What does an Architect do every day?

What does an Architect do every day?

by Lester Limón Built Capital Human Capital

When high school students ask me this question, my answers vary and are likely motivated by whatever I’m doing at the time, so I’ve decided to distill the essence of what I see as architecture practice. I should preface this response by telling you I am a business owner, so my day is spent in a myriad different ways.

So, the number one thing an architect does every single day is communicate. Our sole objective is to make sure the thought we have in our head, is the exact same thing the client or contractor or official has in theirs. How does this communication manifest itself? I will demonstrate three simple ways.

Primarily, an architect’s education (and projects) begins and ends with design and drafting. In my day, both were done by hand with pencils and pens, sketchbooks, vellum, and mylar (and the iconic napkin). Today, computers allow us to visualize complex and detailed designs and details, and sometimes allow the uninitiated among us to begin to see our visions as well. All this drawing, whether analog or digital, is graphic communication. We see some object or detail in our minds-eye and carefully craft a drawing demonstrating to clients and contractors our idea and how we intend to bring it into existence.

Sometimes the drawings are only sketches; they are the earliest explorations of what we envision while listening to clients, and are generally used to confirm with them visually, demonstrating we understand their needs, desires, ambitions, and dreams. Cesar Pelli suggests that, because the act of architecture is the culmination of even the earliest marks of pencil on paper, we should be firmly in command of those marks at all times.

We must be experts in listening and speaking. Conversation is often more than casual. It is an act of information gathering and problem solving. There are myriad conversations that take place on any given day. We speak on the phone and in person. We use quick exchanges or meet over coffee or meals. We meet with regulatory officials who make sure our projects comply with codes. At all times those exchanges must be crisp, clear, and concise. Something misspoken or misinterpreted will cost the project time and money. More importantly, it may damage relationships with project partners. Therefore, spoken communication is critical to the success of our projects, our relationships, and our business. Being able to speak well, choosing words strategically, and making ourselves clearly understood is paramount.

When we are unable to connect with our partners verbally, we resort to writing. Whether we are acknowledging receipt of others information, documenting our understanding, or delivering technical information to regulatory officials and contractors, written communication is a necessity in our daily lives. Having a command of vocabulary, spelling, and punctuation ensures we understand the difference between “We ate Uncle Jack,” and “We ate, Uncle Jack.” And as my Mother always reminded me when growing up, “If you speak correctly, you will spell correctly.” Wise words and ones that keep my communication crisp.

Lastly, almost everything we write during a project’s development is used as a legal tool. Specifications become part of the contract between the Owner and the Contractor, site observations become part of the legal documentation for contract fulfillment between me and my client. The last thing I want or need is ambiguity in my observations, my intent, or my understanding.

As you can see, all aspects of an architect’s daily life rely on communication. Our mastery of these three forms, through our education and our daily exercise, will directly contribute to our success in this profession. My advise to you, whether you are a high school senior considering architecture as a profession, or a sixth-year senior in architecture school attempting to survive until graduation, is to practice these three forms of communication diligently and regularly. Draw, speak, and write. Be comfortable in all areas and you will be a great professional!

 

References and Citations

Kliment, S. A., & Pelli, C. (1984). Architectural sketching and rendering: techniques for designers and artists. New York (N.Y.): Whitney Library of Design.

Photo Credit: Jaysin Trevino; no modifications made.

Bridging to a New Home

Bridging to a New Home

by Lester Limón Built Capital Cultural Capital Human Capital Natural Capital Social Capital

A bridge, depending on context, can describe many things. It describes a structure that spans a gap, a connection between two sides of a debate, or a common connection between people. Regardless, it always symbolizes a positive relationship.

 

The bridge pictured is the Royal Gorge Bridge in Fremont County, Colorado. Completed in 1929, it was the highest suspension bridge in the world with a deck height of 955 feet above the Arkansas River. It physically demonstrates many of the definitions outlined earlier. It connects two points, it brought people together to work on a common effort, and it exemplifies courage and confidence in its boldness.

 

For me, it symbolizes a creative solution designed to achieve all three aspects identified: planning (people), design (process), and implementation (place).

