Pay attention to personality. Most people hire an architect only once in their lives. Searching for one is akin to finding a financial planner, architects say. Look for an architect who has designed projects that are similar in style and scope to yours. “There’s no substitute for experience,” says Todd Strickland, a partner with Historical Concepts, an Atlanta architectural firm. Because designing a home is such a personal project, it’s important that you feel able to communicate with your architect.
Liza Nugent, 41 years old, and her husband needed an architect to combine their apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side with a neighboring unit; they got referrals from friends. The first person they called made a snippy remark about how “unsophisticated” co-op boards in buildings on side streets such as theirs make renovations difficult. “I thought, with that kind of attitude, we definitely wouldn’t get along,” Mrs. Nugent says. After calling two more architects and interviewing three others, the Nugents picked a longtime acquaintance who had creative design solutions for their project. (more…)
Custom-designed homes can be risky, but there could be a big payoff
Independent Austin architects and designers are making footprints on the cityscape in thoughtful and fiercely original ways.
Drive down a street in Hyde Park lined with bungalows and you’ll probably find a modest jewel of a house tucked behind a tangle of trees.
Who built that? Who lives there? The unfussy lines and calm silhouette say modern, but the tawny limestone and rustic expression are pure Austin. The house is earthy and simple, yet sophisticated. It doesn’t shout, but it grabs your attention. (more…)
Furniture once was considered an investment. People saved up for sturdy pieces that, with a little upholstery work here and there, would last a lifetime.
Now durable furniture is harder to find. A higher price tag or a brand name that had a good reputation when your parents got married doesn’t necessarily signify better quality today.
“The quality of furniture has gone down dramatically,” says Don Fuhr, who spent 52 years in the furniture business. His family owned Fuhr’s in Shawnee, a showroom that specialized in better-quality brands before closing in 2006. “Furniture has become about keeping costs low.”
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This strong preference has driven his choice of buildings for his company not once, but twice in the past six years.
In 2001, he located his offices to the historic MacKenzie building at the corner of West State Street and First Street. In 2007, he will relocate his company to the historic YWCA building at the corner of Cajon Street and Olive Avenue. Nothing new about either of these buildings.
However, they are rich in character and style. That’s what intrigues Cutler about the old buildings.
“I want my office in a building that has a lot of character, and I want to have a window that opens,” he said. (more…)
Few people manage to progress from art-centric-buzzword status to household name. Those that do become household names usually have to spend a few years six feet under the ground before they attract the big crowds and rake in the big dollars — Picasso will bring in a much larger crowd than Jonathan Borofsky, and Frank Lloyd Wright will bring in a much larger crowd than, say, six London architecture firms being classified as “Gritty Brits.”
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