ARCHITECTS AS “CLASS ACTS”

JULY 16, 2022 – Every architect I’ve met is a class act, professionally and personally. What’s to explain this? Does the profession draw a certain personality type? Do the rigors of their education weed out the riffraff? Is it because architects are artists? I must pose these questions to “my friends in architecture.”

I could ask one of our Swedish cousins, Christin Svensson, an award-winning architect in Stockholm, who’s designed lofty buildings from Beijing to New York City.

Or I could query Ed Nilsson, another award-winning architect, who resides in Marblehead, MA. We’re not related (our shared surname is the seventh most common in Sweden) and met on account of emails intended for me that had gone to Ed. (He looked me up and called about the mix-up.) Ed and his wife, Frances, are now long-time close friends of ours.

Years ago I could’ve posed the question, “Why are architects special?” to a famous architectural critic, the late Ada Louise Huxtable, a close friend of Ed Nilsson. When Ada Louise visited Minneapolis to review architectural gems for a feature in The Wall Street Journal, Ed and Frances accompanied her and graciously introduced us. We enjoyed a wonderful time with her over dinner.

Or . . . I could’ve asked my wife’s Uncle Bob, an architect who’d worked at AIA headquarters in Washington before returning to home turf in Illinois. After retirement, he led architectural tours in Chicago, America’s “Capital of Architecture.” At family gatherings, I loved visiting with Bob—ever kind, curious, considerate, and civilized.

Another architect I could consult is a neighbor, Bart. We met 25 years ago aboard a bus in a blizzard. All the other evening rush hour passengers had disembarked before our transportation wound up in a snowbank. Bart and I struck up a conversation and visited for an hour before a crew dug us out. In the course of our ensuing friendship, I discovered Bart’s remarkable architectural work.

Then again, I should ask our good friend, Jim, a St. Paul architect whose wife Bonnie has complementary expertise in interior design. You couldn’t meet nicer, smarter, more enjoyable people—or, in Jim’s case, such a talented . . . artist.

Or I could ask Josh, the architect son of another good friend of ours. Josh is also a champion sailor.

Speaking of boats . . . yesterday evening my wife, our granddaughter, and I took our pontoon for a sunset cruise. Only four or five boats plied the entire, wide-open lake. We’d just passed the geographic center, when a runabout with a full crew approached astern to starboard. We watched as it powered down, then came to a stop. The skipper hailed us. I changed course to see what they needed: a tow, for they’d just run out of gas on their way home. They were an extended family enjoying a week-long reunion at an Air BnB two miles away.

I maneuvered close so their “bowman” could tie a ski rope to our stern. He was smart, well-spoken, gracious, friendly, with a quick sense of humor. So were the rest of the family. Upon reaching their dock, we chatted, and I learned that the “bowman” Zac Rockett and his wife were from San Francisco. “Ro|Rockett Design, is my firm,” he said. Later, I looked it up – https://www.rorockettdesign.com/  I was impressed, but I already knew: Zac, an architect, was another . . . class act.

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© 2022 by Eric Nilsson