GLUCK+
RESEARCH / WRITING / DIRECTION / DESIGN / ILLUSTRATION / ANIMATION
GLUCK+ is a unique architecture practice -- it is also a construction company. Founder Peter Gluck is adamant that the process of building a building can improve by integrating the processes of design and construction. At GLUCK+, an individual architect is also a contractor. I was brought on to communicate externally this aspect of what makes the firm special, which resulted in 20+ bite-sized videos that live on gluckplus.com, as well as additional online and internal graphic and written collateral.
↑Selected Stills from Slideshow on GLUCK+ Website
Our goal was for people outside the firm to understand the big picture of how buildings are built, and how GLUCK+ is different.
The process kicked off with research: working closely with principals and staff to mine the what and why of the firm’s ‘Architect Led Design Build’ approach, including it’s effects. This meant tapping into the history of architecture and construction in practice as well as education, the current context, and the nuanced differences in the ALDB approach. The result of our research was a huge amount of information. The mission then became about organizing, distilling and refining.
With guidance from Founder Peter Gluck and Associate Bethia Liu, my partner Randy Rubin and I produced all aspects of 20 bite-sized videos, which continue to live on www.gluckplus.com
↑ Video interface on GLUCK+ Website, designed by Eddie Opara’s team from Pentagram
↑ ↓ THINKER MAKER A graphically split screen communicates how design and construction were historically learned and practiced in parallel. Once ‘professionalized,’ they split. The GLUCK+ approach brings them back together.
↑ ↓ PICTURE A BUILDING A visual demonstration of the function of architectural drawings, including their limitations their limitations. This video also exhibits the additional kind of drawings GLUCK+ provides to ensure clear communication during construction.
↑ ↓ I'M NOT A PROFIT Video gives a ‘voice’ to potential non-profit clients through graphic titlecards. Firm principals respond in interviews, referencing existing buildings as proof, including St. Francis of Assisi Early Learning Center and East Harlem School.
↑ UP IN THE TREES A vacation house is turned on its side and its parts stacked up to access the view. The main living space is cantilevered above in the forest canopy—up in the trees.
↑ ARCHITECTS DOING MORE When architects take on the construction process, buildings benefit. The front-end development of a project is a natural extension of that idea.
↑ THE STACK By making construction more cost-efficient, offsite construction is a viable option for urban infill sites that are otherwise deemed too risky to develop or difficult to build on, presenting an approach with great potential or moderate-income and affordable housing.
↑ BUILDING MATTERS The architects at GLUCK+ are also construction managers. A project is not filtered through different departments, but seen through entirely by the same people. We believe this makes for better buildings.
↑ LAYOUT How do subcontractors know exactly where to build their portion of the work? Translating an architectural drawing to site is a risky process, meaning subcontractor bids are inflated with contingencies. How to eliminate these contingencies? By making the process less risky and taking on the responsibility of layout ourselves.
↑ TRADE SETS Designing a building is like composing a symphony, but there is only one performance. To ensure quality and control costs, each player must understand their part exactly.
↑ TRANSPARENCY The building process is complex and messy. The GLUCK+ website provides clients a straightforward system to easily access and track all the documents involved in the process of construction. The progress of each construction trade is thoroughly and clearly documented, including overages and savings. Architect Led Design Build at GLUCK+ offers the building owner transparent access to our fiduciary responsibility.
↓ WHAT IS DESIGN? What is "the modern impulse" that drives our architectural practice at GLUCK+?