The Second Studio (formerly The Midnight Charette) is an explicit podcast about design, architecture, and the everyday. Hosted by Architects David Lee and Marina Bourderonnet, it features different creative professionals in unscripted conversations that allow for thoughtful takes and personal discussions.
A variety of subjects are covered with honesty and humor: some episodes are interviews, while others are tips for fellow designers, reviews of buildings and other projects, or casual explorations of everyday life and design. The Second Studio is also available on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube.
This week Anthony Laney, Founder of Laney LA joins David and Marina of FAME Architecture & Design to discuss the iterative design process, leadership and teamwork, how Laney LA has evolved, designing different kinds of buildings, refining their design sensibilities, and more!
Highlights and Timestamps
How Anthony became interested in architecture. (00:00)
I remember being ridiculously intimidated my first year of architecture school because I was sitting next to students who had far more experience in the industry. So at first it was terrifying. But the good news is I also enjoyed it. I loved the combination of conceptual thinking with physics, poetic musings with function, and client service. I just got really lucky in picking a major that, the education at least, was really enjoyable for me. (01:15)
The iterative process (04:00)
I had the opportunity where iteration was the assumed baseline of trying and failing. Whatever is happening in the brain, while we are testing ideas that are wholly imperfect then doing a post-mortem analysis, I think has so much relevancy to even the design process we do today. I’m always trying to encourage my staff to have that level of fearlessness of just trying things and separating the creative brain from the editing brain. I my opinion it’s so hard to do those things simultaneously. That’s one of the joys of architecture school, it puts you through enough repetition of creating and analyzing. It’s so hard to see the end of a novel when you sit down to write, but if you can enjoy an iterative process then I think you can get pretty far. (05:00)
Leadership and teamwork (07:20)
In architecture school, I had a love/hate relationship with team projects. There’s just a tension. […] But one of the things that was so living giving about starting my own practice is that I could surround myself with individuals who had truly complementary rather than redundant strengths. So I could go on my own journey and say, “What am I truly meant to do? What is my unique ability?” Who are the people I need to surround myself with who I could help go further than they could on their own, and they’re going to help me go farther than I could go on my own? I discovered a passion for teamwork. I’m obsessed with what are the ingredients that make a team that outperforms other teams. (08:10)
The office. (11:50)
How Laney LA has evolved. Expanding the type of projects Laney takes on.(16:00)
We’ve been trying to refine the type of work that we produce. It’s easy to say and hard to do, but we’ve been committing to every project having a strong connection to nature. A lot of our homes have a strong perspective on either a courtyard, a pocket garden, or a landscape. We want our homes to be known for material craft. We always try to find an ingredient to try and push farther than you might expect. […] It’s been a journey of trying to refine what we are standing for. Which I think can be a challenge for young offices when just existing can kind of feel exciting enough. (19:18)
Leadership and teamwork. (25:00)
Refining the type of work Laney LA does. (28:50)
Why would we believe that design thinking is powerful—testing and iterating—but in our business, we would expect to get it right the first time? That to me seem incoherent. (31:35)
Design process. (37:35)
Projects in different places. Primary homes versus vacation homes. (52:30)
