#395 - Thermal Reactive Umbrella
Show notes
Some weeks the conversation just goes where it goes. Evan and Cormac spend this one reading Wikipedia and AI overviews at each other in real time — the AIA convention ping-ponging from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, SoFi Stadium sunk 100 feet into the ground for the LAX flight path, its cable-net roof that expands and contracts like a tennis racket until Cormac christens it a "thermal reactive umbrella." Along the way: stadiums built as war memorials, U2 tours, and Public Enemy's opening statement in Birmingham.
Underneath the tangents is a real question for the profession. The Architecture Billings Index (ABI) has sat below 50 for a year, job confidence is low, and the flagship AIA convention costs each attendee around $1,500 before tours and CEUs. This episode is especially relevant for architects deciding whether that show is still worth attending when the economy is soft — and anyone who's quietly started reading the convention as an expense instead of an investment. It's a loose, funny episode that lands somewhere honest.
Episode Links:
- AIA Conference on Architecture & Design 2027 — Philadelphia, May 19–22
- AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index
- ABI market research partnership — AIA
- Architecture billings downward trajectory continues — AIA press
- SoFi Stadium — HKS
- SoFi Stadium / HKS — ArchDaily
- SoFi Stadium — Architect Magazine
- Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum — Wikipedia
- Barnes Foundation — Philadelphia
- Salk Institute — La Jolla
- youtubetours.com — concert tour archive
- Bankrate — mortgage & loan rates
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