MICHAEL B.

LEHRER, FAIA
LEHRERARCHITECTS LA

WHATS THE MATTER?

AND WHY DOES IT?

Mayors Institute on City Design

COMMUNITY MATTERS STORIES MATTER GOODIES MATTER MATTERS OF FACT LEADERSHIP MATTERS DESIGN MATTERS

COMMUNITY MATTERS
ALWAYS

We are part of the community of THE CULTURE, THE PEOPLE,THE COUNTRY Which consists of the community of THE REGION,THE CITY Which consists of the community of THE NEIGHBORHOOD Which consists of the community of THE STREETS Which consists of the community of FAMILIES Which consists of the community of US AND OTHERS. We are part of the community of THE MANY We are part of MANY DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES AT ONCE. We are part of the community of ONE, OURSELVES

COMMUNITY MAKES SHARED HISTORIES

Communities share time and/or place, and/or values. This sharing is where our histories begin. Making places that matter, that aggressively make people happy to be alivework, live, recreate, share historiesis noble, sacred work. It is a rudiment, not a luxury item.

MAKE COMMUNITIES OF DESIRE.

COMMUNITY MATTERS: LEHRER ARCHITECTS LA STUDIO MY COMMUNITY. MIXING UP PUBLIC AND PRIVATE

COMMUNITY MATTERS: LEHRER ARCHITECTS LA STUDIO MY COMMUNITY. MIXING UP PUBLIC AND PRIVATE

COMMUNITY MATTERS: LEHRER ARCHITECTS LA STUDIO MY COMMUNITY. MIXING UP PUBLIC AND PRIVATE

COMMUNITY MATTERS: LEHRER ARCHITECTS LA STUDIO BEFORE

COMMUNITY MATTERS: LEHRER ARCHITECTS LA STUDIO MY COMMUNITY. MIXING UP PUBLIC AND PRIVATE

COMMUNITY MATTERS: LEHRER ARCHITECTS LA STUDIO MY COMMUNITY. MIXING UP PUBLIC AND PRIVATE

COMMUNITY MATTERS: LEHRER ARCHITECTS LA STUDIO MY COMMUNITY. MIXING UP PUBLIC AND PRIVATE

COMMUNITY MATTERS: LEHRER ARCHITECTS LA STUDIO MY COMMUNITY. MIXING UP PUBLIC AND PRIVATE

STORIES MATTER

COMMUNITY MATTERS: LEHRER ARCHITECTS LA STUDIO MY COMMUNITY. MIXING UP PUBLIC AND PRIVATE

COMMUNITY MATTERS: LEHRER ARCHITECTS LA STUDIO MY COMMUNITY. MIXING UP PUBLIC AND PRIVATE

COMMUNITY MATTERS: LEHRER ARCHITECTS LA STUDIO MY COMMUNITY. MIXING UP PUBLIC AND PRIVATE

COMMUNITY MATTERS: LEHRER ARCHITECTS LA STUDIO MY COMMUNITY. MIXING UP PUBLIC AND PRIVATE

STORIES MATTER

COMMUNITY MATTERS: LEHRER ARCHITECTS LA STUDIO MY COMMUNITY. MIXING UP PUBLIC AND PRIVATE

STORIES MATTER

COMMUNITY MATTERS: LEHRER ARCHITECTS LA STUDIO MY COMMUNITY. MIXING UP PUBLIC AND PRIVATE

STORIES MATTER

COMMUNITY MATTERS: LEHRER ARCHITECTS LA STUDIO MY COMMUNITY. MIXING UP PUBLIC AND PRIVATE

STORIES MATTER

COMMUNITY MATTERS: LEHRER ARCHITECTS LA STUDIO MY COMMUNITY. MIXING UP PUBLIC AND PRIVATE

STORIES MATTER

COMMUNITY MATTERS: LEHRER ARCHITECTS LA STUDIO MY COMMUNITY. MIXING UP PUBLIC AND PRIVATE

STORIES MATTER

STORIES MATTER
Community is a self-fulfilling prophecy
If someone tells you a place is fancy, it becomes fancier... If someone tells you a place is bad, it becomes badder The extremely psychological nature of urban design and the way we value communities.

