SFIA Group

Practice Model

 

This a draft working paper based on a number of dialogs between Fred Stitt and Matt Taylor over the last year. It draws heavily, on the ideas presented and materials employed, in the Architectural Practice Course presented at SFIA in 1999 and 2000 which is also Matt Taylor’s Thesis for his SFIA Master’s Degree.

The basic intent of this paper is to outline an new practice of architecture and the allied arts with sufficient detail to facilitate the necessary start up organizational activities, recruit the starting Principals, and to immediately proceed with real project work.

 

Purpose and Mission:

The mission of the SFIA Group practice is to create and exemplify a new architecture practice method; build paradigm-extending, signature works expressing organic, green and sustainable economic and development principles; and, offer practical experience to SFIA students, as well as, the economic basis necessary for starting their own practices.

As part of this mission, the Group - in conjunction with the SFIA school - is to be a strong, articulate and recognized voice for architecture and the allied arts; to distribute, broadly, documentation about alternative design, build, use practices; and, to “graduate,” through it’s various projects, experienced owners, users and builders of architecture.

The purpose is to demonstrate practical alternatives to present practice methods thus opening a far greater range of building types and possibilities than the existing system can produce. The goal is to make possible a wider range of architecture, to a global population of users, than the present system-in-place provides.

 

Opportunity:

The wealth being generated in our global society is without precedent in known history. The development of science and technology, the new capabilities and materials that are now, and soon-to-be available, is without president. The extension of the human habitat to all regions of the globe and into space, the new requirements demanded by an emerging, global, knowledge-based economy, the abundance of new work and life styles - all add up to an unprecedented opportunity for architecture. Architecture will change more, in the next decade or two, than it has in the last few centuries.

Architecture, as ARCHITECTURE, today is not a significant aspect of public awareness. Occasionally, something impacts a local community here and there, or something is published by a pundit that creates a stir of sorts - sometimes positive, more often negative. The profession, itself, in the public sense, is as nascent as it has been in decades. There is no defining mission and concept of architecture that sets the general direction of working architects. The schools make a show of environmental and integrated design but forget to teach anyone how to actually build things. They also studiously avoid promoting any kind of a social agenda or value for architecture. These conditions are a great opportunity for a new and comprehensive approach to a design, build, use process that works.

Besides work and life style changes, the human species now faces unprecedented emotional, intellectual and physical augmentation possibilities. These, also, will have a great impact on what will be considered an adequate and appropriate scope of architecture. At the same time, we still have a global population that is still living to two radically different worlds of opportunity. Architecture has to help bridge this gap and facilitate a widely-available, natural, freely-chosen, individually-designed set of options. The in-place matrix of architectural types, building, manufacturing methods and practice methods does not even approach the variety equation required to do this. Building a design method and delivery system for each of these radically different situations is a challenge - and a great opportunity for those who will solve it.

In the next period - be it 20 years or a 100 - planet Earth will be “completed” as a human artifact. There is no stopping this. What is open to choice is a fair measure of the how, what and when this takes place. There is no method or system in place to educate, guide and augment this process. It is a vacuum to be filled by accident and default or by design intent and systematic response. Another opportunity for the SFIA school and Group practice.

There are many new spaces to be defined and claimed. There are “old” issues to be infused with new energy and vigor. There is a World to be built.

 

Starting Principals:

The first principle is that this is a principle-driven organization. It’s principles are not compromised or abandoned when “practical” in order to gain a position, save face or make an extra buck. The WORD of the organization is sacred and bankable.

Because it is an Enterprise of innovation, the time is taken to engineer and estimate carefully. BOLDNESS and craft. The effort put into a project is not limited by the revenue for it. It is what it has to be to be done well. We think carefully - and fully - design well and build fast.

PEER review of all work before it “ships” is always performed. Does the work exemplify our principles and goals? Is it well engineered? Are the risks understood and communicated to all? Are the costs understand and honestly communicated? Is the design - as ART - the best it can be?

