TJCAIA News Blog

[caption id="attachment_460" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Bungalow Concept"][/caption] Are you envisioning a new cottage in your back yard or on the back forty?  TJC has designed many bungalows, guesthouses, mother-in-law units, caretaker cottages, and senior citizen residences. They are labeled with various names in different towns and counties. The first thing we do ...

As we jump into the challenges of the new year, we want to thank those who have trusted us with their building renovations. Here are a few projects completed in 2008: We completed the complex drawings and processed the building permit for a 100+ year old building in Watsonville, the Pajaro ...

[caption id="attachment_419" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Loopholes"][/caption] I like words and I am intrigued by the origin of words, or epistemology. Here a few words whose meanings are loosely associated with architecture: Balk To balk, to stop short , to pause before proceeding as though an obstacle were in the way. The word itself comes ...

[caption id="attachment_300" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Sketch by TJC"][/caption] The thought of sketching in ink may conjure up images of feather quill pens and parchment scrolls. In college classes, I was taught to use ink pens on large pads of white paper. We sat on wood easels set in a circle to view ...

[caption id="attachment_322" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Keepsake Diamond Center"][/caption] Don't miss the opening of Keepsake Diamond Center at 1712 North Main Street at Harden Ranch Plaza. The Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce is planning a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, December 4, 2008, from 4:00 to 6:00 PM. Wine and hors d' oeuvres ...

I have never met a client that did not have a budget. So the goal of delivering a building for an estimated cost can be challenging. I have found that competitive bidding between general contractors to be less satisfactory for our clients than other delivery systems. In competitive bidding (often ...

Our magazine rack fills with a dozen or so magazines sent unsolicited to our office each month. Free copies are sent to architects presumably because they may be influenced by advertisements for doors and windows. The granddaddy of the magazines is Architectural Record, which comes with my AIA membership. This ...