Today we’d like to introduce you to Max Levy.
Max, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
When I was seven years old I saw a model of a building. I can still vividly remember the enchantment of its miniature spaces and shadows, and the quiet thrill that this small object could predict a full-size building standing in the sun. Also, from the very beginning, I loved to draw. Through drawings, I found you could explain the world to yourself and to others. I grew up in Fort Worth on the edge of town and enjoyed exploring the construction sites of new houses going up nearby.
I guess you could say I’ve always loved the idea of starting with nothing (a blank piece of paper, a blank piece of land) and making something (a drawing, a building) that is in a way a whole new world within itself. I went away to architecture school in California, then worked for some remarkable architects in San Francisco, Chicago, and finally, Dallas, gaining experience in every building type imaginable. In 1984 I opened my own office. Although we do mainly houses, we recently completed a rural wedding and event center in the countryside near Austin and a columbarium in Dallas for a thousand souls.
Currently, we’re doing a backyard art studio, a house in the Bahamas, and an interesting commercial building along Central Expressway.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I guess our most difficult hurdle has been learning, through trial and error, who are the best contractors and craftspeople out there, which ones are dependable, where do they fall on the spectrum of cost and skill, how do their personalities mesh with other trades and with our clients. Since a building is the biggest expenditure our clients will ever make, we do struggle (and I think usually succeed) in making the design and building process a fairly enjoyable one.
Overall, things have unfolded for my office in a pretty smooth way. Perhaps that stability has arisen from the fact that I always aspired to keep my office small. This has allowed us to concentrate an unusual amount of personal attention on each project. That type of focus allows a certain level of imagination to germinate in a project, it allows refinement, and often it alerts us to problems up ahead that we might not catch if too many distractions were present.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We are known for bringing nature into play architecturally. By that I mean our buildings visibly enjoy the passage of sun and shadow, the channeling of rainfall, the animating qualities of breezes, and the careful framing of views of landscape or sky. One of the things I like most about this design approach is that it is so democratic: for example, we all have equal access to a beautiful view of the sky whether one is in an affluent part of town or a troubled one. And we can accomplish the framing of that view in an expensive way or inexpensively.
I think of buildings as refuges from this hectic world and have found that aspects of nature, framed by architecture in a certain way, can quietly bring a soothing quality into peoples’ lives. Working in this manner our work has been recognized by local, state, and national design awards, it has been widely published, and I have been invited to lecture on the subject at such places as The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, the University of Texas, and The National Arts Club in New York.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Dallas is a great place in which to be an architect because there is so much that needs to be done here. As a result, any little triumph you achieve architecturally makes this city a noticeably better place in which to live. Early pioneer accounts of this area describe a setting of great prairie beauty. Unfortunately, over time we have pretty much messed up that setting. The joy of architecture is that through thoughtful design, bit by bit, this place can be healed.
Contact Info:
- Website: maxlevyarchitect.com
- Phone: 214 368-2023
Image Credit:
Charles Davis Smith, Jerry Hayes
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