It is a CASH organization. No commitments are made that are not already covered by cash-in-hand. Receivables do not count until collected. As an agressive innovator of architecture, practice methods, building means and educational processes, the financial position of the Group has to be the most conservative possible. At the same time, the focus will be - not on income - but on long term equity build through investing in the Enterprise’s projects.

The SFIA Group is inclusive and non-combative AND stands for a clear set of architectural values. The Group is formed to make change. It is not just a vehicle for the personal practice of architecture of it’s members. The Group requires this same intentionally of all it’s ValueWeb members. If you are not going to do THIS go someplace else. There are many wonderful things to do in life and architecture that fall outside the scope of the SFIA Group intent.

Graduating and promoting the career of the SFIA students is a dominate function of the SFIA Group. The TRANSITION from student to practicing architect is a critical phase and not facilitated well by our in-place processes. On a global basis, more architecture will be built in the next few decades than in the history of Humankind. Creating the capability to do it well is central to any possible success. This is not just an abstract knowledge thing. Education - “to lead out” - to be effective, requires learning through PRACTICE.

 

Rules of Engagement:

This will be a rule-based - rules based on principles - business. This means clear rules of architecture, explicit rules governing relationships and new rules of practice that make up the environment of this enterprise. This Enterprise is a deliberate alternative to the exploitative, passive-aggressive, economically self-defeating, spirit-killing architectural practices that exist today.

This will require invention and the breaking of many habits. To make the space to do this, the SFIA Group Practice will exclude everything it is NOT and carefully reinvent what it wants to be.

The first rule is that everyone - investors, Principals, clients and students that become part of this Practice - agrees to this primary goal and demonstrates the willingness to learn how to achieve it. This is a ValueWeb enterprise from the beginning.

Relationships between ValueWeb members will be carefully built and governed by fairness, the willingness to redo an agreement, total accountability, respect and personal integrity. There will be no compelling drive to continue bad relationships in the name of making money or getting a project finished. Doing a project MEANS doing it well and with respect for the experience of EVERY member of the team including the most remote subcontractor’s worker. It is done right - or it is not done.

 

Economics:

The primary economic goal of the SFIA Group Practice is to build a solid base necessary for sustaining a long term, creative, global, full-service practice of real architecture.

Economics will be an integral aspect of the design process of the Group - AND - money (UpSideDown Economics) will never become the determining factor in the selection of work and clients nor the criteria by which design or organizational decisions are made.

A project will not be undertaken by the Group if the financial means to complete the project does not exist independently of the cash flow from the project. Specific project cash flow is to never become a a factor in the selection nor the creation of the work. A portfolio of projects will produce profitability over time. Equity will create a growing annuity base.

It is assumed that participants in the SFIA Group Practice will maintain independent work (and revenues) and bring in such work to the Group that fits the Group’s criteria and the individual members of the practice.

While it is goal of the Group to produce a significant body of work, and to be economically successful in doing so, financial return is seen, in this enterprise, as the consequence of success not the purpose of the enterprise.

5% of all financial distribution from the SFIA Group Practice to investors, Principals and employees will go to the nonprofit education and research wings of SFIA.

To further the goal of building a long term Practice capability, the financial emphasis of the Group will be on accomplishing an equity position not on fee Revenues alone. This will be done by seeking participation in client projects, building to own and employ and by investing fee Revenues. In all possible ways, cash flow will be turned into investments. The objective is to pay salaries and make profit distribution from equity yields not from Revenues.

The SFIA Group Practice is to operate as a CASH business.

 

Projects:

Candidate Projects (from Matt Taylor) offered for inclusion in the SFIA Group Practice are: Bay Area Studio for Matt Taylor; Christopher Allen Building; projects for Kennedy Space Center; Projects with HP OIP.

As these projects are ongoing, the specific fee sharing will have to be arranged.

Projects accepted by the Group have to meet the following criteria:

1) The client-end user(s) have to be serious and aware of the difference between a building and a work of architecture.

2) The financial and ecological basis of the project has to be sound and non-exploitative.

3) The project has to be exploring new ground - it cannot be just a good solid piece of architecture, but one that is pushing one or more technical, use, construction means, practice, esthetic thresholds.

