Q&A with Art Dyson, FARA
1. What is your definition of architecture?
Architecture is a complex subject to define. It is not a particular color, or shape, or scale, or look. I believe that it is a quality, rather than an object. It is something that you feel, not merely something that you see. It is more about the intangibles than the tangibles. It is something that creates a dialog with the heart. True architecture embraces the soul and inspires its occupants to greater awareness.
Describing architecture has always been a challenge for me. I don’t want to describe great architecture as much as I want to create it. I find it easier to design than to explain. In my own work I find a few answers, but many questions.
2. How can you tell if you are in a great work of architecture?
When you enter a great work of architecture, you will know it. No one will need to explain it to you. It will be self-evident. It will reward your senses, stimulate your imagination, and speak to your emotions. It will lift your spirit and enhance your consciousness.
3. What style would you say your architecture represents?
I don’t believe that my work represents any style. Rather than replicate a style, I attempt to envelop and embrace my clients with meaningful and evocative patterns and rhythms that resonate within them. I attempt to connect with the very spirit of their existence. It is here that I believe true architecture manifests.
My work is constantly changing, evolving. It is a quest, not an answer. It is not a style. It is a search for a better, more beautiful life for my clients.
Buildings need to be expressive of their own time and place. They need to be an honest expression of their interior functions. They need to be relevant. They need to be appropriate. They need to be expressive. They need to be beautiful.
I believe that architecture should focus more on happiness and psychological well-being, rather than on replicating a particular style.
4. After so many years of practice, do you now consider yourself a success?
Well, success is difficult to measure. If you are referring to financial success, I would say not. If you are referring to relevancy, I might answer in the affirmative. I believe that it was Einstein who said, “Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value”. I have always sought to attain the latter.
Being the richest architect in the world has never interested me. What does interest me is creating something meaningful, something of value, something that adds beauty and joy to the world.
If you feel that you are truly making a meaningful contribution to culture, that is the reward itself. Wealth and power are often determined by another set of criteria.
In answer to your question, if I have done something of meaning and value for others, then I’d consider myself successful.
5. How would you personally measure your work?
If my work has contributed in any way to the elevation of the human condition, and at the same time enhanced the quality of life for my clients, and promoted an interest in creative architecture, I would feel that I have then fulfilled my mission as an architect.
After completing a project, I always ask myself, “Could I have done better?”
6. Do you feel that you have accomplished everything that you have wanted to as an architect?
If my work has contributed in any way towards the advancement in architecture and motivated the next generation of architects to explore new directions, then I feel that I will have fulfilled my calling as an architect.
7. What is the most essential element in your work and what are you attempting to accomplish?
Simply knowing how your clients are going to live in the space is essential for me.
Meaningful architectural experiences should involve a certain intimacy between the building and its inhabitants. We need to be aware of and express an inner force of energy, memories, emotions, etc. Regardless of the buildings size, function, or complexity, if it is designed well, it will lead us to better things.
Buildings should provide not only shelter, but pleasure and enjoyment. One could say that all buildings have a personality: every building transmits emotional signals. Whether designed by intent or not they will have an impact and that impact will rarely be neutral. It can range from caustic to euphoric and everything in between.
A building can become far more than its individual parts. It can be a cohesive, integrated set of reflections and experiences. It should be an integrated, seamless system of technology, function and aesthetics.
8. Are you always satisfied with your work?
Generally, but not always. I believe that we should always ask ourselves if we could have designed something better if we could have offered more. We must accept the place that our work has guided us, learn, and hopefully tomorrow, be at a place where our dreams lead us.
9. What motivates and captures your interests?
Many things motivate me and capture my interests. I have perpetually endeavored to become better than I was yesterday, and I have always attempted to improve the plight (suffering) of others.
I have always wanted to eliminate or minimize the distress and misfortunes of others.
10. You have talked and written often condemning the current trend in period architecture, such as Tuscan and Mediterranean. Since these styles remain widely popular, what is your main objection to them?
For me, architecture is not something frozen in time, but rather something that must reflect and adapt to the continuously changing patterns of human activity. Architecture is a process, not a product. I have always felt that architecture is an active, rather than a passive element in our lives. A building should continuously respond and react, evolve, and adapt to its occupants. Merely repeating a style from the past does none of these.
Our world is in constant change. Either through evolution or revolution we advance for these efforts and a better world is created.
11. In a few words how would you describe your life’s philosophy?
My philosophy is rather simple. I have always believed that we are here to resolve matters, not exacerbate them. We are here to appreciate diversity, not denigrate it. We are here to build, not destroy. We are here to create a better world, not harm it.
I also believe that an architect’s life should not be one of safety and repetition, but one of expanding, renewing, discovering, revealing, and becoming.
12. Like all of us, I am certain that you have faced many obstacles in your long career. What are some of those and how have you managed them?