 

Building bridges is the act of crossing gaps to achieve a destination. Sometimes, that destination is a goal you set for oneself in life. Goals and inspirations are motivators drawing one forward. When using the phrase, “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it,” one is proclaiming that issues and obstacles in one’s future will not overcome one’s efforts and talents.

 

Confidence and courage are traits we all have. Some are displayed in overt and admirable ways; some are internal motivations, privately steering one’s efforts and ambitions. Recently, p3 communities, inc. moved from the Great Plains to the Rocky Mountains. This relocation is a bridge I have come to cross, both literally and figuratively, and demonstrates my confidence and courage in building a new practice, and I know this move will not overcome my efforts and talents!

 

p3 is elated to call Cañon City, Colorado and Fremont County, home. I will continue to build healthy, sustainable, and prosperous communities both in the architectural projects I develop, and in the community development exercises I facilitate. I look forward to the many bonding and bridging relationships I will develop. I know that my past twenty-five years of service to people and their communities will provide me twenty-five more years of service in my new home.

 

I’ll see you on the other side!

Finding the Wind at Your Back

Finding the Wind at Your Back

by Lester Limón Cultural Capital Human Capital Natural Capital Social Capital Uncategorized

In bicycle racing, the rule is conservation of energy, You spend your time looking for wind shadows among the peloton while your strategy, whether team or individual, plays out along the miles of road ahead and underneath.

I have spent most of my time playing both the role of windbreaker and sufferer. Making large holes in the wind where teammates could plan their win is both frustrating and noble for me. I like the idea that I’m strong enough and fit enough to pull an armada of carbon technology behind me for miles. I also like the notion that suffering was my job, and I played the role selflessly for the betterment of the team. I don’t know what that says about me specifically, but I’m sure there’re others who feel similarly. We enjoy the work and we do it for little recognition. We like being appreciated, and certainly we like winning! But the work is the focus. However, race day is a single event.

Training for race day takes weeks of physical and mental preparation on roads lonely and alone, devoid of the camaraderie of the peloton. Pros train together in temperate climates in exotic locations, and are supported by mechanics, nutritionists, and managers. Privateers have only their tool bags and the myriad bars and gels they carry in jersey pockets.

Training using miles of endless tarmac and gravel give you the opportunity to hone what you love about the suffering and perseverance. It also gives you the opportunity to read the landscape surrounding you, building the encyclopedia of knowledge of the wind; how it gusts and where you can both hide from it and use it to your advantage.

The best time spent in the cockpit of a bicycle is that sweet spot where your speed matches the wind at your back. You suddenly hear the world around you. The click of the shifter and the subtle shift of the derailleur, the soothing rhythmic rotation of pedals, cranks, and shoes. All the mechanization that happens on every ride is suddenly part of your senses. You suddenly hear the sound of rubber tires on pavement or the crunching of gravel beneath mountain bike tires. Listening to the world around you is truly bliss. It is the closet thing to weightlessness I can imagine on Earth.

Finding that sweet spot in daily life is a quest we all pursue. When do you find those moments? Do you recognize them when they appear? And do you enjoy and take advantage of the moment?

Strategic planning will win races, both in business and life. Training and hard effort will prepare us for the work it takes to be successful, whether we win individually or as a team member. But enjoying those moments that are solely experiential are the cream of life. Skim it off every chance you get.

Bicycling Supports Community Resiliency

by Lester Limón Built Capital Financial Capital Human Capital Social Capital

In the Winter 2015 edition of American Bicyclist magazine, a publication of the League of American Bicyclists, an interview with Harriet Tregoning, Director of the Office of Economic Resilience, says linking housing development and bicycling infrastructure creates community resilience. She makes three salient points: bicycling as a transportation alternative can be a lifelong activity, bicycle infrastructure makes neighborhoods more attractive for residents, and bicycling helps create car-light households. How do these three points create community economic resilience?

The first consideration is creating a community of lifelong exercisers. The prevalence of obesity in all adults over age 20 in 2012 was 34.9% (2013, Center of Disease Control). That number gets higher each year. A healthy workforce is a resilient workforce. Without a healthy labor pool, business and industry lose money. By becoming more bicycle friendly, communities can build economic sustainability through the creation of a healthy workforce.

