Interviews with Francisco Eduardo Sá and Felipe Savassi

Felipe: I have graduated in architecture and urban planning from Izabela Hendrix University in Belo Horizonte (MG) in 2013 and I am a specialist in architecture and construction of sustainable buildings by W-POs Unileya from Brasilia (DF). | Francisco: I started college in the Graphic Design program in São Paulo, but I switched to Industrial Design and concluded at the Universidade Positivo, in Curitiba. My senior project back then was about urban mobility and I felt the need to design in a different scale. So finally I've got my bachelor’s degree in Architecture and Urbanism at Universidade Santa Úrsula in Rio de Janeiro.

Felipe: I like to understand the yearnings, desires and possibilities of our clients and turn them into a design. I like to see the transformation of ideas in reality. | Francisco: I've been always an applied student in arts in general. I used to sketch on my notebooks more than anyone in class. At the same time, I enjoyed get my hands dirty fixing things and disassembling things at home. I guess what motivates me the most is to find solutions for people's problem through the creative process of design.

Felipe: I’ve chosen architecture when I was 25 years old, after graduating in another major. | Francisco: Given my interests and skills, the design career had shown to be the only possible way.

Felipe: Sustainable modular architecture. | Francisco: Ultimately I've been design more private residences and offices. I would be happier if I could design public spaces like parks, museums etc.

Felipe: Always follow your dreams trying to innovate. | Francisco: Follow your dream, be honest with yourself, participate in challenges and get things done.

Felipe: Get out of your comfort zone and be always ahead of your time. | Francisco: A good designer will do something cool that everyone is expecting. A great designer will do something awesome that no one is expecting.

Felipe: Clean shapes, functionality, detailing and sustainability. | Francisco: Every design should answer its questions. It has to fulfill its symbolic, aesthetic and practical function. But all of this is useless if it doesn't move you.

Felipe: Good designs create efficient and more economic buildings besides being more beautiful. | Francisco: Good designs are ageless. They prove our ability of making things better.

Felipe: A totally Modular and sustainable city. | Francisco: The way our global society organize on this planet.

Felipe: A modular multi floors building. | Francisco: A space to care for the less fortunate and marginalized ones.

Felipe: Minimalism. | Francisco: I don't have a recipe. I just work following my instincts.

Felipe: Normam foster, Arthur casas, Oscar Niemeyer and Bernardes arquitetura. | Francisco: Dietmar Starke, João Figueiras (Lelé), Alejandro Aravena, Zaha Hadid, Kengo Kuma, Antoni Gaudí and many more.

Felipe: Mapa architecture because of their minimalism. | Francisco: Each one has his own style. But, for whatever briefing they were working with, their designs are carved in our memory.

Felipe: Linda house. | Francisco: Heydar Aliyev Centre, by Zaha Hadid Architects. It's a very impressive project. I risk to say it's the current state of art architecture has reached so far.

Felipe: Studying and searching for new technologies. | Francisco: Working in different ways, with different people, in different contexts with different projects. Diversity, worldview and experience were keys.

Felipe: Airplane pilot. | Francisco: Rockstar.

Felipe: The art of translating in design the yearnings and desires of someone. | Francisco: The transformation of given needs into results by drawings and creative work.

Felipe: My family. | Francisco: My family, my teachers and my friends.

Felipe: Resiliency. | Francisco: Inquietude, life experience, open mind, curiosity and humility.

Felipe: There were many. After the bankruptcy of my old business and my father’s death, I had to reinvent myself. | Francisco: Doubts about the path I had chosen, family issues, depression, lack of money are some. Whatever crisis you pass through, you see clearly afterwards.

Felipe: Digitally, with the highest level of technology. | Francisco: Whatever communicates best the idea.

Felipe: A modular smart house. | Francisco: I'm still deciding on that.

Felipe: Disseminate the modular architecture and construction around the world. | Francisco: To change people's perception about the value of good design.

Felipe: Great modular design | Francisco: Maybe an idea way different from the rest.

