Learn to sell something, anything. You’ll never learn more about what it takes to run a business than when you put yourself out there and make an offering.

– Michael Kilkelly, Founder of ArchSmarter

***

Be persistent and don’t give up on your dreams. Find the best team members to build your business with and, most importantly, – don’t be afraid to dare and enjoy what you do.

– Adi Biran & Lihi Gerstner, Founders of Splacer.co

***

It’s all about surrounding yourself with the most talented people who can help you realize your vision and stay most true to your ideas.

– Natasha Case, Founder of Coolhaus

***

Studying architecture is just the greatest thing there is. The skills learned are actually quite good for management. You learn to form a vision, present this vision or break it down to smaller tasks.

– Kaspar Helfrich, Co-Founder of Archilogic

***

I hope that if architects and design minded people are impacting development and urbanism in a greater way, our buildings and our communities will only get better.

– Ari S. Heckman, Founder of ASH NYC

***

Architects have a huge contribution to make to the world in the 21st century – particularly in shaping how we can live sustainably and happily within ever-denser cities and within the Earth’s resources.

– Will Hunter, Founder & Director LSA

***

Just get started, and don’t be afraid because the people who are successful are willing to fail and so you should be too.

– David Belt, Founder of Macro Sea

***

I would like to see architects be less passive in their roles and with their profession. For me that means real estate development. But it could mean any number of other variations on the trade. Architects are holistic thinkers. I am at my best when I use my right brain and my left brain equally. Architecture school hones both of these hemispheres in a way that’s not common in other professions.

– Kevin Cavenaugh, Founder of Guerrilla Development

***

Start today…! I suffered from analysis paralysis for a long time, fearing I’d never be able to save enough working capital to make a run at starting a business. I was determined to spend as little as possible to make it work.

– Eric Reinhold, Founder of 30×40 Design Workshop

***

In the architectural profession we mainly think about solutions, and we constantly challenge how things are normally done. I think that’s a rare quality.

– Jakob Lange, Partner at BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) and Head of the BIG Ideas project unit

***

I see a profession that is completely different from the one we know today. Traditional practice is broken – I yearn to see solutions that we can’t even imagine today.

– Marc Kushner, Founder of Architizer & HWKN Architects

***

I think that the most important step is to just do it. It sounds bold but in the end you need to think about your business idea and how customers will use and pay for it. Finally, you need to implement it. Do not wait too long; make it a reality.

– Antje Kunze, Founder of SmartBetterCities

***

My advice to architects who want to start their own business is to put creativity at the heart of their activity, and to try to invent new things that can be really useful for other people.

– Filippo Schiano di Pepe, Founder of CoContest

***

As architects, we like to think that successful projects come because we have a great idea. But a project’s success is actually down to risk management by a practicing and experienced developer.

– Roger Zogolovitch, Founder of Solidspace

***

Go for it. I think you just have to start small, and start with what you can do with your own hands and feet, and find a way to be innovative. I think the biggest trap that you can get into is borrowing a lot of money and then finding out that it doesn’t work.

– Matthew Griffin, Co-Founder of Deadline Architects

***

Follow your heart and do what you love to do. However, if it’s business you want then you need to learn to take care not only of yourself but also your customers.

– Qi Su, Co-Founder Modelo.io

***

Architects have to educate themselves a lot more in the areas of digitalization, programming, economics, and the invisible infrastructure of cities. It’s not enough to simply understand how a building is drawn and set up if you want to shape and think about the modern cities of tomorrow.

– Andreas Rauch, Co-Founder of CABIN SPACEY

***

What are your favorite quotes that inspire you?

The post 17 Inspirational Archipreneur Quotes that will Motivate You in 2017 appeared first on Archipreneur.

We met David Belt, the Executive Director and Founder of Macro Sea and Nicko Elliott, the Design Director of the company in the summer of 2015 for an interview for archipreneur.com. We already talked about the New Lab in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Now after four years of working on Building 128, the 780 sqm high-tech design and prototyping center located in a 100 year-old former machine shop for the American ships used in both World Wars, opens to the public.

