What’s your architecture origin story and how should you tell it?
One of my favourite parts of being an architecture journalist is talking to architects and asking them about why they chose to pursue a career in the profession. That’s a question I always put to people I’m writing a profile about for various magazines, and the answers are always unique.
Some tell tales of following their dads - and it’s always dads!, although hopefully that will change in coming years and decades - around on building sites when they were kids. Dad might have been an architect or builder or otherwise involved in the delivery of buildings, and that close proximity prompted the child tocreate a career in architecture.
Some tell me that although they didn’t know any architects when they were growing up, they had an early interest in Lego and making and construction and problem solving, which led them into architecture studies and practice.
Some wanted to be artists, but were dissuaded from following that creative path by parents concerned they would never make a living, so they became architects instead (oh the irony, right!)
And I’ve even heard of people studying law, economics and engineering as their first degrees, before going back to uni to re-train as architects. Now that’s dedication to learning and an unstoppable passion for architecture!
Here are a couple of origin stories that architects have shared with me over the years.
Shelley Penn. Photography by Paul Bradshaw.
Shelley Penn
“As a teenager Shelley loved maths and literature, and settled on architecture as a way to combine problem-solving with the humanities and creativity. But her interest in architecture was wavering as she concluded her third year of study.
“I was incredibly lucky to go on a trip to Japan, and was really inspired by traditional and contemporary Japanese architecture,” she says. “then, in my final years of study and beyond worked for Robinson Chen. I attribute my ‘switching on’ to architecture to those two experiences.”
You can read the entire article here.
Photograph by Paul Bradshaw for Steel Profile magazine.
John Wardle. Photography by Marnie Hawson.
John Wardle
“John grew up on the outskirts of Geelong, on the banks of the Barwon River; his father was an agricultural scientist turned science teacher and his mother was a school librarian. His childhood home was a place where accepted knowledge and conventional wisdom were endlessly challenged by constant questioning and new evidence. It was an environment that stimulated his ingrained sense of curiosity, one that was instrumental in setting the tone for JWA’s inclusive practice model, where the studio structure enables John to ‘lead from the middle’.”
The profile on John can be found here.
Photography by Marnie Hewson for Habitus magazine.
Julie Eizenberg. Photography by Peter Bennetts.
Julie Eizenberg
“’I think Australians have changed culturally since we left, when I was 25,’ she says. ‘I’m not sure if the change is to do with me or Australian culture, but I think Australia now aspires to be thought of as important rather than free-spirited, which is the attribute I continue to cherish. I guess I am still romanticising about the Australia of my youth. I’m very anti-authoritarian. I got that from my dad; he was a larrikin.’
She says that her father, who immigrated to Australia in 1924 with his parents from Russia when he was two years old, was more ‘Australian’ than his children who were born there. ‘My dad left school at 14 and he was self-made; he did very well and I was very proud of him,’ she says. ‘He was always very conscious of people, and I think that humanitarian aspect has stayed with me.
‘It is not surprising that I’m re-framing the issue of social responsibility not as a ‘we should’ or ‘we must’, but as an issue of ‘why not?’ I don’t understand why it’s considered a do-gooders thing.’”
The interview with Julie is available here.
Photograph by Peter Bennetts for Steel Profile magazine.:
Sir David Adjeye. Photography by Peter Bennetts.
Sir David Adjaye
“As a child, David Adjaye quickly learned to appreciate, interrogate and seek out difference. Born to Ghanaian parents in Tanzania, he lived in 12 African countries – following the path of his diplomat father – until the age of 14 when the family moved to London. He studied architecture at London South Bank University and the Royal College of Art, and continued his engagement with the African continent after graduating, eventually visiting 53 major African cities over the course of a decade.”
You can read the entire article here.
Photography by Peter Bennetts for Steel Profile.
We are aware of the allegations against Sir David Adjaye by three former employees. You can read the article that outlines their stories via this link to the Financial Times. We acknowledge that these allegations have not been tested legally, and we support the rights of women to speak out.
More resources and information can be found via these links:
Sexual harassment in the workplace, on the Fair Work Ombudsman’s website (for Australian companies)
A sample sexual harassment policy, on the International Labor Organisation’s website.
Information about sexual harassment and bullying in architecture, on Parlour’s website.
(edited on Weds 7 Feb 2024)
So what’s your unique architecture story?
You don’t have to be a Gold Medallist or a Past President of the Institute to share your architecture origin story. In fact, it’s a great way to explain your influences and inspiration to future clients, and to share insights about your philosophy and approach, and the values that guide your practice.
Essentially, it’s helpful to share the factors that led you into a career in architecture, as a blog post or article on your practice website (if you haven’t been featured in a magazine yet!).
If you’re not sure how to present your origin story, consider these following questions and write a blog post to respond to them:
What’s your first memory of architecture, and how old were you when you found out about it?
Did you know any architects when you were growing up, and if so how did they influence you?
Did you visit any significant architect-designed buildings and what impact they have on you?
Did you do work experience in an architecture studio, and how did that affirm your choice of career?
Did your early experiences in or around architecture inform your philosophy or approach to practice, and if so, how?
Huw Turner provided a lovely illustration of the power of the origin story to connect with future clients in an Instagram post (and seeing Huw’s post actually inspired this blog post).
Huw wrote:
“Inmos microprocessor plant, Newport, Gwent. Richard Rogers Partnership 1982. I went to school 500m from this building, and seeing it rise out of the rain-soaked Welsh mudflats instilled in me the idea that there might be more to architecture than the dull red brick buildings with poorly detailed arched windows that characterised much of construction in Wales in the 1980s. Photographs regrammed from @tim.abrahams on twitter.”
And yesterday, I spotted this tweet from Kerry London, who said that she first became interested in architecture because she went to Francis Greenway High School, and she was aware that he was buried nearby, in East Maitland.
So NSW’s first colonial architect continued to inspire others long after his own passing. I wonder how many other architects have been propelled into careers by significant architects from the past.
So, over to you: What’s your architecture origin story and how should you tell it? Let me know when you’ve published it on your website - I’d love to read it!
And if you’d like to also publish your origin story in SLD’s Origin Story gallery, please email your text with accompanying portrait and project photos to hello@soundslikedesign.com.au.