|
We talked about how the contractor is part of our team and we generally do things without bidding them, so it's negotiated in the budget, and we start
construction often within the first week of design. We really work as a team.
Our project “Click3xLA” started with the idea of a translucent wall. All the offices are clad in translucent corrugated fiberglass.We wanted it to glow. Many times you will go into large film companies and their offices are dismal, it's like they turn their back on them to make a kind of pretty form. They are dark, no light in them and is a terrible work environment. It's important for us to look at the offices as an important work place and getting natural light into it was part of it. So we were looking for ways to maintain privacy, which was very important to them, but also get light. The wall acts as a translucent filter which also illuminates
the space when the lights are on.
V5: Is the carpet of your design as well?
LS: Yes, the carpet, coffee table and reception desk we designed as well. This was done in a similar fashion where we take common carpets and stitch them together into patterns, which we can do very economically.
V5: Have you ever taken your furniture outside the context of a project and began to market it as a stand-alone product?
LS: No, we haven't, but right now we are working with Dave Scott, who we do the steel work with, we are just starting now to do some products. We
are going to develop a new product line and expand it beyond furniture.
V5: It seems that you hire lots of young people into your studio.
LS: Yes, we are mostly young people. Some of the people I have known for a long time. For instance, Heather and Jackson were students of mine, and Tim is an SCI-Arc graduate and the most experienced person. Joe is an engineer and fresh out of school.
V5: What advice would you give a student?
LS: I tend to look for people who can acquire experience. There are some people who get ten years of experience in ten years, I look for the people who can get ten years of experience in two years. So being a thinker is important, I don't necessary look for proven skills or experience, but people who think critically about what they do. I want people in our office who contribute and not just do whatever we tell them to do. To be able to bring to the table ideas and challenge our ideas and test them. We are also small enough that we care about architecture and try to operate it like a studio. You can see in our studio there is not a single door. (laughs)
So our private meeting space is outside in the parking lot, that's where we conduct private meetings. (laughs)
Everyone here can draw and we still draw a lot even though everyone has a computer. Freehand drawing is still an integral part of what we do. Everyone here is very versatile. We operate like a little kids soccer team! The whole team follows the ball, so thats how we go, everyone is on a project then we jump to the next project. It is partly because we are in constant charette mode because of how fast we have to do projects. It is very intense, almost like doing a studio project, so we need people who can think quick and develop ideas quickly and implement them. I wish we had projects that we could spend two years on, but most of them are very short and intense, but extremely gratifying. We will work on a project and in three months or less, see it completely built. There is a certain beauty to that as opposed to a big house that takes five years to finish.
|
