In April 2006, the actor Brad Pitt and the nonprofit organization Global Green USA launched a sustainable design competition in hopes of spurring the redevelopment of New Orleans, post-Katrina. It certainly isn’t shocking that a Hollywood star, albeit one with a home in New Orleans, would want to raise awareness about the devastated city, but perhaps it is surprising that a celebrity could so meaningfully engage the sustainable design community with such a gesture. Pitt, it seems—like Leonardo DiCaprio and Al Gore—has become a sort of sustainability guru for the larger public, even narrating the on-going sustainable design television series

In the summer of 2007, two large American architecture firms made news when they announced they were being sold to larger European firms. The 1,000-person RTKL was acquired by 11,500-person Dutch environmental and infrastructure engineering giant Arcadis. And, 350-person Hillier by 750-person Scottish architecture firm RMJM. Why are these firms selling? And why now? Do these moves represent a trend, and if so, what is its significance for the rest of the U.S. architecture profession? Illustration: ' Corbis RTKL and Hillier ranked eighth and 25th, respectively, in the 2006 Top 150 Architecture Firms [record, June 2007, page 71] list, compiled

Cautions during transitions The owners of CRS Sirrine were not the only ones to recognize culture clashes as serious dangers for merged firms. Both Gido and Cramer consider this issue as important as negotiating financial terms. Selling a firm is not like selling real estate because a firm is largely an intangible collection of talent and good will. Staff who feel disrespected, or who don’t respect the work of the parent company, can walk out and devalue the sale. According to Gido, the hardest, riskiest part of a merger is not the hammering out of terms but the integration of

“We’re talking about somebody’s life here. We can’t decide it in five minutes … We nine can’t understand how you three are still so sure. Maybe you can tell us.” —Henry Fonda as a juror in 12 Angry Men Photography: © Getty Images Henry Fonda plays an architect in the film 12 Angry Men, the story of a jury deciding the fate of a man on trial for murder. Initially, his is the sole vote against a conviction. With just two brief quotes from this 1957 film classic, Henry Fonda’s character—an architect—begins to emerge as the leader of a group

Ongoing and frequent dialogue not only fosters collegiality and a collaborative spirit but can also stimulate innovation. Jim Oswald, a senior associate and senior business strategist within Gensler Consulting, shares Leers’s perspective with regard to engaging staff to ensure their commitment to advancing the firm’s goals: “Informal discussions held in staff meetings, individual coaching sessions, and conversations around the water cooler about the firm’s strategic purpose and direction all help to strengthen staff’s grasp of the ‘why we do what we do’ and proactively engage them in ‘living’ the firm’s vision and goals through their work.” Photography: © Getty Images

Public and nonprofit practices are playing an increasing role in the professional development of young architects and yield great benefits for all concerned. The entrepreneurialism, close client contact, and quality design work achieved by those fortunate enough to obtain these positions make them desirable for traditional firms who want experienced interns. Yet, the architecture profession does not support these unique training settings as thoroughly as professions such as law and medicine do, so the interns who wish to gain this kind of experience, and those who are in need of services, both go wanting. Photo: © Jamie Blosser Rose Fellow

Good Deeds, Good Design Good Deeds, Good Design is the title of a book edited by Bryan Bell, founder of Design Corps, that responds to the notion that the quality of nonprofit design work must inevitably be compromised. Max Bond, FAIA, a partner at New York’s Davis Brody Bond and an architect noted for his interest in underserved communities agrees with the premise of Bell's book. “I always thought that it is really an artificial separation. An interest in community and social issues in no way reduced my interest in design.” Photo: © Jamie Blosser Blosser worked with Van Amburgh

Errors, omissions, inefficiencies, delays, coordination problems, cost overruns, productivity losses—the list of complaints against (and often by) architects and contractors is a long one. The Construction Users Roundtable (CURT) has characterized the difficulties experienced in typical projects as “artifacts of a construction process fraught by lack of cooperation and poor information integration.” The historical reasons for this dysfunctionality are many, including a multiplicity of participants with conflicting interests, incompatible cultures, and limited access to necessary information. In an influential 2004 white paper titled in part, “Collaboration, Integrated Information, and the Project Lifecycle,” CURT said, “The goal of everyone in the

Adapting the alliancing model Here in the U.S., it appears that no major owner has taken the plunge by sponsoring a “pure” project alliance on the National Museum model. However, a number of owners have committed themselves to collaborative, single-contract project delivery systems, in which interests are aligned and risks are shared to a greater extent than in traditional contractual structures. One such owner is Sutter Health Care in California, which has been using a multiparty “integrated agreement” for its $6.5 billion building program. The project alliancing method teams contractor and consultant early on, and provides them with financial incentives

  Each year RECORD publishes the Top 150 Architecture Firms list, based on information collected by its sister publication, Engineering News-Record, for its Top 500 Design Firms Sourcebook. According to the latest survey, 2006 was a good year for architects, who reported a combined $8 billion in revenues. (Incidentally, there was a five-way tie for the 147th spot, so 151 are listed.) The 15 firms at the top of the list earned 37 percent of that, about $3 billion. To put those figures in context, it is helpful to know that architects’ offices with more than 100 seats make up