Specht Harpman was founded in 1995 by partners Scott Specht and Louise Harpman, who began working together while classmates at the Yale School of Architecture. A small company with rigorous standards for modern design, the firm’s award-winning work includes commercial, institutional and residential projects, as well as custom furniture. The firms maintains offices in New York City and Austin, TX.
Specht Harpman was recently named one of the Wallpaper Magazine’s “Top 50 Up and Coming Firms from Around the World” in the magazine’s annual Design Directory. Specht and Harpman were named “Tastemakers” by House and Garden magazine and the firm has been included as one of New York City’s “Top 100″ architects by New York Magazine.
Awards: Specht Harpman has been honored with a number of design awards, including those from the Texas Society of Architects, New York and Austin chapters of the AIA (American Institute of Architects) and two Design Distinction awards from I.D. Magazine.
Publications: The work of Specht Harpman has been published in many national and itnernational publlications, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Architectural Record, Dwell, Texas Architect, Architecture, AD, Architectural Digest, Interior Design, Interiors, Constructs, The New York Times Magazine, Wired, New York Magazine, and W Magazine, as well as on G4 and HGTV. Most recently, the firm’s work for St. Edward’s University was featured in Architectural Record and Metropolis Magazine.
The work of Specht Harpman is also included in many anthologies promoting design excellence, including The 21st Century Office, New York 2000, Big Ideas for Small Spaces, Modern Interiors and, most recently, New Prefab Architecture and Re:Crafted.
Meet Scott Specht’s Home: 1103 Live Oak Ridge Road
Go to Modern Home Tour Featured Architects
An Interview with Scott Specht
Q: What is it about architecture in general and modern architecture in particular that excites you enough to make it your profession?
A: The most exciting thing about architecture is simply the possibility of having an idea and seeing it realized. There seem to be few professions now that allow you to stay with a project from the very first conception through to the complete and finished product. It takes lots of people and lots of time, but when it happens, it’s magic. And the best architecture happens when the designers and the clients have shared goals.
Modern Architecture in particular is compelling because it allows the possibility of creating entirely new forms, and the incorporation of materials that may not have been deployed in a building or home before. It is less circumscribed than traditional architectural modes, and permits a freedom of expression that we appreciate.
Q: Tell us something about you or your work that differentiates you and/or your work?
A: We try to expand the range of what is considered “appropriate” to architecture and we take risks by using unconventional materials and fabrication assemblies. We got our start as architects in New York in the mid 1990’s, and almost all of our early projects involved the renovation or restoration of manufacturing buildings into homes or work spaces. At the time, the projects were frequently on a low budget, and we came to love (and became adept at) the re-use and re-purposing of existing stuff in creative ways. We often incorporate found items, or materials that have local character into our work, and enjoy developing our projects from the unique nature of a site, the personalities inhabiting the place, or the work being done there.
Q: Give us your list of the five buildings, anywhere in the world, that have most inspired your design philosophy.
A: Although our work formally looks very different, I think the buildings of Bruce Goff have been a major inspiration, mainly in terms of his sense of experimentation and his willingness to incorporate anything – any material whether it is “architectural” or not – in order to achieve his vision. If you look at a house like ShinEnKan in Bartlesville OK, with walls made of anthracite coal and blue cullet glass, and ceilings of goose feathers, the level of fearlessness is evident. Also worth a look is his Bavinger House, in Norman, Oklahoma.
We are also inspired by Pierre Chareau’s Maison de Verre in Paris; by John Soane’s house in London; and the gardens of Roberto Burle Marx. Although stylistically very different, each of these works encourages exploration as opposed to static observation. They provide numerous ways to move through the work, and many vantage points from which to observe and contemplate the habitation and use of the space and the surrounding site. They are “picturesque” in a way that goes beyond the simply visual sense of the term.
Q: In 500 words or less, describe what you would do, architecturally, to Austin if you could design it to be your dream city.
A: Domes and Monorails! No, actually, I think that developing a pedestrian-biased city that maintains and emphasizes the unique, eclectic character of the place would be ideal. The city has gone a long way toward increasing density, and reinforcing the city’s core in the last few years, but along with that has sometimes come a tendency to duplicate architectural styles from other places, and to drain the city of its uniqueness. The things that draw people to Austin and to make it a wonderful place to live are those that embrace the combination of idiosyncratic personality and fearless entrepreneurship that defines the place. Things like the profusion of food trailers that have appeared across the city in the past several years should be emphasized and built upon. Some of this has to do with local policies that encourage risk-taking, but it also has to do with the confidence to pursue a unique and truly “local” way of building a city.