I see obstacles as opportunities to see how much we really want something. Perhaps they are merely there to stop those that don’t care enough.
I believe that we need to constantly look beyond the obstacles, beyond the countless reasons something can’t be achieved, and find the ways to achieve them. To me that is the true measure of success.
13. Does it bother you when your work is criticized?
No. It has never really been my objective to please everyone. My focus has always been centered on creating something of beauty and value in the eyes of my clients. I am always pleased, however, when my work is appreciated by the public, but that has not been a primary focus.
I believe that if you don’t have any critics, your work may simply be too lifeless, or too pedestrian. I have always believed that confidence is silent, and insecurity is loud.
I don’t believe that criticism is ever pleasant to hear, but as Churchill once commented, “criticism is often necessary and directs attention to a harmful state of issues”. If we’re not aware of negative issues, we can’t resolve them.
14. Over the years you have won many awards. Is there one that you treasure most?
I treasure all of them and it is always pleasant to receive praise from others, but there is no greater satisfaction than to know that you have thought your best thoughts, spoken your best words and produced your best works. So, while I treasure them all, I believe that approval from your own conscience is equal to no other.
15. What are some other pleasures you get from your practice?
To create, and to bring something new into the lexicon of human achievement is exhilarating. But to merely replicate what already exists would be excruciating.
16. Can you offer any advice to those that are considering architecture as a career?
Yes, if you chose architecture as a profession, don't ask yourself how much money you can make. First ask yourself what inspires you, because what the profession needs is individuals with motivation and spirit. Architecture cannot continue to feed on itself forever; it can only prosper where the prevailing boundaries are conquered, and new concepts are brought into existence.
17. If you were to describe yourself as a feature of nature, what would that feature be?
There could be several answers to that question. If I had to choose one, it would be a river. Since a river flows wherever it desires, I believe I would like to be that river.
18. I read a recent article critical of modern architecture stating that it lacks logic. What are your thoughts on that comment?
Well, there may be some truth to that statement. However, you don't necessarily create beautiful works of architecture because it is the logical thing to do any more than you fall in love with someone because it is the logical thing to do.
19. What impresses you most about architecture?
What inspires and impresses me most about architecture, are the internal messages that architecture can evoke. And, like a great novel or a great symphony, it can touch the very soul of its audience.
20. Are you ever afraid that you will run out of ideas?
No, never. The mind can be an eternal spring with new and brilliant concepts. I believe that it was Maya Angelo who said that “creativity cannot be depleted. The more it is used, the more you have.”
21. You personally worked with Frank Lloyd Wright, and I would like to ask you what you learned most from his forms?
Mr. Wright’s forms were defined by their environment and purpose, always seeking to promote harmony between human habitation and the natural world. He produced beauty founded on the inherent qualities of the materials, technology and modern construction techniques, exchanging traditional historic forms for a fresh new architecture, celebrating the new means and methods made possible by the Industrial Revolution.
22. What interests you most in your practice?
I am most interested in designs and architectural solutions that don’t yet exist.
23. Where do you believe are the greatest opportunities?
Opportunity and discovery reside in the unknown. Remaining in the past and opting to focus on established customs and traditions will only result on a life of what could have been.
American novelist Kurt Vonnegut Jr. reminded us, “Of all the words of mice and men, the saddest are, ‘It might have been’.”
I have always believed that our greatest regrets are not for the things that we have done but for the things we that haven't done. The missed opportunities, the unexplored possibilities, the rewards of discovery, the joy of bringing something truly unique into the world.
If you surrender to your fears, you will never know what might have been, and for me that is far worse than failing.
24. Can you give us your best parting advice for emerging professionals or young architects?
Attempt something new every day. Find a better way. Step out of your comfort zone, be bold, discover a new and better direction. Break tradition and bring forth innovative approaches and patterns. Pursue that which is invisible to others. Seek new forms and produce beautiful architecture. Listen to the Muses and dance with the wind.
Reach for the prodigy hidden within you. Dream big. Dreams herald the purpose and precede the objective.
If you want to create a more dynamic and invigorating world, don’t ask. Just do it. Your actions will transform your desires into reality. And always remember, you are defined by your actions, not by your desires.
Design your buildings so that when written about, an exclamation point would be necessary.
25. Why SARA?
I first became a member of SARA in 1989 when I entered 3 projects in the National Design Competition and was fortunate enough to win on all 3. I soon met many new friends, continued to enter the design competitions, served on the California and National Boards for several years, and always looked forward to the national conventions. I believe that the camaraderie of the membership is its greatest strength.
26. What does SARA's mission of "Architect Helping Architect" mean to you?
From the 1950s when SARA supported Frank Lloyd Wright and his son John Lloyd Wright, FARA in their battle with the California Architects Board, SARA has championed the rights of the individual architect.