Secondly, studies continue to show that choices in transportation opportunities for neighborhoods make them more valuable to people, when choosing where to live. In fact, a report published on January 29, 2015 by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) claims that commuting in America is behind us. While the reasons for this decline are subject to debate, the statistics show a decline by demographics, and will continue to show a decline for the next 20 years. The resiliency created here is the stability of housing in communities nationwide. Economic stability is only partly created by providing opportunities for stable, equitable employment; it’s equally about providing good quality, equitable, and affordable housing opportunities for a healthy workforce. Making housing opportunities attractive in your community makes your community economically sustainable.

And finally, by creating an opportunity for car-light (or in some cases, no-car) households, we reduce the monthly cost of transportation for families. More financial capital is available for use in the community economy. Families can also afford to save money, making the individual family unit more resilient in the face of personal losses and gains.

Community resiliency should always be the goal of development efforts and strategies. And as said by Megan Odett, founder of Kidical Mass DC, “Don’t just settle for safe routes to school – build safe routes to everywhere” (2015, American Bicyclist). Well said, Megan. Well said.

Go ride your bike (and take the kids)!

 

Entrepreneurial Skills

Entrepreneurial Skills

by Lester Limón Financial Capital Human Capital Social Capital

Lichtenstein and Lyon (2001), working with their own research and that of Gerber (1995), developed four essential skills for the entrepreneur, of both the  social and business variety. They are:

  • Technical Skills: ability to perform the key operations of that business;
  • Managerial Skills: ability to organize and efficiently manage the operations;
  • Entrepreneurial skills: ability to identify market opportunities and create solutions that capture those opportunities; and
  • Personal maturity: self-awareness, willingness, and ability to accept responsibility, emotional development, and creative ability.

The first three in this set are the most obvious, and I imagine anyone attempting an entrepreneurial enterprise would focus on these continually throughout their careers. These skills are also the ones most likely to be learned either through education, experience, or mentorship. But what about the fourth? How many entrepreneurs, experienced or inexperienced, hone the skills involved with personal maturity? Entrepreneurs aren’t only start-ups and first time business owners. They are independent business people who are engaged in their communities and regions, pursuing all manner of opportunities for the sake of wealth generation, creativity, personal fulfillment, and a desire to fill a void in the marketplace. It is just as important to hone the fourth as this is the basis for reputation and reputation is just as important in the business community as it is in the social community. Each of these capitals are cornerstones to a solid entrepreneurial foundation.

Be a well-rounded and continually trained and educated entrepreneur and encourage others to do the same. It builds the stability, sustainability, and prosperity of your community!

References

Lyons, T., & Wyckoff, B. (2014). Facilitating community wealth building: Understanding the roles played and capacities needed by coordinating institutions. Journal of the Community Development Society, 45(5), 443-457.

Attributions

Photo by Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, NoDerivs 2.0 Generic, No alterations.

Bicycling in Rural Communities

Bicycling in Rural Communities

by Lester Limón Built Capital Cultural Capital Human Capital Social Capital

2178980077_1ddbb35a8d_zMany larger communities are seeing the benefits that bicycling can have on health and well-being, their economy, and their image. Some are beginning to incorporate this activity as a mission objective in their comprehensive plans, while others are moving forward actively with bicycle-specific master plans. These plans call for improved infrastructure, ordinances, education, and advocacy. Some invent the process on their own and some use guidance from the League of American Bicyclists. Whatever process they choose, it has to be right for their own community because not all communities are the same.

How should smaller, rural communities approach bicycling and planning? Some recognize bicycles as traffic and some create specific infrastructure to support the activity. Whether for recreation, commuting or sports, bicycling should be available for all ages and ability levels. I believe that increased ridership should be the overall goal and with increased ridership comes increased responsibility for all users of public ways.

Most rural communities have neither the budgets nor the expertise to install bicycle specific infrastructure, but there are ways every community can plan to make bicycling a safe, enjoyable experience for their citizens. Designating safe routes to schools, for example, is a great way to provide safe bicycle routes for our younger members to use on a daily basis. Providing racks and areas for bicycle parking in retail and governmental areas to promote the idea of bicycling as a form of transportation. Encouraging local business and industry to make accommodations for bicycling employees through the installation of lockers, changing rooms, secure bicycle storage and shower facilities is a great way to increase ridership. But mostly, increasing the awareness and education of safety among all road users is paramount to preserving the small-town safe activity of bicycling!

