Archlosophy

Melissa taught me during my third year of architecture school. I remember her to be a very down-to-earth person, approachable and patient to students’ questions, and giving feedback in a thoughtful manner.

Published on Archlosophy on 1 June 2023.

1. Why did you decide to become an educator and what is your teaching philosophy?

Melissa: We’ve always wanted to teach, and we’ve done lectures and workshops as well. But we were quite busy.

Laszlo: Busy with work. In Jakarta the traffic is crazy. It could go for an hour and it wasn’t feasible with work.

Melissa: And when Covid happened, we were doing a lot of work, it was quite intense.

Laszlo: When the restrictions were lifted and things started going back to normal, we thought teaching would be a good opportunity to get out of the house and meet people. It was a good way to get to know more architecture as well.

Melissa: It’s good that it also reminds you what your ideals are when we were studying- you forget sometimes while doing your projects. When doing your projects you have limited time and you don’t get to explore.

Laszlo: There’s so many practical considerations that restrict what you do, but in uni, student projects you don’t have to deal with them, it’s different from real life. It’s liberating.

Melissa: What’s nice for us as well is you do get one brief and be able to see different approaches from students, how they tackle and analyse the brief is very enjoyable. 

Laszlo: We’ve got studios where we create our own briefs, so that gives you the opportunity to explore things that you’re interested in, to test things. In the workplace you might not be able to do so. Read upon things, when you’re preparing the brief you’re condensing your thoughts on a topic. There’s a lot of good things about teaching.

But to go back to your question on teaching philosophy, I don’t think we have a teaching philosophy. Maybe not yet. Maybe later it’ll come, when we teach for longer.

Melissa: But I think in a way our teaching is quite loose, we try not to be so directive, we want to encourage diversity, different way of working and raising questions. Giving students their own voice. There might be a studio where we would structure a set of exercises, the way we did it was to try new things for the students.

Laszlo: Not to impose, but to encourage the students to raise their questions and find their own answers.

2. In a studio, would you prefer teaching together or individually? Is there a distinct teaching style between the two of you?

Melissa: I don’t mind either but for me, having 2 perspectives is always good. When I was studying as well, I experienced both. With one tutor for a group of 9 students, and similarly with two tutors. If the number of students are the same, as a student you get more consultation, you’re more invested in the student’s project. 

Laszlo: Guest crits are good as well. In one of our studios, we invited them and they said things that we didn’t think about. It can be very helpful. The more eyes you have on a project the better, which makes teaching together good. In a small way, we do things slightly differently because our backgrounds are slightly different. Melissa studied interior design before becoming an architect, my architecture education in Hungary was quite technical and I do look at how things are made- construction, probably more so than Melissa who looks more into interior details. In a way, we might have slightly different priorities which can complement each other when the two of us are teaching together.

3. Melissa, you grew up in Jakarta, studied in Sydney and Delft, then worked in London before coming back to Sydney to teach. How have these international experiences helped shape your views in your design practice, and your teaching philosophy?

Melissa: Well first those places are very different in terms of environment and culture, it helps one be more open and more tolerant, or adaptable is the better term. You can’t help but compare things. And I think the references that come to mind are different because you’ve seen different things, rather than someone who’s stayed in one place in terms of what it contributed to.

Laszlo: Yeah, I guess what I have learned is that you have to keep an open mind. Every place is different, every place has a certain way of doing things, there’s no point in sticking to one way, you have to embrace peculiarities whether it’s how you deal with clients or what kind of construction techniques are available. Things work very differently in the UK and Jakarta. You can’t force one thing on the other, you need to adapt and keep an open mind. 

Melissa: That’s what we learned early on, there’s no point in trying to enforce something that’s done elsewhere. For example, the construction worker in Jakarta is not able to do a certain detail, if you force it the result may not be to your liking. So you might as well adapt it, find out what works and stick to that. What this has taught us is, say working in Indonesia where things are less contractual and things can change quite fast. We have to improvise more often than when we were working in the UK. Working in different types of firms on different types of projects as well.

Laszlo: Even within one country there are differences between one architect’s office and another one. People have different ways of doing things. 

Melissa: Laszlo’s firm worked on a variety of projects, housing, galleries and so on. For me where I worked the longest, it was mostly schools and exhibitions, it was very community-focused. It’s different because you’re not just working with the client which could be the government or private entity but the way my previous office would work with the local community, with workshops, very participatory. 

Laszlo: If there’s anything that I’ve learned is that architecture is a collaborative discipline, you can’t enforce one’s own ideas as much as you want.

4. What are some important skill sets a student should develop while in university and why should these matter?

Melissa: To learn how to see and be open, and to learn critical and analytical thinking. Questioning the nature of things. I remember that was one of the things Louis Kahn said to a group of students. He might have been asked to work on the same type of program for different clients, but he always questioned the nature of things. I think that’s quite important for personal solutions.