“In designing New Lab, we rejected industrial fetishism, iphone-ization, and tech 4.0,” Nicko Elliott said. “We took an archaeological approach to futurism in creating a dignified space that reflects the ingenuity and integrity of the people working in it.”

The stylistic period appealed to the design team because of its emphasis on indeterminacy, environmentalism, and a collaborative techno-optimism — it conferred a sense of glamour to engineering, science, and technology. The period also lent an appropriate frame through which to ask: How do we create an inspiring, contemporary workspace for today’s designers, thinkers, and entrepreneurs?

Working with Marvel Architects, Macro Sea created a variety of workspaces – offices, private studios, advanced prototyping shops, and lofts – with shared amenity spaces like lounges, communal worktables, workshops, and meeting spaces. The architectural team devised suspended bridges from the building’s existing gantry cranes to create connective social and exhibition spaces. The teams took detail cues from the existing building – both restoring and expanding upon the inherited language of the space.

“As developers and designers of the space, we were very attracted to this particular community that is simultaneously at the top of its intellectual and technological game, while looking into the abyss as entrepreneurs,” David Belt said. “We wanted to build for them.”

Eschewing open floor plans and traditional cubicles—as well as typical office furniture—Macro Sea custom-designed lightweight, demountable workstations with quilted wool and wood panels for sonic and visual privacy. Secluded spaces for individual or small group work are interspersed with communal work areas and interior plazas over two floors, thus emphasizing Macro Sea’s intention to strike a balance between the need for privacy and the benefits of collaboration in design and fabrication.

While sourcing furniture by such late-period Modernists as Gaetano Pesce and Carlo Molino, Macro Sea developed a range of trestle furniture including an LED infinity-mirror reception desk, exhibition vitrines for physical and digital content, and vertical landscape installations. All custom furniture for the project was fabricated in Brooklyn, largely in the Navy Yard itself.

The resulting effect is an expansive yet comfortable workspace for 500 individual entrepreneurs representing over 50 companies.

Location:

New Lab, Building 128, Navy Yard, 63 Flushing Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11205, USA

Project Data:

• Architects: Macro Sea
• Planning/Construction: 2012 – 2016
• 7,800 sqm (84,000 SF)
• 9,000 tons of steel
• home to 50 companies

The post Presenting the Redevelopment New Lab, which Brings Startups to a Former Shipbuilding Facility appeared first on Archipreneur.

This week’s interview is with David Belt, the Executive Director and Founder of Macro Sea and Nicko Elliott, the Design Director of the company. Macro Sea is a New York based real estate development firm whose mission is to create unexpected value in underutilized places.

I saw one of David’s presentations at Studio Talk’s “New Build Enables“ at the MakeCity festival in Berlin. He presented his latest development New Lab, a facility in the Brooklyn Navy Yard that is transforming 84,000 square feet of space into a high-tech design and prototyping center, which will enhance the Yard’s initiative to become a national model for sustainable industrial parks.

I liked his creative approach to unique urban developments and his mission to pursue projects that he finds interesting. I met David and Nicko in their latest Berlin development project in Kreuzberg. Macro Sea turned an old factory building into a new paradigm of the study abroad experience. I got a tour of the building and the design and living environment is truly inspiring. You can check out some images of this visit later in the post.

I had the pleasure of speaking with David and Nicko after they gave me their tour. Here, you can read about the Macro Sea story, and David and Nicko’s approach and thoughts on developing projects, tips to start out yourself and much more…

Enjoy the interview!

What made you decide to found Macro Sea and to develop unique urban projects? Was there a particular moment that sealed the decision for you?

David: So I’ve been in the construction industry for a long time and I have a project management company in New York that does development management and project management for a lot of different types of client groups.  In 2008, the economy sort of collapsed, and I was really interested in – instead of doing projects for other people – trying to do my own.

I felt like I was getting very bad at project management because I didn’t like serving clients anymore. I wanted to do just projects that I was interested in. So I sold a part of the project management company to some of the guys who worked for me, and I told them that they would take it over. Then I started Macro Sea.

