Brandon Haw
Brandon Haw at his office in the Seagram Building by Mies Van Der Rohe
“Art affects our emotions, but architecture has the ability to improve our lives”— this is the claim Brandon Haw’s father, a minimalist painter and conceptual artist, made when Haw was debating attending Art School. “He said to me ‘look: you can say I don’t really like that picture or that sculpture, but it’s not the same as being stuck in a hospital bed or a school with no light, no air, and feeling miserable,’” recalls Haw.
Brandon Haw attended Bartlett School of Architecture and Planning in London before continuing on to Princeton University in the U.S. where he received his Master’s Degree in Architecture. After graduating, he worked at Skidmore Owings and Merrill before joining Sir Norman Foster’s studio where he oversaw major international projects including the HSBC World Headquarters in London, the award-winning Hearst Building in Manhattan, and the Faena District by Argentine hotelier, Alan Faena, in Miami. After 26 years, he left as Senior Partner and established his studio, Brandon Haw Architecture, in the iconic Seagram Building in midtown Manhattan by German architect Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe in 2014.
Today, BHA has projects underway around the world, including Colombia where his wife Mariana, the firm’s Communications Director, is from, including The Universidad de los Andes ‘Sede Caribe’ campus in the heart of Cartagena de Indias, as seen below.
You grew up in a family of artists. How did that influence you? My father was always building something— whether it be a studio or a garden from scratch. I was exposed to building at a very young age. I would spend all of my school holidays in my late father’s studio where he was sculpting or stretching canvas. I would also play hooky from school and spend time in my mother’s studio, she was a graphic design artist, so it has really been a part of DNA and upbringing to be aware of art and design and architecture. My Mother is still painting to this day, overlooking the ocean in Sussex, England.
What was your first memory of art, design, or architecture? My earliest memory was leafing through a Le Corbusier book at 8 years old, marveling at the architecture.
When did you know you wanted to study architecture and become an architect? I used to go around proudly telling teachers and school friends that I wanted to be an architect at 8 years old, I felt terribly grown-up. Most of my classmates wanted to be a policeman or astronaut, but I wanted to be an architect and design buildings. When I was 17 years old and debating attending art school, my father wisely advised me over a glass of wine that I grew up with art and could always return to it, but I haven’t studied or schooled myself in architecture yet. He continued, “you can look at a painting and be moved spiritually or intellectually, and if you don’t like it you can turn your back on it, but if you are in school or a hospital, that is your built environment, you can’t turn your back on it.” He convinced me to make a difference in people’s physical life and existence. The rest is history.
Irrefutably, as an architect, you design with what you experience. Experiences in the human condition, that is what drives me as an architect. Art and sculpture play an essential role in lifting the spirits and challenge us intellectually. Architecture is a physical component of reality and what we have to deal with, and if we can lift the spirits as my father said then we can really make a contribution to the world as we know it.
Where and what did you study? I studied at the Barlett School of Architecture in London. I was pleased to recently see that it has been voted #1, and still a top architecture school and university. I then moved to Manhattan and worked in construction on my own projects, and applied to a Master’s Degree at Princeton. I was accepted and upon graduation, moved back to New York City and have now settled here after living back in my home city, London, for a number of years.
Who were your mentors? My parents, especially my father played a huge role in my practice. Sir Norman Foster as well. I joined Foster & Partners as a young architect, at 27 years old, with only 30 people at the firm. What I found, as he was the same generation as my parents, was a tremendous affinity, rigor, and functionality of design, which resonated with my upbringing.Everything imbued in me by my father had found a kindred environment, everything was sorted into place. Working with Norman for all those years was an incredible experience, what a force as an individual and a true visionary. He was a great mentor and I still find myself, even today, when faced with a particularly challenging business situation asking, “What would Norman do?”
Who are some of your favorite architects or buildings around the world and why? Le Corbusier has remained one ever since picking up his book at age 8. His final building, Sainte Marie de La Tourette near Lyon, France, with its raw humbleness, beauty, and honesty is a favorite building of mine. As is his Chandigarh city project in northern India for its urban planning and the government building specifically. The Carré d’Art building by Norman’s practice in Nîmes, France as well as The Hearst Building in NYC, and Faena House in Miami, both of which I lead while with Norman. I also respect and admire Studio Mumbai, an Indian architectural practice. Finally, the Seagram Building by Mies Van Der Rohe with all its simplicity, attention to detail, and ability to do more with less
How did you find your studio space in the Seagram Building? The stars really aligned. I was the Senior Partner heading the New York office of Foster + Partners, which was located in Hearst Tower. I thought, how could I follow that? I remembered back to visiting NYC 18 years of age during my first year of architecture school, and I visited the iconic Seagram Building as a sort of pilgrimage. I thought how great it would be to get inside as I looked up from the Plaza and inside from the lobby. Years later, after working on 57th street on the westside in the Hearst Tower, I was talking to Aby Rosen and told him I was opening my own firm and looking for space, and the rest was history. He was a mentor and patron and we made it happen. That dream as an 18-year-old finally came true and I got myself into the Seagram Building. We were there for 5 incredible years before expanding and opening our Brooklyn space.
