#395 - Thermal Reactive Umbrella

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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