In hopes of finding new ways to be of use to those of you who find the time to read this, and because I can’t write every day about the stupidity that pervades the WTC planning, I’m casting about for some new ‘features’, particularly some that might, um, write themselves a little bit. One of the motivations for starting this was a consistent frustration that there weren’t places where you could find detailed discussions about the minutiae of what designers and planners do and why these things might be of interest to the layperson — to both inspire them to be more active in voicing their opinions in ways that might improve their community, and encourage investment in the services these people offer.
Because there is enough of a professional community here, one can live pretty comfortably inside it (though I don’t). Out in the sticks, well, it’s a different story. When all the ‘interesting’ architects can fit in the same cab (if your town even has them), it means by default you find your way into the wider world. But here, things can get cloistered, and even though it may be edifying at time, it can also be stultifying.
Nonetheless, some of these people were my heroes back in school, and now I live just around the corner from many of them. I think it would be interesting to meet Steven Holl or Richard Gluckman. Anyone having done what they do would make for interesting conversation. And there are people in this town who live just to meet people like that — well perhaps they don’t live for it, but such encounters make for some kind of rationalization or justification for other slights or compromises that make the banal and challenging days that we traverse most times seem more worthwhile. Sure, this town lives off name-checking and dropping, but I don’t need it myself.
I wanted to, want to, meet people like these because, well, I like thinking about buildings: how they are conceived, how they get made, and who (clients, staff and consultants) does it. This last characteristic is the most ephemeral, and often what elevates those fortunate enough to make to the upper echelon.
But it’s a real challenge to actually do any of this once you become a Steven Holl, or, worse, Richard Meier (once, I called SCI-ARC hoping to speak to Mike Davis — Mike Davis! — for five minutes; the secretary told me he got 4 or 5 calls a day from, say, Australia, students asking for the same thing). It’s all meetings, PR, teaching and networking. Whether you are cagey (after all, who wants to give up the details on their contacts?) or simply frustrated, no one really wants to talk in detail about that aspect of practice. Even though it is interesting to practitioners, I operate in the limited hope that people who aren’t read this site occasionally. And stories of how buildings get made and used are what make the idea of architecture relevant to everyone else. Architects aren’t needed to get a building made in many instances, but often are essential to make one good (regardless of how I mean I am to them most of the time).
So this is an open call for three things:
1 — Small firms. Start ups, either splinters from larger firms, or people just going at it cold. I’ve always been frustrated that professional journals do a poor job of publicizing the work of younger firms, often because it’�s not as sexy, but I don’t have any pressure to print glossy photos here. I want to publish sketches, plans, unrealized ideas, anything that’s an argument, concept or obsession (the mechanics of this as still unresolved, so I’m not promising a polished portfolio). It can be much more than that as well. This blog is supposed to revolutionary and all, so let’s revolutionize how small firms get noticed.
2 — The small names at big firms. I don’t mean to insult with that appellation (the exigencies of needing a clever turn of a phrase). I know that there are many talented people inside the larger nameplate firms with Associate, Junior or Senior Partner titles, of whatever nomenclature is used to keep their name off the door. These are the people who have a substantial role in shaping both individual projects and the style we come to associate with a particular firm. Being a relative outsider, I don’t even know the names, though they are likley better known in the professional community. I’�d like to profile people and projects (so if you can’�t talk about being in that role, but can showcase a particular project, that’s still of interest here) from larger firms, but I’m not looking for PR from the marketing department. I’d like to actually hear from the people doing it.
3 — Owners, Clients, Patrons. Easy enough to figure out. Have you ever though about or actually given money to an architect: for work, for fun, because you thought building a house just wasn’t hard enough without an architect giving you grief? Did it go great? Bad? Can you talk about specific points where the process absolutely made a difference in where you now live or work?
The only ground rules for the above is location, location, location. Since I write primarily about New York, my preference would be both people and projects that are regional. But if one element relates to the city in some fashion (small firm does project elsewhere? check) do contact me (there’s an email link there to the right). Even if you don’t think the story qualifies, send it anyway. I’m happy to pimp for anyone who does something I admire. But, by now, this forewarning shouldn’t be necessary: I don’t get excited that often. But I’m working on being nicer. Honest.
