Ailed Mazas - Prompt 1

As I sat down with one principal and one partner of the office to talk about this prompt, it was interesting to see how they mention that almost every project has challenges on at least one of the core values. While they were trying to think of one specific project that they had worked together and could be a good example, it was fascinating to hear how they talked about one project that was just not a good fit for the prompt because it had run so "smoothly." One would think they were going to mention it with excitement, but it was more of a "this does not happen" kind of thing. I asked them why they were so surprised about it and the answer was "This does not happen on big projects. There are many participants and coordination involved, so it is less likely to avoid challenges".

The case selected as an example was the gut renovation of a university building that used to be a classroom building and was turned into offices. After all the permits were approved, one of the users asked that his office (the office of the Provost) were more private. The room was located next to one of the emergency exits so this petition would compromise the evacuation parameters and the general safety and welfare of the users. They explained how this was a challenge of collaboration where the goals of the building official and the client were opposite. The problem was solved with a leadership decision by the firm where they proposed a fail-safe door that would provide the wanted privacy for the office and would not harm the safety during evacuation.

The conversation after turn into a concern they have towards contractors and their accountability. They mentioned how lately is very common that contractors are not delivering good quality services because the employees are not being trained properly. The 2008 recession was suggested as one potential causes since it led to many middle-age contractors leaving the field and never coming back. These people would have been the mentors of today's construction workers. The lack of mentorship and education causes a bad quality product and lowers the expectations of the contractors towards their work.

The conversation turned out to be very interesting. Not only for me since I was listening to the perspective of two very well rounded architects towards today's issues on the field but also for them to have a break from their work and look back and analyze their past work.