Laszlo: It’s critical thinking for me, that’s probably the most important. You don’t follow what’s been done before, you question why and how. But besides that, there are all sorts of practical skills that you need to acquire. And the most important is simply a sense of space and an understanding of space and scale. I think the best way of doing that is through drawing and sketching. You look at a space and try to draw it. Somehow that process of connecting your eyes and hands and putting it on paper develops a good understanding of what’s around you. I think that’s what architects do. Imagine things and spaces and put them on paper.

Melissa: To read a lot. It’s what students should do as well. Beyond the reading recommendation. Besides learning how to draw, it’s also about talking to people and learning how to present. You can have the best ideas, but if you’re not good at presenting them whether through presentation or through drawings, then it doesn’t do justice to your design. These practical skills are important.

Laszlo: There are very few professions where people produce their best when they’re older, in their 60s or 70s. Whereas with architects you often see that.

Melissa: It’s also a learning curve. What you’ve been taught in university is a certain set of skills. But when you’re running a practice you need another set of skills and that’s not necessarily taught in university. That I think is a learning curve for most.

5. As a couple running a firm together, how do you avoid letting personal conflicts or dynamics affect professional decision-making and processes?

Laszlo: We don’t avoid it haha. Just kidding.

Melissa: I think having different backgrounds helps. We recognise each other’s weaknesses and strengths or interests. Having staff helps too. You need to maintain that professional working environment right so it’s different when you’re just with the other half. In the beginning, it was hard because both of us were working in different firms with different methods of working- aligning that takes time to adjust.

Laszlo: I think it’s having the right environment and discipline to be professional. When to give in and when to not give in.

Melissa: Not taking things personally.

Laszlo and Melissa, finding joy in the journey of architecture

6. What advice do you have for other couples who are considering starting an architecture firm together, and what are some potential challenges they should be aware of?

Laszlo: Is this something that you’re considering? Haha.

Melissa: There are many who have drifted apart.

Laszlo: I’m not sure if it’s because of the working relationship… I think the main thing is to try to separate your personal lives and your professional lives. The best way to do that is to not work at home.

Melissa: As early as you can, obviously at the beginning that’s the most economical.

Laszlo: That’s even if you’re working by yourself that’s a good thing. When you work from home, your working hours get stretched, and your whole life gets consumed with work. When you’re a couple, it could really take over everything. If you have an office, 5.30, or 6 pm you go home that’s it. Leave work behind and try not to talk about it till the next morning.

Melissa: From both sides, you have to see and analyse whether you could work together, and whether you can align. Sometimes you can’t and that’s okay. Another piece of advice is don’t succumb too easily to outside pressure and expectations. 

Laszlo: What do you mean by outside?

Melissa: I think this is business advice in general, not just architecture couples who want to start their own firm. It’s not the kind of business where you can see a result within 6 months. Building traditionally takes a longer time. Others who are not in the field, whether it’s family or friends, they’re expecting to see some progression or result quickly. You have to be mentally patient.

7. The Future of Architecture: How do you see the role of architects and architecture evolving in society, and how does your firm plan to contribute to that evolution?

Laszlo: There are many interesting developments. Compared to how things were a hundred years ago, I think the role of architects somehow diminished a little. Producing buildings has become a more complex project with more parties involved and the influence of architects has gotten in a way less. These days especially in bigger projects it’s very common to have a design and build contract. It’s the contractor who’s in charge of the design beyond a certain point when it comes to the technical aspects of the building and architects are quite powerless in that sense. 

At the same time, I think architects have a set of knowledge that goes beyond buildings. Architecture deals with so many things. Cities and people.

Melissa: Yes, with people and the social realm of things too.

Laszlo: With that, you can have an influence on society and how things develop.

Melissa: In that sense, one should be socially more aware. You have that social responsibility- in how you influence a space, in a city. Maybe architects can become facilitators, you can see beyond doing work additionally in the traditional sense where you wait for a client to commission your work.

Laszlo: You can propose projects. You can be vocal, and speak your mind. With their unique skill set and perspective, architects can make very valuable contributions.

Melissa: You don’t have to wait for a brief, you can start one first. You can help facilitate what the brief will be. In a way that’s how we got our first project in Indonesia.

Laszlo: That’s one way. If we’re looking at the more distant future with the developments of technology, it’s very interesting. I don’t really know where architects will be. One thing that looks quite likely is that human errors will play less of a part in the architecture of the future. Everything will be more standardised, more perfect in a way. Not just in terms of design, but in terms of construction as well. We’ll see, hopefully there’s still a need for architects.

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In a way, design is a lot like playing chess. You make a move and you’ll have to predict the consequences on the other pieces. Just like chess players, they play different variations. Architects do that as well. If AI can speed that up, it’ll make life easier.

– Laszlo Csutoras

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Laszlo: It’s interesting when you look at competitions. A lot of times the brief has conditions and restrictions in place, but actually, the winner is the one proposal that broke those rules and went beyond the restrictions.

Melissa: And that’s what happened with Green Square Library. You cannot build underground, and the winning design is the only one that was built underground.

Kai: I think for student competitions these days, it’s almost an unspoken rule that you have to break the brief to get top 3. I do see the appeal of it.

Melissa: I wonder though, how much of that gets done in a studio.

-End of Interview-

Thank you Melissa and Laszlo.

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