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#219: FUEL FOR FIRE | CLIENTS AND PROJECTS

January 30, 2026

Within the many facets of the architectural profession, four distinct aspects stand out.

1) The most obvious aspect is design. No doubt, architecture is a creative endeavor.

2) As a business, next is management. The organization of projects, schedules, and staff is critical to business objectives like stability, growth, and profit.

3) PR is third. Marketing provides exposure and recognition.

4) The most important, arguably, is business development, as in obtaining clients and projects.

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#218: THE MOST BEWITCHING BUILDINGS OF 2025

January 9, 2026

Once again, it is time for me to highlight ten works of architecture that caught my eye last year—bewitched my design sensibilities. There are many more than just ten projects that deserve recognition, but such is life in an industry of subjective creativity.

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#217: TRIBUTE | FRANK GEHRY (1929-2025) AND A VISIT TO BILBAO

December 16, 2025

In 1998, I was traveling through Spain, and this new building just opened: the Guggenheim Museum. In the obscure industrial port city of Bilbao, the Basque Country of northern Spain, this museum was the talk of the industry. So I wrapped up my tour of Barcelona, then hopped on a short flight to check out the buzzy Guggenheim structure. No doubt, it was a work of genius.

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#216: TRIBUTE | ROBERT A.M. STERN (1939-2025) AND THE BEST OF TIMES

December 7, 2025

I didn’t know what to expect when I got the phone message. It was the late 80s. I recently graduated from architecture school, relocated from California to New York, and worked at a no-name corporate firm in Midtown Manhattan. Surprisingly, I received a job offer through voicemail from the famed Robert A.M. Stern Architects (“RAMSA”). Accepting the offer, I felt a little guilty jumping that no-name ship. But it wasn’t much of a Sophie’s Choice: staying at a generic architecture company vs. joining a leading voice of the groundbreaking Postmodern movement.

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#215: WHO DO WE SERVE?

November 28, 2025

As architects, who do we serve? As a client business, we serve our paying customers. As licensed professionals, we serve regulatory standards and safety codes. As community members, we serve society. As creative individuals, we serve an artistic agenda and the zeitgeist.

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#214: IS 85% GOOD ENOUGH?

November 7, 2025

At Poon Design Inc., we evaluate the completion of each project. The question is this: What percentage of the original design is evident in the built work? If we are successful, the final results capture the initial concept, and we pat ourselves on the back for achieving 95% or higher. But sometimes, we get only 70% or lower, meaning the original design got compromised along the way. Why/how?

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