Robert A.M. Stern & Melissa DelVecchio
Designing and constructing buildings takes place over many years, with many people collaborating together. In the Brick and Wonder podcast, we have conversations with people who work together to realize a collective vision. We launched this season with two guests whose collaborations evolved into years of partnership.
Our host, Drew Lang, was joined by Robert A.M. Stern, a celebrated architect, architectural writer and former dean at the Yale School of Architecture, and founder of Robert A.M. Stern Architects and Melissa DelVecchio, a partner at the firm.
You can also find and subscribe to the Brick & Wonder podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere you listen to podcasts.
There is this growing sense that I’ve felt over the course of my career that architects need to specialize… I don’t think Eero Saarinen made the best TWA terminal, because he’d done 15 airports in the last five years. He was bringing new thinking to a new building type, and somehow a bit of that’s lost. People are expecting more and more specialization, and I don’t think it’s the healthiest thing for the profession.
—Melissa DelVecchio
If you say that architectural practice is like an orchestra, someone has to lead the band. He may not be the most accomplished musician in the group, but he knows how to bring out of the group the very best possible music. So that may be what my job has evolved into. Early on I would say to people, “Look, I’m not hiring you to be as talented as I am. I’m hiring you to be more talented than I am.”
—Robert A.M. Stern
I have an eclectic approach to form from many of my contemporaries who are trying to eliminate form as a consideration, in favor of sociology, do-goodism or whatever. I remained the child of Paul Rudolph, Philip Johnson, and Vincent Scully as a formalist.
—Robert A.M. Stern
I think you have to make sure that you’re getting the opportunities that you want to have… I think sometimes people assume that those things might be very transparent to the people who are working with them or the people who are running their firm, and it’s not always.
—Melissa DelVecchio
