Stephen Tilly, Architect Reviews

The primary partners of the firm tried to change my contract after I started working there to add demeaning tasks (e.g. picking up dog poop on the sidewalk outside the office and garbage littering the property outside, I'm not kidding). They were super passive aggressive. I worked there for 1.5 years. When I finally gave my 2 weeks notice, they stopped talking with me because they took it so personally. Then they said they wouldn't give me the full amount of my last paycheck because I had taken too many sick days. I had to file a complaint with the New York State Labor Bureau, who ruled in my favor.

Weak, passive management style. Utterly random design sensibility i.e. "Let's make it an ellipse, it's punchy" "let's use track lighting, the lighting rep suggested it" Some fragile egos among Sr. Staff when combined with passive management style result in extreme conflict avoidance which leads to poor project program development, refusal to seek client input, then schedule upsets due to redesign, then clients refusing to pay, then lawsuits. They're really weak architects, generally. They have few significant or interesting projects. They're probably going out of business within five years. Their priorities are capricious, they are either incapable of communicating a rationale, or they have no rationale. I suspect the latter. They're intellectually and professionally lazy.