26 REFLEXION | 2022-23 | AIA Utah To watch the full interview, please scan this QR code: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy8YBmNF6gA and I said, “Marty, I don’t think this is going to work, and I don’t want to get in the way of what you’re trying to accomplish here.” He said, “Fred, have you ever heard of a Spalding?” He said, “When I was a kid in the public streets of Brooklyn, it was during the Second World War. There were lots of things that you couldn’t get. One of those things was rubber. Spalding made a little pink rubber ball that we used for everything we did. We played stickball with it. We threw it against the wall. We played every game we had, but no one else had a Spalding but me. If we got in an argument or they got mad, I just put the ball in my pocket and went home. So, this is my Spalding.” Well, it turned out that it was. I suddenly became known as the Hillel architect. We then did another one at Brown University in Providence, and then another one in Maryland. I consulted in Florida: I consulted in California. I was traveling all across the country, helping people work out their Hillel plans. They would introduce me as their Mormon architect from Utah. It was really pretty humorous. Tell me how architecture has changed since you began. The reason I went into architecture was that I love to draw. Those were the moments that I most enjoyed, sitting down by myself and sketching with a pencil and bringing ideas out on paper. It is what it was all about. When we started in Trolley Square, Ralph Evans, one of our partners, became enamored with what the computer industry was doing to our profession. I had no interest in it. One day I walked into the office, and there sitting by his desk was a big plotter. I think he paid $200,000 or something for it. I think he went way out on a limb, and I thought, “Ralph, what are you doing?” But he had more foresight than I did, obviously. And then, as we moved down into Exchange, everybody had to have a computer at their desk. Except me. It became inevitable that this is where it was headed. And for the first time in my life, I had the impression I was out of my league. I didn’t understand how computers worked. I didn’t have any interest in them. I just wanted to draw, and when they took the drawing component away from me, that was when I began to lose interest. And to see now what comes out of the computer is just staggering. But it left me behind. How did you cope with that during that period? I think I made it work by transitioning into the relationship component of the firm. I was never very strong politically, but over the years, I had been able to create relationships that were willing to be helpful to me. For example, I’d been asked to do a home for Jon Huntsman and his family in Park City. That created a relationship with John that led to designing their Corporate Headquarters building in the Research Park and the Huntsman Cancer Institute. I think the part of architecture that has remained constant is your relationship with people. For those, like me, who think of architecture as being a place to express yourself with your hands, with the pencil, there is less opportunity. I think there are many very creative individuals who don’t like to draw. I find that discouraging because I think that’s where the essence of creativity comes from — internally through your fingers and into a pencil. And that seems to have disappeared. I’m quite surprised at how many young people come to interview for a position, when you ask to see their portfolio, they only have what’s on a computer. Projects that you’re particularly proud of? Multiple, multiple houses. I’ve had the opportunity to do some really fun and wonderful projects residentially. The Hillels we were involved in back East are a big part of my life. The first phase of the Huntsman Cancer Institute is another one that I hold in my memory bank. What about disappointments? Yeah. The ability to function within the political structure to win new work. That was just a very frustrating part of my practice. We were rarely successful in plowing through that terrain. The interviewing process is a huge part of that, and I was never very comfortable with that part of it. We were successful when we landed the Broadcast Center at the University, and Huntsman was an example of going through that process. But there are a lot of second places. Maybe that’s one of the reasons I spent so much time in residential work. I didn’t have to go through that process; also, working with commercial developers who would come to you, you didn’t have to go to them. Advice for young people? One of my employees some years back came in and stood in front of my desk and said, “Fred, I want to be like you. What do I do?” And the first thought that came to my mind was: Maintain and keep your relationships. That has been an important component, not only my practice, but I think my life. I want to maintain the relationships with people I care for and who I think care for me. ... I think that’s where the essence of creativity comes from — internally through your fingers and into a pencil.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy ODQxMjUw