Ep 209: Understanding Residential Contracts
Ep 209: Understanding Residential Contracts breaks down five ways architects charge for residential work, along with the tradeoffs of each.
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Life of an Architect
A gifted storyteller communicating the role and value of architecture to a new audience, host Bob Borson uses the experiences acquired over a 25-year career to inform his podcast. It respond...
Episodes
20 of 209 episodesEp 208: Ask Better Questions
Most people treat asking good questions as something you either have a knack for or you don't. Bob makes the case that it's actually a train...
Ep 207: Forward Beats Perfect
Most of us have learned to treat more thinking as the responsible move, right up until it isn't. This episode is about the moment careful pr...
Ep 206: Work to Your Own Standard
What started as a simple commitment to sketch more became an unexpected lesson in accountability, criticism, and staying true to the reasons...
Ep 205: How to Start Designing Your House
Designing a house does not begin with floor plans, exterior styles, or deciding where the kitchen island should go. It begins with understan...
Ep 204: Character Development Revisited
In episode 204, “Character Development - Revisited,” we go back to the beginning and revisit the very first Life of an Architect podcast epi...
Ep 203: Ten Museums to Visit Before You Die
Episode 203 explores ten museums worth seeing not for the collections alone, but for the buildings themselves. From quiet rooms shaped by li...
Ep 202: From Practice to Professor
So you are thinking about teaching architecture. You’ve got some years of experience under your belt and you want to share your knowledge wi...
Ep 201: The Middle of Middle Management
Middle management is not usually the part of a career anyone dreams about, which is probably fair since most dreams do not involve inheritin...
Ep 200: Hate to Love You
Ep 200: Hate to Love You looks back at favorite episodes, hard lessons, great guests, and the conversations that made this podcast worth you...
Episode 199: Conflict Resolution
Ep 199: Conflict Resolution explores how architects manage tension, stay useful under pressure, and move hard conversations toward better ou...
Ep 198: The Creative Process
Ep 198: The Creative Process | Why creativity in architecture depends on process, judgment, and knowing which ideas are worth pursuing
Episode 197: The Knowledge Gap
Ep197: The Knowledge Gap: As veteran architects retire, the profession risks losing hard-won knowledge, mentorship, and judgment no handbook...
Ep 196: Do Architects Retire
Ep 196: Do Architects Retire explores why architects work longer, what comes next, identity shifts, and how money choices that shape retirem...
Ep 195: Designing Your Own House
Designing Your Own House explores why architects hesitate to design their own homes: pressure, endless choices, ego vs livability, money, an...
Ep 194: Being Your Own Boss
Being your own boss isn’t about starting a firm. It’s about control, momentum, money, and owning the tradeoffs shaping your career long befo...
Ep 193: The Client Experience
Ep 193: The Client Experience, looks at why client relationships feel adversarial and why architects have more control than they think.
Ep 192: Have a Plan
Have a Plan is a reflective conversation about why pausing to think matters and how intention can help you move off square one this year.
Ep 191: Ask the Show Fall 2025
Architects ask the questions they actually want answered as Bob and Andrew dig into careers, practice, and the occasional absurdity.
Ep 190: The Truth about Titles
The Truth about Titles explores why architectural titles matter, why they don’t, and how their meaning shifts over the course of a career.