We were lucky to catch up with Chad Alexander Smith recently and have shared our conversation below.

Chad Alexander, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s one of the most important lessons you learned in school?

In the Spring of 1996 I was finishing my first year of architecture graduate school at Princeton University. The late 90’s were a special time for the school. Large names in the profession roamed the halls. Michael Graves had been with the school for decades. Peter Eisenman made a weekly trip down from New York. Alan Colquhoun occupied the basement. Mark Wigley, Beatrix Colominia, Mario Gandelsonas, Carles Vallhonrat and Robert Gutman were all professors. The school was setup the same way Le Corbusier arranged his daily schedule with theory classes in the morning and studio classes in the afternoon. It was a special mixture of theory and practice.

At 23 years old I did not yet understand the impact of these individuals. There was this interconnectivity between everyone as well as to architectural history. Gandelsonas had written the introduction to Eisenman’s House X, Wigley and Colominia would later marry. Vallhonrat had worked in the office of Louis Kahn as principal assistant to Mr. Kahn in the design of the Salk Institute, the Bangladesh Capital Complex, the Palazzo dei Congressi in Venice, and the first design of the British Art Center at Yale. Vallhonrat would later be my Thesis Advisor.

Great design is something that can be recognized even between architects with widely different styles. The following Fall I would have a joint class taught by both Graves and Eisenman.

If the school was a collection of important individuals to the profession, a studio crit may have been even more of a showcase. Individuals would collect from around the profession. On this particular occasion, Charles Gwathmey was a juror alongside Stanley Tigerman, Graves, Eisenman and Wigley. Remember the interconnectivity, Gwathmey was part of The New York Five with Graves and Eisenman.

Even though his star had faded a bit to us young students, Graves was the king, especially among his contemporaries. From the outside the crits appeared to be a somber event. Everyone was always dressed in black, as if attending a funeral. But in the long line of jurors dressed in black, Graves stood out even by how he dressed. He often wore tan cotton slacks with warm colored leather shoes, a deep blue shirt and a burgundy sweater, a walking version of one of his buildings.

On this day, the jurors were arranged in a row that stretched at least 12 people. Graves was a bit off center. As a student you faced this line like facing a firing squad, shielding your work behind from the oncoming barrage. I was on heavy attack this day. I had painted my model a powder blue, a special mix I had made. Looking back, it was probably a sub conscience act, being emotionally drained from the long year, a bit of Picasso’s Blue Period. The color was very close to Graves’ signature blue. One after another, jurors asked, “Why blue? Why blue? Why blue?” The conversation turned to each of them discussing the blue with one another. It seemed to go on for an eternity. Graves sat quietly the entire time. Then in a very even, monotone pronouncement he said, “I like the blue.” That was the end of the conversation, no one said anything else about the color.

And there was my first lesson, become someone who’s opinion is valued.

Chad Alexander, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I grew up on a farm raising black angus in Georgia. My father was an engineer and my mother a homemaker. From as early as I can remember I liked to draw. As soon as I could hold a pencil, my mother gave me a small spiral notebook, probably more a way to keep me occupied. I was always drawing.

I took my first art class in first grade. In fifth grade, I won an art competition at my elementary school. The prize was art classes out of a building on the Square in Lawrenceville (where our new office is currently under construction). I went on to take art classes through high school where I was selected for the Governor’s Honors program in visual arts (one of 30 students across the State of Georgia) and won numerous art competitions.

My father wanted me to be an engineer so I attended Georgia Tech. The summer before school I sat in some introductory engineering classes. Curious about my experience, my mother asked how I enjoyed them. I told her I was not really sure I wanted to be an engineer. She suggested we go to the School of Architecture and talk to the Dean.

The conversation with the Dean was very matter of fact. All he said was, “It’s easier to switch out of Architecture than to switch into it.” I changed my major to architecture later that week.

One of our first classes was a hand drawing class. My drawing skills were so far beyond the other students that the Professor recommend that I leave Georgia Tech and go to art school, but I decided to continue in the Architecture program.

Part of the design process we were taught was “thinking through drawing”. Computers were just coming into the profession, but we were still drawing with a parallel bar and pencil on vellum, which was ideal for someone who had been drawing with a pencil their entire life.

For my senior year I studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris France. In Paris and through my travels throughout Europe, I encountered first hand paintings, sculptures and architecture of masters in art and architecture, capturing what I saw in my sketchbook. These drawings and my art I later combined into a portfolio, which I submitted to Princeton University.

I was selected one of seven students into the most exclusive architecture program at the time in the world. I studied directly under superstar Architects Michael Graves and Peter Eisenman. My thesis coordinator was the accomplished theorist Mark Wigley. Again my drawing skills helped through school. Years later I asked Michael Graves for a recommendation and he remembered and commented on how well I could draw.

And there was my second lesson, learn to draw.

Founded in 2004, Cas Architecture is an architectural and interior design firm. Our small single studio size allows us to be more personal in our design approach and client relationships. We endeavor to use our talents to improve the world around us. Our team is made up of people with a heart for the mission of the clients we serve, and we hope it translates in the way we work.

The value of architecture is evolving rapidly as more and more fields recognize the importance of the built environment in addressing social, economic, and environmental challenges. We believe architecture reflects culture, transmits culture, shapes culture and comments on culture. We see architecture as an endless process of reinvention and reshaping, responding to our ever changing world.

Each design we create seeks to be of the present, with an awareness of the past, but aspire for a better future. Our charge is to change the world for the better with every project we undertake.

Our work is born from a keen understanding of our clients: Who they are, how they work and what they need—all to better support what they do.

We endeavor to place ourselves in the continuum of architectural history.

