can finally start cranking while sitting in bed and drinking a hot chocolate on a chilly autumn night.

Got the Wheels Spinning for CDS! (Kinda)

As I sat down and tried reading the documents, I'm not sure if it was overwhelming or if I was bored. I can honestly say I will no longer use NyQuil as the AIA documents do a better job of putting me to sleep. I get this feeling that it is so much information between the Ballast book and the documents that I get lost. It is very boring trying to memorize documents.

After reading a couple of recommendations on areforum.org I decided to order:

• Construction Documents & Services Learning System, 2012 Edition ($195.95)
• The Architect's Handbook of Professional Practice, 14th Ed ($187.50)
• 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design ($26.95)

I only have gone through the first chapter of the Kaplan book. It does seem like a great help and much better than the Ballast book. The Ballast book seems more like a reference than anything. Very boring to read and too much information. I really like how there is practice problems at the end of each chapter in the Kaplan book. The questions vary from each area of the chapter and help you figure out what areas you need to brush up on.


I also signed up for the AIA as an associate for $198.00. This let me join the AIA classes for $10 each instead of $75. It also as some benefits  however; some of them are a sham and you can find better deals elsewhere on the internet.

I then signed up for the AIA NY Fall 2012 ARE Boot Camp: Construction Documents & Services class for this Sunday. I'm hoping that this class will get me into a studying groove the way Dorf's video did for SD.

Switching Order from BCDS to CDS

     After reading online how BDCS covers topics from multiple exams I have decided to take that later on. For now I have started to prepare myself  for CDS.

     I've been trying to start studying for CDS, however; it's seems like so much information. I get lost and don' even know where to begin. I start reading the AIA documents but that just gets repetitive. I then jump to the Ballast book but that seems like so much information I don't even know what to highlight. I then go to the NCARB intro and that just scares the living crap out of me.

     In an effort to calm my confusion I have just purchased the Kaplan CDS study package for $220 shipped.  Hopefully that will give me a better understanding on how I should be studying and get my feet running. Until that comes I guess I will continue to use the Ballast flash cards and the Kaplan flash card on my Android phone.

Procrastination

Well, I've been really busy with work and life. I haven't studied for BCDS as much as I should have. This must be a common thing because at the end of every NALSA video Dorf says "Please don't procrastinate." I'm looking forward to spending the winter indoors and getting a lot of studying done.  I intend to take BDCS in October, and Structural Systems hopeful in December.

I will say though for the price of these exams I figured NCARB would have better software. At least software that would run on Windows x64 as it is becoming the new standard.

Rent a Frank Lloyd Wright House

I just recently came across an article describing how to make a couple of bucks by renting out your home on airbnb.com. I decided to check out the website and discovered you can rent Wright's Schwartz house and two others. You can also rent out several homes designed by Frank Gehry. I think I might take advantage of this one day but for now I have to get back to studying for BDCS.

https://www.airbnb.com/wishlists/airbnb_picks

Pruitt-Igoe All Over Again

I have no doubt that Brad Pitt wanted to help with the best intentions when trying to redevelop New Orleans' 9th Ward, however; Frank Gehry, should have know better. Designing for the designer and not the client seems to be a huge problem today. I would say this house in the 9th Ward would be the equivalent of giving a poor person a Ferrari. Yes it would be great to own one, that is until you have to pay $7,500 for a tune up and $2,300 for a brake job.

True, the issues with this will be no where near the problems of Yamasaki's failed Pruitt-Igoe, but it is a clear example of neglecting design considerations of the people that will be living there. I'm really curious to how much it would cost to fix one of those solar panels.

About Me

In the late 90’s and as a little delinquent my friends and I practiced graffiti around NYC and on Long Island. We use to go to meetings with other graffiti artists where our black books would be exchanged and we would draw pieces all night.

In my junior year of high school I dropped out to work at the front desk of a strip club. This was awesome at the time because I had a bunch of naked strippers that loved me and I was making more money than anyone I knew at the time.

I eventually got arrested doing graffiti and quit my job at the strip club.  When I was at an all-time low, my friend Cliff got me a job with him as a carpenter's helper.  The first thing we were working on was the lightning shelters on the Bethpage State Golf Course. Even though I was only a helper I decided to pick up a nail gun and the rest is history.  I then went on to work as a carpenter for a couple of big commercial companies and many residential companies.

One day while working I decided I wanted to try to go to college. I got my GED and enrolled at a local university. I started out as a business major and enjoyed the courses, but; something was missing. I decided to change my major and with my background of graffiti and experience in construction architecture just seemed to come naturally, almost as if it was in a master plan from a higher power.

I continued to work in carpentry up until my junior year when I started to work for a corporate architectural firm. This was a huge transition going from field work with a bunch of guys to being in a huge office. I wasn't familiar with the politics of a large office and after some time I decided to leave. I then went to work at a 5 person firm in a local village. Here I learned much more as I was more important to the company and learned a lot about local politics while easing into office politics. I ended up leaving there to go to school full time.

I graduated in 2010 and started to take the ARE at the end of 2012. So far I have passed SD and plan on finishing the rest by the end of 2013.