We worked on the Hotel Utah remodel. I was the project architect directing traffic. Many of the project architects over the big pieces of the project were more experienced than me. I would take design questions to Joe: “Joe, I can’t make these rooms fit. I can’t figure this out.” He said, “Go back, figure out what the problem is, and then come back with an answer or two, and we’ll talk about it.” So, I came back and said, “Okay, this is the problem. Here are two ideas. I like this one the best.” And he’d reply, “Yeah, I think that’s right. Go ahead.” So, after two or three of those, I figured out I didn’t need to ask him anymore, I’ll just do it. Then Joe got sick. The symptoms of liver cancer had been masked by blood thinner he took for a heart issue. By the time it was discovered, it was in late stages, and he died pretty quickly. But he taught me so much about how to get things done, how to make decisions, how to understand the problem, come up with the right answer, and then move along. I felt cheated that I didn’t learn enough from him. I knew he had so much more that he could teach me. Jeff Fisher became the principal in charge. I worked with Jeff a lot. He was a good, kind mentor and always willing to delegate and leave me alone and let me go, which was ideal for me. I appreciated his hands-off approach. I think it trained me to be a principal in the firm and to make things happen. So, you inherited the church as a client? I’ve heard it said that the best thing that happened to my career was that Joe Ruben passed away. It’s true; I spent the rest of my career working with the good folks at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on their projects. Why do you think you were so successful working with the church? I wondered that myself. What did I bring to the table that made it work so well? It’s really about hard work, listening and doing what they want. I think many people in the world imagine the architect as the master form giver, “I have all the control and influence over projects,” but the architect really doesn’t. You bring what you know, but it’s the client’s project. It’s their money, and they should get what they want. And if they want something that you don’t agree with, you’ve got to figure out how to make what they want work with the aesthetic that you want. I think I was pretty good at understanding what the client wanted and pushing our team enough to give them what they wanted. And I worked very hard. What’s the best part of it for you? I really like to see the building done and full of people. The design part is the most fun part; you know, I like to draw. It is rewarding to see that I can come up with a design solution. But the most rewarding is to see the place full of people. We did a project for Viewmont High School. They had a windswept, barren courtyard in the middle of this building. We enclosed the courtyard with this beautiful spaceframe structure and built a giant commons room. I saw it once during a lunch break; I’ll bet there were a thousand students in that space. It was so touching to see them using this space and enjoying it. What are some of the projects you’re most proud of? The Joseph Smith Memorial Building. That project set my course with this client and taught me the love of old buildings. I know more now, of course, than I did then, but I walk into the building and see things now that I must have felt or understood at some level, but I couldn’t have verbalized it. That building taught me so much about old buildings and about grace and beauty. I’m super proud of what we did with it and how it turned out. I was the design architect for the new East High School. Frank Ferguson and Kip Harris were the principals, with me tagging along as project architect. We tried to save the old school, but the district clearly did not want to do that. We said okay and figured out how to surgically insert the new school, tearing out the old part. It was this difficult Tetris, getting new pieces in and old pieces out. I did a lot of design work under Kip’s watchful eye, and he liked a lot of what we did. That project was really meaningful to me. But then I’ve had a lot of really great projects. I joked with someone about a once-in-a-lifetime project or a 14 REFLEXION
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