{"id":63,"date":"2015-10-01T15:29:23","date_gmt":"2015-10-01T15:29:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modelo.io\/blog\/index.php\/aaron-neubert-of-aaron-neubert-architects\/"},"modified":"2024-04-15T03:56:36","modified_gmt":"2024-04-15T03:56:36","slug":"aaron-neubert-of-aaron-neubert-architects","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"\/blog\/index.php\/aaron-neubert-of-aaron-neubert-architects\/","title":{"rendered":"Aaron Neubert of Aaron Neubert Architects"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Aaron Neubert of Aaron Neubert Architects<\/h1>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.modelo.io\/embedded\/xsulsXruwC?viewport=true&amp;autoplay=true&amp;c_at0=-509.76004342034884&amp;c_at1=1325.833138088722&amp;c_at2=-203.07685720823764&amp;c_theta=1.1676480563499132&amp;c_phi=0.17489317809220709&amp;c_dis=2230.128923576752\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"modelo-embed-wrapper\">\n<p style=\"font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; margin: 5px; color: #000000;\">Collaboration &amp; Presentation for Architects &#8211; <a style=\"font-weight: bold; color: #f75223;\" href=\"www.modelo.io\/?utm_source=embed&amp;utm_medium=footer&amp;utm_campaign=embed%20footer \" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Modelo<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Aaron Neubert of <a href=\"http:\/\/a-n-x.com\/\"><strong>Aaron Neubert Architects<\/strong><\/a> (ANX) in Los Angeles, California received a Master of Architecture degree from Columbia University\u2019s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation in 1997. He holds a Bachelor of Design degree, Magna Cum Laude, from the University of Florida, where he studied art and architecture. In 1994, he pursued studies at the Vicenza Institute of Architecture, Vicenza, Italy. Aaron\u2019s work has been recognized with Merit Awards from the American Institute of Architect\u2019s Los Angeles and San Fernando Valley chapters, as well as The Van Alen Prize in Public Architecture. His independent and collaborative projects have been featured in various publications including Architecture, Interior Design, The New York Times, LA Architect, and The Los Angeles Times, among several others. The work of ANX begins with a fundamental optimism with regard to the continued value and impact that design and architecture have on our cities and their inhabitants. Recently, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.modelo.io\/\"><strong>Modelo<\/strong><\/a> spent some time learning about Aaron\u2019s philosophy and unique approach to design.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.modelo.io\/?utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=custom_menu\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3341 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/modelo.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Subscribe-Button-300x57.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"57\" srcset=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Subscribe-Button-300x57.png 300w, \/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Subscribe-Button.png 500w, \/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Subscribe-Button-200x38.png 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>On becoming an architect<\/strong><br \/>\nMy father is an artist, a painter and sculptor, so I grew up with his work all over the house. Seeing him make things was important. His father and my uncle were both carpenters and builders. My maternal grandmother was the leasing agent for Mies van der Rohe\u2019s Lafayette Towers in Detroit. As a child, design, architecture, and art were always around and have had a big impact. Both of my brothers went into unrelated creative fields, however I believe that exposure was an influence for them as well. As an undergraduate at Florida, I studied design, sculpture and photography, ultimately graduating with a Bachelor of Design in Architecture. In addition, I received a Master of Architecture from Columbia University. I imagine a lot of people don\u2019t exactly know how they end up where they do, however I was committed to becoming an architect for a long time. For better or for worse, I didn\u2019t jump around between interests in different professions.<\/p>\n<p><strong>On the initial vision of the firm<\/strong><br \/>\nDuring my last semester at Columbia, Dagmar Richter from UCLA was our visiting studio professor. The assignment was a proposal for the parking lots surrounding Dodger Stadium, and the studio spent a week of immersion in Los Angeles. We toured works by Neutra, Schindler, Mike Rotondi, Lautner. We met with Ray Kappe. It was a whole range of people. When I saw those projects, I was really excited about the potential of architecture. After graduation, I worked for three years at various firms in New York, and was fortunate to be involved with a range of projects in and outside of the city. A lot of the work in NYC, for small offices, was renovating existing residential and commercial structures. While I really enjoyed these projects\u200a\u2014\u200aand we still do some of that today\u200a\u2014\u200aI thought about starting my practice and felt that maybe there was another way to go. I was really interested in having an office but teaching as well, so my wife and I moved to California, and I started teaching first and then slowly built a client base and developed that into a design practice. Though some of the buildings were modest, coming out to California gave me the opportunity right away to work on an interior and exterior, to deal with landscape issues, and environmental issues. That was really what brought me out here. To start the practice, it was more a youthful ambition to make things in the world that people have to react to and negotiate, rather than things that are hidden inside of buildings that no one sees unless they\u2019re photographed well. I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s egomaniacal or what (laughs), I\u2019m not sure, but that was the thinking that initiated my practice.