Matthew Rosenberg grew up in a place with few structural landmarks and a seemingly infinite horizon—not the sort of description one matches with the childhood ambition of becoming architect. And yet that was his dream.
Matthew Rosenberg
Rosenberg, Founding Principle of Los Angeles-based firm M-Rad Architecture + Design, took this landscape (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan), his grandmother’s sense of style (a 40-year collection of magazine Architectural Digest), and combined it with a desire to create a healthy and happy urban condition. This amalgamation resulted in an international career taking him around the globe. The firm now resides in southern California where it has been for the past two years.
M-Rad aims to, among other things, provide solutions to universal problems, and to enhance daily routines and social exchanges. It is in this spirit of combining and enhancing that Rosenberg answers the following questions with some serious thought about the future of the profession, and the role small firms play.
What made you want to be an architect?
Being born and raised in the agricultural epicenter of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, I came from a place where the horizon was endless and the buildings were scarce. It was a place I wanted to both preserve and invigorate with urbanity. During my childhood I was greatly influenced by my grandmother who had a penchant for design and fashion. To this day, I still cherish her collection of Architectural Digest magazines spanning over 40 years.
I have always wanted to impact culture in a way that enhances and promotes a healthier and happier urban condition. Buildings and spaces are the two underlying elements that every culture has in common. It’s the only thing I could ever remember wanting to do for the rest of my life.
My work and research today stems from both of these affections.
What do the best firms do to be successful?
Architecture is a business first and foremost. Without understanding all of the elements that go into creating a successful business, it is very difficult to build a viable architectural practice. We need to look at the way the business of architecture has succeeded and failed in the past. Then draw from the successes and test those elements against today’s market, trends, cultures, etc. Successful firms are constantly looking for new ways to build and innovate the business model of architecture.
How do best firms create a model for others?
The idea of transparency is leaps behind in architecture. Creating a sustainable transparent model in architecture is going to take both accredited firms and young studios like ourselves to reveal the trials, tribulations, and successes of what it takes to build a practice. It will allow the field of architecture as a whole to excel as a secure and lucrative business.
These days businesses are started (and failed at) every minute. I think we need to look more to the tech world and how its transparent values draw an enormous wealth of energy, innovation, and funding. It is my hope that this will allow us to deliver even greater value to the community and its investors while promoting lucrative probability for architects.
The most successful firms will look at many industries and absorb elements that could both grow the practice of architecture but also allow firms to build upon the successes of their allies and competitors. The firms we will be looking to in the future will be transparent practices that will work with interdisciplinary leaders to work towards a more comprehensive model for architecture. Practices will be more open to join forces and offer each other and their apprentices clear methods in how to achieve success in architecture.
What defines a great practice?
A great practice balances evolution and revolution, aesthetics and design, and business. Architecture must first develop a foundation by embedding the core elements of business. Without a secure and sustainable business, we are simply promoting the idea that the industry should remain in a state of struggle. Design and innovation are becoming a more viable and valued asset to practices today (the tech industry is in large part to thank) which allows great practices to present those elements as an added value to the investor. I think young practices have a lot to bring to the table when it comes to interacting and engaging with the culture and the community that it is serving. They are getting better at connecting to everybody and anybody.
There are a few practices today that are building great architecture brands through new modes of social media, storytelling, interdisciplinary business development teams, and strategic partnerships. It is apparent that we must market more than the iconic architect now, and instead build a brand that can offer much more than a building. I think this is the future of architecture and one that will define many great practices in the decades to come.
What was the defining point which inspired you to jump off and begin your own firm?
In 2010 I moved to China to work for MAD. After about 8 months I was recruited by a developer to lead a team in the investigation of pre-fabricated sustainable homes that we would manufacture in China. I was given an office and a taste of what it would be like to run my own studio. I moved back to North America in 2012. I could spend my time looking for employment or spend my time looking for my own clients. It was a critical and absolute moment for my career.
What do you think is the single biggest issue impacting the profession in the future?
I’ve always found it peculiar that architecture is driven and controlled by developers and city officials. M-Rad desires to seek out opportunities to engage the community and revitalize urban conditions. We do this by sourcing and targeting land and building development opportunities before the developer engages the architect. We bring the project to them. Architects should consider engaging the developer and leveraging our understanding of the built environment to instigate the projects that actually need to be developed for the community. It is our job to understand where improvements can take place or where development could bring value both to the community and the investor. My hope is that one day architects will drive the development sector and in doing so will create a lasting bond between the communities, their investors, and their architects.
