Outram Hussey, AIA, Assoc. JIA, is a Jamaican born Architect who has been in the field for 36 years. In addition to having his own firm, he is a professor at his Alma Mater Howard University. His passion for the Arts and Sciences and other creative endeavors inspired him to study Architecture. In Part 1 of his interview with Architecture Caribbean, Outram gives his insight into the profession both as an Architect and an Educator. We hope you enjoy and benefit from our conversation with him.
Architecture Caribbean: Who is Outram Hussey? Outram Hussey: A lucky guy having an understanding wife and blessed with four wonderful children.
AC: Where did you study? OH: University of Technology (Jamaica) & Howard University (Washington, DC).
AC: Have any other professions or types of work interested you? OH: Teaching Architecture, Real Estate Development and Construction.
AC: Which was your first architecture job? OH: Designing and building a new home for my mother before going off to college.
AC: What do you read and/ or do for inspiration? OH: I am at the core, a simple guy; I get up in the mornings and look toward the rising sun thanking the good Lord for life and another day. I consider it a gift tobe alive and thus I have no time for uninspired thoughts and pursuits. I read continually, and now that my sons are pursuing their careers, I am reading “Put Your Dream To The Test” by John C. Maxwell in preparation for summer discussions. On the architectural front, I am reading “Expanding Architecture, Design As Activism” by Bell and Wakeford and “Design Like You Give A Damn” by Architecture for Humanity. The spirit of those that although less fortunate and who many times see no future, do have the faith to believe that help will come tomorrow always inspires me. I am inspired by those that make tomorrow better.
AC: Who are your favorite architects (International and Caribbean) and what do you admire about their work? OH: Le Corbusier, Gropius (the Bauhaus years) and Wright because their passions compelled them to be different and to experiment. Mc Morris Sibley Robinson in the early years when every project was of a different stamp. Structure was integral and beautifully expressed. Also Wilson Chong, a man that truly understood the nature, power, strength and grace of concrete and the poetics of structural concrete.
Private Residence
Photo Courtesy: Outram Hussey
AC: Who are your favorite writers of architecture? OH: Tom Wolfe. Roger Lewis for those thinking of a career in architecture.
AC: Do you have a preference for the types of projects that you do? OH: No. What makes architecture so exciting is that tomorrow is truly a new day. New site, new program, new client new challenge, new materials etc. A dentist friend of mine once complained that every day he saw the same 32. He wanted to be an architect.
AC: What skills are needed to be an architect? OH: Integrity first and all else after. Good communications skills, good diplomatic skills, good leadership skills, but all rests ultimately on knowledge of your craft. The ability to create form and space, to understand what materials want to do and be, to understand the tectonic nature of things etc. Survival also rests upon financial and legal abilities.
AC: What about architecture excites you? OH: Form, space and light and how the building is sited.
AC: Who (or what) were the biggest inspirations for your career? OH: My father and older brother. They were simple men that worked relentlessly every day for the success of their family. They achieved much but never spoke about it.
Photo Courtesy: Outram Hussey
TEACHING
AC: You are a practicing Architect and Architecture professor, why did you choose to teach. OH: It chose me. The Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning Harry Robinson III, called me and said in a very simple tone, “we need you”. I was fully occupied in practice without any desire to teach, but decided to take up the offer on a limited schedule. It has been very rewarding.
AC: Why do you continue to teach? OH: At first, I believed that it was because I was contributing to the profession and to the lives of young people. Our profession is very demanding and is intolerant of lesser abilities. It can also be tough. When I realized that these young men and women had to enter in and be successful, my focus changed. My mission is to prepare them, to do whatever it takes to ensure that they are fully equipped to stand their ground in the profession, and to be a success.
AC: Would you say that teaching forces you to stay abreast of the latest in technology, techniques, etc. as related to the profession? OH: For me, Architecture is surgical; the art is in the doing. I bring the latest to the studio via practice and write the challenges in a manner that allow both student and professor to learn more and from each other.
Photo Courtesy: Outram Hussey
AC: What are the most rewarding aspects of being a teacher? OH: It’s in seeing a student enter into a successful practice. Inviting me to their weddings, keeping me up to date on their projects, talking about fees, administrative and contract issues. Seeing pictures of their children and knowing that you were and still are a part of it.
AC: What kind of atmosphere helps you concentrate OH: I can be anywhere. I sketch in my own world, I create my own space.
AC: What’s the most stunning technological change you’ve seen over the course of your career? OH: Computers. Blessing or curse? I think both. Before we needed many to produce a project, now only a few with computers. The ability to do complex models and test ideas very quickly is most welcomed. The power to resist vanity images is now a required virtue.
AC: And are those all mostly positive? Are there some drawbacks to all this computing power? OH: The computer is a tool. Value lies in our cerebral cortex. We get paid for design, computers do production. I have always advocated that the architect should be paid 60 % (minimum) of fees at design stage. Most architects still put the weight in production and construction. What does that say about value?
Photo Courtesy: Outram Hussey
AC: What effect has it had on the imagination? OH: I remember in 1982 using a word processor to write a report and having to revert to pen and paper because I could think much better on paper. Now I write directly on the screen without a problem. We are” evolving”, our brains are being rewired at the physiological level. In the studio there is a rush to produce fancy images at the expense of well reasoned systems. The screen is seductive. We had to revert to hand explorations to build quality back into the projects. That’s where we are now with computers in design. Programs are not yet powerful enough and the interfaces are still in the Stone Age, thus, there are many like myself that do initial design ideas on paper via power sketches. Sketching and graphic ability is a language like speech. Design flows from our minds to paper seamlessly through our hands; this is the interface that computers cannot match. Imagination is independent of the tool. In time as computer technology develop, interfaces will be built that will take design to another level of evolution. That day is not yet.