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Who Do You Love?
In hopes of finding new ways to be of use to those of you who find the time to read this, and because I can’t write every day about the stupidity that pervades the WTC planning, I’m casting about for some new ‘features’, particularly some that might, um, write themselves a little bit. One of the motivations for starting this was a consistent frustration that there weren’t places where you could find detailed discussions about the minutiae of what designers and planners do and why these things might be of interest to the layperson — to both inspire them to be more active in voicing their opinions in ways that might improve their community, and encourage investment in the services these people offer.
Because there is enough of a professional community here, one can live pretty comfortably inside it (though I don’t). Out in the sticks, well, it’s a different story. When all the ‘interesting’ architects can fit in the same cab (if your town even has them), it means by default you find your way into the wider world. But here, things can get cloistered, and even though it may be edifying at time, it can also be stultifying.
Nonetheless, some of these people were my heroes back in school, and now I live just around the corner from many of them. I think it would be interesting to meet Steven Holl or Richard Gluckman. Anyone having done what they do would make for interesting conversation. And there are people in this town who live just to meet people like that — well perhaps they don’t live for it, but such encounters make for some kind of rationalization or justification for other slights or compromises that make the banal and challenging days that we traverse most times seem more worthwhile. Sure, this town lives off name-checking and dropping, but I don’t need it myself.
I wanted to, want to, meet people like these because, well, I like thinking about buildings: how they are conceived, how they get made, and who (clients, staff and consultants) does it. This last characteristic is the most ephemeral, and often what elevates those fortunate enough to make to the upper echelon.
But it’s a real challenge to actually do any of this once you become a Steven Holl, or, worse, Richard Meier (once, I called SCI-ARC hoping to speak to Mike Davis — Mike Davis! — for five minutes; the secretary told me he got 4 or 5 calls a day from, say, Australia, students asking for the same thing). It’s all meetings, PR, teaching and networking. Whether you are cagey (after all, who wants to give up the details on their contacts?) or simply frustrated, no one really wants to talk in detail about that aspect of practice. Even though it is interesting to practitioners, I operate in the limited hope that people who aren’t read this site occasionally. And stories of how buildings get made and used are what make the idea of architecture relevant to everyone else. Architects aren’t needed to get a building made in many instances, but often are essential to make one good (regardless of how I mean I am to them most of the time).
So this is an open call for three things:
1 — Small firms. Start ups, either splinters from larger firms, or people just going at it cold. I’ve always been frustrated that professional journals do a poor job of publicizing the work of younger firms, often because it’�s not as sexy, but I don’t have any pressure to print glossy photos here. I want to publish sketches, plans, unrealized ideas, anything that’s an argument, concept or obsession (the mechanics of this as still unresolved, so I’m not promising a polished portfolio). It can be much more than that as well. This blog is supposed to revolutionary and all, so let’s revolutionize how small firms get noticed.
2 — The small names at big firms. I don’t mean to insult with that appellation (the exigencies of needing a clever turn of a phrase). I know that there are many talented people inside the larger nameplate firms with Associate, Junior or Senior Partner titles, of whatever nomenclature is used to keep their name off the door. These are the people who have a substantial role in shaping both individual projects and the style we come to associate with a particular firm. Being a relative outsider, I don’t even know the names, though they are likley better known in the professional community. I’�d like to profile people and projects (so if you can’�t talk about being in that role, but can showcase a particular project, that’s still of interest here) from larger firms, but I’m not looking for PR from the marketing department. I’d like to actually hear from the people doing it.
3 — Owners, Clients, Patrons. Easy enough to figure out. Have you ever though about or actually given money to an architect: for work, for fun, because you thought building a house just wasn’t hard enough without an architect giving you grief? Did it go great? Bad? Can you talk about specific points where the process absolutely made a difference in where you now live or work?
The only ground rules for the above is location, location, location. Since I write primarily about New York, my preference would be both people and projects that are regional. But if one element relates to the city in some fashion (small firm does project elsewhere? check) do contact me (there’s an email link there to the right). Even if you don’t think the story qualifies, send it anyway. I’m happy to pimp for anyone who does something I admire. But, by now, this forewarning shouldn’t be necessary: I don’t get excited that often. But I’m working on being nicer. Honest.