Housely
Formerly a practicing architect, Paul Keskeys moved from England to New York in 2015 to contribute his architectural know-how to the content team at Architizer. Paul is a graduate from University College London, having completed the Certificate in Professional Practice and Management to gain RIBA Part 3 qualification. Paul also achieved Parts 1 and 2 at The University of Edinburgh, gaining an MArch in Architectural Design with a distinction, and was nominated for the RIAS Silver Medal for Best Architecture Student in Scotland in 2009. He also volunteered at Architecture For Humanity from September to November 2014.
His hobbies include playing guitar, climbing tall buildings and eluding dangerous animals while hiking. Paul was nice enough to take the time to answer 10 question from us. Here they are:
1. What inspired your interest in architecture and pursuing a degree in the field?
From a very young age, the idea of designing in three dimensions fascinated me. In graphics class at school, we were taught to draw the interior of a room in two-point perspective, and it was amazing to me that you could illustrate complex spatial qualities on paper. A childhood obsession with video games like Sim City also planted the seed — it was less about designing individual buildings, and more about creating places that would be inhabited and used by people in everyday life.
Further down the line, my combined curiosity for both the arts and sciences in high school fueled my interest in studying architecture at university. From there, my appreciation for how the built environment affects every part of life — social, economic, political, environmental — only grew as I studied and eventually qualified to practice.
2. You’ve been Architizer’s Architecture Editor since 2015; how did the opportunity come about?
Believe it or not, it all started with a single Facebook message! I had just begun blogging about architecture on my personal page, and Architizer’s editor read one of my reviews. She liked what she read, and asked if I could contribute as a columnist. I continued as a practicing architect in the UK, but after a period of freelance writing in my spare time, I realized my passion for architectural journalism was so strong I needed to explore the sector on a full-time basis.
Long story short, I was brought in to be a part of Architizer’s Content Team, and the rest, as they say, is history! I feel incredibly lucky to be combining my two great passions — architectural design and writing — for a career in New York City.
3. We’re a relatively new site in real estate and design. If you had to give advice to websites just starting out in the space, what would it be?
I think that for design media, a cross-disciplinary approach is becoming essential — to stand out from the crowd, your site has to provide more than just news; it needs to be a useful profession tool as well. Architizer sits at the intersection between platforms — we are part news site, part market place, and part social media platform. This cross-disciplinary position benefits our diverse community of users: whether you are an architect, a product manufacturer, a client or simply a design enthusiast, there is something for everyone on Architizer.
4. What do you think the biggest mistakes new homeowners make design wise?
One major error many people make, particularly when undertaking major work to remodel their newly purchased home, is to try to save money by neglecting to hire an architect. People often baulk at the short-term expense of consulting a design professional when it comes to internal renovations or modernization, but it is important to recognize that a good architect can add real value to your home in the long run.
When significant changes to the layout are undertaken, involving an architect is hugely beneficial — not only with regards to the design, but also for project management, as a professional’s know-how can reduce the chance of delays that will ultimately increase costs. With an architect’s combined logic and creativity, the finished home will — more often than not — be worth more than one that was modified without their input. This is where the true value of an architect’s expertise lies.
5. If you could live in any house in the entire world, what home would you choose?
There are so many amazing abodes around the globe, but if I had to choose one, it would be “The Brain”, a spectacularly beautiful residence in Washington designed by Olson Kundig Architects. I could happily live in any one of Tom Kundig’s homes, but “The Brain” stands out to me for its courageous use of raw, exposed materials and its beautiful setting in the Pacific Northwest.
The house is packed with quirky details such as poetry etched into the stair treads, a fireman’s pole connecting the two floors, and a lookout window created especially for the owner’s dog! The industrial aesthetic is complemented with huge factory-style windows, light bulbs on pulleys and dark timber floorboards. For me, this is a modern masterpiece.
6. Who is your favorite architect or architectural firm and why?
I am a massive fan of the legendary Tadao Ando. I have long been an admirer of Ando’s Minimalist work, but when I visited Japan in 2012, this admiration went through the roof. Walking through the architect’s museums on Naoshima — Benesse House, the Lee Ufan Museum and the Chichu Art Museum — I was blown away by the pared back compositions, pristine concrete walls and beautifully considered detailing throughout each building.
Most of all though, Ando’s mastery of light and shadow is unparalleled. Chichu Art Museum is built entirely underground, and yet each gallery space is perfectly illuminated with natural light. It’s architectural sorcery at its finest!
7. What is the craziest thing you’ve ever written about on Architizer?
That’s a tricky one — we have covered all manner of cool and occasionally outlandish projects over the past couple of years! One that springs to mind is Giuseppe Perugini’s abandoned “Experimental House”, a Brutalist masterpiece that is crumbling away and being swallowed up by a forest just outside Rome. Giant steel spheres, concrete cantilevers and graffiti covered cubes of steel and glass— what’s not to love?
8. What do you think the future of architecture and design sites is going to look like?
I think the accessible nature of the web can benefit architects so much more moving forwards — its potential as knowledge sharing platform and an open marketplace is huge.
We are aiming to harness this potential with the launch of Architizer Source, a marketplace for building products that makes the specification process infinitely easier for both architects and product manufacturers. Building a community remains a priority, but as I described in question 3, sites that provide easy-to-use online tools for designers should thrive in the future.
9. If there’s one current trend in architecture you’re excited about what is it and why are you excited?
I am very excited about the growing potential for the web to help fund public interest design and humanitarian architecture projects, with more creative people harnessing crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. We recently covered Knitknot Architecture’s campaign to crowdfund a school in Nicaragua. They successfully achieved their goal in May; I’m delighted for them and the project has given me renewed faith in the potential for small creative firms to get innovative projects like this off the ground.
Beyond crowdfunding, I believe that the next revolution for designers could well be related to the wider concepts of the sharing economy. Companies like WeWork, Uber and Airbnb have proven that utilizing the sharing economy as a business model can work across multiple disciplines — how might that work for architects and other creative industries? Designers should think about these emerging formats and their potential to transform our own disciplines in the future.
10. Tell us about your favorite celebrity home
Despite their vast fortunes, it’s actually very difficult to pick out a truly great celebrity home, since so many famous people appear to have an obsession with “McMansions” — far too many faux-classical columns, turrets and arcades for my liking! Gisele and Tom Brady’s gargantuan pad in Los Angeles might be the worst offender in this respect.
In terms of a favorite though, I’ll go for the late Bob Hope’s former home in Palm Springs. While it is still on the ostentatious end of the spectrum, this Modernist set piece is undeniably striking. The swooping concrete canopy with its giant oculus was designed by John Lautner to resemble a volcano, but has also been compared to a spaceship and a giant mushroom. It’s like Saarinen on steroids — the devil in me loves it!
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