WITH 90+ CATEGORIES AND 300+ JURORS, THE ARCHITIZER A+AWARDS IS THE WORLD’S DEFINITIVE ARCHITECTURAL AWARDS PROGRAM. IN THE WEEKS LEADING UP TO THE EXTENDED DEADLINE, JANUARY 30, 2015, WE ARE PUBLISHING Q&AS WITH 2014 A+AWARD WINNERS. TO SEE A FULL LIST OF CATEGORIES AND LEARN MORE ABOUT THE A+AWARDS, VISIT AWARDS.ARCHITIZER.COM.
Handel Architects was the 2014 Popular Choice Winner in the Typology Memorials category with the National September 11 Memorial. The eight-acre design spans the new site of the World Trade Center, inviting visitors to reflect on the city’s past and future while sitting under white oak trees or walking around the 30-foot-deep reflecting pools.
Your name: Michael Arad
Firm name: Handel Architects LLC
Location: New York, New York
Education: B.A. Government Studies, Dartmouth College, M. Arch, College of Architecture, Georgia Tech
National September 11 Memorial
When did you decide that you wanted to be an architect?
I took a year off after graduating from college to be a ski bum in Colorado and decide between a career in law or architecture. Passion prevailed over reason.
What was your first architecture/design job?
A summer internship at Spector & Amisar Architects and Planners in Jerusalem in 1996. I got to draw my first real stair section in AutoCad.
Who is your design hero and/or what is your favorite building?
Louis Kahn, for his devotion to architecture and his ability to make the modern idiom of architecture feel monumental and timeless.
National September 11 Memorial
Among your fellow A+Award winners, what is/are your favorite(s)?
The Riverlands Avian Observatory. I really appreciated the process that Andrew Cobalt, Ken Tracy, and their students undertook, and the final product is wonderful, unique, and clearly derived from a particular process and set of circumstances. The project demonstrates a real commitment to both the specifics of the design brief, but also to a teaching and design methodology that I would like to see more people engaged in.
Riverlands Avian Observatory by Cobalt Office
Other than your computer (or phone), what is your most important tool?
Trace paper. I love the disposability of a sketch on trace, you don’t have to commit to it, you can draw anything without deliberation and discard ideas without hesitation. To me it’s essential to just draw and then edit. Create first, critique later, otherwise a blank page is terrifying.
Outside of architecture, where do you look for inspiration?
Nature. I love living in a city, but I have to spend time away from the city, too. I love the Catskill Mountains, but even here in the city I find ways to escape the built environment on my paddle board in the marshes off of Little Neck Bay.
National September 11 Memorial
Who would be your dream client, and why?
Somebody with a great sense of humor, tenacity, and flexibility, because we are going to spend a lot of time together.
What do you find exciting about architecture and design right now?
The heterogeneity that exists in the field. It could be greater, but I am grateful there is no single dogma that dominates the discourse.