Tips from the Top: Architects Share Their Advice for Success

BEGINNINGS

Sebastian Schmaling

Partner, Johnsen Schmaling Architects, Milwaukee

➔Fit the scale of your ideas to the size of the project

The ambitions of young practitioners often collide with the practical constraints of their first commissions. Fueled by a mix of passion and impatience, fledgling designers often find themselves eager to manifest a grand architectural agenda from the outset, attempting to infuse every cherished idea into their maiden projects—even when the typically tight budgets and modest scales of those early commissions leave little room for creative exuberance. When an architect’s boundless aspiration clashes with the inherent limitations of a project, the outcome can be disastrous. In the best case, the design may simply be unbuildable. In the worst, it may turn into a deeply confused, poorly executed building. Neither scenario is particularly conducive to the reputation of an emerging practice.

Recognizing that a single project is unlikely to encompass the entirety of one’s architectural imagination, it is important to distill one or two specific goals that resonate profoundly with the designer. An intentional, strategic focus on a select few elements allows the architect to navigate around the many project constraints. This tailored approach transforms each commission into a deliberate stepping stone, where success is measured not by the grandiosity of a lofty concept but by the precise execution of relevant architectural objectives.

In essence, my advice is this: resist the allure of cramming an all-encompassing architectural agenda into your first commission; instead, strategically prioritize key elements. Through this measured approach, architects can lay the groundwork for a career marked by a mosaic of accomplishments, each project contributing to the realization of a broader architectural vision over time.

Puffer, temporary inflatable facade, Tokyo, Japan

Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham

Founders, Klein Dytham architecture (KDa), Tokyo

➔Be bold

Be bold with your designs!

At the Royal College of Art in London, we were always told by our wonderful tutor James Gowan at final project reviews: You all talk too much! He wanted us to pin up our work, and as we pushed in the last pin, collapse from creative exhaustion and let the drawings say everything.

You cannot stand outside your building and say, This is the concept. Look at this detail. The building has to speak for itself. It has to say everything and be understood by young and old.

We started our careers in Japan, where we couldn’t speak the language, and most clients couldn’t understand us. So our designs had to speak for themselves. They had to BE BOLD.

BE BOLD and let your ideas speak for themselves.

Hani Rashid

Co-founder and principal, Asymptote Architecture, New