A Psychological Endeavor
CITIZENS ARE LAY PEOPLE Citizen is like every architecture student before his/her 1st day of Architecture School They dont have the language, verbal or visual to describe what they want They know what they want (maybe), and probably no more In urban design, how one describes a place can often be the transformative work, preceding by years, actual transformation on the ground.

Deep local knowledge shines here. Find the meaning where others havent: Love your community and mine it for every ounce of beauty (jewels, tarnished jewels and junk-into-gold)

GOOD NEWS MATTERS

actually more than bad news.

GOODIES MATTER
All stakeholders/constituents/communities need long term and immediate gratification
NO MEMORY NO PROPHECY People have no memory longer than 3 weeks backwards or able to project 3 weeks forward: JUST LOOK AT THE PRIMARIES. Potholes, infrastructure. Making a Difference: Palpable, visceral change

QUICK, POTENT, IMPACT, MESSY, CHEAP

DEGREES OF PERMANANCE

GOODIES MATTER: FELT IN YOUR GUT even more than your brain

GOODIES MATTER: FELT IN YOUR GUT even more than your brain

GOODIES MATTER: FELT IN YOUR GUT even more than your brain

GOODIES MATTER: FELT IN YOUR GUT even more than your brain

GOODIES MATTER: FELT IN YOUR GUT even more than your brain

GOODIES MATTER: FELT IN YOUR GUT even more than your brain

GOODIES MATTER: FELT IN YOUR GUT even more than your brain

GUT

MATTERS OF FACT
PROBLEMS INFRASTRUCTURE DEGREES OF PERMANANCE DELIGHT

MATTERS OF FACT
PROBLEMS
Projects are PROBLEM solving endeavors. PROBLEMS.
For normal people that means somebody has failed, has been derelict, incompetent, malfeasance. LEADERS EMBRACE AND MANAGE TENSION Solving PROBLEMS is the nature of real work

MATTERS OF FACT
INFRASTRUCTURE:
THE CONUNDRUM OF INFRASTRUCTURE
The more effective it is, the more invisible it is.

INFRASTRUCTURE:
THE CONUNDRUMs OF INFRASTRUCTURE

The more effective it is, the more invisible it is.

INFRASTRUCTURE:
Often one-liners: the LEAST it must be

INFRASTRUCTURE:
versus the MOST it can be

INFRASTRUCTURE:
BEAUTY AND INFRASTRUCTURE, invariably de-linked, MUST BE AN INSEPARABLE UNITY TO CHANGE THE CULTURE
THINK OF HOOVER DAM

BEAUTY AND SUSTAINABILITY

BEAUTY AND SUSTAINABILITY

BEAUTY AND SUSTAINABILITY

MATTERS OF FACT
DEGREES OF PERMANANCE:
Fit the punishment to suit the crime. Have a huge palette of solutions Quick, potent, impact, messy, cheap versus Long term, neat, methodical, costly

MATTERS OF FACT
DELIGHT:
MAKING COMMUNITIES OF DESIRE

PLACES OF PRIVILEGE
JOY IS A MATTER OF EXTREME GRAVITAS

QUICK, POTENT, IMPACT, MESSY, CHEAP

QUICK, POTENT, IMPACT, MESSY, CHEAP

QUICK, POTENT, IMPACT, MESSY, CHEAP

QUICK, POTENT, IMPACT, MESSY, CHEAP

DEGREES OF PERMANANCE

OPTIMISM
TRASFORMING BAD NEWS INTO GOOD NEWS Important building stock that is blighted, if not destroyed, can become the heart of renewed, and in this model, deeply enriched, city.

OPTIMISM

OPTIMISM

LEADERSHIP MATTERS
KNOW WHAT MATTERS AND HOW TO MATERIALIZE IDEAS This is very hard to do. Feelings matter, being included matters Engage the complete citizen and his/her senses. Set the short and long term scene, continuoulsy. Calibrate and respect expectations.

DESIGN MATTERS
VALUING VALUE AND VALUES PSYCHOLOGICAL, AESTHETIC, COMMUNICATION, IMAGINATION, BUILDING, TECHNICAL, PROCESS SYNTHETIC SKILL SET

Believable, desirable intention can capture the imagination

It is always about the PRESENT-FUTURE.