Archive by Author
Brooks Walker: Respectful Designs That Last
I like to say that great clients create great buildings. The collaboration between architect and client is a dynamic tension, a matrix for ideas to coalesce. Constraints can be liberating because they give you a direction. It’s an art form, like classical music or haiku. You can’t just do whatever you want.
Our goal is to create a building that is so well designed, out of such durable materials, that no one would want to knock it down later on. We have to be careful about where and how much the architect’s ego should come in. After all, we’re not the end users. We want our buildings to outlast us.
A good motto might be, “Design something like you care.”
[Cover photo by Cesar Rubio]
by Rebecca Firestone with Mark English AIA
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From Dubai to Haiti: Richard Best, Sustainable Architect
“A master plan has to take into account the natural and economic resources available in the region.…You have to think about commerce. In order for such a plan to be effective, it has to include more than pretty buildings. It has to be realistic. You can’t plan on exporting pineapples from Haiti for example – not enough arable land for it.
For sustainable development, unfortunately the best opportunities often present themselves in the form of natural disasters, such as Haiti’s recent earthquake. This is an opportunity to turn human tragedy into a triumph by creating better, more livable cities.”
by Rebecca Firestone with Mark English AIA
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Are Architects and Social Media Really Compatible? (Updated)
Mark English and Jerry James are presenting at the AIA East Bay on March 4th on how small design and construction firms can adopt social media to further their own marketing strategies.
by Rebecca Firestone with Mark English AIA
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Olle Lundberg: Hand of a Craftsman, Part 1
“Our firm’s work is really about small projects, carefully crafted. It expresses the hand of the builder. The role of the craftsman is so rare today. You can take something hand-crafted and replicate it by machine, but then it’s no longer craft.
I prefer materials with depth and heft, with an elemental power about them. The power comes from the natural piece that they came from, or from the way the material was created. Our palette is nature-oriented. Even steel, I consider a natural material, because it comes out of the earth.
by Rebecca Firestone with Mark English AIA
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Olle Lundberg: Hand of a Craftsman, Part 2
“[With star clients] you have to be really “on”. There’s not much time to impress them… it’s that initial gesture that counts. You have to gain credence quickly, and bring something to the table that they didn’t expect. [When I get a new idea] it’s dreamlike at first. The idea has to be vague enough to be flexible, but clear enough to be able to return to it. I have to be disciplined about working quickly; ideas can dissipate like fog.”
by Rebecca Firestone with Mark English AIA
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Karin Payson on Architectural Practice – Part 1
“Hugh Hardy once said to me that the problem with architects is a fear of drapery! Interior design is more tactile than architectural design… I think that many architects are afraid of this tactility. They’re afraid of color.
“Before I saw Aalto’s houses in their natural setting, I was married to the grid… [but] Aalto’s floor plans, while rigorous, did not use a grid. Instead, they focused on grabbing light, on nature, and on circulation.”
(Photo: Stephen Barker)
by Rebecca Firestone with Mark English AIA
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Karin Payson on Architectural Practice – Part 2
“40% of my graduate class were women, but only 9% of licensed architects are women. You know where I think they are? Buried! A few years ago, Robert Venturi got the Pritzker Prize. He had a practice with his wife for over 30 years, co-wrote his books with her, but she wasn’t originally listed. So now, when he got the Pritzker Prize, she was ignored! It was a huge scandal, in my opinion.
“I don’t play therapist with my clients. I play teacher. I educate my clients about the possibilities. Sometimes clients don’t get it until they actually see the walls come down.
“I’m not interested in floor plans that are full of dead ends and pointy angles. In museums, I like simple floor plans. It makes for a more peaceful experience. I always know where I am.”
by Rebecca Firestone with Mark English AIA
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Architectural Photographer Claudio Santini: Images That Make You Dream
“When I photograph a building, I am documenting the work of someone else. The photographer’s interpretation should amplify the designer’s intent. If the architecture is very strong like a master, then the photographs will show it.
“[My work is] atmospheric, a selective interpretation of feeling and light. It explains less but it makes you dream more.
“Technique and beauty must be formally balanced. The first thing to remember is that beauty is not luxury! A $10 million dollar home or a $500K home can both be equally beautiful. Simplicity is the ideal, and sometimes simple subjects are more photogenic.”
by Rebecca Firestone with Mark English AIA
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Social Networking and Your Design Practice at the AIA
Mark English joins fellow designers Joel Robare of JR Studio and Mike Plotnick of HOK in a roundtable discussion on the impact of social networking on their own design practices. New tools like Facebook and Twitter, combined with identity Web sites and traditional print media, collectively offer a rich toolbox from which each firm can choose its own approach.
by Rebecca Firestone with Mark English AIA
