(Matt Fajkus Architecture team members. From left to right (standing): David Birt, Sarah Johnson, Jayson Kabala, Yidan Wang, Ian M. Ellis, Matt Fajkus, Sarah Wassel, Alberto Rodriguez, Anna Katsios, Kendall Claus, Zahid Alibhai. Middle row: Yee Sang Wong, Laura Kurtz, Janet Ni, Uijin Song. Lower row: Garrett Callen, Paul Holmes, Jeremy Jackson, Sean O’Brien, Ashley Dotson.)
Matt Fajkus, AIA, holds a Master of Architecture from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. He has studied and worked in Barcelona, Spain, Sweden, Paris and London, where he worked for the world-renowned Pritzker Prize-winning firm Foster+Partners. He is a Professor at The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, where he teaches courses in design, technology, daylighting and integrated sustainability.
A licensed architect in Texas, Matt is also a LEED accredited Professional and is the Principal Architect of Matt Fajkus Architecture, LLC, founded in 2010. The firm, informally know as MF Architecture, has received numerous awards for innovative work.
MA: “We couldn’t help noticing that your Facebook business page has over 15,000 followers. Do you think that is unusual for an architectural firm?”
Matt: “Recently our firm has doubled in size overnight, not to put out fires but to explore the potential of involving graduate students in our work so there are a lot of socially interactive people here. It’s like an on-going charrette, and it’s unknown. While it presents some logistical problems in terms of sharing desk space, and it’s a little intimidating, it’s also exciting, and challenging, and we hope it will be fun.”
(Main Stay House Pool Court. Photo: Charles Davis Smith)
MA: “These are the graduate students you teach. Do you also hire from the graduate students at UT Austin?”
Matt: “Not always, but all our staff, regardless of how they got here, have remained with us for as long as the firm has been open, and I think that contributes to the large social media presence. We have been involved with The Bastrop Children’s Advocacy Center, and in the creation of the Presidential Award, and these activities drew attention to the firm.”
MA: “Is the infusion of students both a personal and professional challenge?”
Matt: “To an extent it is. Our goal is to hold charrettes, to ramp to enter design competitions and to think of our work in different ways. The collaboration will challenge me, and my team, and help all of us with self-discovery. I am equally interested in helping teach and allowing students to teach us. One might ask, ‘what could a student teach’, but if students bring their ideas, the ideas of someone not yet proven, their humility, and their critical thinking skills, they also bring a different perspective. Whether at the University or at the office, where I give a great deal of autonomy to my employees, the solution to the problem may be contributed by the person in the room with the least amount of experience, the person who is not yet capable of executing the solution, but the person who nonetheless sees both the problem and the solution.”
(Hill Country Apothecary. Photo Bryant Hill)
MA: “Such a mix of personalities and experience will no doubt challenge everyone.”
Matt: “That’s the point. The dynamic of interaction will present opportunities for everyone here. The message I want to communicate is to be not afraid to try. We experiment with different scales, testing bold ideas in the studio until they fail or they push back and then we consider why they fail.”
MA: “Is there a separation point for you between teaching and running a practice?”
Matt: “Few have the opportunity to teach and to practice, and it is one of the things I appreciate the most about the University is that most professors practice, so there is a continuum, an overlap from teaching to practice and we face the same issues at school and in the office, identifying the problems and using critical thinking to come up with solutions. As architects, we can effect positive change, by writing, and by lecturing, and this feeds into our practices.”
MA: “In the amount of time that your practice has been open you have produced a diverse range of projects.”
Matt: “I am not interested in the predictable and I am open to different projects, to diversity. As a firm, we want to be challenged. I’d like to say, “yes, we’ll do it, challenge us,” and this is not born of arrogance but the desire to attempt to do something that may be considered challenging, and presenting obstacles. We deal with constraints and sometimes the solutions transcend the original ideas, and we experience success. It’s the epiphany. It just never gets old. The first best thing is when the solution occurs. The second best thing is when it is built and used.”
(Control/Shift House. Photo Charles Davis Smith)
MA: “How has the practice of architecture changed over the years?”
Matt: “The biggest change is the perception of the heroism of architects, where in today’s world we have to consult with so many different skills, mechanical, electrical, structural and digital, it is more collaborative. Architecture should not insist on itself, it must be successful in reference to context and to connect with surroundings and community access. What’s interesting is to look back at the best features. The creative field takes itself so seriously. We need to confront what has failed or hasn’t worked for a particular situation, and to do that one must have a relationship with imperfection, to be comfortable with imperfection.”
MA: “What about the role of sustainability?”
Matt: “Sustainability is a ubiquitous word. It has social, global, financial and environmental perceptions, more than energy efficiency, recycling, and saving the planet. Sustainability is a way of looking forward, preparing for and anticipating the future.”
MA: “As the practice of architecture has changed, so has the idea of a modern ‘home’.”
Matt: “We are modern architects in that form follows function, but it’s a different world today and we have different notions and perspectives of the place we call home than the last generation. By contrast, students have to learn that they cannot rely on software skills but on critical thinking, on understanding the mindset and motivations of the clients which may vary widely.”
MA: “How do people find you? We noticed your physical location is at street level, on a corner, almost as if you are inviting accessibility and engagement with the community.”
Matt: “Well, we don’t really have ‘walk in traffic’, but you never know. Our client sources are varied. We like to think we are approachable, diverse, and open. Many clients are not able to articulate exactly what they want, but their wants and needs are valuable, and this makes for a very interesting client dialog because together we can explore the options. It helps when the client is engaged in the discovery process with us. But often we’re asked for a simple sketch, an illustration of what the project might look like and that tends to deny the process we might share together.”
(Tree House Courtyard. Photo: Allison Cartwright)
MA: “Who has inspired you?”
Matt: “There are many Austin architects who inspire, but I would name Juan Miro (UT School of Architecture Professor and Partner at Miro Rivera Architects as someone who leads by example. He was my faculty mentor, along with Professor Nichole Wiedemann. Larry Speck, UT School of Architecture Professor and Senior Principal of Page Architects, has been an inspiration and supporter along the way.
MA: “Which materials do you prefer?”
Matt: “My preference is for an honesty in materials, in a palette that is relative, and I try to avoid painting concrete and wood, although there’s an expectation that drywall will be painted, but I like to try and introduce other elements that offer a natural evolution, a timelessness.”
Georgina O’Hara Callan
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