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Letter from the CRAN Chair
By David Andreozzi -Hello! I want to kick off the first newsletter of 2014 by thanking the entire CRAN Advisory Group for making 2013 our biggest and brightest year ever! CRAN continues to make massive changes in the way AIA Residential Architects are connected to AIA National by providing specific residentially-oriented support, education, and advocacy for our membership. From our recent annual symposium in Santa Fe (almost 200 architects strong), to the planning for our next Symposium in Charleston (featuring key note speakers Robert A.M. Stern and Andrés Duany), to this quarterly CRAN newsletter, to CRANtv, to an upcoming CRAN book series Houses for All Regions, to a new Peer Group subcommittee, to our involvement with Residential AIA Contracts, and to new growing alliances with the ICAA and Houzz… we at AIA CRAN are moving, shaking, and growing at a dizzying pace. To think we built CRAN only six years ago makes one wonder how we will choose to grow over the next decade.
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Train Wrecks
In January, we invited readers of the CRAN Discussion Board to submit anecdotes about train wrecks they’d been involved in. We asked for stories about projects that went wrong, a client you let go, something you forgot to include in your drawings, missed deadlines, etc. We had no idea that some readers would take offense to this subject matter, and it almost caused us to rethink the theme of this issue. However, enough readers submitted examples of train wrecks that were funny, or that provided an example of a good lesson learned, that we decided to forge ahead. Please note that some details were changed to protect the innocent (and possibly the guilty), all submissions were edited, and with one exception, we have granted anonymity to the authors of the anecdotes. We were also unable to include all the submissions.
-- The Editors
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Features
About CRAN's Incoming Chair
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Left photo: David Andreozzi; Photo credit © Visko Hatfield
David Andreozzi, the incoming chair of CRAN, has a small, 26-year-old architecture practice in Barrington, RI, specializing in Neo-England vernacular architecture. David, a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design, is the son of a second-generation contractor. He grew up working construction sites carrying junk to the dumpster and graduated to framing, fine carpentry, bidding, running complex jobs, and furniture design/building at RISD. David continued with his education at Shope Reno Wharton in Greenwich, CT.
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A Monument to a Former President
By Jared Banks, AIA | Shoegnome, LLC | www.shoegnome.com
Right now the benefits of failure (and trying again) are all the rage: take risks, go big, and don’t give up on all your dreams if the one you’re working on fails. This is great advice for architects, of course. One of the fun things about our profession is we have so many opportunities to try again, to learn from our mistakes, to build off of our previous successes, to get do-overs. These benefits are amplified for us residential architects. We get to enjoy the benefits of a high frequency of projects (assuming a normal economy and all). Our typical projects are calculated in months, not years.
AIA/CRAN Residential Collection, Volume II: Houses for all Regions
The AIA/CRAN, together with The Images Publishing Group, invites your firm to submit a project for inclusion in this high profile title.
Inclusion in the CRAN Residential Collection, Volume II is the highest honor that the AIA/CRAN can bestow on a single family custom designed residential project. It is conferred by the national AIA/CRAN Advisory Group in recognition of design solutions that respond to the individual circumstances of place and program.
Projects will be grouped into climate zones: Arid/Semi-arid, Temperate, Tropical/Sub-tropical, Arctic/Cold-climate, with an introductory essay written by an expert in the field for each section.
Houses for All Regions: CRAN Residential Collection, Volume II will be distributed worldwide through The Images Publishing Group's established distribution network. We believe this is an excellent opportunity for you to showcase your firm, and your recent projects on the world stage.
The deadline for submissions is March 14, 2014 by 5PM ET.
AIA SPP Small Project Design Competition: The Pop Up Project
The AIA Small Project Practitioners invites architects and architecture students to submit design ideas to the 2014 SPP Small Project Design Competition. In this unique design competition, submitters are asked to re-imagine the standard farmer’s market canopy pop-up booth.
Winners will be expected to build and then assemble the winning design in Chicago where it will be displayed at the convention center, or nearby, during the 2014 AIA National Convention in Chicago IL – June 26-28. A travel stipend and construction budget will be provided.
Please direct any questions you may have to spp@aia.org.
Resources
AIA CRAN Convention Workshop Survey
Help inform the content of the presentation for one of CRAN’s educational sessions at this year’s AIA National Convention.
Have you ever been to a Convention session that was so targeted and specific to your exact needs that you felt as if the speaker was reading your mind? Well, now you can!
This year, CRAN is sponsoring the sequel to one of last year’s high scoring pre-convention workshops with a program titled “Tools and Trends in Web Platforms and Social Media for Residential Architects and Small Project Practitioners 2.0." We want to hear from YOU in preparation for this presentation. Which online tools are actually working for you? Which ones drive you nuts?
Take 2 minutes to answer this short, 10 question survey.
The Top Renovation Tips to Help Your Clients Understand Their Project Better
By Fraser Patterson | CEO of Bolster | www.getBolster.com
Renovations can be some of the most stressful projects undertaken in life, for all parties involved. These quick tips will help you start a dialogue with your clients, to make the process easier.
- Manage time expectations. Your clients need to accept that the home renovation process takes time – often more than they’d bargained for. A renovation project begins with planning, getting inspiration, and hiring a team of professionals to help. While the construction process can be guaranteed, homeowners need to consider that the entire endeavor will take time, and unquestionable commitment.
Discussion Forum Highlights
The discussion forum on the CRAN Knowledge Net continues to be a great source of lively discussion, marketing opportunities and general education.
National news media has been using the AIA as a source of information for their custom residential housing articles. The forum has been used to send out calls for submissions for these national publications, the most recent for an article in Inside Columbia. If you’re looking for a way to get your work in publications across the country, keep an eye on the forums for these frequent opportunities.
When it comes to the way we view the term “architect”, there is no shortage of opinions! An ongoing thread on this very subject can currently be found on the discussion forum.
Technology has been a subject on the forum lately. Software and hardware suggestions and questions can be found by following these two discussions:
If you’re considering a technological upgrade and wonder what is working for other architects, the suggestions in these threads could be helpful.
Please continue to use the discussion forum page as one way to communicate with fellow architects who are focused on the custom residential sector. This link will take you to the CRAN discussion forum home.
AIA Contract Documents Release ACD5
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Protect your business with AIA Contract Documents, over 180+ time-tested legal contracts and forms that fit your project; large or small. With our new online service, ACD5, there’s no need to download software. All contracts and forms are now completely accessible online, whether you have a Mac or a PC, and may be edited as you see fit. Introducing a new ACD5 pricing option, AIA Documents-on-Demand® Plus, where there’s no need to estimate future document usage, simply purchase the documents one at a time and every document is fully editable so you’ll have the flexibility to change the document text to meet your specific requirements. Get the online service that can deliver your documents, when and where you need them, on your terms, with ACD5. Learn more about all the features of ACD5. |
Special thanks to our sponsor: Bolster!
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