AIArchitect

so informative, thanks to tell us.

so informative, thanks to tell us.

Great dialogue! This naming and defining (stereotyping) a generation with one catchy word - "boomer" "X'er" - is way off base. The year I was born is often listed as the last year of the boomer generation, or the first year of the X'ers. Neither fits.

As for young architects and interns. I am in a small office. No room for office politics. Each of us is at the bottom and the top at the same time. Jockeying for status or position would be meaningless.

The topic that is rlevant to us is that we have been trying to hire a recent architecture school graduate or an intern. We have found that the only, and I repeat ONLY, thing they $eem to care about i$ money. The last two candidates had less than a year of experience, but expected a starting annual salary equal to mine. (I have 15 years experience and have been licensed for 9 years.) The sad thing is these kids don't even realize that they don't know anything about how buildings go together! Somehow they have gotten the impression that they already know it all!

I agree with Terry, office politics impact the work environment more than ever. How you play politics in the work place seems to have taken presedence over talent. Our false sense of entightlement and materialistic needs carry more weight than the greater good. Self interests before your circles interests, your circles before your departments, and your departments before the companies is upside-down. Hence, the market crisis we face and the moral dilemmas that are unfolding. This adopted pattern of societal cannabalism is similar to how Rome fell.

1) Historians consider ageneration to be 33 years.

2) None of this is anywhere near as relevant as the lack of hand drawing (from life)skills, which teach us how to see and observe.

3) Every generation has it's own style and speach (just look at an old movie), but I believ the over reliance on computers (a most useful time saving tool on which I am quite dependant as well)contibutes to the sameness we see in the publications today. Yes computers have enabled the more practical use of curves, but does every building need wing roofs so they can fly? The ecological mindset expressed in your publication would be better served with home grown Arts and Crafts sensibility.

As long as you do not make up lies to get the older more experienced people out of the office as a way to optimize your upward mobility and you can actually design a building someone can actually build I think the "kids" are a pretty good group. A few of you are well educated and can design.

As a licensed architect who was actually victimized by the unethical office politics of a few interns in an office where I was the Senior Associate I have reason to be concerned and to say so. I was falsely accused of fraud and I got fired. I sued the company's owner as a creditor and settled in the U.S. bankruptcy court.

Tolerance of such unethical conduct and office politics is not tolerated in my practice and should not be tolerated anywhere by any firm.

So this sentence provokes a question here and resonates with my concerns; "We are the bottom line. We consider making sure we’re in a rewarding work environment as our most pressing professional concern, not adhering to institutional loyalty"

Now just how should that be interpreted? How do you go about making sure you are in a rewarding work environment? What guidelines or rules govern your conduct as you pursue your career objectives?

As a fellow member of the generation X/Y-ish, I have to say that I completely agree with Zach's statements.

I am at my firm because of what projects we put into this world, not because of the number on my paycheck. I love that I am constantly being challenged and work in a creative environment. I work long hours and late nights because I believe in the architecture we're creating, not because I'm afraid I'll get fired if I don't.

The only reason I think about money at all is due to the fact that it's the only occupational feedback that is given in the office (aka - you did a great job this year, here's a raise/bonus/etc.) Our generation does need constant feedback, but it doesn't always have to be monetary.

I agree with Anonymous. I think the Littell artlicle is all wrong. By his definition, I'm a member of generation Y, but I grew up with generation X. Granted, I also grew up with technology, but I don't even understand Generation Y. In many respects, I relate more to the baby boomers, but I think these are flawed generalizations. I agree the demographics of the workplace are changing, but the younger workforce cannot be so narrowly categorized. My grandparents, born in 1933, were rightly baby boomers, so how do you define my parents generation? They most certainly were not gen-x. They were hippies until they found Jesus. This pop-sociology just doesn't work in the real world. Values don't define the workplace; talent does. And, when it comes down to it, just like every other generation before it, generation Y wants the paycheck, because high praise isn't going to save the world.

When did generations become only 14 years long? By defintion, one generation gives birth to the next. This can't be done in only 14 years. This Gen X / Gen Y stuff is a lot of junky pop social science. It is almost totally meaningless other than to the marketing and PR professional who make it up.

Demanding that your job give your life meaning is putting the cart before the horse. If you live a meaningful life, your job will follow suit, not the other way around.

As long as you can design and you understand how a building goes together, then we'll have no problem. I can live with your self-centeredness as long as you get the job done – and done well.

Multi-tasking, technology driven individuals don't automatically equal good architects. I've seen people who have all the latest gadgets but can't design themselves out of a wet paper bag.

Also, regardless of what society thinks, YouTube is not reality. No one really cares about it.