Johnny Svendborg
The Work Questionnaire.
What made you go the way you chose to go?
Being an architect means that you are part of teams shaping the surroundings of people’s lives. The way I see it, an architect is therefore responsible for adding qualities to those surroundings as well as solving the functional issues related to that task. In that sense, architecture is made of a unique symbiosis of art and function, ethics and aesthetics.
What’s the greatest difficulty you had to overcome to do what you’re doing now?
Saying goodbye to a fixed monthly salary.
What’s the greatest difficulty you face on a daily basis to keep on doing what you’re doing?
Let’s say I often have to remind myself that there’s more to life than architecture.
When did you find yourself thinking, “Well, this is it. I’m really doing what I want now”?
In my first year of studies at the Royal Academy of Arts.
How did you set your activity up? What was the process that led you to do what you’re doing?
I wanted to explore a more personal artistic crossover between art and architecture, and decided to turn my back on large architectural offices.
How do you imagine the future?
I hope that the western world will be wanting less superfluous architectural work, and more ethical and clever architectural solutions.
What would you consider to be the main quality in order to survive in your field?
Being original and not just copy the international images, while at the same time keeping in mind and understanding such various topics as the possibilities a given context has to offer, the tectonics, the complexities of architecture in terms of a client’s needs and so on.
And what is the indispensable flaw that someone should have in order to get into your business?
Curiosity, ambition and talent.
Filed In: Architecture
September 21, 2011 at 5:00 pm