<\/p>\n<p><strong>On ANX and its uniqueness<\/strong><br \/>\nWe are a small office that is run like a studio. It\u2019s sort of an exciting and messy process. The way things work and how projects are managed varies from case to case. The direction for each project is mostly in my head in a way, which works smoothly sometimes and is a little complicated at other times. I have a talented core team, however I\u2019m very involved with all aspects of the office. We value creative independence, even though most of our work is commissioned. ANX\u2019s main focus is to build: to design, and to realize our projects. Our success to date has come from our ability to organize a strong team, collaborate with our clients, and deliver a product with which they\u2019re very satisfied. Some of these relationships are beginning to further evolve, and we are moving towards a strategic, developmental, and equity partnership role. Our level of engagement in a project is affording opportunities to impact project agendas, hospitality service models, brand and graphic directions, as well as the standard architectural and interiors responsibilities. In addition, we have greater opportunity to market many of the components we design as stand-alone retail products.<\/p>\n<p><strong>On ANX\u2019s most important principles<\/strong><br \/>\nIn teaching\u200a\u2014\u200aand it carries over into the practice as well\u200a\u2014\u200aI am always encouraging my students to be inquisitive, to research a topic, to ask relevant questions and to have a personal position with regard to their pursuits. These topics obviously change over time as one\u2019s interests evolve. However, I believe it imperative to have a position about what you\u2019re working towards, to follow through with your idea, yet remain flexible so that it can be realized. We try to practice not backing down, being strong-willed but reasonable. We\u2019re often looking at sources outside of architecture, such as sculpture and film. When looking at film as an influence\u200a\u2014\u200awhich is funny having moved to LA\u200a\u2014\u200athe spatial, narrative and cinematic qualities in some ways have come full circle. We have a number of completed projects that have booking agents, have been featured in various commercials, and have auditioned for movies\u200a\u2014\u200aif a building can audition. They haven\u2019t been booked for films yet, so they\u2019re still B-list projects, but that could always change. Seeing projects on-screen and how they\u2019re represented has been interesting. There\u2019s another translation: we study cinema and then it has an influence on what we do, and then these projects end up being filmed themselves.<\/p>\n<div class=\"modelo-embed-wrapper\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.modelo.io\/embedded\/xsulsXruwC?viewport=true&amp;autoplay=true&amp;c_at0=-509.76004342034884&amp;c_at1=1325.833138088722&amp;c_at2=-203.07685720823764&amp;c_theta=1.1676480563499132&amp;c_phi=0.17489317809220709&amp;c_dis=2230.128923576752\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; margin: 5px; color: #000000;\">Powered by <a style=\"font-weight: bold; color: #f75223;\" href=\"www.modelo.io\/?utm_source=embed&amp;utm_medium=footer&amp;utm_campaign=embed%20footer \" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Modelo<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>On the Sycamore House<\/strong><br \/>\nWe have worked with two different owners of this house, over a period of years. The original owners, a husband and wife, had an area adjacent to the existing 1950\u2019s post and beam residence that they wanted us to design as a master suite. In the initial meeting, the wife said in response to the husband\u2019s desired location for the addition, \u201cthat\u2019s fine you can build here, but the tree has to stay.\u201d The tree was listing at around 30\u00b0, but we didn\u2019t have a lot of work at the time. So, we were committed to building the house around this tree and we set about trying to do that. Anecdotally, what I find ironic and probably the husband doesn\u2019t appreciate, the wife required the tree to stay but halfway through the construction, the couple split up and the wife left. So this poor guy is now stuck with a tree in his bedroom\u200a\u2014\u200athat he didn\u2019t want\u200a\u2014\u200aas a reminder of his ex-wife. He ultimately sold the house and we worked with the new owner to expand it, which became challenging as the tree had to now pass through two floors of the house. Compounding the structural isolation, there\u2019s the challenge of dealing with a living thing, which sways in the wind, gets wet, grows, blooms inside, and does all of these wonderful things. The arborist is happy with the tree\u2019s condition, and it is distinct in the home. Aside from that, there\u2019s a great view. The addition does a lot of sensitive things relative to the existing house without replication; it\u2019s a happy marriage between the original residence and the new.<\/p>\n<p><strong>On Waiting for Guggenheim<\/strong><br \/>\nThere were roughly 1,700 entries submitted to the Guggenheim Helsinki Competition. We came in 1,000th place, if there were such a thing. Waiting for Guggenheim was an exhibition and panel discussion at the USC School of Architecture, consisting of 8 faculty members\u2019 proposals that had been entered in the competition. It was an interesting opportunity for the school to see alternate solutions to the challenge of the proposed museum, as well as discuss the architectural competition format in general. For our project, the idea returns to the relationship between building, infrastructure, and landscape that we\u2019ve explored in previous works. I was also interested in a subversive idea of the public park, which is located above the site for the museum, penetrating the museum proper. You have maybe five minutes to come up with an idea for the competition, so my thought was \u201cwhat if Central Park grew down through the Guggenheim in Manhattan?\u201d That became the diagram for our proposal. In Helsinki, there\u2019s a public park above the proposed site of the Guggenheim that we allowed to drop directly through the atrium, or the oculus of our museum. That was the big move, but there were others such as choreographing the public space around the site and presenting the environmental phenomena of Helsinki, while supporting the internal curatorial programs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>On his dream project<\/strong><br \/>\nWe recently completed a writer\u2019s studio here in LA. It\u2019s 200 square feet and the clients were so involved and so positive, they really enjoy and love the project. I was over there the other day and one of the clients was showing me the studio as if I\u2019d never seen it before, he was really excited about it. It would be amazing to design Guggenheim Helsinki, even though the process seems pretty daunting. The dream project is one with a dream client that really cares about what we think and what we do. They\u2019re tough, but they listen and they\u2019re engaged with the process. We\u2019re currently working on a boutique hotel in downtown Los Angeles with very smart and thoughtful clients that are genuinely engaged in the process and hungry for a distinct design. Their project is taking us into uncharted waters with regard to design and delivery methods; this qualifies as a dream project for sure.