We had just done a project in Rome, and when I got back to New York, I thought it’s one thing to take a beautiful building in Rome and do something with it, but I wanted to take a shitty strip mall in the US and make it a cultural place. Because the economy was failing, there were all these empty malls and strip malls. And so I worked with artists and architects, and we started doing renderings of repurposing these places and looking at what to do with the parking lots of the strip malls, because they’re big.

So that’s when we came up with the idea of doing swimming pools out of dumpsters. We did those as a test in Brooklyn and we got a lot of press, which opened a lot of doors. So it was really like 2008, 2009 that we started experimenting with different types of projects. And I still was involved with the project management company, but I wasn’t running it on a daily basis.

So Macro Sea became your number one business?

David: Well, not my number one business. But it was a vehicle to do more interesting things and be able to take more risks. But now it is, but at first, it was much more of a collaboration with people and experimentation.

Could you tell us a bit about your approach to real estate development? How do you normally start your creative urban projects?

David: Well, it’s either one of a couple different ways. It’s either that I see a building that I want to do something cool with. So I am looking for a program because I can really see that something special should happen to a particular building or a place in the neighborhood.

Or, I have a program that I want to play with, like, I think there is a better way to maybe do student housing. So then I put together a proposal for a group like this (CIEE), and then we do a real estate search and try and find a building that we think could be adapted to try some new things in.

Or sometimes Nicko or Rebecca or somebody from the company has an idea, and we pursue that.

So at the beginning it’s purposely not very structured. But once we take on the project, it’s not a coincidence that it gets done. We work really hard . . . We’re rigorous and focused and we really, really push. Because we work so closely with my project management company as well, we’re able to execute at scale, and we know we can put in good cost controls, so we can get it done on time and on budget, instead of just being in the vapor.

What are the current projects you are working on?

David: Right now, we’re finishing this project in Berlin. We have a beta version of New Lab, but we’re building a very big new version of New Lab. That’s under construction right now. It will be finished next year. We are doing a real estate search for a new project to do something similar to what we did here in Berlin, but one that we will operate.

So Nicko and Rebecca and I are looking at buildings in other cities in Europe and in New York. What else are we doing? Those are the main ones for Macro Sea. And then I’m also involved with DBI in a couple of hotels, and we just finished a theater in Brooklyn.

What do you find the most fulfilling about your job as a developer?

David: I get to work with really good people, so the most satisfying thing to me is working with the team and surprising ourselves with what we can do. As I told you earlier, Macro Sea is pretty small.

But, for example, Rebecca works with us as our general counsel and she’s never had another job. She came straight from law school. But she’s now negotiating contracts in four different countries, doing partnerships with the City of New York, and law firms report to her.

And it’s been very satisfying to me watching her grow. And working with Nicko, and having him challenge me on things design-wise that I ordinarily wouldn’t do, but then really liking them in the end. So it’s really about working with people that are great and working with young people and watching them mature and watching them grow – and blowing my mind.

Do you have any advice for “Archipreneurs” who are interested in developing their own project?

David: I’ve been giving talks at a lot of architecture schools, graduate programs, and I always say the same thing, which is, “Don’t be afraid of money, and don’t be afraid of the spreadsheet. And if you want to build good things in the world, you have to just see the financial piece as a design constraint.”

Don’t be afraid of money, and don’t be afraid of the spreadsheet.

So I always think to myself that architects are so much smarter and more qualified than most developers, but they’re so afraid of business, and they just say that’s not their thing. They’re not going to be able to build shit with that attitude. They’re going to end up doing signage for an airport or a little design detail for some big firm.

And if they could just take that extra little step further where they feel empowered to understand the business end of things – which is not that complicated – they’ll serve themselves well. It is complicated, but on a scale of the other types of complexities that most architects or designers have to deal with on a daily basis, it’s really much simpler than that.