4) The project must be able to benefit from the particular capabilities of the Group and it’s collaborative approaches.

5) The project must have an “organic” and “green” basis.

6) The project must explicitly exemplify the SFIA School of architecture and contribute to a developing body of work that stands for a clearly articulated set of principles and, it must be publically available to aggessively promote these principles.

7) The project must provide direct experience and financial opportunity for SFIA students and the ongoing R&D activities of the school.

8) In other words, the project must have all the attributes necessary to materially advance the cause of architecture as advocated by SFIA.

 

The ongoing development of SFIA school and office environments offers other candidate projects.

Each Principal of the Group will bring in such work as meets the criteria and their own independent requirements. In time, the Group will develop a practice based on it’s own executed work.

 

Student Participation:

A combination of apprenticeship, employment and junior associate levels of participation will be provided students by the Practice. The SFIA Group will actively work to provide young architects with “first opportunity” projects.

An Annual “Case Study” project (in conjunction with SFIA School and Research) will be executed as a public demonstration project and a practical design build experience for students. The Case Study projects will be design, build, use exercises practicing the full cycle of environment development and use.

Ties with other architectural schools will be promoted to create a rich “ecology” of ideas, practical experimentation and opportunities to participate in real projects of a high variety of building types.

 

Manifesto:

There is not a sufficiently strong VOICE for Organic and Green architecture. Existing practice models do not work - they do not create the necessary critical mass, nor intense social environment, nor economic base required for the production of ARCHITECTURE on a significant scale.

The money-centered practices win because the have the means to get the work. They set the agenda. Anything else is perceived to be a socially and financially risky alternative. Real architecture is preempted before it is even in the game. Few good architects have enough practice mass to be considered for large works. Large works are necessary to the creation of a “civic” environment and necessary to the creation of a complete “school” of architectural theory and practice.

The resulting work is not human.

It will take a new kind of practice to create a new architecture beyond the scale of boutique practices held together at great personal investment on the part of a few dedicated architects and clients. The practice model (and realities) determine design excellence far more than raw talent does.

It is essential that the School promote an example of one successful practice mode. Not to do so is to encourage students to develop dreams that cannot be met in the real world.

On the other side of the equation, there is a considerable number of fine architects practicing architecture in new ways. As a GROUP, they can augment each others work, create a needed peer review process, create a financial base that is capable of taking on larger works and become a force in the architectural community instead of being a scattered presence on the fringe.

Organic and green alternatives are made up of fragmented practices that spend too much time arguing over who is best instead of providing a REAL, practical set of options to a world sorely in need of them. It is not a goal to integrate the totality of these practices - this is not possible nor desirable. It is the goal to bring together a practice made up of mature researchers, teachers, planners, designers, project managers, builders and developers who will dedicate a significant portion of their time, talent and resources to changing what architecture is and how it is made. If you want to build Cathedrals, you have to have Cathedral Builders. And, they had better be organized.

If architecture, as we believe it to be, cannot be brought to scale in today’s social, economic environment it is almost impossible to imagine the conditions that will allow it. The organizations producing the deplorable work, so common today, are organized - the individuals and groups offering another approach are not. Guess who “wins.

FLlw, Loyd Wright, Greene and Greene, Lautner, Maybeck, Goff, Schinler, Dow, Prince, Fay Jones and Dyson - add your own to the list, there are many - have all made substantial individual, isolated contributions. The average lifetime-of-work seems to add up to around 300 to 400 executed works - mostly, small projects. Take a hard look at what has been built in the US over the last 50 years. Consider that this process is now being extended globally. What has been the consequence of this body of work?

In practical terms, nil.

Think of the next 25 years...

The purpose of a system is it’s output... If you want a different output, change the system that produces what you do not like. Build a system that will produce what you want.

ARCHITECTURE, like it or not, is a social enterprise. The supply chain to build even a single modest work is extensive. The social structures in place that either helps or limits the process are massive and slow to change. Scale of operation is critical if systemic change is desired.

 

Client Participation:

The client is a key member of the design team and ValueWeb. Great architecture requires great clients, not only to built it, but to use it well - and to keep it. Clients have to be collaborators - not occasional patrons.

