M. Arthur Gensler, Jr., FAIA, FIIDA, RIBA, founder of the world’s largest architecture firm, Gensler, offered important advice to more than 65 young AEC stars attending BD+C's Under 40 Leadership Summit in San Francisco, which kicked off last night at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco.
Gensler, who founded his 3,900-person, $807 million design firm in 1965 "with $200, no plan, and one draftsman," said his keys to success have been to place a high level of value on his firm's work and to hire great people and trust them to do great work.
Gensler said too many architects today give away their ideas and concepts when submitting working drawings in competitions. "Clients value what they pay for, not what you give away for free," said Gensler, who stressed the importance of having "strong interactions with the client."
"We have a 'we' philosophy," said Gensler. "For too many people in our business, it's about 'their' building. To us, it's the client's building."
Here is a slideshow from the last night's U40 Summit kick-off event:
Autodesk Fellow and U40 Summit Lead Facilitator, Tom Wujec, explains the Marshmallow Challenge.
Related Stories
| Mar 29, 2013
Cuningham Group acquires NTD's healthcare practice, expands into key markets
The international design firm Cuningham Group Architecture, Inc. has announced that NTD Healthcare has the joined the company in a strategic expansion. A practice of NTD Architecture, NTD Healthcare joins Cuningham Group with three principals: Wayne Hunter, AIA, NCARB, ACHA and Phillip T. Soule, III, AIA, ACHA in San Diego, along with Maha Abou-Haidar, AIA in Phoenix.
| Mar 27, 2013
Small but mighty: Berkeley public library’s net-zero gem
The Building Team for Berkeley, Calif.’s new 9,500-sf West Branch library aims to achieve net-zero—and possibly net-positive—energy performance with the help of clever passive design techniques.
| Mar 27, 2013
RSMeans cost comparisons: college labs, classrooms, residence halls, student unions
Construction market analysts from RSMeans offer construction costs per square foot for four building types across 25 metro markets.
| Mar 26, 2013
Will Google Glass revolutionize the construction process?
An Australian architect is exploring the benefits of augmented reality in the design and construction process.
| Mar 24, 2013
World's tallest data center opens in New York
Sabey Data Center Properties last week celebrated the completion of the first phase of an adaptive reuse project that will transform the 32-story Verizon Building in Manhattan into a data center facility. When the project is completed, it will be the world's tallest data center.
| Mar 22, 2013
8 cool cultural projects in the works
A soaring opera center in Hong Kong and a multi-tower music center in Calgary are among the latest cultural projects.
| Mar 22, 2013
Earn $500 as a DOE proposal reviewer
The DOE'S Building Technologies Office this morning put out a call to the AEC industry for expert reviewers for its new energy-efficiency initiative for small commercial buildings, which make up more than 90% of the commercial building stock.
| Mar 21, 2013
Best Firms to Work For: Enermodal Engineering is green to the core
At Enermodal Engineering, there’s only one kind of building—a sustainable one.