Deep Dive with Trey Terral
At A43 Architecture we are passionate about good design. Our greatest asset lies in the minds behind each project. In our team features, we dive a little deeper into what drives our team members and how they infuse each design with creativity and innovation. This month, we are excited to feature A43 Project Architect, Trey Terral.
What inspired you to become an architect, and what keeps you passionate about your work?
As a child, I was always drawing, often to the detriment of my schoolwork. If I had the opportunity to draw for a grade instead of write, I took it. I also found skyscrapers, and the skylines they made, to be so breathtaking. I was already drawing buildings all the time when I learned that doing so was a well-established profession. From the time I was about twelve years old, I knew an architect was what I wanted to be when I grew up.
My conception of architecture was understandably elementary at the time. Since then, my interests have thankfully evolved. I still love drawing and playing with building form, even if it isn’t a skyscraper; it’s the city and the way we live in it that really inspires me now. I love opportunites to contribute to a streetscape, whether it’s a large-scale urban design project or just how a building interacts with the city around it.
2. Can you share some of your favorite past projects and explain what made them stand out?
My favorite A43 project is the Pumphouse. It was incredibly fun to design something which could be so abstract that still has such a big impact on its surroundings. Designing infrastructural buildings for residential settings offers a set of challenges. It taught me a lot of lessons about navigating the relationships between clients, partners, and governing bodies.
The project I’m most proud to have designed is the Wahiawa Value-Added Product Development Center. It was an incubator component in a larger portfolio of projects contributing to the bolstering of circular food economies for the island of Oahu. We were tasked with retrofitting an existing warehouse to become a state-of-the-art food processing teaching space and product incubator. Learning about adaptive reuse, food systems, and the Hawaiian economy was very interesting, and interacting with state and federal entities was predictably challenging. Ultimately, the funding came up short, but the project was given multiple national and international awards.
3. How do you approach the design process? What steps do you take from conceptualization to completion?
I’d love to give a highly romanticized answer about the intuition of the designer, but in truth I have a very methodical process, to the surprise of no one who really knows me.
Design is first about responding to a problem. Accumulating lots of relevant data is how every successful design starts. These data come in the form of programs, site boundaries, code restrictions, local and regional vernacular, views, cultural implications, budgets, and a myriad of others. Without that input, it’s impossible to properly set up the design problem.
After the problem is established, I can begin to implement my point of view in the form of a concept, the really fun part. That concept is then put through the constraints set by the problem, answering question after question until we land at a complete and well-tempered project.
4. How do you integrate sustainability and environmentally friendly practices into your designs?
For most, hearing about sustainability in architecture brings to mind solar panels, green roofs, and other systems related methodologies. While those are important and effective implementations, I’m far more interested in achieving sustainability through the creation of resilient communities. This comes in the form of making shared places where people want to be, building lasting architecture that people want to maintain, and promoting and utilizing planning policy that encourages sustainable development patterns.
5. Describe a project that presented unique site-specific challenges and how you approached and resolved them.
The Overlook Residence was the most challenging site I’ve ever worked with. Most of the site is greater than 30% grade, which is deemed unbuildable by Teton County Building Code. The site also falls entirely within a dormant landslide. And, it had a driveway running through it that needed to be widened while maintaining access to an upslope property.
In reference to the aforementioned process, data was plentiful. Questions about where to site the home were answered for us, as there was only one place it would fit. The rest of the challenges all required constant coordination among several different engineering consultants, code officials, neighbors, and the clients. Organization and persistence was the key to getting a long-awaited permit.
6. What do you believe sets your architectural style apart from others in the field?
Musician Gabriel Kahane asks, “Why do villains always live in houses built by Modernist masters?”
That question has always resonated with me. My contemporaries and I were trained in school to worship at the altar of Modernism. We were told that linguistic style should be eschewed in favor of the more syntactic approaches of Le Corbusier and Mies van de Rohe. As an American, I know I’m supposed to believe in a foundational concept, but over time I’ve come to be far more convinced by results-based policies. That is to say that, while the results of some modernist architecture can be warm, detailed, and humanely-scaled, a lot more produces something sterile, stark, and sometimes downright terrifying.
I think we have lost a lot of humanity in architectural design. In denying the role of the craftsman that was so key to linguistic styles (victorian, baroque, neoclassical, etc.), we’ve thrown the baby out with the bathwater. Contemporary design needs to learn to embrace ornament. There has to be a middle ground between the economy of Modernism and the ornamental humanity of previous styles. Incorporating this thought into my approach certainly separates me from most others in the field. Some might even call it heretical.
7. How do you handle criticism or differing opinions during the design process, and how do you maintain the integrity of your vision?
It’s been my experience that, more often than not, criticism helps to maintain the integrity of your vision. Even good designers can become myopic about their work - external input is a necessity. Most of us have egos that keep our points-of-view nice and steady. As long as that holds up, and the more we can try to empathize with the opinions of others, the richer the expression of the concept tends to be.
8. What are your thoughts on the future of architecture and how it may evolve in the coming years?
I think architecture is emerging from a dark period. For the last hundred years, the academy has been occupied with creating and reinforcing a school of theory. Younger generations, however, have become distrustful of academic dogma. In many fields, this exemplifies the danger of “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” But, in the case of architecture, we’re due for a good dose of skepticism.
Young architects are already showing a willingness to be more expressive and less constrained by theoretical doctrine. This was attempted once with the postmodernism of the 1980s, but it was tainted by a culture of cynicism and disposability (or maybe it was just the mountains of cocaine). This new generation has sincerity and optimism. I think they’re genuinely interested in making the world better, and I think they’ve given themselves the tools to actually do it.
9. Do you have any advice for aspiring architects who are just starting their careers in the field?
Architecture has a notorious reputation for overwork. I’ve seen young architects pushing back against that pretty hard and I think it’s a good thing. If you’re driven to make your work into your life, that can yield great results, but it’s not required. Be disciplined and efficient, and then go have a beer with friends, or dinner with your family.
Born in central Louisiana, but raised all over the US and Canada, Trey has a background that has cultivated eclectic tastes and a genuine curiosity in the new. Trey began his career alongside A43 Founder Chris Jaubert in the shadow of the Tetons, but has since practiced in firms specializing in urban design and residential, educational, commercial, and brewery architecture in several states. Get to know Trey and the rest of the team here.
Curious about working with Trey? Schedule a call today.