Architecture, Education, and Practice with Ohio State’s Frank Jacobus

When The Ohio State University named Frank Jacobus, AIA, the new director of the Knowlton School, we were eager to talk shop. An educator, author, and co-principal of SILO AR+D, Frank joined Nick and Paul to discuss how architects learn their craft, what happens when design ideas meet construction, and how those decisions shape the spaces we use every day.

The drawings do not end the conversation

A higher bid or an unexpected condition on site can reopen a design decision that seemed settled. Working through the change means understanding what it will cost and what it will mean for the finished space.

How a room will be used belongs in that discussion alongside its dimensions and construction. A question about privacy or a daily routine may change the design. That possibility is worth keeping open, including when the architect feels the problem is already solved.

Daylight and privacy belong together

A bedroom can have a large window and still spend much of the day with the blinds closed. Daylight and privacy need to work together. The window’s height, placement, and view all affect that balance. Those choices are worth discussing while the layout can still change.

Custom details carry unfamiliar costs

A conventional eave (the roof edge that extends beyond an exterior wall) follows a familiar construction routine. A zero-eave detail can use less material, yet unfamiliar labor can still raise the bid. A simpler appearance does not necessarily mean a simpler build.

That makes the reason for a custom detail part of the cost discussion. What does it contribute, and is that contribution worth the additional work?

A contract set is not an assembly guide

Construction drawings describe what is to be built, but they do not lay out every step of the work. Familiar methods fill some of those gaps. Unusual details may need more explanation.

Jacobus proposes an assembly-style companion for that unfamiliar work. The tradeoff is keeping two sources of information in agreement. Sometimes a discussion with the contractor can clarify the sequence without adding another document to maintain.

New tools still need judgment

AI tools can produce an image quickly. Evaluating its proportions, construction, and usefulness is a different task, and one that takes practice.

For students, critique is part of learning what to trust in the work and what needs another look. Experience with buildings gives those judgments more to draw on.

A longer view

The cost of a detail is immediate. Its effect on daylight, comfort, or maintenance can last for decades. That longer view belongs in the conversation too.

Show notes and where to go next

• Frank Jacobus at the Knowlton School. Official profile for the school’s director and professor of architecture.
• SILO AR+D. His practice with Marc Manack, including the Heads House in Goshen, Arkansas, discussed in the episode. On Instagram at @siloarch; Frank posts at @frcj.
• Artificial Intelligent Architecture. Frank Jacobus and Brian M. Kelly’s 2023 book on emerging tools in architectural practice and production.
• What Specifications Protect. How a written standard carries design intent through pricing, substitutions, construction, and closeout.
• Dean Mark Mistur on Kent State’s CAED. Another conversation about design education and its relationship to practice.

About our guest

Frank Jacobus, AIA, is director of the Knowlton School at The Ohio State University and a professor of architecture. He previously led Penn State’s Department of Architecture and held positions at the University of Arkansas and the University of Idaho.

Jacobus holds architecture degrees from The Cooper Union and The University of Texas at Austin. He is co-principal of SILO AR+D and the author or co-author of five books on architecture, representation, and design technology.