Lynn Gaffney Architect, New York, NY
By Jeffrey Butcher, fourth-year student
Units: What stands out as particularly memorable from your years in architecture school at Penn State?
Lynn Gaffney: A closeness between students and between faculty and students that is difficult to find elsewhere … Challenges from professors and fellow students – there was a healthy competitiveness within our class … And all-nighters and giddiness at 4:00 a.m.
Units: How do you think the urban experience in Rome affects Penn State architecture students?
LG: An urban experience is important to an undergraduate architecture student, whether it be in Florence, Rome, Manhattan, or any other city where the density, infrastructure, layers, and textures resonate.
Units: Studying in a major city seemed to have a lot of influence on you. Did the experience lead to your decision to attend the master’s program at Columbia?
LG: Yes, one of the reasons Columbia was my first choice was because I wanted to live in Manhattan, where I still live. In addition, Bernard Tschumi had at that time (in 1991) been dean of Columbia for a few years and he was bringing a new energy to the school. It seemed to be the grad program that everyone was talking about as critical.
Units: What kinds of firms did you work for before opening your own firm?
LG: I worked for two small firms between 1993 and 1997. They were good offices for experience but not well known or published. In both situations I was able to advance to project architect fairly quickly. I worked hard and soaked in vast amounts of information pertaining to the business of being an architect as well as design and detailing. I had the mindset from early on that I would have my own firm because I grew up in a family with their own business (not architectural). I knew immediately that I needed more freedom in design, expression, and lifestyle than I would get working for another firm.
Units: How would you describe your practice and the work you do?
LG: Lynn Gaffney Architect (LGA) is a group of individuals who lead the collaborative efforts of the client, consultant, contractor, and craftsperson through all phases of the design and construction process. We pursue a range of work diverse in scale, program, spatial qualities, and aesthetic styles, all while remaining true to the firm’s creative ideals.
Units: On your Web site there is a section for competitions and un-built work. Do competitions serve as a way in which your firm can focus primarily on creative ideals?
LG: Competitions are important because they serve as a creative outlet and relief from some more restrictive work in the office. We try to do at least two competitions a year; financially it is hard to do more than that.
Units: The Perth Amboy high school competition was a national contest, which your firm entered. It was geared towards re-examining the way high schools function today and how they can be improved. Why do you think this kind of study is important?
LG: It is imperative for architects to question the status quo, research alternatives, and communicate in a persuasive way both graphically and verbally… just like in school.
Units: What are some of the other projects you’re working on?
LG: A commercial building on East 20th Street, which we are completely gutting except the front façade. We’re also adding new floors above the existing roof. It is mainly a core and shell project with some interior work. It has many coordination issues and landmarks issues.
A new home in upstate New York, that is set in a community of Victorian houses. The owners are repeat clients, whom we’ve designed a loft for in Manhattan – they love the open loft lifestyle. Our challenge is to transform the Victorian exterior to the open loft interior by interpreting the skin in a different way and exploring domestic issues of both realms.
We study ways the exterior/interior relationship can be reinterpreted … by the analysis of program requirements, selection of either contrasting or analogous materials, construction of the proportions and formal aspects of the boundary itself … One program type we’ve worked with numerous times is the apartment building lobby. The lobby stretches this boundary of exterior and interior, of public and private. The lobby exists as the extension of the street/sidewalk, where urban chaos is quieted but intimate freedom is still anticipated.
Units: Your online portfolio helped me to get a grasp of the kind of work your firm is doing. How has the Internet influenced the way you work in your office?
LG: We use the Internet for research and in that regard it is imperative. For marketing, it helps when I meet a potential client and can easily refer him or her to our Web site. As a principal of a small firm, I am constantly networking and meeting people, so this is a great tool. In general, though, people don’t use search engines to find their architect.
Units: Has the process of computer-generated model-making changed what you do?
LG: In the office we use 3D Auto-Cad, 3D Viz and Photoshop. As the principal, I don’t do much of the production work myself, although I contribute constructive comments and assessment throughout the process. Our 3-D images are used for client communication, competitions, and marketing. Some of our clients do not see the value and therefore cut the rendered images from their budget. We then rely on hand-sketched perspectives and quick 3-D auto-cad views.
Units: You note that your practice is a woman-owned business enterprise and you have served on a panel for Women in Architecture. Have you found any particular challenges or opportunities working as a woman architect?
LG: Not really – it’s still a very male dominated field (the construction industry as a whole), so a woman must be comfortable with that. Currently there are many female role models within architecture, including Leslie Gill Architect, Toshika Mori Architect, Billie Tsien of Todd Williams Billie Tsien, Zaha Hadid Architect, Jane Weinzapfel and Andrea Leers of Leers Weinzapfel Associates , Gisue Hariri and Mojgan Hariri of Hariri and Hariri Architecture, Joan Ockman (architectural critic and theorist), and Beatriz Colomina (architectural critic and theorist).
Units: Can you talk more about the male/female differences in the field because this topic often comes up?
LG: I don’t think the male/female differences need to be stressed —rather they should be downplayed. There is obviously a female perspective on a project versus a male perspective, but that can be said about any characteristic or background of a person. Architecture is a very personal profession, from the way we design to the way we deal with people.
Units: What would you consider to be your greatest accomplishment/project?
LG: My first project – an addition to my parents’ house. It’s a small project but a very personal one that I detailed intimately.
Units: What is the project you would most like to design?
LG: A community center in an urban setting – it is an essential program and a truly appreciated built work.
Units: You’ve taught architecture students in a university setting and sat in on reviews at Penn State. Can you comment on whether a Penn State education prepares the students for work in an office?
LG: Architecture schools in general don’t teach you enough about the practice of architecture, but I do not believe they should have that sole responsibility. As in other professions, summer intern positions, elective classes (business, public speaking, CAD, graphic design, etc.) and frank conversations with any talkative architect should give you enough information by the time you finish school. It is the student’s responsibility to guide his/her undergraduate and graduate years so that he/she doesn’t walk into an interview in a state of naïve oblivion.
Units: Do you have any sense of how architecture education and the profession have changed since you graduated?
LG: Computers – using them as design tools, using them as research tools, using them as presentation skills. Students now take this for granted, but this manner of working wasn’t as attainable when I was in school.
Units: Any advice for Penn State students?
LG: LGA’s mantra is research, design, resolution, and implementation – each one of these elements is essential for any project. Also, create opportunities to visit construction sites and manufacturers’ factories –– understanding how things are made is vital to understanding our profession.