Episodes

What’s it really like to work in architecture? The hosts of Archispeak know, and they’re here to share real-life experiences. Since 2012 architects Evan Troxel and Cormac Phalen have been podcasting their brand of real talk on everything from design, tools, and work/life balance to generational differences, mentoring, job hunting, and more. Probing questions, revelatory interviews, and unique insights have grown their audience and become a weekly ritual for students and seasoned professionals alike.

#290 - “Rough” Inspections

We discuss the value of doing home renovations and learning construction skills as an architect, talk about the importance of compromise, collaboration, and learning from hands-on experiences.

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#289 - An Architect Walks Into a Building

We have a conversation about the process of becoming a licensed architect in the United States and discuss the challenges of taking multiple Architect Registration Exams (ARE), NCARB’s rolling clock policy changes, and the need for change in the profession.

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#288 - Birth Control for Engineers

We discuss Evan’s tireless experience of the “sufferfest” that is moving one’s family into a new home, Cormac’s recent experiences with the ACE Mentor program, and we ask the question more people in the profession should be: Would people become architects if the we were honest about what it’s really like to be one?

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Comment Rules: Be cool like the Fonz. Critical is fine, but if you’re rude, we’ll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation!
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#287 - 42 Degrees North Latitude

Saying goodbye to a house, spaces that evoke memories and emotion, personal experiences of working (and living) remotely, mentoring emerging professionals, and how the architectural profession has been the model for Elon’s recent email to Twitter employees (except for the severance option).

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Comment Rules: Be cool like the Fonz. Critical is fine, but if you’re rude, we’ll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation!
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#286 - Skyhooks Are Rea

We discuss the different types of architectural degrees offered and why one might pick one type over another (To B.Arch or not to B.Arch? That is the question.) based on an #askarchispeak question from a listener, and Cormac toured the Exchange Tower that’s currently under construction in Detroit. It’s being built… differently.

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#285 - What the Monterey Design Conference is All Abou

In this episode, we discuss Deborah Berke FAIA’s presentation and James Wines’ interview from the 2022 Monterey Design Conference which recently happened at the Asilomar Conference Grounds in California. We get into the adaptive reuse typology as well as environmental art and architecture.

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#284 - Through the Lens of Others

Cormac talks about his recent attendance of a lecture about architectural ornamentation from yesteryear in Detroit while Evan is speaking at the inaugural EntreArchitect Annual Meeting in Austin.

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#283 - Injured by Architecture

In this episode, we discuss various mental, psychological, and physical injuries sustained from architectural (or construction) projects.

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#282 - Realistic Sandwich

This episode is about communication in our profession. Are you elevating or dumbing down the conversation? Is anybody listening? We also talk about wasting time in “valuable” “meetings”, how when the size of teams grows the lines of communication and complexity grows at a larger rate (Brooks’s Law), and more.

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#281 - Little Glasses of Hindsight

It’s a “rantiversary”! We have some fresh follow-up on a 2-year-old episode about a Twitter thread on why one individual was sounding the alarms and contemplating leaving the industry — who then did leave — and hasn’t looked back. The conversation then ties into additional follow-up from a more recent topic about accountability for predatory and toxic educational and workplace environments kindled by the SCI-Arc Basecamp “How to be in an Office” panel discussion.

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Comment Rules: Be cool like the Fonz. Critical is fine, but if you’re rude, we’ll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation!
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#280 - We’re So Apathetic

We discuss how Evan’s recent talks about the future of the practice were received by two different audiences: architects and CFO’s. One group is much more excited about where we’re going… can you guess which one?

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#279 - An Indictment of the Built Environment

We discuss a recent rant by Thomas Heatherwick about boring architecture, emotional responses to the built environment, the fabric of the city, what community is, cool scars, and more.

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#278 - A Lower Rung on the Ladder of Architectural Significance

Evan is delivering a keynote titled ‘Disruptive Technology in Architecture, and You’ at the 2022 AIA Kansas Annual Conference, rural architecture and architects, presentation skills, communication, and more.

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Comment Rules: Be cool like the Fonz. Critical is fine, but if you’re rude, we’ll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation!
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#277 - A Quiet Game of Chicken

Following our ‘quiet quitting’ episode we now discuss ‘quiet firing’, the objectification of roles in the profession and the unsustainable nature of this approach by incumbents for the future of the labor force, additional thoughts on other recent episodes and how they tie into this discussion and topic, workaholism, MidJourney AI image creation, and more.

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#276 - Quiet Quitting

We discuss the latest news on the #quietquitting trend, the architectural response to the subject, under living and overworking, and more.

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Comment Rules: Be cool like the Fonz. Critical is fine, but if you’re rude, we’ll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation!
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#275 - The Waffling is Real

After discussing how there’s no shortage of things to be responsible for when adulting, we answer more listener questions regarding graduate school and licensure while throwing our personal experience into the mix.

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#274 - Tyranny of the Green Light

What does the little green status light next to your name signal? In this episode we get into expectations and conditioning, time management, discipline, and saying yes versus no in the always-on work environment.

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#273 - Know Anyone Interested?

A conversation about the current state of the architectural job market, a critique of the lackluster listings firms use to “attract talent”, and more.

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Comment Rules: Be cool like the Fonz. Critical is fine, but if you’re rude, we’ll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation!
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#272 - Play the Game

We answer questions from an incoming architecture student about, well, all kinds of things. What should one do before beginning an architectural education? In addition to “everything”, what should one pay extra attention to in school? What should one study on their own time? What is the process of getting licensed in multiple states?

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Comment Rules: Be cool like the Fonz. Critical is fine, but if you’re rude, we’ll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation!
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#271 - The Upstairs Boat

We discuss some recent adventures in home ownership and compare notes on a list of places we have and haven’t been to from an architectural perspective.

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Comment Rules: Be cool like the Fonz. Critical is fine, but if you’re rude, we’ll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation!
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