Tag: architect-developer

• Episode 15: The Master Builder

  My friend Ben Stevens runs a blog called Skyline where he interviews people involved in the built environment (architecture, real estate, planning, and so on). You might remember that I did an episode with him about a year ago where we talked about the overlap between architecture and development.

  His most recent episode is with San Diego-based architect-developer Jonathan Segal. I’ve mentioned Segal before on this blog and that’s because he is well known and admired in certain circles for (re)creating a process that places the architect in the position of “master builder.”

  He is singularly driven by one goal: to have ultimate control over the architecture that he creates. Making money is secondary. It is a byproduct of goal number one.

  To achieve this, he has worked to cut out every conceivable middle person. Design is in-house. Construction management is in-house. Property/asset management is in-house. He even avoids bringing on investors for his projects, out of fear that they will start to dictate what he can and can’t do.

  If this approach resonates with you, I definitely recommend you watch the interview. Click here if you can’t see it below.

  [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7UT–CAS1g?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

  2017.01.14

• Yellow trees

  I took this picture on a recent trip to New York:

  

  I liked the mid-block building and so I wanted to document it. That’s what I do when I walk around a city.

  When I went back to research the project later on, I then discovered that it was developed by DDG Partners, which I have been following for years. I think they do terrific work and I love their vertically-integrated approach to real estate development. Two years ago I mentioned them in a post called: 3 architects operating as developers.

  If you’d like to learn more about the project, you can do that here. It’s called 345MEATPACKING. 

  What I want to talk about today is how they wrapped the building during construction. Working with the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama – who at the time had an exhibition going on at the Whitney – they created a 120-foot reproduction of her painting Yellow Trees.

  Here’s a video of what that looked like (c. 2012). If you can’t see the video below, click here.

  [vimeo 79792779 w=640 h=360]

  What a great idea. But don’t tell anyone. I want to steal the idea for one of my projects.

  2016.11.26