Читать книгу Designing a World-Class Architecture Firm - Patrick MacLeamy - Страница 15

Obata assigned me a space in the section of the design department occupied by the newly formed Pittsburgh Great High Schools team. Why that name? HOK certainly hoped the design would be great, but it was called the Great High Schools project because the city planned to consolidate all of Pittsburgh's existing high schools into five larger campuses.

My team was the largest in the office, with five or six designers. Our team leader, Bill Valentine, was on vacation my first two weeks at HOK, and I asked my teammates what he was like. They said he was enthusiastic, energetic, and smart—and one of Obata's favorite designers. When Bill returned from vacation to take responsibility for our team, it was as if a whirlwind had arrived. He seemed to be everywhere at once, visiting each team member, reviewing design progress, and leading us in new directions.

Bill was slim, with a head of curly hair and eyes that crinkled when he smiled. Instead of a suit and tie, Bill wore jeans and a white or blue dress shirt open at the neck—no tie. Sometimes he was so absorbed in his work that he did not seem to notice that his shirttail was hanging out. When Bill sat in his chair talking to someone, he had a way of drawing his feet up on the front of the seat so that he was talking over his knees. In later years, Bill gave up on dress shirts and began to wear black collarless shirts—long before Steve Jobs.

Bill liked to study the Great High Schools in cross-section to see how they fit with the hilly topography of Pittsburgh. I helped him draw the sections, then began to make study models of critical parts of each school. Bill often sent me across the street to the HOK model shop to make even larger study models of foam. He made frequent visits to the model shop to review my progress, and would often say, “Let's try something different.” When Bill was satisfied, we brought the model across the street for Obata's review.

One day, when I was still basically brand new, as I sat at my drafting table working on another big cross-section, Obata's secretary came by and handed me an envelope. “You're going to Pittsburgh next week with Bill Valentine to meet the local architects,” she told me. “Here's your plane ticket and hotel reservation.” Although it seems quaint now, the idea that someone would pay me to get on an airplane and fly somewhere, then put me up at a hotel so I could go to a meeting, seemed like a dream.

My overwhelming impression as a young architect was that great things were happening at HOK. It was an exciting time to be there. In 1967, HOK had 150 people, and even though it was only 12 years old, had grown to become the largest firm in the state and one of the largest in the nation. The energy and ambition of the founders and the culture of teamwork and mutual accountability struck me as something very special. I began to wonder how these three brilliant men had come together to create this extraordinary firm.

My overwhelming impression as a young architect was that great things were happening at HOK.