Spanish Style Gate

Garcia Architects was re-hired to design this entry gate for a house we designed a few years prior.

How To Enliven an Empty High Rise Lobby

The owner of this high rise in downtown L.A. retained us to enliven their vast empty lobby.  We proposed adding large hanging fabric sculptures which can be seen from the exterior and low floating ceiling elements which added interest from the street while providing a human scale and addressing acoustical concerns.  Adding a bank within the space to bring in customers as well as income was a studied option.

Instant Facelift of an Apartment Building with Bright Colors or a Fun Graphic

We were the architect for this affordable housing apartment building a few years back.  The owner recently came back to us asking if we can spruce it up as they are undergoing a condo conversion.

Before:

Here were the options we proposed:

Many Examples of My Style on Pinterest

For an understanding of my design style, see my Pinterest Home Page:

http://www.pinterest.com/egarcia0552/

A low-budget update of a bank exterior

Our proposed design included sandblasting the brick, removing the existing trellis and replacing it with a stainless steel awning and address numbers, replacing the wood, widening the stairs, replacing the glass storefront, and lowering the planter.

Before:

After:

What Makes a Good Designer?

As Malcolm Gladwell set out to prove in his book, Outliers, people are not born with talent contrary to popular belief.  Gladwell even questioned whether Mozart was truly a child prodigy.  When you do the research, you find that the most brilliant people are brilliant because they put in more hours of work than any of their peers to become the best.  Moreover, lucky timing played a huge role in their success. 

The internet and technology has made it more difficult for many creative types to make a living.   It seems everyone is an amateur writer, photographer, or interior designer now, and many who used to get paid for these professions now suffer too much competition from those that are willing to provide the goods for free.  The iPhone makes it possible to take some really cool photos, and it’s tempting to think that some of your photos are just as good as that of a professional.  The difference is that a professional’s photos are consistently good.  Even when the lighting is bad, the space they’re photographing is the size of a closet, or there is a bad glare bouncing off a mirror, they have the skills needed to address those issues quickly and easily.  But most people simply don’t know what they don’t know, and they don’t understand how complicated something is until they’ve been hired for a job and it’s going sideways fast.

Design websites, blogs, and You Tube have all made a ton of information available.  The playing field has been leveled, and that’s great if you’re a creative who wants to redecorate your house or take some cool photos for friends.  Yet having the tools is not the same thing as knowing what to do with the tools.  I’m a huge fan of the TV show “The Big Bang Theory.”  In one episode, Sheldon “learns” how to swim by watching tutorials on the internet.  You can’t learn how to swim without doing it.  And you can’t become an amazing swimmer without a coach, competitions, and many hours of practice.  Similarly, it takes some form of education and/or an apprenticeship to understand proportion, rhythm, symmetry, asymmetry, color theory, composition, transitions, building codes, constructability - all the things one needs to know to be a good designer.  It takes studying and working under the supervision of experienced mentors for numerous years.  This is why I advise creative young people to work for someone else for at least 5-10 years before working for themselves.  It takes working on hundreds of projects, because there’s something to be learned from every single project.  And it takes making mistakes – the very quickest way to learn a lesson - and knowing when you've made mistakes, so they won't be repeated.

It’s true that good design, like good art whatever that is, is somewhat subjective.  And even the experts don’t make a slam dunk 100% of the time.  But experts will be consistently good and efficient.  

Why do architects charge for their TIME instead of their VALUE?

A client recently requested some quick conceptual design ideas to convert a plain boxy building into a Spanish style building.  I knew my father was the right architect for the task since he has 50 years of experience designing Spanish style buildings.  I, on the other hand, have only designed about 10 Spanish style buildings in my career, and guessed that it would take me about three times longer than it would take him.  My father whipped out a few sketches of each elevation in 15 minutes.  They looked great.  I let him know I’d show it to the client, and asked him how much he’d charge for the concepts (since he’s a subcontractor).  He said, “Well, let’s see, it took me about 15 minutes, so at my hourly rate of $200, that’ll be $50.”  I responded, “Well, that doesn’t seem right.  A surgeon doesn’t charge their patients for the amount of time it takes to complete a surgery.  A surgeon charges based on the type of surgery and his expertise, his years of experience, his know-how, and so should you!”  These sketches would have taken another architect many hours to complete, and they still wouldn’t have been as good.  Another architect would have charged hundreds, if not thousands of dollars for these.  My dad responded, “Well what do you think I should charge then?”  I decided, “Charge $300…..the client is getting an amazing deal and you’ll get 6 times more than you expected!”

Dirt Cheap BIG Wall Art Idea #4

These 32" x 48" "Acurio" lattice panels from Home Depot (there are several designs to choose from) would look especially beautiful if  painted.

At $32 each, they cover a good amount of square footage for the price.  Install 4 of them next to each other to create a 5' x 8' rectangle for $128.  Add two more for a total of 6 to create an 8' x 8' square for $192.  Mount them to the wall at the corners with screws and float them off the wall with washers about 1" to create depth and shadows on the wall.

Dirt Cheap BIG Wall Art Idea #3

10" x 10" Ikea "Malma" mirrors for only $1.99 each!

Spend $200 and install 100 of them side by side to create an appox. 8' x 8' wall feature.  Use mounting tape instead of nails to make installation easy.  There are 4 color options.  Use all one color or use several colors. The mirror portion is very small, so you won't end up with an '80's aesthetic.

Dirt Cheap BIG Wall Art Idea #2

This fun 12" x 12" "Adele" mirror is currently on sale at Bed Bath & Beyond for only $5.

Install 64 of them in a square pattern with 1" in between each for a total dimension of about 9' x 9'.  Just make sure they are installed squarely and evenly.  Use a yard stick as a spacer in between each mirror and have another person assist.

Cost of mirrors = $320 + tax.  Cost of heavy-duty 10 lb. mounting tape = $20.

Dirt Cheap BIG Wall Art Idea #1

Hang four of these 3' Ikea canvases adjacent to each other so they are touching to make a large square approximately 6' x 6'.

Total cost = $160.  High drama for a very low cost!

For only $360, you could do the same with nine of these 3' canvases for a 9' x 9' masterpiece.

DIY interior feature walls or large-scale wall art

Take almost any ordinary object, and turn it into a beautiful feature wall or art.  Anything in MULTIPLES makes a statement.  Paint an object the right color, and transform it.  Have an outdated tacky bronze-colored bust of David sitting in the attic?  Paint it hot pink, and voila, instant chic!  In the picture below, we took $7 Walmart mirrors that had a terribly tacky faux gold finish, and we painted them sloppily in matte white to achieve a rustic finish.  Then we installed 42 of them on a wall for a custom look that looks like it cost thousands of dollars.

The Best Place to Spend a Limited Budget in an Office Space

Many business clients come to me with a limited budget and a list of upgrades they want to make to their office space.  Invariably, the cost of the upgrades will exceed their budget.  At our first meeting, I typically give the client a rough estimate of each of the desired upgrades.  Then I help the client prioritize which upgrades will have the most impact and value depending on what their overall needs and goals are.  Often, the reception area is one of the best places to spend money, because it provides the first impression of the business to both customers and employees.  Many times, clients will tell me they want to change out all of the carpet or the entire acoustical tile ceiling, but those are very expensive upgrades depending on the size of the space.  Assuming those items are just in mediocre condition and not in terrible condition, there are ways to draw attention away from those items and spend the limited budget elsewhere where the impact will be more significant.