People always ask me, which architect inspires you. Frankly, there are many! From Andrea Palladio from the 1500's Venice, to modern day Robert Stern, I have many! I guess its like music and cooking - I really love it all. From Traditional to Modern - again I love it all. It comes down to a simple answer - I love good work period and artists who put thought, effort and passion into their work.
Great work doesn't just happen. Yes there is inherent talent, but without hard work it never reaches its true potential or does the work raise thebar for others. I have been blessed with a wonderful career, great clients, and an amazing team that collaborates and supports our team. But as with everything in life the more you explore the higher roads you discover and in art, architecture, cooking, music, travel, business - whatever it is you are passionate about - you will find those that are frankly on another level of awareness and exploration that draw you up a higher path and a wider vision. The ironic thing is the further you travel the more road you realize is really ahead of you and the more and more interesting it becomes.
So back to architects who inspire......I was introduced to the architecture of Ken Tate by local builder Nancy Brunkhorst of Nance Construction sometime in the early 2000's when we were working with her on the design of two homes in Arcadia. She had brought his book, New Classicists - Ken Tate Architect to a meeting and I was hooked. First of all, it was a beautiful book featuring several homes in detail along with an insert rendering of each house. From the macro view of the home down to the details of the home accompanied by some of the actual drawings I really connected with the work and the thought and inspiration.
Ken Tate's practice is in Covington, Louisiana and is a recipient of the Institute of Classical Architecture’s 2008 Shutze Award, and three-time winner of Southern Progress Corporation’s Southern Home Award, architect Ken Tate received his Bachelor of Architecture from Auburn University in 1975. His work is beautiful and thoughtful. His website goes on to say, "Bringing Karl Jung’s ideas of archetypes that speak the universal language of the collective unconscious to his understanding of past architecture and his own creative process, Tate established the foundation for his future work. It is this love of historic details and authenticity that drew me to his work.http://www.kentatearchitect.com
Last week, while in Denver, we were interviewing several builders for a new home we are designing in Cherry Hills, CO and as I was touring one of the homes built by Montare Builders I commented that the house reminded me of the work of architect, Ken Tate. The builder chuckled and said yes, Ken Tate's work was the inspiration for Denver Architect Don Ruggles, but in fact the next home we are going to see is a Ken Tate home. Needless to say, I was excited. The home which is the posh Cherry Hills neighborhood of Denver, was elegant and tasteful. It was a real joy to explore and truly experience one of his homes in person and not simply by flipping pages. Again, flipping through a website or book is one thing, but actually experiencing a work of architecture in person is totally a higher level of experience and really the only way to truly appreciate the work.
This coming weekend I am off to New Orleans.....maybe I make a drive over to Covington and stop in and say hello and thank you to this true talent and inspiration.