NEO-POSTMODERNISM (PM2)

The greening of architecture has become less of a defining movement and more a design and construction guide of best practices. The focus on energy and the environment has resulted in architecture schools becoming adrift in teaching theory. Where schools once led, practice is now attempting to find a meaningful mass movement. Architectural theorist Charles Jencks has noted a recent resurgence of Postmodernist design thinking, which he has dubbed PM2. Primarily associated as an architectural movement of the last quarter of the twentieth century, sensibilities of postmodern thinking are appearing in the contemporary work of architects. Our work attempts to be part of this movement.

The Norcross Library (ironically LEED v4.0 Certified) adopts a Neo-Postmodern sentiment. The design employs a bricolage of embedded historical references to inform the design of form and space. https://casarc.com/project/norcross-library/

The Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center combines the warmth of a community public library with the ambitions of a state-of-the-art center for cultural arts, the 31,000-square-foot facility creates a place of civic importance and social engagement—one that prompts intellectual curiosity and creativity, while reinforcing a local identity. https://casarc.com/project/sewell-mill-library-and-cultural-arts-center/

An entry lobby organizes the intersection of gallery, concierge desk, café, theater and library. Drawing inspiration from the ideologies of artist-architect Frederick Kiesler’s commission, City in Space, a soaring connecting lobby is composed of carefully stacked intersecting cubic forms based on the system of proportion found in the Greek Golden Section. Walls and ceilings are painted a light taupe rather than the stark white seen in most galleries. The effect is a warm, welcoming backdrop for the work of the artists. The processional stripe can be seen passing up, onto and over the concierge desk.

Have you ever had to pivot?

There are those that believe the struggle is what makes life worth living. The life of the artist is made up of this struggle, perhaps that is where the art comes from.

During graduate school, I was feeling particularly isolated and homesick. It was the second year of our two year program. I had entered the program straight from undergraduate school and was the youngest. It was hard to connect to my classmates, most of whom were considerably older. The work and expectations were intense. It was the Winter following my studio class with Michael Graves and Peter Eisenman. I was having a particular hard time understanding our studies of Bramante and the stress of producing at a high level had accumulated. Unexpectantly, following the Fall Semester, Graves and Eisenman called me into the office with the Dean. They felt I needed a break. All I wanted was to graduate and to return home. It was devastating and embarassing. Each of them explained their own struggles. The shock of such an unexpected event was what was the most unsettling. I ended up returning home and working for a small architecture firm for 6 months finishing my studies the following Fall.

Before starting my own company, I worked for a local architectural firm. I enjoyed the work as most of it was community related. The public has a perception large firms employee an army of architects on projects, but the reality is most projects are completed by small teams of people. We were setup in studios of two, as master and apprentice. I typically had a dozen projects that I was responsible to complete with the help of an aspiring architect straight out of school. I enjoyed streamlining our processes, standardizing drawings and details.

The firm published monthly reports and our duo was the only profitable team, carrying the department. The other teams were all losing money, but our profits were so extreme that the company made money.

When people find out you are an architect, they ask you to design for them. I had done a number of small jobs, mostly renovations and rezonings. It was nice to have the additional money. On a random Tuesday I was called into the conference room to let me know I was being fired for moonlighting. I had an agreement with the Owner that I could do these small jobs, but the economy had turned down and someone need to go. It was a complete shock. My wife did not work at the time and we had four year old triplets. There were many stressful days and sleepless nights, but it was the push I needed to start my own firm.

The third shock occurred about 8 years into owning my own firm. We were working out of a converted living room in my house that bled over into the dining room. I had four employees and everyone was stressed working in such a tight space. Our office construction was slow, as most of our design efforts were concentrated on our clients.

The profession can be brutal retaining employees. I try to have a more relaxed anti-corporate environment and treat people the way I want to be treated. My best employee at the time was collapsing under the pressure of being a parent to two small children. We tried every type of schedule. This was well before the work from home movement. She simply was not productive and it was taking its tole on the firm. I did not know what to do as we had obligations we needed to meet.

One of the furniture firms we worked with seduced her into coming to work for them with the promise of the grass being greener. She gave me one week notice and left unexpectedly. Note to employees reading this, her new job was great at first, but retuned to being stressful and she left that firm for another job.

That might be the third lesson: all employees leave unexpectantly. There is much written about how firms do not value employees, but it goes both ways. When an employee leaves, they leave all the work and stress to someone else, and in a small firm, that is the Owner.

A subset of lesson three is that when an employee leaves a small firm, eventually everyone leaves. One person leaving changes the dynamic of the team. Within five months all of my employees left. It was just me sitting at my desk and we were terribly busy.

There were many sleepless nights. Eventually I rebuilt the team to what we have today. It turns out that the people I had in place were not the right fit and it was a blessing to be able to start over and rebuild. Today we are doing the best work we have ever done and have a great time doing it. With change comes loss, and with loss comes pain, but the pain is what creates growth. You have to develop the mindset that things change, but change is necessary for growth.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I’m learning that getting your name out there is the hard part. Good work is not enough. You need to have a strategy and plan in place to promote yourself. The idea is to have clients calling you rather than you calling clients. Currently our reputation has been built on relationships which is the older method of getting work. In the small world of Georgia public libraries it has worked well for us. We often get asked how quickly or how cheap we can do our work. For some firms, that is a focus and they do it well. But our goal is to do the best work in the profession. That takes finding the right project and the right client, which goes back to the first lesson: become someone who’s opinion is valued.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.casarc.com
• Instagram: @casarc
• Facebook: casarc
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadalexandersmith/
• Twitter: @casarc
• Youtube: @casarcvideo

Image Credits
Garey Gomez