AC: What is a possible positive response that Caribbean Architects can offer to the current economic downturn? OH: Use the time to retool for a sustainable future. High energy costs create opportunities for design. Limited water resources create opportunities for design. Livable sustainable environments create opportunities for design. If architects through their designs can reduce energy/material imports significantly, the corresponding benefit to the country would be equally significant. Architects have the power to make significant contributions to the local economy, probably more than any other professional group.
AC: What would you say is the most valuable contribution you have made or would like to make to the profession, and the Caribbean? OH: The most valuable contribution is definitely in educating hundreds of architects that now practice in many areas of the world. Many of these architects are in the Caribbean. I would like to think that values were transmitted, and the Caribbean and its peoples are the ultimate beneficiaries.
AC: What concerns do you have (if any) with regard to the profession in the Caribbean/ Jamaica? OH: The Caribbean should not be molded into the style of the developed countries. Architects must seek to create architecture respectful of the region. Tourism is a major income producer and is at its best when each region uses its own architectural spice and is of its own culture. Architects need to actively educate their clients into the merits of using local materials and using design features that allow for sustainable living environments.
AC: Are there any changes you would like to see in the profession? OH: I would like to see the studio culture changed. Recognizing that 5 years (minimum) is not enough time to get the basic courses accomplished, we still need to develop leadership and business potential in students. The studios need to be more inclusive of other disciplines within the university. Cross fertilization between engineers, architects, media, business etc. The profession is also very hard on families especially in the early years and for those that have families while in school.
AC: How do you think the role of the architect will change over the next twenty-five years? OH: Architects must be more assertive, inventive and creative to reap the benefits of the future. It will be all digital, communications of ideas and integrations of systems and information will take center stage. Ideas is the currency that architects trade, it always was, is and will be tomorrow. To be successful, buildings will not only have to be aesthetically pleasing, but they will also be required to perform to very exacting environmental specifications. In other words, the designer of a plane knows that the design must conform to aerodynamic laws. Those laws dictate the shape. It will become increasingly the same for architects in the future, as buildings are shaped to capitalize on environmental forces and systems.
AC: Looking three years down the road, five years down the road, how is the architecture profession going to be different because of BIM? OH: Except for a few, architects generally are not pushing BIM; others want the information for a variety of purposes. Irrespective, Architects should be the author and controller of BIM documents. We need to develop BIM Documents and license said documents to any user wanting a piece of the pie. BIM will become increasingly important to architects as new third-party-programs are developed that can take the architect BIM models and determine energy performance, day-lighting characteristics, cost modeling etc during the design of the project.
Photo Courtesy: Outram Hussey
ADVICE TO STUDENTS AC: What advice would you give to students entering the field of architecture? OH: Seek to be financially independent. I do not subscribe to the service mentality and philosophy. Architecture is not only about design; it’s about construction and the creation of communities. You are the only person in all of academia and the learned professions that is master of the built environment. None other has the breadth of education. Many seek to encroach on the turf, but architects own it. I encourage students to assume their rightful position.
AC: What advice would you give to those currently in college studying architecture? OH: Architecture is demanding. It is the only school in universities that go 24/7. Not Medicine, not Law, not Engineering. Learn you craft well and assume your leadership role in society. AC: Is there a chasm between collegiate architectural curriculum and the actual practice of architecture? If so, what recommendations would you give to a student to prepare them for the profession? OH: The architect becomes skilled through education, training and experience. The school provides the education, the culture, practice provides the training, and life gives us the experience. A five year degree (B.Arch.) requires about 172 credit hours. This many credit hours would yield a masters degree in almost all other branches of study within academia, but in architecture it remains an undergraduate degree. This needs to change especially when statistics indicate that many with 5 year degrees are pursuing other careers, and are at a disadvantage, that is, with a 5 year undergraduate degree. For those remaining in the practice of architecture, NCARB and architectural offices want more clinical/practice professors inserted into the design studios.
Those wanting parity, university wide, with respect to research, want a different curriculum. Many schools are now embracing architectural research in order to bring in needed research dollars and facilitate publications, etc. Students need to investigate the curriculum of schools to determine a good fit for their career track. At the end of the day, "Architect" is a title profession, that is, architects design buildings. A building is not an idea, it is real. Architects are thus clinical. They are the surgeons of the operating environment. Schools that want to engage research at the expense of preparing students for practice need to remove the word architect from their curriculum. They may use the word architect similar to business schools..."Architect of the merger". Like medicine, the architectural profession benefits from good research, but the players are different.
AC: Our Theme for the launch of Architecture Caribbean is RHYTHM. What does Rhythm mean to you? OH: From a design point of view, composition without rhythm is static like it is in music. Rhythm allows for proper timing of impressions and influences dynamic interpretations of an object. Those that can discern rhythms in life, have the ability to understand and appreciate events.
AC: What do you think about Architecture Caribbean and its goal to highlight Architecture and the Arts in the Caribbean and other parts of the world? OH: For the peoples of the Caribbean, let them see the value of architecture and how it can contribute to their lives, communities and to the success of their region. To those outside the Caribbean, the same, but let them see that Caribbean Architects can bring a particular rhythm and tempo to their lives through form, color, spaces and its relationship to nature and natural breezes. This is an asset. Sell it. And to you the Editor...bold move…much needed…and Good Luck!
Stay tuned for Part 2 of this interview when Outram Hussey discusses his design philosophy, his firm and sustainable design with Architecture Caribbean.