<\/p>\n<p><strong>On the innovation in architecture<\/strong><br \/>\nThere are a lot of people doing interesting work for non-profits, whether its disaster relief or bringing hospitals to parts of the world that have poor resources and are developing their infrastructure. If it\u2019s a positive disruption through innovation, that\u2019s probably more interesting. We haven\u2019t yet been approached to do anything of that scale where our architecture can make that type of impact. However, we have in the last two years taken on a few projects that have the ability to make a significant social impact. These are project types we might not be considered for at this time in the practice, so they are significant opportunities for us to cut our teeth on some interesting work. These types of projects are also bringing design to locations and people we really haven\u2019t been exposed to for whatever reason, whether it\u2019s financial or cultural.<\/p>\n<p>We recently designed a museum and educational center for an animal-rights group in Kentucky. They approached us through an organization we\u2019re involved with and asked us to partner with them in developing their mission. Their expectations were low in the sense that they didn\u2019t anticipate the extent of our contribution; we were really trying to do something special for their cause. They were enthused by our vision and are working through funding now and securing a location. We also designed an American Legion Post on Lake Patterson in North Dakota\u200a\u2014\u200ausing local building typologies familiar to the region, however inflecting them in direct response to the lakefront site. And we\u2019ve just started working with a local group that\u2019s organizing to rebuild a recently demolished youth baseball stadium.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t think this is a new phenomenon, however architects getting involved with non-profit organizations holds greater potential for innovation and exposure for the profession. I have a lot of friends who are attorneys and pro bono in the law is huge with regards to the work they do in the community. How can architects make a difference in the greater community, rather than solely through traditionally commissioned works? That\u2019s an important direction and we\u2019re excited at the potential to get involved further.<\/p>\n<p><strong>On the future of architecture in 5\u201310 year<\/strong><br \/>\nArchitecture, at the scale we have been involved with, is so slow from a building technology perspective, although that is changing on our larger budget projects. If you look at the profession from a design education perspective, it\u2019s very fast. With all of the blogs, the images that we\u2019re inundated with daily, it\u2019s obviously exciting but it\u2019s hard to give value to things and to know what\u2019s good in some ways. I feel maybe there\u2019s a groundswell that\u2019s coming full circle\u200a\u2014\u200anot that I\u2019m encouraging a hypercritical or dogmatic position. There are alternative methods to read and judge the work, in addition to questions of sustainability, or social and financial perspectives, or about form only. These things are converging and a lot of people are talking about form relative to the performance of a building and the building system classes are becoming more integrated with the design classes. There\u2019s a desire to do everything, rather than only one or the other, a desire for expanding the integration of design and technical innovation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>On advice he would give himself before starting<\/strong><br \/>\nI don\u2019t know that I would bother because my younger self was pretty stubborn, so I don\u2019t know that he would listen to me. Maybe I would recommend developing a greater and earlier understanding of the business side of the profession; learn how to write an iron-clad contract. But the problem is, if you know these things when you\u2019re younger, you might make decisions that are different, based on alternate goals. Maybe it\u2019s more about what I\u2019ve learned; its complex to actually build and to convince your clients to pay for things that are being built. It\u2019s a complex, messy profession with really high highs and really low lows. You have to push through; for me it\u2019s been worth it.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.modelo.io\/?utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=custom_menu\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3341 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/modelo.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Subscribe-Button-300x57.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"57\" srcset=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Subscribe-Button-300x57.png 300w, \/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Subscribe-Button.png 500w, \/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Subscribe-Button-200x38.png 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aaron Neubert of Aaron Neubert Architects Collaboration &amp; Presentation for Architects &#8211; Modelo Aaron Neubert of Aaron Neubert Architects (ANX) in Los Angeles, California received a Master of Architecture degree from Columbia University\u2019s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation in 1997. He holds a Bachelor of Design degree, Magna Cum Laude, from the University &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"\/blog\/index.php\/aaron-neubert-of-aaron-neubert-architects\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Aaron Neubert of Aaron Neubert Architects&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2567,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/63"}],"collection":[{"href":"\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/63\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7765,"href":"\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/63\/revisions\/7765"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}