So my advice is: just try. Just get started, and just buy a cheap building that you can afford. Or put together money with friends. Or just get started, and don’t be afraid because the people who are successful are willing to fail and so you should be too. It is like there’s no risk to failing or just pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. The risk is not doing that.

Just get started, and don’t be afraid because the people who are successful are willing to fail and so you should be too.

But how would you finance a first development project? Would you partner with somebody, or do crowdfunding? Any tips on how to manage that?

David: Well, so we’ve done all of that, right? I did not come from a wealthy family or any money at all, and so the way that I started was by leveraging the fact that I had relationships with people based on the other buildings we had done, and they knew we could execute. At that point it takes being willing to ask them for money for a crazy idea. And a lot of people helped me: they’ve lent me money to buy buildings, they’ve supported projects. We’ve also done crowdfunding, and I really believe in it. So we’re friends with Fundrise.

…I interviewed Ben Miller before and he said that New Lab was one of the most interesting projects he crowdfunded…

David: Good. Yeah. I really like Ben and Dan, and I really believe in them. And I believe that they’re going to do very well. And I believe that crowdfunding is going to have a big impact. And so if you live in a neighborhood and you see an empty building and you can get your community together and raise money together and own it together, it’s an interesting thing, right?

How do you see the future of architecture? In which areas (outside of traditional practice) can you see major opportunities for up and coming architects?

David: I really don’t know.Maybe, Nicko, do you have any idea? I’m sort of a one-trick pony. I have one answer which is, no matter who you are, de-commoditize yourself.

I have one answer which is, no matter who you are, de-commoditize yourself.

So architecture is often a commodity that you can buy, and so if you have an idea and want to do something special, then it’s not something you can just buy on the market. And so do more of that, and don’t be afraid of the money part. But I don’t know.

Nicko, what do you think? What do you think the future of architecture is? I don’t think that’s the future of architecture. That’s what I would like.

Nicko: I think it’ll probably shrink. It’ll become more and more of a luxury item because there’s so much that can be automated and outsourced these days.

the ability to build coalitions and tell stories – that’s always going to be the thread running through future of architecture and that’s something that can’t be removed while so many other parts of the job would be lost to technology

David: So, before, you needed your creative, class European, American designer, right? And now, developing countries, because of the Internet, people can collaborate from anywhere.

Nicko: The one thing I would say is that the importance of the relationship of designer to the project and it’s stakeholders. That personal relationship – the ability to build coalitions and tell stories – that’s always going to be the thread running through future of architecture and that’s something that can’t be removed while so many other parts of the job would be lost to technology and to algorithms, etc.

David: And the thing is that money follows vision, right? And so, without vision, nothing happens. And so I agree with Nicko. The architects or the designers who are able to maintain a clear vision will never be a commodity, right?

About David and Nicko

David Belt, Executive Director and Founder

David is an active real estate developer who has worked on a diverse range of projects that vary widely in size, scope, and location. David is also the Founder and Managing Partner of DBI, a firm specializing in real estate development, construction consulting and project management.

Currently, David and Macro Sea are working on a redevelopment in the Brooklyn Navy Yard called New Lab, which will bring interdisciplinary high-tech fabrication and collaboration to a former shipbuilding facility. He is also spearheading the new development and restoration team for the Hotel Chelsea.

David has been a guest lecturer, panelist, and participant for institutions such as Columbia University, RPI, Penn Design, Community Design Collaborative, the Atlantic Conference, the Venice Biennale, and MoMA.

Nicko Elliott, Design Director

Nicko leads creative and technical consultants and organizes fabrication, manufacturing and construction teams to create impactful objects and environments. With emphasis on materiality and detailing, Nicko employs graphics and branding, interior and landscape design, and product design to ensure consistent design quality across multiple project platforms.

Pre-Macro Sea, Nicko worked on projects at the intersection of architecture, landscape and public art in North America, Asia and Africa. He has been a guest critic at Coloumbia GSAAP, University of Toronto and the Ontario College of Art & Design.

The post Archipreneur Interview: David Belt, Founder of Macro Sea & Nicko Elliott, Design Director appeared first on Archipreneur.