There is a positive feedback loop, at present, between the profession and it’s clients. The typical client is not well schooled in how to acquire architecture, the architect does not educate, the builder is the half-cooked meat in the middle of the sandwich. These interests are not aligned. The relationship is more often than not passive-aggressive, time-consuming and leads to disappointing results.

It is these relationships, more than anything else, that have to be changed. This means, in practice, new contracts, new working documents, a new a system of payments and compensation. The client, as a full member of the team, changes the entire power equation that now exists.

Another issue for architecture is that the client is not always the end-user nor adequately represents their interests. In addition, there are genuine “commonwealth” issues related to the vast majority of building projects. How are the voices incorporated into the process? Clearly, in the vast number of projects, they are not except through the ineffective and too-limiting process of codes.

“It takes a ValueWeb...”

 

ValueWeb Architecture:

The architecture of the SFIA Group practice will be a ValueWeb. A ValueWeb of investors, producers and customers with the SFIA Group functioning as core Systems Integrator of the Enterprise. The ValueWeb architecture is made up of three “clam shells” in each of the three sectors (investor, producer and customer). These shells indicate levels of intimacy. The first shell is composed of the CORE investors, producers and customers of the Enterprise. These have an ongoing and deep commitment to it - and to each other. The second shell constitutes now and again members of the ValueWeb - frequent users who recognize the Brand and have some measure of attachment and loyalty to it. The last shell indicates transactional or social relationships and end-users where there is no direct contact.

The System Integrator (management) and the first shell, is the SFIA Group as described in this document. Some aspects of how this section of the web functions is described in the “Swimming Pool Story.”

The second shell includes an number of network member architectural practices of like mind, as well as, customers and investors. These Producers can be employed to fill out the capabilities of the Group, or, may employ the Group to augment their practices.

 

SFIA Group Structure:

An LLC or LLP structure will be used. Whatever, a small core group will manage the Enterprise and steward it’s ValueWeb structure. This task is to, primarily, keep the integrity of the Enterprise - the “Commissioner of Baseball” role.

Each shell of the ValueWeb will be characterized by rules-of-engagement that govern the interactions between members. These will be design, monitored and modified with the goal in mind of creating the ethical, moral, design and business environment conducive to the creation of great architecture.

Outside of these few well defined rules, great freedom will be enjoyed by all.

 

Pre-Incorporation Agreement:

The Pre-Incorporation Agreement will document, among the founding Principals, the basic purpose, structure and rules-of-engagement of the Enterprise.

This document will act as the “constitution” of the Enterprise as it is formed, financed and brought into existence.

 

Media and Publication:

One goal of the SFIA Group Practice is to draw more attention to the ideals of organic and green architecture. Another is to bring resources to the School. Another is to BUILD examples of what we are talking about. All of these require a strong public PRESENCE.

Web site, a subscription magazine, active publication (articles, books, etc.) and public speaking are all necessary to creating position in the market place. At the moment, in terms of general public awareness, there is not much that is out there filling the space - architecture is, largely, a nonevent.

This constitutes a great opportunity for the School and the Practice. Share of MIND-space is what has to be accomplished.

 

Action Steps:

The start up action steps outline below are all to be accomplished in 2000 with the excepting the last two which should be completed by the end of the first quarter 2001:

Item
Date
Done
Notes
Pre-Incorporation Papers
10/2000
 
Between Fred Stitt and Matt Taylor establishing the basic structure, purpose and rules of the organization.
Incorporation
11/2000
 
Formal registration of the enterprise as a LLC or LLP.

Stock Distribution and Board Formation
11/2000
 


Establishment of Stockholders (or Partners) and governance boards (Profit and non profit).