To find out more about how to promote bicycling in your hometown, visit the League of American Bicyclists for ideas, and considering joining the other 1,000,000 people who support bicycling advocacy at People for Bikes.

 

Photo credit: MoBikeFed (The Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation), from the Flickr Creative Commons, Attribution 2.0 Generic. No alterations to the original photograph.

Plains, Kansas and Kanstarter

by Lester Limón Built Capital Financial Capital Human Capital Social Capital Uncategorized

Plains, Kansas isn’t a town you read about in the New York Times very often. In fact, I’d be surprised to find it mentioned anywhere in the newspaper’s 163 year history. But yesterday was the exception. This rural community in southwest Kansas is striving to reconnect fresh, healthy food with their residents. The article mentions other critical bits of infrastructure needed to not only keep a community alive and vital, but give it a sense of longevity and identity. Those listed were a post office, library, and school. Others, I assert, are a medical clinic or hospital, church, police/fire services, and a gas station. Typically, in rural communities, a convenience store/gas station fills the void for food items, but at the risk of lower quality and less fresh options, and the overall health of the community suffers as a result. Plains is making the effort to preserve the community by making choices that are move than just economic development, but will provide sustainability in the future.

Another wonderful revelation in the article was the Kanstarter.com crowd funding program recently  started by Marci Penner and Phil Anderson of Newton, Kansas. Granted money by the Kansas Department of Commerce to facilitate the start of the program, these two people, who are themselves leaders in their own community, are using a popular form of entrepreneurial online funding but scaled to the city level. What a wonderful opportunity for rural communities and community development activities! Good job!

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/30/us/a-kansas-town-rallies-for-a-lifeline-in-supermarket-form.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

Rural Grocery Summit

Rural Grocery Summit

by Lester Limón Built Capital Cultural Capital Human Capital

On the 9th and 10th of June, I attended the Rural Grocery Summit in Manhattan, Kansas. The summit is a bi-annual meeting sponsored by the Rural Grocery Initiative, a service of Kansas State University. It is designed to draw anyone interested in food accessibility in rural areas. Attendees came from all over the country to attend the two days, listening to speakers and attending workshops. Those interested were financiers, grocery owners, food suppliers, extension agents, public health professionals, and community development professionals. It was also a chance for programs and participants to network finding ways to capitalize on other’s knowledge as well as building an intellectual network between those in academia and those in business.

An important concept most people are unaware of is a phenomenon known as a “food desert.” A food desert is an area either unserved or underserved with respect to accessible, healthy food choices. These deserts can be in rural areas due to the decline of local grocery stores, or they can be in urban areas where convenience stores are the only access points for people’s grocery needs. These issues are compounded when the population is aging or doesn’t have access to the transportation options required to travel to grocery stores.

Many grassroots groups are attempting to fill the gaps when a local, rural grocery store is closed, or when choices in rural areas are limited. They are linking farmers and gardeners to people desiring or needing healthy food options. Another initiative is reopening the store under the direction of a consortium of community stakeholders. I’ve written about one example in an earlier post.

One important tool I learned about at this summit was the Rural Grocery Tool Kit designed and maintained by the Rural Grocery Initiative. It is a series of links to information for those considering opening a rural grocery store. It categorizes the information into five areas: Assessing the Market, Getting Started, Legal Requirements and Licensing, Financing, and Marketing Your Business. Each link pulls together the websites of useful data. For example, a sample under the Assessing the Market tab is the American Community Survey, the USDA, and the FEAST Planning Manual.

The three legs of a stable community are Health, Sustainability, and Prosperousness.  Without access to healthy, fresh food, our citizens can’t be  reliable workforce, they’ll spend money on increased healthcare, the community won’t be active and vibrant, and it won’t attract new people to the city. I encourage you to take a look at the RGI website (http://www.ruralgrocery.org/resources/) and learn how best you can support food in your community.