Passive Architect
It is not often that I have the opportunity to draw a brand-new church. As a place of worship the building should be inviting, a beacon of light and hope.
Architects, like everyone else, are inspired by pinterest. Images of what patterns can do with light, and what plaster can mold to affect what is sought for in putting hand to paper. While drawing, I seek how common materials connect and what precision in the construction world can yield. Many photos below were pulled from Pinterest.
The above photo is by Rich McGervy via Flicker. The keyhole view of the WVU Coliseum below is by Waller Corporation on the first floor of Marriott’s hotel under construction. The new Courtyard will have spectacular views of the Monongahela River and the city of Morgantown, WV.
Architecture firms commonly joke that we have a feast or famine type of schedule. When there is work there’s too much of it. But when there’s nothing to do, there’s really nothing. The constant sprint of deadline-driven projects are occasionally broken up by a few weeks of down-time. That’s where I found myself a few weeks ago. While the Marriott project moves into construction administration and the shop drawing review period is slow, I can often do all I need to do for that large project in about 8 hours of time a week. Because I work in a mid-size firm with multiple project managers I can quickly move under their wing before my next project begins.
In the last week I’ve worked on two residential projects, a LEED project in West Virginia, renderings for a new church project and participated in a firm interview as the hospitality skilled architect.
The church I began drawing had burned earlier this year. The parish has a large city block to build upon in the context of an old West Virginia river town. The post fire photos maintained the sacred feel as the roof collapsed on an otherwise pristine sanctuary. With the promise of a new project, and time to draw, I took the opportunity to put my hand to paper.
Photo by CNS through Catholic Herald
It’s fun to talk about how to find what you are good at, and what those talents are, so they can be easily incorporated into every day. The drawing obsession of mine began while traveling as a student of architecture at Virginia Tech. My fall semester of 2002 was spent on a bus with 35 students and a handful of professors.
Cathedral Photo by CED Berkeley
My first job at Kendall/Heaton Associates pushed me to work on construction documents for two years. I was fortunate to work under Rex H. Wooldridge, Steve Bell, and Joon. These men formed the foundation of detailed work and dedication to the profession that I still lean on today. After working in Houston, TX I moved to Ohio to work solely on a house project for my parents. Needing to find an expert in the area, I sought out Victor Greco, a mid-career architect practicing in Wheeling with SMG Architects (now Mills Group.) He invited me into the Wheeling, WV office and I easily found the job that would take me into the next phase of my architecture career. SMG supported me to take the ARE exams, and I became a licensed architect in 2009. In 2013 SMG split and became SM+P Architects in Baltimore while Victor merged with Mills Group. I moved to Morgantown, WV to work for the Mills Group shortly after this change.
In the last year I have drawn three hotels, one small hotel project has been completed while the other is under construction here in Morgantown. The third one desperately wants to rise off of the drawing board. I have worked on two local residential projects that required additions, helped one interior residential project, and have continued to work on one large renovation that is going on 2 1/2 years. In the last few weeks as Marriott has moved fully into construction administration I’ve jumped on a university renovation project about to go out to bid as the final set-of-eyes over the documents, and am working on a small theater renovation in southern WV. I have a wide range of tasks that seems to change every day. I look forward to a mix-use project that is to begin in three weeks. Mills Group has responsibility over the design, and I can enjoy the freedom that comes with decision-making in my work.
All of the above is just my work. There are about 8 total project managers in this firm who draw off of a pool of three to five young designers across the two offices. With more people and more projects it is important for the structure of the firm to have a strong project schedule. Easier said than done when we are in a constant search to answer RFP’s or interview for new work. Projects have different levels of service, and each one continues to move along a different deadline.
One of my most talented colleagues who is currently completing her Master of Architecture at Lawrence Tech while working full-time suggested I read Project Management for Design Professionals. As a few of us continue to develop Gantt charts to schedule people and projects, I begin to understand how important it is for a healthy firm to balance talent, expertise, and time management.
Yesterday I shared the principles I have during my workday. I have many other personal desires, but my most enjoyable pass-time is to travel.
My husband and I work to travel. We are, as you know, avid hikers. Our last trip to Italy focused on family. Traveling with a few other people made my husband and I experience northern Italy like we hadn’t on our honeymoon -we went into many more churches, for example. But, I had less time to write and draw, considering the interest of many is constantly changing. As an architect, my vacations are where I rejuvenate creatively and mentally. Outside of vacation I need to develop a routine that balances my creative spirit in an office environment, which is why I practice my four beliefs as described yesterday.
