unhappiness and tension breeds creativity and drive...an unfortunate fact; how many greate artist or genius in history where bitter, alcoholic, madmen?

all though i understand herzog and de meroun are quite happy, healthy human beings

I think partnerships seem to produce more happy people. Shared responsibility probably goes a long way.

I worked for Tod Williams and Billie Tsien who both seemed very happy. Their personal lives were very much connected to their professional lives, however, which I think helped their dispositions

If there is a stararchitect out there with a happy personal life...let me know because I want to work for them.

"unhappiness and tension breeds creativity and drive...an unfortunate fact; how many greate artist or genius in history where bitter, alcoholic, madmen?"

God I get so tired of people saying this and actually believing it. I dont think it's true. Most unhappy and tense people dont create anything-they're just depressed and anxious and not creative. Most unhappy and tense people *on this site* aren't going to do anything of note either,so they might as well try to cheer up and lead good stable lives. I would think that security and stability would give one the space and safety to try new things and occassionally fail rather than the other way around. And some people buy into the "depressed=creative genius" thing to the point that they get self-consciously mopey. And that's lame.

^i'm with you.

proposing one cliché versus another cliché doesn't really deal with the reality of life.

some extremely good architects have disastrous personal lives, but they keep producing good work. could be the cause, could be the consequence.

commitment to making a personal life rewarding and full may or may not lead to a productive professional life.

people and life are far too complex to be reduced to a formula of success and/or happiness.

when william faulkner's daughter begged him to stop his heavy drinking, his reply to her was, "who the fuck ever heard of shakespeare's daughter."

Gehry seems to be happy with his family life/second marriage and kids

Eisenman too

Most actually are married (first or second) and with kids....I think what many of us assume is that they aren't

I'm not sure if they are happy ultimately - i'd have to personally ask them

I would think more about coming up with your own life... and happiness... and work.

And avoid the clichés...

I had Peter Eisenman as professor. He seems to have some personal issues and spends an enormous amount of class time talking about his therapy secession. Either that or discussing the personalities of students. He complains about not getting commissions and how people hate him or are against him. But in essence he seems to be a pretty decent humanbeing

I don't mean to imply that all star architects have issues. I also had John Hejudk who seemed to have a very wonderful family life. He always spoke affectionately of his wife who I also met after his death and from hearing her speak about him confirmed it. Their daughter I think is a phd student in architecture history at Harvard.

See this other discussion

http://www.archinect.com/forum/threads.php?id=62624_0_42_0_C156

and this blog

famousarchitect.blogspot.com/

annalee:

John Hejduk’s daughter Renata is actually a professor here at Arizona State. She has been the most influential person I’ve meet. She is an amazing person! Wish I had more classes with her!

I was at Malcomb Blackwells house on a Saturday morning and seemed like his family clicked! Kids were well behaved considering he had around forty people wandering around his house all of which were visiting Fay Jones projects in the Fayetteville Arkansas area.

He was also gracious enough to work out a deal where we could spend a friday evening in the tower that he designed in Fayetteville.
Seemed like a likeable guy. Walked by his office one morning and
it looked busy.

Glenn Murcutt and his wife Wendy were gracious hosts when I attended the GMMC, the opened their house to us and it was great. Looking back I regret not taking a picture with him. I had arrived in Oz late, by 2 days and he arrange one-on-one sit down time over dessert. He didn't have to do that but he did.

^Marlon Blackwell?

n- my fault....thinking of Welcomb Wells...when I ment Marlon Blackwell....

given all the antipathy directed to Libeskind, i almost hate to bring it up, but he has been married to his wife Nina for about 40 years, having met her at a youth camp at the age of 16. that's fairly significant. they have 3 children and remain a very close family.

bernard tschumi remains married to kate after about 25 to 30 years.

thom mayne - happily married.

richard rogers with his 2nd wife now for at least 25 years.

matthias sauerbruch and louisa hutton happily married for about 20 years.

peter wilson and julia bolles - happily married, with children, about 25 years.

how many more examples to disprove the initial assumption?

i'm guessing rem is pretty happy, wife in rotterdam, partner in london.

To add to the original question: how about starchitects whose spouses are successful professionals outside of architecture?

Other way around, p2an.

Will Bruder is married to an Archologist...I believe. She worked in the office where a friend of mine worked....but that was years ago...most likely she is enjoying long walks in the desert and not having to worry about classifying early civilizations of the desert.

waterhouse, true - my mistake.

old school Harry Seidler married his wife Penelope in 1958, were still together when he died last year.

my girlfriend is an engineering student... i don't want to worry about our future right now though...

oldirty and xactobladeo': dlb is correct. cliches are bullshit. just look at the books - run a list of the best of the best in every facet of creativity and at the top of that list you have one disturbed individual.

second off, archnophelia: gehry and eisenman dont really lead the lives of "architects" anymore, so its hard to place them within "starchitect" roles. ask either of them what their exterior wall construction consists of and i'll bet your undies they wont be able to give you a direct and concise answer.

but wait dlb - does the length of a marriage proceed toward the idea of "happiness"? i think you and i should get our trusty binoculars, rent a camo tent and stalk your list of happy hubbies to see how many vases get thrown a night. point: we're not their respective spouses, so we dont know whats f*cked up in their marriage. moot point.

the late great john hedjuk would curse anyone on this forum out for calling him a "starchitect", so he should be removed from this discussion immediately. of course if you're not a "starchitect" you lead a happy life - so how many of you really yearn to become that?

and that goes for any real talented architect. life and success mixed with happiness vs. career is way too complicated a mixture to delineate what causes one to affect the other. wait till they die and all the unfavorable truths come out. make up your little architect dramas then...

I have stars on the ceiling of my bedroom....does that make me a Stararchitect? We take turns looking at the stars....so I would say hell ya were happy!

I guess my point in starting this thread was to ask whether the goal of achieving some sort of fame in the architectural profession was automatically at odds with the notion of a happy home life.

My perception is that those people who seek "architectural fame" as an end just aren't that happy. They sacrifice a lot for their buildings. But I could be wrong.

I hope to one day have an interesting practice (i.e. one that does a lot of engaging and diverse work.) But I also want to continue to have my happy marriage.

For those of you who have your own practices, does it put a strain on your home life when things get busy at the office?