It’s been 215 episodes, and he’s back. His firm, his family, and the life of an architect.
This week at EntreArchitect Podcast, Life of an Architect with Bob Borson.
Background
Bob Borson is a principle of Malone Maxwell Borson Architects, a full service architecture firm based in Dallas, Texas. The award winning firm is frequently published and is widely recognized for its thoughtful and considered designs. In 2013, they were honored as the AIA Dallas Firm of the Year. Bob is very active at his local and state components of AIA, where he serves on several committees and leads many initiatives. In 2009, he was recognized as AIA Dallas as Young Architect of the Year and in 2017 he was elevated in the AIA College of National Fellows. Many listeners may know him through his blog, LifeofanArchitect.com which has millions of listeners per year. He’s also a dedicated dad, husband, and traveler. A great tip he’s shared over the years is to sign up for the tours at AIA conventions.
Origin Story
Bob’s earliest recollection was that he wanted to be an architect. His dad, an engineer, encouraged him and got him a drafting board, a t square and a triangle for Christmas when he was about five years old.
When he was a young man, a guy he knew bought a Porsche and Bob thought he was on the right track. For young people wondering if they’re going to be good at architecture, Bob always lets them know that he was terrible when he was in architecture school. He didn’t put the time and effort into doing what he needed to do, and had a huge identity crisis when something he thought he wanted to do his entire life he was seemingly not good at. Since then, everything has fallen into place.
When you had that crisis and weren’t sure if you wanted to be an architect, how did your family react?
Bob never told his family that he had that crisis of identity. His parents more thought that he was goofing off in college and wasn’t dialed in the way he needed to be to enjoy architecture as the path he wanted it to be. At one point, his sister told him that their parents were going to pull him out of school if he didn’t get his act together.
How do you deal with the balance of firm and family?
For what it’s worth, it hasn’t been hard to balance for Bob. Their firm isn’t very big with about 7 members, and they believe that you’re a better architect when you have other interests outside the office. They close the office on Fridays at noon and encourage people to get out. Their philosophy is that you’re a grown up and no one will do your job when you’re not here, but as long as you’ve handled the things you have to handle, nothing should get in the way.
The culture has been established to create this balance. From the very beginning, they’ve always operated from this kind of philosophy. It’s hard to lead from the ivory tower and make a different set of rules for everyone else, so they don’t do that.
It comes down to more than just money. If you’re an architect who wants to make a lot of money, there’s a career path you can put yourself on to make more money than other paths. The amount of work in high end residential work is way more hands on than a warehouse, and the fee scale will be different. As an architect, you can make decisions to shape how you’ll live your life. Some of it is financial, others are around how you spend your time, but they’re all interlinked.
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