Guy Peterson on Intimacy, Spatial Sensations, and Unexpected Surprises

Architizer continues to explore how architects experience the emotional realm during the process of creation, presenting the points of view of some of the profession’s most actualized practitioners. Today, Saxon Henry, author of Four Florida Moderns, interviews Guy Peterson, FAIA — Founder and Principal of Guy Peterson | Office for Architecture — whose forthcoming book Naked: The Architecture of Guy Peterson is out later this month.

I have emotional responses when I experience architecture and I’m curious to know if you are aware of having emotional responses when creating it.

Absolutely. The initial feelings can run from the internal challenges and “gut-wrenching” emotions of the exploration to the reward and satisfaction of conceptualizing a new building. Maybe “gut-wrenching” can be said more eloquently but the process of putting your heart and soul into the exploration is very emotive, and the resolution that comes with it is very gratifying, so each step of the way the experience is powerful.

Durbin Residence

Do you have a normal emotional starting point once you know you are going to take on a project?

I don’t know about a normal emotional starting point but I do know that I never immediately begin the concrete aspects of designing a new commission until it has had a chance to incubate for some time — some of this processing is conscious and some of it is unconscious. I never want to jump to any early conclusions so I sift through ideas and approaches internally before I ever put a pencil to paper.

Theisen Residence

Do you know when you’ve “got it,” meaning you know emotionally when you have the best design for a building you can possibly create at any given time?

That is a good question. Once I am ready to present my design, I know that I have reached a resolution I am pretty comfortable with. There is a point in time when the idea is so clear and conceptually strong that the design itself starts to solve its remaining challenges without the same amount of effort it takes to develop the principle idea or concept of the project. I don’t believe in presenting multiple solutions since the effort I put forth is dedicated to solving every program the right way the first time from the start.

Ohana Residence

Do you feel that as an architect matures, different emotions come into play or do you feel temperament is a set piece of the personality?

I think patience comes with maturing, as well as a confidence in decision-making. The powerful emotions that come with creating architecture do not wane with maturity; in fact, I still feel the same excitement and satisfaction at this point in my life that I felt when I was much younger. I think this is because I remain very passionate about architecture and have retained the feeling of privilege to be able to practice it.

Ferguson Alley House

Do you do active charrettes in your studios with your teams and, if so, how does emotionality come into play during that process?

As a small office, I often bring my associates into a project after I have had the time to digest the program, site and other issues related to the design. We may talk collectively about the approach but I generally establish the initial idea and then look to the office to take the project, critique it and make it better. They always do.

Motto Residence

Do you experience different emotions when you are walking through your built projects that surprise you in any way and can you give me an example?

Even though as architects we conceptualize the spaces before a project is constructed, there are undoubtedly unexpected surprises or opportunities that were not initially conceived of or envisioned. These are not generally spatial sensations but more, perhaps, about an unexpected surprise or experience that arises when the building is constructed. An example might be an approach to a project that — although consciously designed with certain expectations, particularly ones relating to the site — may achieve a different sense of arrival than was expected. Another would be light reflecting from a surface in an unexpected way, one that is welcomed. Both are occurrences we call “happy accidents!”

Spencer Residence

Do you remember from architecture school if the emotionality of what you were reading and/or studying took you to a new plane of thinking or feeling in any way?

The emotions I felt during architecture school are not at all the emotions I feel practicing today nor the ones I’ve experienced throughout my career. In school I was uncontaminated, and not entirely confident about what I was capable of or even certain I would be adept at being a successful and creative problem-solver. During my education, it was a combination of fear and drive that propelled me; later, especially in graduate school under the mentorship of Harry Merritt, I began to see that perhaps I had what it takes to be an architect, and with that confidence my world changed.

Bird Key Residence

Do you find any one type of project more emotionally challenging than any other?

I primarily focus on residential architecture because it is emotional, and not just for me, but for my team and for our clients as well. A client seeking the creation of a residence is the most intimate end user there is, and a house means such a great deal to each of them that it has to mean this much or more to me. The level of investment is extreme given that I must make it theirs and make it special. Designing someone’s home is a privilege, and I’m aware of this very personal and rewarding opportunity each time I take on a new project.