Working out of the Box: Audra DiSimone

From Archinect:

Working out of the Box is a series of features presenting architects who have applied their architecture backgrounds to alternative career paths. 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. Archinect: Where did you study architecture? Audra DiSimone: Academically, I started at the University of Washington with Frank Ching as my first professor. That was a very classical architectural education rooted in fundamental tenets, with a modernist bent. I went to the other end of the dial in graduate school, beginning at SCI-Arcs program in Vico Morcote, Switzerland. Amazing. Lebbeus Woods was there at the time, and we explored some left-field material; an important counterpoint to the basics, but equally rigorous. The experience broadened my mind and way of thinking about not only the built landscape; but how to see, question, postulate. It was a good segue to Columbia University (Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation), where I obtained my Master of Architecture. Tschumi was Dean at the time; the faculty was incredible; the caliber of students was unrivaled. I felt utterly fortunate. Its impossible to summarize the richness of that education. My biggest take-away has been the ability to think critically. Thats broad; but I mean it in a very profound and very valid sense. I apply it daily. Architecture is a life-long educational pursuit. It doesnt begin and end in academia. ↑ Click image to enlarge LE MERIDIEN HOTELS | PARIS Design Direction for pilot renovation of relaunched hotel brand (with Starwood Hotels and Resorts). (Click on this and all of the images to get a detailed view) ↑ Click image to enlarge LE MERIDIEN HOTELS | PARIS Design Direction for pilot renovation of relaunched hotel brand (with Starwood Hotels and Resorts). At what point in your life did you decide to pursue architecture? Well, thats tough to say. My Father was an Architect, practicing out of our home. My Mother was a painter and loomed textiles. I grew up in a modernist house, full of the same modernist furniture that inhabits my home today. At age 3, Noguchi and Mies were part of my vocabulary. It was a pretty unobstructed path into pursuing architecture as a career; I was interning in the profession before I could touch it academically. ↑ Click image to enlarge LE MERIDIEN HOTELS | COLLATERAL Design Direction for pilot renovation of relaunched hotel brand (with Starwood Hotels and Resorts). ↑ Click image to enlarge LE MERIDIEN HOTELS | BATH AMENITIES Design Direction for amenity packaging and its presentation (with Starwood Hotels and Resorts, in partnership with Cinq Mondes). ↑ Click image to enlarge LE MERIDIEN HOTELS | GLASSWARE Design Direction for signature coffee crockery and shotglasses (with Starwood Hotels and Resorts, in partnership with Cinq Mondes). When did you decide to stop pursuing architecture? Why? Because at some point, I realized that I had never stopped to question it. I felt unsatiated, unconvinced that the hyper-focused minutia that I concerned myself with daily mattered to anyone but me. Its an incredibly venerable and rewarding profession; I needed to explore other avenues where I could apply my creative mind, while not feeling weighted by the production of architecture. Theres a little Richard Florida speak in this: were no longer a society of production; weve shifted to intellectual output. ↑ Click image to enlarge LE MERIDIEN HOTELS | LONDON Design Direction for pilot renovation of relaunched hotel brand (with Starwood Hotels and Resorts). ↑ Click image to enlarge LE MERIDIEN HOTELS | LONDON Design Direction for pilot renovation of relaunched hotel brand (with Starwood Hotels and Resorts). Describe your current profession. Presently, I'm Director of Design with Starwood Hotels and Resorts for Le Meridien brand. Le Meridien was acquired by Starwood in late 2005; in the past few years, I've been involved with the repositioning and re-launch of the brand. As a Design Director, I guide development of brand initiatives (everything from concepts to product) and oversee implementation of the initiatives in our hotels. The repositioning process began as an intense R&D exercise, looking at anything and everything in the evolving hospitality arena. Development and refinement of our distilled positioning has been an ongoing exercise in experience engineering -- constantly driving a visual language to build the brand. ↑ Click image to enlarge 29TH STREET PENTHOUSE Design Development, Construction Documents & Construction Administration for a private penthouse residence in New York, New York (with Rogers Marvel Architects). ↑ Click image to enlarge 29TH STREET PENTHOUSE Design Development, Construction Documents & Construction Administration for a private penthouse residence in New York, New York (with Rogers Marvel Architects). What skills did you gain from architecture school, or working in the architecture industry, that have contributed to your success in your current career? Again, its that critical thinking piece. Develop a brand thats a colossal challenge; particularly given the current hospitality climate. The bar is high. Differentiation is key, and that involves everything that the guest (or client) sees, touches, experiences. Its the visual environment, its the sound landscape, its the olfactory impression. Its also the positioning in the market, the target population, the communication scheme. We think about and play with all of it. Most lay people think of Architects and our education in the technical sense. Thats one aspect of a highly-complex, very nimble occupation. Were thinkers, creators, developers, visionaries, engineers, builders, ideators, strategists, educators ↑ Click image to enlarge PRATT INSTITUTE SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE Design Development, Construction Documents & Construction Administration for a School of Architecture in Brooklyn, New York (with Rogers Marvel Architects, Steven Holl Architects). Do you have an interest in returning to architecture? Im not practicing in the conventional sense; but I deal with aspects of the profession every day. When I started down the path of what I do now; I didnt miss drawing waterproofing details. There is joy in practicing architecture in that way. For now, I enjoy my alternate choice, and thats pretty important for any of us. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.