Читать книгу Designing a World-Class Architecture Firm - Patrick MacLeamy - Страница 20

But years before that, in 1907, George and his wife had a son. They named him after his father, but with a different middle name. Young George Francis Hellmuth also grew up wanting to become an architect. I have noticed that architecture often runs in families, and the Hellmuths are just one example. However, young George didn't want to emulate his father in all ways. He was distressed by the ups and downs he observed at the traditional firm run by his father and uncle. Architectural practice seemed like a roller coaster, and he wondered if the disheartening boom and bust cycles were inevitable.

The younger George Hellmuth graduated from Washington University with a Master of Architecture degree in 1931, then traveled to France for a year of touring and study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Fontainebleau. He returned to St. Louis in 1932, eager to begin work at Hellmuth & Hellmuth. However, the country, St. Louis, and the firm were in the grip of the Great Depression and his dad and uncle could not afford to hire him.

Instead, Hellmuth landed a job with the City of St. Louis as a junior architect designing bus stops and comfort stations. He worked for the city for seven years, then approached his father again about joining Hellmuth & Hellmuth. “No one in St. Louis knows how to practice architecture successfully,” his father told him, “and that includes me. If you want to learn how, go to a big city, find a big office, and get them to take you on.”¹ That's not bad advice for anyone following in a family member's footsteps.

Hellmuth took his father's suggestion and, in 1939, moved to Detroit, which was then flourishing as an auto manufacturing city and a rival to Chicago for dominance in the Midwest. He found work with Smith, Hinchman & Grylls (SHG), a regional firm with a reputation for good design and steady work serving the growing auto industry.

Hellmuth began as a junior designer at SHG, but his marketing skills soon became evident to the firm's leadership. They transferred him to the solicitation department to help SHG look for new projects. As Hellmuth served in this role, he began to understand how critical marketing for new work was for the long-term success of SHG—or any firm. On the strength of his marketing skills, he quickly rose to be an SHG vice president.

However, Hellmuth knew that no architecture firm could succeed on marketing alone. He was convinced that SHG could build an even stronger practice through better design. He persuaded the firm to hire Minoru Yamasaki, a talented young designer from the East Coast, for $10,000 a year—a good salary for that time.