Working out of the Box is a series of features presenting architects who have applied their architecture backgrounds to alternative career paths.
In this installment, we're talking with Larraine Henning. Larraine graduated with a Master in Architecture degree, but has opted for a non-traditional career as a nomadic, independent designer / illustrator / photographer. Larraine is currently seeking funding for A Practical Guide to Squatting on Indiegogo.
Are you an architect working out of the box? Do you know of someone that has changed careers and has an interesting story to share? If you would like to suggest an (ex-)architect, please send us a message.
Where did you study architecture?
I received an Bachelor of Environmental Design from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg and a Master in Architecture from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
At what point in your life did you decide to pursue architecture?
As a child I was relentlessly preoccupied with being an adult, being someone important and making buckets of money. I wanted to be an architect for as long as I can remember, and as it turns out my childish naïvety brought me neither money nor stature, and the adult part is questionable. I moved around a great deal, even now, but especially as a child. Often we moved to places that were less than ideal. My mother would always let me do whatever I wanted to my room to spruce it up, from dark royal blue paint, ceiling and all, to fabric covered wall panels. Before I even knew (thought I knew) what architecture was, it was a way I could better my environment.
I sunk my teeth into the gallant notions of design and did anything and everything I could to bring me closer to that coveted profession. When I was 17 I went door-to-door to architecture offices I found out of the phone book, asking for work, any work, making coffee if that’s all they had for me.
I decided that I would rather pursue my architectural agenda, tangential as it may seem, outside of the conventions of an office.
When did you decide to stop pursuing architecture? Why?
I did my M.Arch thesis on squatting and informal housing. My project took the form of an illustrated how-to guide and the various tactical problems one might need if they were squatting. My thesis made a suggestion of architecture but did not attempt to prescribe one. After all that would negate the ‘informal’ part of the informal housing. I think the role of the architect is changing, it is not a discrete entity that it once was. I decided that I would rather pursue my architectural agenda, tangential as it may seem, outside of the conventions of an office. I missed the immediacy of real objects, the models and drawings that architecture school offered. And rather than the yield of my efforts becoming merely the by-product of an actualized built project years down the road, I opted instead to make that by-product the sole ambition.
Describe your current job.
My work and lifestyle is contingent on whim and necessity, and subject to constant change. In the last year I have worked as a cattle drover, apple packer, tree remover and onion picker, just to name a few. Ultimately my day-to-day is akin with the ethos of my thesis, and when time permits I piece together my own design practice. Waxcastle is my ‘paper’ company that is working up steam to get off the page. The best way I can describe it, is an enterprise of passion bent on creating tangible and meaningful works of craft. I make photographic and illustrated prints and traditional hand crafts, with no defined extents to what I will take on next. Riding the coat-tails of domestic craftwork of centuries past, Waxcastle seeks to further legitimise and promote the work of pleasure seekers, professionals, novices and the like.
In the last year I have worked as a cattle drover, apple packer, tree remover and onion picker, just to name a few.
What skills did you gain from architecture school, or working in the architecture industry, that have contributed to your success in your current career?
I think the most valuable thing architecture school bestowed upon me was tolerance and persistence.
Those of us who endured the program will recall the relentless and seemingly arbitrary critiques. It’s no small thing to stand up in front of a crowd of peers, practitioners and academics to defend work you lost many nights of sleep over. If school was fair, your work wasn’t always received with roaring applause and enthusiasm. Sometimes bringing you to silent tears, cursing the whole establishment or at least having yet another moment on the brink of quitting the whole damn thing. But most of us didn’t, or at least I didn’t. I got back up the next week and the week after that and tried again. School taught me to bear conviction and purpose with whatever project I take on, to be earnest and to take judgement in stride.
Do you have an interest in returning to architecture?
Studying and practising architecture helped me to uncover what it is that I enjoy filling my days with. Often in practice I would have to work on projects that I didn’t believe in because that was my job. I love architecture and it will always be a part of how I evaluate the world around me, but I have resigned to do work that is on my terms. Perhaps I am being obtuse, but I would rather spend my days picking fruit than tendering my talents on architecture that is indifferent.
To buys a copy of my book “A Practical Guide to Squatting”, please go here and help support independent art and promote the squatting movement! You can learn more about Larraine at her website.
28 Comments
simply beautiful.
I hate to sound like an ass, but why exactly does she deserve an article? She is doing nothing interesting with her degree, which is fine, but I really hope no one thinks this is a good example of "working out of the box". Also, try to smile when someone takes a picture of you.
if she were a man it would be acceptable for her not to smile.....I hate that stupid, sexist aggressive comment that she has has to smile. LandMass who are you to tell someone how they should behave in front of a camera. 10 bucks you are a guy.
@LandMass - agreed. although the thesis is interesting, this is not out of the box in terms of a career. half of my graduating class ended up taking similar paths; more as a product of the recession than anything else. these paths may be alternative to the modern career, but not to architecture specifically.
i do applaud her for doing what she believes in.
who are you retards, you moronic dilettantes, most of whom I've never read about on this site?? really? i mean here is the simple idea about this series; Working out of the Box is a series of features presenting architects who have applied their architecture backgrounds to alternative career paths.
what part of that sentence do you dicks not get??
