As promised in the  Eileen Gray Made a Chair to Love post, here are five interesting things I learned about Eileen Gray. Please let me know if you found some other interesting points about her OR if you think the order of interest should be rearranged.

1.  Eileen Gray lived to be almost 100 years old (98 to be exact)! I am amazed at how intensely she took to furniture design, especially when it came to lacquering. As I read about her, one thing that stands out is that this woman had to have had a sense of humor. After all, one of her well-known designs – the Bibendum Chair – was inspired by the Michelin Man. Wait… what? This is the 1920s. The Michelin Man has been around since then?! Even more mind-blowing, the Michelin Man was a muse?! Whoa.
2.  In 1922, Gray opened up her own furniture shop and named it Jean Désert after an imaginary male owner “Jean” and her love of the desert. At least, this is what is claimed; however, reading through her history, wouldn’t it have been just as plausible that the name was a nod to her love interest at the time, Jean Badovici? They were in a relationship starting in 1921, AND she included him in the naming of the house she designed and built-in 1926 – Villa E.1027. Let’s break this down: E = Eileen, the number “10” is for the letter “J” for Jean, the number “2” is for the letter “B” for Badovici, and the number “7” is for the letter”G” for Gray. She’s got a pattern.
3.  Eileen Gray taught herself architecture! I am not kidding. She literally created her own apprenticeship program that included studying theoretical and technical books, drafting lessons, and shadowed another woman, Adrienne Górska, who did have formal architectural training, out to building site visits.
4.  Le Corbusier stayed many times at E.1027. Sometime in 1938/1939, he decided to vandalize the walls with Cubist murals of naked women, despite Eileen’s clearly making it known that she wanted this building to be free of any decoration. I guess this starchitect thought he knew better what to do with her building, and I am saying this with a lot of sarcasm, just in case there is any question.
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5.  Eileen Gray is connected to royalty! She was born Kathleen Eileen Moray Smith. Her name was changed to “Gray” because her mother was the granddaughter of Francis Stuart, 10th Earl of Moray. After the death of her uncle, Eileen’s mom became the 19th Baroness Gray in 1895 and all her children were known as Gray from then on.

If you want to know more about Eileen Gray, the website ARAM | Eileen Gray is an excellent resource.
The book, Eileen Gray: Her Work and Her World, is also a great resource. Select the affiliate image link below to check it out. 

FOR: Architecture & Design-Lovers with little time or desire to read full articles in design publications.
WHAT: A one-paragraph summary of a random article that I personally found interesting interspersed with commentary.

ARTICLE: Object Lesson – The Story Behind Eileen Gray’s Iconic Transatlantique Design by Hannah Martin, Architectural Digest, February 2020

SUMMARY: I enjoyed reading this page-long article on the subject of Eileen Gray and her Transatlantique Chair. Apparently, the chair’s name was entirely too long because it is now commonly known as the Transat. But then again we all love to create nicknames, so why not for this? The Transat was inspired by ocean travel. Gray made only 12 of these chairs herself, and they are now a precious commodity.  One of these chairs was recently sold for $1.5 MILLION!  Reproductions are going for approximately $3,500.00 minimum. If you don’t believe me, look it up. Complete jaw drop. Now I really want to design furniture. Who’s with me?

EXTRA CREDIT: This article actually made me want to look a little bit more into the life of this Irish Architect and Furniture Designer.  If you are curious about what I found out, read about it here: Top 5 Interesting Facts to Know About Eileen Gray.

Are you interested in getting this magazine for yourself or for a family member or friend?  You absolutely can!  Select the affiliate image link below.

If you are an aspiring architect, a “young” architect, a veteran architect, or a “I could be an architect, but I just don’t to, but I’m curious about what they do, so imma stay over here on the sidelines and peek in to see what’s up” non-architect (I’m out of breath trying to say that last one. whew!), this is a list – based on my own experience – that WILL make you better at what you do or don’t do, because don’t we all want to get better? Don’t we? Well, LET’S GO!

Visual Inspiration. Kaohsuing National Stadium, Taiwan.

2. Education

Education is an absolute necessity to being a better architect. The same places that you get inspiration from are places that can provide education. It is a mindset. Absorb things as they are, find those moments to meditate on experience, but do not forget to ask yourself: What can I learn from this? How can I incorporate this into my own work? Everything is a learning experience. So where can you step up in your education?

• Study what inspires you – Where can you get inspiration? Go back to point #1 (It’s not an exhaustive list, but a good place to start).
• School and/or College – There is something about the world of academia that forces your brain to think bigger than your immediate surroundings. This has never rung as true to me as it has at this very moment in my life. How? I’ve been through college, received my degrees, worked in the profession for years, and have convinced myself to go back to college to take additional classes to eventually get my Masters. The surprising thing is that I absolutely LOVE it. I know. I’m just as shocked as you.
• Studying for Exams or Certifications – Let me just tell you right now, studying for exams of any kind is a BEAST. I am not a fan of test-taking at all, buuuttt I have to admit that by studying for the exams that would allow me to get my Architecture License, I learned more about what my role as an architect involved more than from anything else in my whole experience up to that point in my life. A lot of good came from that kind of painful experience.
• Completing your CEUs – Completing your what? CEUs = Continuing Education Units. Yep. Our requirement to keep abreast of the ongoing updated information does not stop once we obtain our license or certification. It is not a choice for us if you want to keep your license or certification. But don’t view this as a burden. It is this kind of push that helps us to keep getting better and better at what we do. 
• At your place of employment – Wherever it is that you work, you can learn something, but you have to pay attention, ask questions, and listen to the answers. Most importantly, KEEP asking questions. Keep your ego out of it! If you don’t know, look for the answers (google is my first friend) and then go ask for additional clarification. There is never a time in your whole life when you will know the answer to everything. Shoot. I’m still figuring things out. 

Now that we are at the end of this list of mine that itemizes what I believe would make a person a better architect (particularly pointing a finger to myself), I invite others to go ahead and let me know what else can be added to the list. Maybe we can come up with a follow-up list of three more ways to push us to be a better architect.

~ JSLove

Welcome! Welcome! I am so delighted that you decided to stop by and check this blog out. Shhhh. Don’t tell anyone, but to be perfectly honest with you all, this is really a place for me to spill the beans about my experiences being an architect and essentially self-analyze what I’ve done right and what I could have done better. That’s right, I want to find out ways that I can be AND do better in this world of architecture, design, and construction. If this is something that is of interest to you, then, please, read on. Shoot! If you feel like you have some insight and tidbits from your own perspective that you would love to share, leave a comment!  I only ask that you be respectful.

Our firm, DESIGN LOVE STUDIO, has been in business officially for just over a year now. It has been an amazing, scary, exhilarating, and anything else you can think of kinda feeling. One thing that has been impressed upon me – even though I always knew this – to be an architect means that you are ALWAYS learning. ALWAYS.  It makes sense, considering that we call this profession the “PRACTICE” of architecture. You get better at it because you are always practicing. “Practice makes perfect,” right? Except there is no such thing as perfection. However, there is such a thing as “exceptional,” and that is worth striving for. That IS what we are striving for with Every. Single, Project. So how can I be better at my chosen career path? How can I help others like me be better? I’m going to tell it: tell my project stories, tell about my thoughts, talk about lessons learned, provide go-bys for processes, and whatever else I come across as my partner and I continue building our architectural business. Let us all end up being better together. LET’S GO!!! 

 ~ JSLove