What have been some of the most rewarding projects you have created or worked on? The Hearst Tower and The Commerzbank Tower in Frankfurt with its 68 stories, which also remains one of the greenest skyscrapers with its natural ventilation, chilled beam cooling system, an abundance of natural light, and tall ‘gardens in the sky’ spiraling up through the tower. More recently, the Serena Del Mar development in Cartagena, with its passive approach to a hot and humid client and challenging environment. On a smaller scale, The New York Dermatology Group flagship building in Manhattan gave me the chance to work with amazing Italian craftsmen from the East coast of Italy, and my great friend Paolo Cassina. I always love working with him and getting into the nuts and bolts and practicality of building on an intimate scale. It won over 5 international awards.
How did you decide to leave Foster + Partners and open up BHA? When I first joined Norman at Foster + Partners back in 1987, he was 52, and when I reached a similar age I started to think about life, and what I wanted to do next. It was an amazing ride to have been involved with Sir Norman and his studio for so long, but I was hankering for something bespoke, smaller in design, and going back to my roots. I took the bungee jump and started the BHA studio with a small team of creative architects and clients who have become good friends. To quote the great social economist E.F.Schumacher, Schumacher, “small is beautiful.”
How is sustainability and creating “green” buildings an important aspect of your practice? Growing up in the 60s, I still have the original Whole Earth Catalog, Shelter Magazine, and Buckminster Fuller books— these were all in the studio at home on the bookshelf. My father’s best man was the brother of the avant-garde Archigram Group. To the point when I was 13, the first job I had was working with my father, who had purchased a used VW van and turned it into a recycling service for newspapers. 25 pounds for a van full of paper, and I saved up that money to hitchhike throughout Europe in the early 70s. Recycling, saving energy, and harnessing resources were always intrinsic to my upbringing. Counteracting climate change and creating green buildings has remained important to me, as seen in many of my projects including the Serena del Mar building in Cartagena.
How did you find your new studio space in South Williamsburg near the Brooklyn Navy Yard? Mariana and I had moved to Williamsburg and many of our staff members lived in Brooklyn as well, so when it came time to expand, it seemed like a natural choice. We found an amazing space in the old Pfizer building near the Navy Yard. It had high ceilings, natural ventilation, plenty of open space, and a garden. The building is also full of innovative startups and diverse non-profits including Little Flower for orphans, Cope NYC, The Pratt Institute School of Music, the African American Planning Commission, and Kimbal Musk, Elon Musk’s brother, has an urban farm here. We love the community, it is very creative and diverse.
What are some of your favorite local spots? We often frequent Vinegar Hill House, The Lighthouse by Naama and Assaf Tamir, Cafe Argentino by Christian Herrara, and Tabaré by Ramiro Lescano.
What is your dream project? It takes me back to the conversation with my father at 17 years old. I think of schools, creating a built environment to inspire children to learn by their physical surroundings. If you can inspire children by their physical or built environment, that is an ideal or dream project to me. The experience of hospitals as well— how can we improve such a complex organism? It is no accident there are experts in design; but the achievement and challenge to create hospitals to enliven and improve the patient and visitor experience, and those caregivers who have dedicated lives to helping others, that would be an amazing project I dream of doing.
What is your ideal city to build in? An elusive city for architects is Chicago. I’ve always dreamt of doing a tower there, in a city of towers. Rio de Janeiro as well, it is such a romantic and inspiring city with its many works by Oscar Niemeyer.
Tell us about Colombia? While I was working on the Hearst Tower, Austin Hearst introduced me to Alan Faena in Buenos Aires, and we became friends. I was traveling from London to NYC and then NYC to Buenos Aires and back to London, these kind of three-way trips across the globe. I love Buenos Aires and travel there regularly. When I was in New York and missing a proper Argentine steak and glass of malbec, I would frequent a restaurant in the Lower East Side, Azul, which has now closed, unfortunately. At the time, my wife Mariana, who is Colombian, was involved in the culinary business and working with Latin American businesses, including Azul, which is how we met. Coincidently, I have a number of current projects in Bogotá and Cartagena, including the Universidad de los Andes. I travel to Colombia often, and love visiting. The richness of the country, the flora, the fauna, the artisans. I also love the music, food, and horseback riding in the hills. An absolutely magical place.
Where do you dream of traveling next? I spent much of the year in our house in the Basque region in southern France. As travel was restricted due to Covid, it was a time to reflect. I hope to return to India and to the Greek islands. I have never been to Peru, but Mariana has told me all about the Sacred Valley, and is dying to take me there. She has shown me some amazing photographs she took while visiting. Apart from all of that, I want to go back to our home in France.
How did you find your Le Presbytère house in the Basque region of France? As a teenager, I used to holiday in France at these amazing beaches south of Bordeaux and Biarritz where we would camp and swim. Later on in life, while on a plane to Finland during a work trip, I came across a little advertisement for a home located 40 mins from the ocean and 40 mins from the Pyrenees. When I arrived at my hotel room in Helsinki, I found the ad in my shirt pocket. Long story short, the house wasn’t the one I ended up purchasing, but I found it and bought it from the community, it was actually sold by the village. I did the transaction with the mayor himself, and I have had it for 26 years now. It was the house where the vicar lived on the outskirts of a tiny village hamlet.
What is next for BHA? Continuing where we left off before the pandemic! We want to create great buildings, make a difference to society, innovate, look at new ways of doing things, contribute to the growing interest in climate change, see the realization of projects. Whatever life throws our way— we are ready.
Text: Veronica H. Speck Photo: © Brandon Haw Architecture (BHA) Follow: @brandonhawarchitecture