More stories about PRACTICE

• a different model

  Imagine you're about to graduate from architecture school when the economy is struggling, much as it is now. You're part of a close-knit group of master's program colleagues disaffected by the idea of an internship at a big firm and looking for a way to bridge academic camaraderie and practice...

• going green, affordably

  Say green design, and what comes to mind are geothermal heat pumps, tankless hot water heaters, and roofs that plug into the sun. The most recognizable green features are also the priciest, and sustainable design is still viewed as an upgrade that only the well-off can afford. While there's some...

• riding out the slowdown

  From his temporary location in Cambridge, Mass., where he is attending Harvard University on a Loeb Fellowship, veteran architect/developer Kevin Cavenaugh bemoans the housing market's troubles.

• our town

  Ross Chapin, AIA, who helped draft design guidelines for his town of Langley, Wash., recalls a developer who proposed a 54-unit-per-acre downtown housing complex for the elderly. The building was 150 feet long and three stories high and had no façade chan

• splitting hairs

  If architects get 25 percent of the work they go after, that's a good percentage, but that also means that for 75 percent of the work, someone is calling to say they didn't get it,” says David Hollenberg, AIA. Since June 2006, when he became university ar

• you can't win them all

  Edward Hodges, AIA, a principal at DiMella Shaffer in Boston, recalls his firm's recent unsuccessful bid for work on a college residence hall. During the interview the architects had made a joke about something, and whether or not it tipped the scale, the

• field maneuvers

  When Richard Williams, AIA, designed his own house five years ago, he decided to forgo a general contractor and manage the fieldwork himself. He spent nights and early mornings coordinating the various trades before heading to his Washington, D.C., office.

• report from the front

  Susan Maxman, FAIA, started her architectural practice in 1980—an era she calls the Dark Ages for women. On one project for a Dayton, Ohio, couple, the husband refused to believe she was an architect until he saw the registration credentials in her office.

• shop talk

  savvy architects are investing long-term by owning their buildings.

• random harvest

  After several years of tentative steps, national green building programs are making strides toward getting their residential guidelines—and their delivery systems—up and running. Just finishing up is the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED for Homes pilot project, a year-and-a-half-long experiment...