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Dialogue with a designer: François Lévy
Thursday, April 27, 2000

By Michael Barnes
American-Statesman Arts Writer

Q: Your firm designs not only high-end homes but also green homes and affordable housing. What do all of those have in common?

A: While the vast majority of our work is custom residential, any project of any scale or budget should address issues of proportion, space, natural light and ventilation, the site and its climate, and beauty. All of those issues can be sensitively and thoughtfully addressed regardless of the budget. Even a generous Hill Country home has a budget that ought to be respected, just as an affordable home does, obviously. The differences in projects are really a matter of scale, not principles.

Q: Dealing with a client for a high-end home, describe the ebb and flow of your conversations. Do you simply listen and design, or are you engaged in a vigorous back-and-forth discussion?

A: Clients are as different as sites; some have definite ideas about the architectural character of the building they want, others might have emotive impressions but no clear palette of materials. Our role is always to be good listeners, but a key ingredient to what we do is to reinterpret what clients tell us in a way that is true to their desires and needs but nevertheless surprises and delights them. Sometimes that requires an excited debate scrawled over trace paper, sometimes not. Either way, the client is made a member of the design team.

Q: Are clients ever stubborn about wanting something that you know is not in their best interest?

A: If a client has a desire that we feel isn't right for the design, it's our job to convince them (and ourselves) with compelling arguments. Usually the artifacts of those arguments are drawings or models. If we can't win the argument, then we probably weren't right in the first place. Often an architect might have a stylistic conflict with a client. If a client wants a project to reflect a particular style, which might not be to our own personal liking, that's fine because we don't design from a style but from architectural principals that are universally applicable: proportion, light, siting, beauty. We must respect the client's tastes and carry on the conversation on the level of these principles. Because we try to design from them and not from a "style," we can usually accommodate the client's tastes and still remain true to our design principles.

Q: Green building is hugely popular in Central Texas. What simple steps can people take to ensure an environmentally sensitive design?

A: The greenest thing that can be done for any project is to site it properly, with an eye toward mitigating solar gain and maximizing natural ventilation. It's popular to look towards new materials to be a green panacea, but while green materials are great, there is no substitute for common sense and good design. Another simple step is to research materials and techniques; the city's Green Builder Web site is an amazing resource. (www.ci.austin.tx.us/greenbuilder/)

Q: How do you build affordable homes when real estate, labor and construction materials are through the roof?

A: That's an excellent question with no easy answers. One might be public-private partnership. The real estate has to come from less desirable, at least in the general buying public's eye, neighborhoods, and the projects that go into those neighborhoods must strengthen, not weaken, them. There are labor sources available through organizations like AmeriCorps. Materials cost what they cost, though, and here good design can maximize the architectural effect: create a 1,000 square foot house that feels like 1,200. Fundamentally, though, we ought to foster a climate in which we as a society don't decide that only the privileged deserve beauty. It's discouraging when I hear that affordable housing can't be "architectural" and must be made to look affordable, as if those living in it don't deserve architecture, and as if architecture were a frivolity. Beauty doesn't have to be expensive.

Q: What's the main thing a design client should remember in dealing with architects?

A: A good architect's or (in my case) designer's role is to be a sort of midwife, giving birth to the project that is already in the client's heart. Just as you don't know what a child will be like when it's still in the womb (even if you know the gender), neither the client nor we know what a project ultimately will be from the onset. Our role is to draw it out and let it become a living thing. So I would recommend to a potential client that she look for a designer who exhibits a wide range of stylistic talents while maintaining a thread of design principles throughout projects. That's going to be the sign of a designer with a true internal design compass who is nonetheless versatile. The other thing I'd recommend is that a client remember that while the result of an architect's labor might seem to be a product -- a set of drawings -- what the client really is paying for is a service: knowledge, expertise, talent and experience.

You may contact Michael Barnes at mbarnes@statesman.com or 445-3647.

 

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