By this I mean residential, commercial, public, etc. I am curious to all you practitioners about which type or class(?) of building that you most enjoy working on. Or, does it not really matter, and does it depend more on the quality of relationship with your client?
For example, I have always had the notion that public buildings would be great because I am a bit of a do-gooder. But, in practice I could see interesting developers being good clients occasionally - organized, enterprising, personable maybe?
All will have different answers but mine were anything public. Whenever a client is paying you with his own money, money he earned himself, there are always more problems….with public it’s not their money and are looser relationships somehow, in my experience.
It's all about the client. Great work is impossible without a great client. That doesn't mean unlimited budgets or carte blanche for the architect but rather a thoughtful, engaged client who supports and works though the process.
Of course it's better when the work itself is not private but can be widely appreciated - commercial or institutional. I've had a lot of fun and great feedback from doing small restaurants that hordes of people get to enjoy over time.
In the end, work that is appreciated is the best, regardless of type.
Definitely agree with public work, I worked on 2 museums, an art center, and several libraries, all went well. I also like healthcare, because there is money for nice things and the clients are relatively easy to please. Higher education is great because the quality is often high and they value architecture more than other clients.
Hey cool, thanks for the great responses. That is interesting that you all share the sentiment that more public-oriented buildings are the most satisfying. I guess my notion wasn't far off the mark. One thing I was thinking though was that perhaps public clients could be occasionally more bureaucratic to deal with, and so in some cases with developers you could have a more direct relationship, which could be nice. I guess that might depend on your specific contact in the organization you were working for, though.
Nov 28, 14 2:36 am ·
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What has been the most satisfying functional type of building to work on?
By this I mean residential, commercial, public, etc. I am curious to all you practitioners about which type or class(?) of building that you most enjoy working on. Or, does it not really matter, and does it depend more on the quality of relationship with your client?
For example, I have always had the notion that public buildings would be great because I am a bit of a do-gooder. But, in practice I could see interesting developers being good clients occasionally - organized, enterprising, personable maybe?
Anyways, thoughts?
All will have different answers but mine were anything public. Whenever a client is paying you with his own money, money he earned himself, there are always more problems….with public it’s not their money and are looser relationships somehow, in my experience.
It's all about the client. Great work is impossible without a great client. That doesn't mean unlimited budgets or carte blanche for the architect but rather a thoughtful, engaged client who supports and works though the process.
Of course it's better when the work itself is not private but can be widely appreciated - commercial or institutional. I've had a lot of fun and great feedback from doing small restaurants that hordes of people get to enjoy over time.
In the end, work that is appreciated is the best, regardless of type.
Definitely agree with public work, I worked on 2 museums, an art center, and several libraries, all went well. I also like healthcare, because there is money for nice things and the clients are relatively easy to please. Higher education is great because the quality is often high and they value architecture more than other clients.
Hey cool, thanks for the great responses. That is interesting that you all share the sentiment that more public-oriented buildings are the most satisfying. I guess my notion wasn't far off the mark. One thing I was thinking though was that perhaps public clients could be occasionally more bureaucratic to deal with, and so in some cases with developers you could have a more direct relationship, which could be nice. I guess that might depend on your specific contact in the organization you were working for, though.
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