Saga of a Architect in Michigan
 

Saga of a Architect in Michigan

I'm moving my work office into my home office by the first of the year and giving the space back to the landlord, I just talked to the lease agent.

I can't keep paying for a space I'm never at.

For the last few months I've been helping out the 64 year old architect which gave me my first real architecture job back in 1985. He has a little work, I have none or close to none. I'm looking for something more than this temporary gig, but somehow the 100 mile a day round trip does not bother me.

PDF Portfolio:
http://www.kachadoorian.com/general.pdf

Website:
www.kachadoorian.com

I've sought international work with a couple of large firms as I have little faith in the US economy. However the bottom has fallen out, and the wheels have come off. I'm not sure that moving to China or Dubai are even options now.

I'm looking for new employment opportunities and would appreciate any insights you may have. I've been self employed for the past eight years, and have 23 years work experience.

This economy has me for a loss of words. I've gambled for the past two years on several developers to obtain financing based on "site use studies" I've done for them. I lost that gamble as I'm sure many people have in this credit crisis.

Now what?

Cheers, George/kach22i

That's too bad, George. Good luck to you.

Maybe you can move in with Lendaddy and share expenses. I think he'd like that. And, if you need cash, you could always sell (or rent) your Palin photo collection. . .

I hope things pick up soon.

You might try getting into teaching evening college classes? I have been doing that since 1989 and at times the extra income has been a life saver. Check to see if there are private colleges or trade schools and see what their requirements are as in CA a Masters degree or professional certificate in your discipline is good to go and if you have experience a teaching credental is not needed. Good luck.

Sorry to hear it George.

My entire portfolio is larger national retailers, so I am feeling the hit as well.

Good luck.

Bill

Hmm, Dubai was the first thing I thought of. Is it family commitments keeping you in the US? If not, what's stopping you from moving to places like that? You gotta go where the work is, and right now, the US (Canada too) is not where the work is. I'd hate to work in the construction industry these days.

I guess I could just get on a plane, nothing like being there.

I'm not stuck in Michigan, my house is in a student rental area near U of M. I'll need to stick a couple grand into the house to bring it up to city rental standards like by next door neighbors did. Most people are "stuck" in Michigan because they have kids and can't sell their house for anything - not my situation.

$65 dollar a barrel oil might even be impacting the ME these days..

Tough all over. What is new and what is growing? That is the question..

George, I wish you all the best.

Green Architecture.......................if you get a chance. I just did a green project with the help of a interior designer, the grand opening (small retail) was two weeks ago.

You are certainly not alone. Unemployment hit 10% in our city last month.

Dubai's strategy is to escape an oil-based economy. Dubai's oil reserves are miniscule compared to other ME countries, and are expected to run out first.

George, I was really optimistic going into the spring sales season and did quite well through the first week of October; it was almost like the economy was OK. Since the meltdown mid-month, it's been dead. No one is ordering and if they do, orders are half of last year. Our biggest customer, Chasing Fireflies, a catalog, ordered half their standard order for a shirt they thought was our best yet.

Dark days ahead in 2009.

2010 belongs to those who can make it through. Good luck!

George, I don't have any new ideas, but I sincerely hope that things will turn around for you.
I'm in medical and the economic uncertainty for that field has hurt me as well.

Sorry George, I can't help either. The vending industry has been hit hard the past few years, even before things got worse.

I do wish you the best of luck and hope you find something be it here or elsewhere.

You are a unique guy and I always looked forward to RSR club events to speak with you.

I would certainly look to China as a possibility, especially if you are willing to move there. You probably won't get rich but if you have a green spin they are actually starting to look in that direction, especially as some foundations are helping them that way (http://www.hewlett.org/AboutUs/News/Foundation+Newsletter/Sustainable+Cities.htm).

USC announced a hiring freeze yesterday. I figure out endowment has taken a pretty serious beating. Since we are the largest single employer in the city of LA, this actually is a pretty big deal. Academia isn't immune...

George,
I'm also a self employed architect in california & i feel your pain.
It has dramatically slowed down here, fortunately i have some large ongoing projects that will keep me busy for a while.
I just hope i continue to get enough projects to keep the bills paid, & make it through this economic slow down.
I agree with the other posts that you should look into teaching architecture at the community college.
Having a masters degree & being licensed should be more than enough to qualify you for the position, it may even pay good enough that you don't want to go back into practice when things pick back up.
I wish you all the best in your endevours

The two semesters I taught at Lansing Community College (evenings) left me less than excited.

I would need serious and good students to make it worth my while, and that pretty much leaves teaching at graduate school level.

I have a masters, not a doctorate so it would a challenge to pull off. Someone would have to die mid-term, it's happens.

Dunno man, seems like high end 'green' build homes would be the way to go. Tons of that kind of activity here in Seattle.

It gets a lot of press so it seems like a ton.

An architect friend in Seattle tells me all the large firms are downsizing right now.

Partner up with a land developer. I'd love to have a partner like you involved in my projects.

A guy with YOUR skills should not be saying, "now what?" He should be saying, "What's next!"

Good luck, it is tough out there these days. Seems like the building industry is very slow.
Maybe you should think of other jobs where you could use your design skills. Like product design, furniture design/building, designing solar/wind sustainable environments, sculpture, etc, etc.

I would suggest thinking outside of the box as far as new business ideas. Like I told you before, Gensler is laying people off, I think just about all firms are slowing down.

I always thought it would be an interesting business convert 911 rollers to electric power. Might be a niche in something like that, nothing like making money doing something you enjoy.