Interview Assignment

Interview with David Fong (Principal of FCA)

I sat down with David for about an hour and talked to him about the progression of his career:

He stated that from an early age, around the 3rd grade, he began noticing his love for structure and for aesthetics. He was always observant of what was around him- noticing the placement of windows, doors, tables. Etc., and maintained that he always tried to use all of his senses to grasp the character of a place.

To get formal education in the field of architecture he went to Berkeley and participated in the 5 year BArch program. But following graduation he was not able to practice in the field for two years since he returned home to help his ailing father in the family-run wholesale food business. After his father became well, he returned to architecture and started working for a number of firms: H & McKellen/ Hoop, Homestead, Emmen/Dreyfus & Blackford / SOM (I'm not quite sure about the spelling of some of these firms). It was during this time that he met Chiu Lin Chan, the second principal of the firm.

His so called "big-break" occurred after leaving SOM (following 5 years of 24-7 work and McDonalds every night), disenchanted with architecture after the impersonal and grueling lifestyle of a corporate architecture firm. He had returned home again to help his father and wasn't quite sure where his life would be headed. He was considering the possibility of running the family business until Chiu Lin called him about a project she wanted to secure at the (SF?) airport. Howard Freedmen was interviewing around 30 different firms at the time for the project, and competition was stiff. Both David and Chiu Lin did not think they were going to get the job, but to their amazement, ended up winning the bid. Following this project, things became much easier. Projects began to come in one after one, and steadily continued to create the practice they now have about 20 years later.

David attributes his success to a number of factors, which he maintains are necessary in this day and age for the starting architect as well:

1) Education is a lifelong process- Starting from the third grade and continuing to the present, David actively searched for ways in which to improve his knowledge of the field and of the world. An understanding of what surrounds you leads to a "responsive" architecture that is better in tune with the clients' needs.

2) Having an understanding that Architecture is a holistic profession- To be a "good" designer, one needs to realize that an architect wears "many hats." He/She needs to be a good salesman/ artist/ businessman/ lawyer/ engineer/ accountant/ etc. However, David did mention this type of approach is quickly fading since many secondary professions are being created- construction management firms, cost management firms, contractors, etc. This unfortunately leads to greater specialization and potentially greater intercommunication problems.

3) Part of architecture is gaining respect from clients-This involves having a huge knowledge base and being able to answer any/all of their questions thoroughly. Thus, his firm attempts to provide the "total package:" good design and construction documents with appropriate cost estimates. David believes the clients are a major contributor to the changes in the architectural profession today. They are quickly becoming more sophisticated; they have an understanding of the role of the architect and the other major players involved in a building's design and can consequently, drive more of the design process.

4) Understand the needs of one's employees- In his own firm he recognizes each employee based on their performance and rewards them accordingly. He purposefully keeps his firm small (30-40) people in order to keep track of the progress of each worker. He understands each employee yearns for some type of career growth, each in their own time, so reacts correspondingly to give them that opportunity. This leads to much happier people that enjoy doing the work. He also understands that each employee, if given the chance, can become a good project manager, a good cost analyst, etc. so accordingly gives those opportunities in his firm as well. He noticed, particularly at SOM, that raises always took too long to be given and approved, people were not noticed individually unless they were to pander to the boss, and room for improvement in status was minimal. He mentioned the story of one individual who had worked at SOM for 40 years and retired with the title of Senior Draftsmen. On his last day, no one gave him a farewell party except for David who took him out to dinner despite only working with him for a year. Stories such as these greatly influenced many of David's decisions for the management of his own firm.

5) One needs a positive attitude- To enjoy work is also to live life fully. He suggests taking a proactive role to enliven one's career even more.