I was wondering if she had and college loans she needs to pay back or is she a trust fund baby who gets to wonder the globe? She has that Hipster Chick kind of thing going on with the bonnet.
@snooker-doodle-dandy
Not every school charges hundreds of thousands of dollars to get a degree. You don't have to be rich to get a decent education in Canada. Why does it matter to you how she paid for her degree? And why do you assume that people who travel have some mysterious source of income that other people don't? It doesn't cost any more to live flexibly and travel than it does to have a long term rental/mortgage.
LandMass, she can pose however she wants to. The article is about her. Mind your own business. You are not the editor.
we canadians don't smile.
especially if were from manitoba.
but were all fkuc-ing awesome.
so there.
love the book.
@ LandMass - yep. you sound like an ass. there are more repectful and positive ways to say what you said.
"She is doing nothing interesting with her degree, which is fine, but I really hope no one thinks this is a good example of "working out of the box".
I believe that explorations such as this are incredibly important to careers such as ours (assuming you're an architect). It allows us to see our built (and unbuilt) environment with a different perspective. There is an architecture presented through this work that is kinetic and responds to the environment, an architecture and lifestyle that is directly related to economy of means. I would argue that some of the designs and lifestyles presented through Larraine's work are incredibly more spritual and vernacular than most of our built world.
I believe this is a great example of working out of the box, challenging oneself to be true to oneself despite what people (like you) have to say. It is important.
Will....I know your Awesome....She is still out there for the count.
I really don't see anything that inspiring... then maybe I'm and ole fart...who did his own walk about in America.
My alma mater (is that right?)
Love it all, and the book looks like something II might just pick up!
this is the funniest thing i have ever read
Been there and done that.
Hostile takeovers of abandoned houses. The first twenty minutes is felony breaking and entry but after the locks are changed it's a civil matter. Courts take time and you have eleven to fourteen months free rent.
Helped many a friend who was down and out with a place. Nice houses too, just abandoned when the debt became more than the property value. Banks were too busy to bother with the backlog of foreclosures and too cheap to pursue legal action.
@ Landmass
"Also, try to smile when someone takes a picture of you."
For you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_1FbjuJp4E
And yes you sound like an ass.
so brooklyn
maybe her facial expression is due to squatting?
i kid, i kid. Glad she's getting out there and doing her thang-thang
how exactly is hipsterism/brooklyn again? where is the irony in this work, the inauthentic? if anything, this work reminds me of what a cross between Wes Anderson and John Hejduk work might look like.
The more interesting question is how well can you work inside of a box, cause sometimes that's all you get.
I agree with landmass to an extent, minus the sexism, this isn't out the box but the ordinary path most architects are having to take in these times. It is not as profound as the rest of the "Out of the Box" articles. If you really want an out of the box article worth a hoot do one on Playlab. Two young guys getting things done under the all encompassing umbrella of design. I wonder if she knows someone to have had this article made.
^I agree with landmass to an extent, minus the sexism....I wonder if she knows someone to have had this article made.....uh, yeah, minus the sexism.
^ whether it was a man, woman, child, or 3 legged dog. The point is this isn't so much out of the box as it is the path most are now forced to take. I shall rephrase the statement: I wonder if he,she,it,that knew someone to have had this article made.
@ LandMass
Orhan Ayyüce wrote: "Mind your own business."
What were you thinking, commenting on the validity of the article?!? What do you think this is, the comments section on a blog website?
pursue ma or other postgrad course after ba/bsc get stuck apple packing
Awesome! I did some part-time retail work in a used clothing store while making and selling jewelry out of found objects, and my degree totally helped there too.
She was indoctrinated into the culture of architectural education while at Univ. of Manitoba, so I'm surprised she continued her studies at UBC. There would have been departments in environmental design and urbanism more aligned with what she ultimately chose to do. Her words show she's tough and realistic about the b.s. in the design studio milieu, as does her stoic presence. However, with all the cranes in the air, a UBC M.Arch. would position someone to get a job in Vancouver, being right there, which many people would enjoy, given the quality of the architectural community and work being done there ... and elsewhere from there. I guess it's not a big deal when a M.D. who sutured me in ER had a B.A. in Architecture. People change.
Loved the article! Thank you. I'm currently working on my own thesis for my Master's degree in Architecture her thesis echoes some of my own thoughts, critiques, and processes at the moment. I love the "Out of the Box" series and think it is extremely relevant to those who have studied architecture. My architectural education is design focused and there are a number of us who may not become architects in the traditional sense; however, the skills we have learned are incredibly valuable to a professional practice, whether it is architecture or a different creative field.
i think that she's doing an interesting experience! maybe isn't original, but within of all experiences the people grow and learn. with this book she is trying to make up her wages..it's not a crime
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.