How I got to this point, after 11 years in the profession of architecture has been influenced by my past. The part of me that wants to put my creative growth into my work, and the belief that I should came from my experience at Virginia Tech. To be idealistic is what a young architect learns in school. What we create affects the world for good. Upon our shoulders is the responsibility to design well and build sustainable architecture. I am encouraged that with my knowledge I can help others build the shelters they need, and enable the life they are born to seek. I am also encouraged that I live in an area of West Virginia that is booming in growth, one that has an acclaimed University (WVU) with many students and academic minds.
The type of work that a firm completes begins with the type of client each firm attracts. The project must support how I want to grow professionally, to enable creative advancement. Architects are like artists in that way. My university experience pushed me to find my passion, which is research and drawing. (Luckily I’ve just started a Master of Architecture at Fairmont State and I can continue on this path!) The open studio environment and discussions that students of architecture uncover are limitless in their bounds, and this is the artistic part of what I can do every day. Architecture is work that reveals itself after practice, and to do this the architect must practice. Practice, seek, look from a different perspective, focus and keep working.
So, if it is ideal that the type of work you do every day supports these thoughts, and at times I feel caught in paperwork, how do I find something within that to allow growth? It could be hidden in the talents of co-workers. At the very least it starts with communication.
Eleven years an architect, and what I can show for my work each day seems unrelated to architecture. Are my young co-workers carrying out the tasks I miss completing myself? I miss drawing, I miss figuring out the details and having the opportunity to draft them with my own attention (bye bye AutoCAD.)
I’ve worked with a couple different firms in the last decade. Time slipped by comfortably when there were many licensed architects in a small-sized firm. The position I held before the one I hold now differed in size and in number of projects. At it’s best, the 6-person firm had two lead architects, an office manager, and three young professionals (at the point of taking license exams). At this size we each filled one another’s gaps easily because we sat in the same room and could listen. (Not that this was always preferred, but…) Our office manager was in charge and knew something about our last-minute-loving, architect-like schedules.
My role has changed since then, and I am part of an 11-person group in Morgantown. (Wheeling has five more.) Being with a larger firm means, overall, that there are more projects and people, of course. I now lead younger designers and many projects, or larger projects at once, instead of focusing on one. I’ve struggled recently with how to maintain the sense of being an architect with the many tasks of coordination that an architect in my position maintains. Some days I feel like I only respond to colleagues questions, answer the phone and check email. As a leader I’d like to share my attraction to architecture with others. Our current Mills Group team is creative and technologically advanced. I’d like to share the part of me that believes in what architecture can do for humanity in the work I do every day. I do believe that no matter what I’m doing, I can be fulfilled and I’d like to share that. I’d love input from others in a project manager position. The best thing I can think to do is the following:
1. Focus on one task at hand. Do this by turning off distractions, and by organizing time with colleagues to discuss questions all at once.
2. Move away from the computer. I set aside 3-4 hours in my day at my stand-up desk. I red-line and review real paper and can draw.
3. Take lunch. Move around, take a walk, read a book. The mind needs to rest to be able to focus for the remaining workday.
4. Encourage drawing. I began a Sketchy Friday event a few weeks ago. We’ve only met once, but I really enjoyed the hour of drawing with my colleague (hopefully more show up next time!). I also encourage being at the location of the project to determine design solutions. Go on site! The best place to draw what will be is to draw where it will be.
Here is to ART making life and history a part of today. I should write an ode to my husband for his hand in this park, another to artist Jeff Forster who dreamed the elephant and made her a reality. And lastly, but perhaps most importantly, an ode to Susan Hogan, whom received the first ever spirit award in Wheeling, West Virginia -the one created specifically for her. She gives tirelessly to the city of Wheeling and brings the community face-to-face with what makes life worth living -having fun and acting on the spirit that is within us all.
After class we were driven out into the countryside. We pulled up to a breathtaking place in Tuscany, the courtyard at Fattoria Montecchio, the first winery of our two-winery tour. The winery had been purchased a hobby and was maybe 400 years old!
The second tour at Casa Emma would be led by a passionate man. He let us dip our noses into three barrels of olive oil, the entire stock that the vineyard would produce for the year! No wonder the olive oil was so deliciously lime green, pungent, and would be the preferred drink to wine by some.
Sunset pulled out the yellow colors. The dam’s glowing curve of water. All of the city’s fine crests glistening off the buildings. Hotels and balconies toward the river, the evening and this sun. We enjoyed where we were, in the piazza of Sante Croce Basillica.
Old wood beams held the roof and the setting sun held us.
We found the steps this time to Michelangelo’s plaza. I could have sat above the clouds all day.
What is the most spectacular view of Florence? There had to be more than the plaza, and so there was at San Miniatura. The green, white and red decorative tiles with the golden oculus of Christ at it’s heart –above the doors. Inside you could walk up, down, in, below, above, all around the altar, the massive columns, the crypt of columns, to the altar steps that rose into the hidden back. The church was open and completely free, as lots of things were in Florence.