Press Releases

 

10/2000

11/2000

02/2001

03/2001

 
A series of Releases as milestones are met and Principals join the enterprise. Also noting progress of Projects.
Starting Principals, Students and Clients Recruited
12/2000
 
Meeting at SFIA with selected Principles and Students. This is the practical start of the Practice. Introduction of starting projects and Clients.
SEAL created and made Available
10/2000
 
The Practice Seal - and it’s rules-of-use is available to Principals and Affiliates.
Office Established
10/2000
 
Space at SFIA, Palo Alto KnOwhere/Hilton Head KnOwhere Stores is operational.
Business Plan
02/2001
 
Complete Plan with Financials
.
Capitalization
03/2001
 
Capital raised as determined by the Business Plan.

These steps cover the basic organizational process necessary to get the Practice started. There is a great deal to think about beyond these fundamentals. It may be a useful to do a DesignShop in the February 2001 time frame with the SFIA ValueWeb to create a boost for the enterprise. This would time well with the Business Plan and Capitalization phases of the start up.

 

SFIA Implications:

The SFIA Group Practice is conceived to work in close conjunction with the SFIA school of architecture. There are several necessary actions that will support the Group and the School and coordinate their interlated synergies:

1) Establishment of a nonprofit organization for the School and an Research and Development arm.

2) Establishment of a systematic nonprofit funding process for the School and R&D functions.

3) Establishment of an active “outreach” program for SFIA: speaking, publishing, greatly expanded web site, magazine, Case Study projects, studies related to public architectural issues - SFIA must become a global VOICE in the ongoing evolution of architectural ideas.

4) Development of SFIA facilities: Howard Street, the Barge and @KnOwhere. House the San Francisco Master Plan Project in collaboration with iterations, MG Taylor and KnOwhere.

5) Continue development of Revenue generating skills-based courses and offer them in Palo Alto and other locations as/when possible. Develop courses aimed at educating business and financial institutions, individuals and the public-at-large to the critical issues related to architecture and how one goes about making it.

6) Develop high bandwidth virtual capability: web access, multimedia, Remote Collaboration and Presence.

7) Development of materials, study plans and aids for “correspondence” courses both one-to-one and as the “organic” voice in conventional architectural schools and offices.

8) Development of an active network/ValueWeb among the students and graduates that promotes active ongoing participation in the school and support of it’s goals and activities.

9) Establish a premium AWARDS program that recognizes outstanding architectural achievement in the organic, green and economically sensible realms.

 

SFIA is a valuable resource. It is a miracle to exist at all. It is time for SFIA to become a strong force in the affairs of ARCHITECTURE. It is time for SFIA to develop the economic resources necessary to accomplish it’s mission on a greatly expanded scale.

GOAL: In 5 years SFIA is a MAJOR force in shaping the future of ARCHITECTURE - on a global basis - and, is recognized as such. There will be the San Francisco SCHOOL of architecture a 100 years after the Chicago School.

And, this is accomplished without corruption what SFIA stands for.

 

SFIA Group Brand:

What will this BRAND stand for? TOTAL integrity of design and practice methods. Access, fairness and equality of return in business practices. New and creative, innovative designs and building methods. Technological excellence. No hype. Systems thinking. The LONG view. Economic and ecological balance - and sustain-ability. Architecture that facilitates life. Affordable architecture. Honesty in reporting results and crediting others. Refusal to engage in destructive “competitive” practices. Conducting an end-to-end process that is fun. Education, standard setting, objective dialog. A safe environment to experiment and grow. Strict accountability of everyone to everyone. This place never lies, never cheats, always replaces it’s divits. EXCELLENCE in results, EXCELLENCE in how the results are achieved. EXCELLENCE in how the failures are fixed and the successes build on one another to create a SUM greater than the parts.

“If you want to EXPERIENCE architecture... THINK SFIA”

The SFIA SEAL will be one of it’s greatest assets. Awarding the seal will be done with great care in intentionally. It says “THIS is an example of what we stand for.” It is the MARK of distinction - or achievement. The BRAND of a new way.

 

Matt Taylor
Palo Alto
September 2, 2000

SolutionBox voice of this document:
INSIGHT • POLICY • PROGRAM


posted: September 2, 2000

revised:
• 20001001.215235.mt •

(note: this document is about 80% finished)

Copyright© Matt Taylor 2000
Aspects of the work shown and described are patent Pending by iterations

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