Love seeing the good and necessary convos getting space in main media (HT @holz-bau.bsky.social and @stephenjacobsmith.com ). This type of design isn't just a housing cost improvement, but it also improves design and daylighting when done well. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/04/b...
My testimony on codes and standards is quoted in a Canadian House of Commons report: "He warned against emulating the US models, stating: 'if you continue to emulate American models, you’ll end up with American outcomes.'" (From 2024! I was ahead of my time.) www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Comm...
When I consider what life as a "Fellow" looks like, it doesn't look much different than the day before. There's still a profession to improve. There's still mentoring to be done. AND there's people, just like that guy and now me, tirelessly striving for a better world. That's Fellowship to me.
/end
The outdated thought is that "Fellowship" occurs at the end of a career, once all the doing is done. When laurels are to be rested on. There have always been outliers who get it young and continue to strive. (My boss is one. So is this guy.) Thankfully, that thought is changing.
...and when it came time for my FAIA application, he didn't hesitate to give a quote to use that cheered on my mentoring efforts in the AIA/profession. His mentoring was/is genuine. It was consistent. THAT is what the F in FAIA is about. It's fellowship. It's a focus on the future of the profession.
Turns out, this guy and I overlapped when I very first started nationally volunteering with the YAF. And over the last 10 years, he took that same level of mentoring friendship with me. We'd laugh over drinks at confs & share work updates, he stepped up to be a mentor for our YAF ALIGN program,...
He got them access to testing resources via AIA connections when it came time for them to test. He checked in even when their internships were done. And he remembered them years later when they crossed paths at @aiaofficial.bsky.social confs.
I said he sounded like a great mentor & asked his name.
He said a defining memory was that this guy, while my coworker was spending 60hr weeks (ugh.) working on a deadline, brought in pizza at 11pm. The guy wasn't on the project. He didn't need to come back in. He just said "hey - this sucks. Let me do what I can to make it a little better." He cared.
The dude was not only doing good design work, but he was everywhere in the mentoring world in Chicago. And that guy also got his @aiaofficial.bsky.social FAIA early in his career. And these 2 anecdotes (the guy & me) give him hope that AIA and the profession are focused on our future and our people.
As part of our convo about my @aiaofficial.bsky.social FAIA application focus (equity and mentorship), he says that TO THIS DAY he vividly recalls the great mentoring experience he got over a single summer from a guy he worked for in Chicago.
A note on mentorship.
Today I got to talking with a coworker. He and I both are in similar levels at RATIO. We do similar things. We are in charge of staff on our projects and staffing in general. We know it's important to care about the people doing the work.
1/x
Thank you!
Thrilled to share that over a decade of leadership and volunteering with the YAF, @aiaofficial.bsky.social , AIA Indiana alongside young architects and professionals was recognized today after a grueling application period & long wait. A celebration of efforts past & a reinvigoration to keep going.
I just typed in “shite house” while trying to google something about the White House and I’m pretty sure that’s a top 10 all time Freudian slip.
Didn’t even take a week.
These utility markings will be super helpful in a week. 🙃
On NPR on Friday, there was a story of a 4-year-old--an American citizen--who hasn't left her house since early December, not even to play in the yard. And her 8-year-old brother recently stopped going to school, too. Their father is undocumented, and the family doesn't want to risk him being taken.
With everything going on in the world, getting messages like this reminds me why I choose to be a helper and put good into the world. The future of the profession is the future of humanity. Investing in our future is our best chance. #AREsketches
A woman stands beside a swing set in an outdoor playground, watching a young girl swing forward with a smile. The playground is surrounded by grass and apartment buildings in the background. Overlaid text reads, “Open SPACES are the prescription for a healthier childhood."
Safe, inclusive public spaces are essential for children’s health, learning and social connection.
Yet access is shrinking: only 44% of urban residents live near open public space.
Cities can change this.
Read the new guide on creating public spaces for children 👉 bit.ly/4jZyksQ
I really want to engage on here more and talk more architecture this year but it feels like I constantly get the energy to do so and then 🧊 does yet another heinous thing that deserves more attention/awareness/acknowledgement and no architecture happens.
Informal poll: is your company starting to mandate in-office days or requirements? Are they running surveys to understand how hybrid work is going? What is your profession and what is your experience so far? Seeing a variety of people anecdotally mention return-to-office requirements. #wfx
I do not regret to inform you that we are going to win
NPR built a visual archive of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, showing exactly what happened through the lenses of the people who were there. In "Chapter 2: Stop the Steal," we look at how false claims of a stolen election mobilized Trump supporters.
Got my first official directed ad from Canada to see if I align with their highly-qualified workers visas. Netherlands, Germany, Ireland...where you at?
as the hosts hint that they would like to be invited to watch the movie at the white house, one asks "is there a movie theater in the white house?"
no, dumbass, there is not. It was in the east wing.
I would rather her be able to say a single word than this evil asshole ever say anything ever again.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/15/u...
Tis the season.
A graphic with a key highlighted in light blue. Text reads: “Last week, the Trump administration announced support for a 50-year mortgage. If you care about housing affordability, here's why this doesn't help.”
A graphic with a key highlighted in light blue. Text reads: “Stretching a mortgage from 20 to 30 to 40…to 50 years…doesn’t make a home cheaper. It makes an expensive home look temporarily more attainable. But really, we're just stretching debt.”
Last week, the Trump administration announced support for a 50-year mortgage.
Except, this won't make housing more attainable, more affordable, more stable.
This school street woonerf (yes, it's open to cars) in Eindhoven is one of my favorites. The street is on the redeveloped Philips Electronics industrial estate and the city has retained some of the overhead conveyances, which now provide mounting points for play equipment.
