Here is a wonderful interview by John Chase, with John Morefield, a twice laid-off architect who set up shop at Pike’s Place Market in Seattle offering architecture advice to anyone that wanted it for just 5 cents. This quickly led to a number of freelance clients who got his business off the ground.
Q&A
Can you give me a little history on Architecture 5 cents? What inspired you to start doing this?
I was laid off twice last year and decided to go at it on my own. Frankly, there are no jobs out there anyway. I worked at the Pike Place Market selling fruits and vegetables one summer when I was in architecture school and fell in love with farmer’s markets. I’d had this idea for years as a way of bringing architecture to the people, and engaging in my local economy. Being a young design practice I needed a way to meet people, so one cold morning I rolled the booth out to the Ballard farmers market, put out my tin can and started talking to people…. and it worked. I just wanted to engage in real conversations with real people about their homes and how I could help. I had an entire project that was invoiced for under $200—all it involved was just sitting in this couple’s condo with a cup of coffee and redesigning some things and finalizing their drawings. They DIY’d the rest of it. Some projects resulting from this have been more complex traditional projects. I tell people that “no project is to small for big idea’s.
How has the current economy shaped this service?
I’ve been preaching the ripple effect. One nickel turns into one conversation, which turns into one local design job, which is Built by a local contractor who hires a local painter who buys from a local supplier. So, every local dollar that’s spent in a neighborhood is worth three-fold in the economy.
If I can start as many ripple as possible in Seattle and assist others, like me, in starting booths and making ripples in other cities in the U.S., we can start a wave of opportunity to carry us through this. Some people come to me at the booth and say: “Do you know a good landscaper?” Yep, I do. The ripple effect is real and it will be a driving force in what fixes this economy.
The construction industry especially—the more money that goes to construction, the more money that goes to designers, to municipalities, to suppliers, to contractors, to painters, to delivery truck drivers, to concrete pourers. The list goes on and on, and all those people take their money and buy groceries and pay their gas bill and buy new trucks.
Architects are often thought of as overpriced luxuries so many home owners do not consider them in their building process. Any advice for your field?
Many people find architects unapproachable, or they think that their house in nowhere near requiring an architect, or that their project is too small. But a lot of architects, like myself are approachable and a lot of the people we talk to here have small projects that just need a little bit of guidance.
The impression people is that I’m only charging 5-cents for architecture. You cant get a house designed for a pocket full of nickels, but I’m not issuing legal drawings from this booth or from my website. The nickel is just my way of starting conversations with potential clients. Every architect has had those times at parties where a friend of a friend comes up and says, “Oh, you’re the architect. I have a question for you.” I’m doing the same thing, only I’m collecting a nickel for it and donating it to the local food bank. At the end of the day that nickel will hopefully turn into a client that will be on a normal, billable rate.
Thank you John Chase for permission to publish your interview!
Visit his blog
Meanwhile in Montreal, Bernard Lachance poured his passion into a videotaped plea to be on Oprah’s show. It worked.
THE LACHANCE METHOD FOR SELF PROMOTION
The pitch
Mr. Lachance carries around a tape recorder to give passersby a sample of his music. If they like what they hear, he sells them tickets on the spot.
The gimmick
Once a sale is made, ticket buyers mark off their chosen seats on Mr. Lachance’s T-shirt map of the venue.
The venue
Using all his savings, Mr. Lachance rented the Chicago Theatre and made a YouTube video offering Oprah Winfrey two tickets for the June 6 show.
Lachance by the way, means chance.
