i+D - September/October 2021 - 47

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i+D: What was the first thing you designed or built?
EF: I grew up on an old Hudson River estate in Westchester County,
a house with a four-column façade looking down on the river. I was
an only child, always reading, and my mother would push me out
the door and tell me she wouldn't let me back in for two hours. So
I roamed that property. It was beautiful, with a marsh, irises, an apple
orchard, an old swimming pool, and a clay tennis court with miniature
roses climbing over everything. There was an old stone stable with a
slate roof, and I'd play there with my Barbies. Slate tiles became rooms
in the houses I'd build for the Barbies.
i+D: Who was the greatest influence on you when you
were young?
EF: My mother and father. My father was full of humor and life.
My mother was an artist. She was born during the Depression and
went to work after high school as a bookkeeper. But she always found
time for her art. An example of their influence on me was when
I was 14, and we went on a family vacation to London. My mother
and I went to museums. My father went to the racetrack. And then
we all went to see Gilbert & Sullivan at night.
i+D: Have students changed over the years, with influences
like social justice movements and the internet?
EF: Design students haven't changed, because they're compelled to
do it. Even if they try to do something else first, they find their way back
to the world of design. I think, though, that people's perception of
society can bring them into a much clearer sense of what's being called
" cultural awareness " -becoming aware of unconscious bias; making sure
our designs don't carry messages of exclusion but instead carry positive
messages considering racial bias, gender orientation, ageism, sexism,
neuro-diversity; and making designs that are welcoming to all people.
i+D: Shape, light, comfort are essential to spaces, but how
much effort is put into acoustics in today's schools?
EF: There's research on the effect of noise on learning. Schools located
in high-noise environments mean students don't learn as well. That's
actually one of the reasons why the open classroom movement
has gone back to enclosed classrooms. We realized children couldn't
learn, and teachers couldn't teach. The fact that we were all home
for 18 months also has brought awareness of noise in our daily
environment when we couldn't escape into the sealed-off offices.
i+D: You've said that glass and classrooms full of natural
light aren't always the best ideas for elementary school
students. Why?
EF: It's in some ways a dilemma. Natural light is good, but there's
also the consideration of not distracting kids. Lots of windows can
make it hard for them to stay focused. And yet designers have to
address the fact that kids need light, need a view sometimes to look
out the window and space out, to withdraw themselves out of the
moment and into their creative minds. But teachers in elementary
school also need wall space, not just glass, to put up kids' work
for everyone to see. It has to be balanced.
i+D: I once attended a meeting where we were urged to
think outside the box. And we were in a building shaped like
a box, in a room shaped like a box, staring at a whiteboard
shaped like a box.
EF: Designs for classrooms should stress light, a beautiful atmosphere,
and quiet. But how many times have I seen people on the subway peering
into space and thought: Maybe they're solving their design problems.
What's important is to consider the future of a space. We should train
teachers to have control over their own environments, to think and solve
problems like designers. Architects and designers leave the classroom
after the first day, but the teacher is there for many days, months, years
after. If the teacher knows how to identify a problem and solve it-in
a beautiful way-then they need to have the tools to do that. They need
to have the power to be designers of their own environment.
i+D: What's the most common perception students have
about the design profession that's wrong?
EF: That they're going to make a lot of money. As a writer, you must
have some understanding of that.
i+D: Reading my mind. With a student who is creative,
inventive, and technically talented, but has no sense
of organization or discipline, how do you motivate them
to concentrate?
EF: Design is a creative activity, but it's also a practice. It follows a
structure. Entering a design school, students see that structure becoming
clear through the process of projects in the classroom. They can design
in all different ways, on all different timelines, but at the end of the
day, they have to present it to a teacher, a client, or a juror. And they
understand the idea of a due date. It starts to make sense. A person who
is disorganized and misses a deadline doesn't feel good. It's not selfrewarding.
The next time they work harder to get the teacher's support.
i+D: What's your sport?
EF: Crossword puzzles.
i+D: (Laughing) The New York Times?
EF: Of course.
i+D: The Major Leagues. Pencil or pen?
EF: Pen, of course. I once won a trophy. Will Shortz, the editor of
the Times' crosswords, used to run a crossword night at the local
library. I went with a friend and won. In my house there are all these
trophies-football, cheerleading-and I have my crossword trophy.
i+D: What's the most difficult part of managing people?
EF: Always keeping in mind that they're not just the people you see
at work. They have full lives, and you don't have the full picture
of who they are at any given moment. You have to understand that
and have empathy. If they're abrasive, or they're upset, you can lead
in a way to create the atmosphere where they can correct situations.
Loyalty is not mere collegiality but also a commitment to each other.
i+D: Do people tell you that you work too hard?
EF: Yes, but that's what we do in my house. We live and breathe
design and construction. I'm sure we should sit around and watch
more television.
AMBROSE CLANCY
is the editor of the Shelter Island Reporter
and a novelist, nonfiction author, and
journalist. His work has appeared in GQ,
The Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times.
i+D - September/October 2021
47
Image: Amanda Mocci
i+D - September/October 2021

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