Architectural Firm Comparison[Asia Region]: 10Design vs Nikken Sekkei

10Design

IO is a leading International partnership of Architects, Urbanists, Landscape Designers and Animators. They work at all scales and sectors, including corporate, cultural, hospitality, retail, education and residential. IO's Architecture evolves from the multicultural nature of our clients, and is driven by their respective social, economic and ecological conditions. They have offices in Hong Kong, Edinburgh, Shanghai, Istanbul and Dubai; very regionalized in the asian area.

Pros:  There projects are very cultivated in the region, wheather it is a corporate project to                       residence.
            Majority of projects are multi-use and efficient.
            International office, meaning they hire from everywhere and promote diversity
            Has a massive department for Research and developement

Cons: Wanting to promote more asian locations, but they do have other projects such as in switzerland for example.


Current projects:
               include the Central Business District in Chongqing, China; The Fujian Photonic University in Xiamen, China; Badshahpur Business Park in Gurgaon, India; Mavişehir Residential Development in Izmir; and the Route De Jussy 22 Thônex Project in Geneva, Switzerland. 


Projects under construction:
                include Chengtou New Jiangwan Business Park in Shanghai, China; Bohai Bank Headquarters in Tianjin, China; and The Fujian Photonic University in Xiamen, China.

Nikken Sekkei

Being the highest and largest ranked architecture firm in Japan, its interesting that it is more of a consulting firm in which it has multiple consulting departments.
- Research Institute
- Civil Engineering
- Management Solutions
- Construction Management
- Housing and Residential
- Architecture/Space Design

what captivated me the most about this firm was not only was the prestige but the Firms Philosphy.

" its not based on formula. Its about values, shared by us and other firms in the Nikken Group and to all around the world"

Pros: Extremely stable firm with multitudes of projects all around the world
         Design/Build - in firm consultants
         Financially stable

Cons: Extremely Large group of consultants - easy to over look intimacy of projects
          Very selective in their projects



                                                                                - Editor and Publisher: Jonathan R Chau

Firm Comparison: Olson Kundig Architects vs STUDIO B Architects

Olson Kundig Architects

http://www.olsonkundigarchitects.com

Founded by Jim Olson in 1967

Based in Seattle

Currently there are approx. 90 Employees

Current principal/owners include:

 Jim Olson, FAIA

Tom Kundig, FAIA

 Kirsten Murray, AIA 

and Alan Maskin

Pros: They hold weekly crits; Incorporate work of local artists and craftspeople into their buildings; 

Actively involved in local community

Cons: (According to glassdoor.com):

 “Process could be more rigorous and consistent throughout the company. Management doesn't always grow talent.”

“As an intern your responsibilities are understandably limited. Pay was not great.”

Studio B Architects

http://www.studiobarchitects.net

Established 1991 in Aspen CO by Scott Lindeneau

Only 8 employees with the occasional consultant

Gross income: approx. $350,000 /yr

Structured around an atelier (workshop) style studio

Mainly residential work rooted in strong modernist aesthetic 

Pros: They also hold weekly pinups; small firm = more intimate involvement with projects; “all hands on deck” approach

Cons: Small social networking and marketing outreach

                                                                                                             - Editor: Sam Godar

Firm Comparison: AECOM VS GENSLER

AECOM

This is number one on the list of top firms. In the last year they have made over 8 billion dollars in revenue. The projects that they do range from Architecture to systems to energy. The firm is worldwide and is very diverse. Being worldwide is an advantage, if its night time for someone on one side of the planet, the day starts on the other, this means someone is on the project 24 hours a day. 

Another advantage of this firm is the people that work for it. Its not just architects, engineers, scientists, planners, programmers, and cost and construction managers. This means instead of relying on internet research you can go straight to someone in those fields for feedback.

With a bigger group of people comes more problems. When a firm gets to big its harder to manage. After reading some reviews on glass door.com i came to the conclusion that becoming a company that gets that large is a bad thing. The company makes just about everything not just architecture. So if architecture is an interest its better to work somewhere else. The firm does not pay well either, once you get a position you are stuck, there is very little room to advance. Some former employees went as far as saying it was full of "drones" and people that dont think for themselves. 

In my opinion when you dont focus on one main thing you lose the essence and drive as well as motivation to do good. So in the end what is the point of being a big company if you are just doing work for the sake of getting paid and having money to pay your employees if you LOSE YOUR SOUL. Corporations this size lose touch with the people who work, which leads to the wrong people being fire. Also in the corporate world they want people to be like putty, to be shaped, manipulated, and told what to do. This leaves absolutely no room for true leadership and innovation. 

GENSLER

Gensler is another big design firm however they are more focused on their clients and architecture. They dont have nearly as many employees as Aecom which means that people dont get lost or forgotten or neglected. Gensler understands that when it comes to design the clients with the biggest pockets are the ones to go after. They understand business to a point where they dont need to go beyond their niche market in order to make a profit. They are true to what they offer and focus solely on those things. These guys are alot more social and understand that collaboration and person to person relationships are what makes a great design environment.

This all seems to good to be true, glass door.com again reveals that although the environment for the firm is great, its over managed. There have been complaints as far as management not doing what their supposed to do. Forced overtime(with pay) and designers being told they have creative freedom which results and getting ideas stolen followed by being kicked off the team. 

AECOM analysis pros and Cons by 

                                                                                                                          -Ramiro Martinez

Firm Comparison: SOM vs HKS

SOM

Pro: one of the largest and recognized firms in the world; designed a majority of the tallest buildings ever built; large proponent of the international style; designed many famous skyscrapers.

Con: such a large firm, no individual recognition.

HKS

Pro: one of the most sustainable-minded firms in the world; technology innovations for BIM by creating programs and toolsets

Large Firms:

Pro: Overall, working for big firms is like working in a larger architecture studio that is team based to complete projects. Larger firms have more opportunities compete and win design competitions

Con: Corporate, not personal. You may have steady pay, but you'll not be the name on the door or on the built project. International projects don't give the architects time to really investigate the site and design something suited to the needs of the community. In smaller firms you will work on every aspect of a project, but not so 

much at a larger firm.

                                                                                      - Editor: Heather Collins

Firm Comparison: Cutler Anderson Architects vs Kanner Architects

Cutler Anderson Architects

PRO's

• Focused approach
• Small firm, everyone is involved
• Focus on full architecture, furniture, details, lighting, hardware.

  CON's

• Not global Architecture PRO/CONS
• Some projects are out of scope.
• Similar designs

  Kanner Architects

PRO's

• Familiy based, 3 generations. opened in 1946
• broad focus: commercial, institutional, retail, multi-family and single-family homes
• International
• DD-CA

CON's

• Mainly modernist classic
• SoCal Focused

                                                                                        - Editor: Matt Lockett