Felipe: We live inside buildings for the most part of our lives. The better the buildings, the better the life quality offered. | Francisco: Good design should bring improvements to things we use, like being more energy efficient consume, easy to disassemble and clean, low maintenance, safer environment, sustainable materials, friendly and intuitive interface and so on. Design is about of either attends new needs or making existing ones better.

Felipe: Modular architecture. | Francisco: I'm investigating the relationship of urban grid with social development.

Felipe: Modular house of medium and high standard. They allow you to have more freedom when it comes to design. | Francisco: Projects that didn't have one particular client, but a group of people instead. If I want to make this world a better place, I need to make good design that serves more people.

Felipe: Modular construction being more accessible in terms of cost. | Francisco: A change of mindset about design. Things shouldn't be designed to sell but to be useful. Understanding the importance of that in long-term might be key for our job be valued.

Felipe: Modular construction. | Francisco: Digital fabrication.

Felipe: Usually four months. | Francisco: That will depend of the project. As an Industrial Designer and Architecture I can't assume will take the same amount of time to design a chair than a tower.

Felipe: Archicad. | Francisco: Studying the site area. I try to picture what would be a person's window and taking a break for a cup of coffee.

Felipe: To foster and disseminate the modular architecture around the world. | Francisco: To be responsible when designing things for people.

Felipe: It works in both ways. | Francisco: It works in both ways.

Felipe: It's everything. | Francisco: It helps you achieve better results.

Felipe: Macbook Pro and Archicad. | Francisco: Sketchbook, pen, markers, Macbook, Archicad, Rhino, SketchUp...

Felipe: Materiality makes the whole difference. | Francisco: They change the perception that your design transmit to others.

Felipe: How was that possible? | Francisco: Can I use it?

Felipe: Congrats. | Francisco: Nice job!

Felipe: I have many, but I especially like those who are more independent and proactive. Yes, I believe in co-design. | Francisco: Someone that understands, contributes and encourages me in my work. I totally believe in co-design.

Felipe: Ferraro habitat. | Francisco: My masters, my family and my designer friends.

Felipe: Architect Entrepreneur, by Eric Reinholdt. | Francisco: Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell.

Felipe: Studying very hard. | Francisco: Watching, learning, trying and adjusting.

Felipe: Norman Foster | Francisco: My grandfather.

Felipe: I'm not famous. | Francisco: I'm not famous.

Felipe: Black, beach, barbecue, summer, dogs and Tesla. | Francisco: Turquoise, beach, egg, summer, computer and Lego.

Felipe: My container house, it was my first project, My laboratory where I had made a lot of mistakes. | Francisco: It happens to be more than once that I had an idea and before I start to sketch it I saw that was already made.

Felipe: Working out in the morning and having my creative hack on the beach. | Francisco: Getting feedbacks and encouragement to continue my work.

Felipe: No, It wasn’t. I wanted to be an airplane pilot. | Francisco: Possibly.

Felipe: I really don't know. It's way ahead of our time. | Francisco: Hopefully we will be living smarter, making sustainable use of natural resources and eradicating poverty like one single global community.

Felipe: I hate to respond people on social media in the morning. Haha. | Francisco: As a person and creative professional I still have a lot to learn. I made mistakes along the way and there's always one thing or two I can improve. I try to keep my mind open about new things and thoughts, so feel free to share some of yours as well.

Felipe: I am a specialist in architecture and modular construction. After graduating in International Business and traveling around the world, I have become an entrepreneur owning some night clubs and through ongoing remodeling I ended up falling in love with architecture. | Francisco: I've been involved with arts and crafts since I was a kid. It was always something I enjoyed doing it. I started at the Graphic Design program when I went to college, but after a year I switched to Industrial Design. As I went further, I was seeking to design in a bigger scale, so then I ended graduated also as an architect.

Felipe: The studio was conceived after a dissolution of a partnership with a container based architecture firm. At first, I have continued working with container architecture and later on there was a transition to modular architecture. | Francisco: I'm still figuring out how I will design my business.

Felipe: The art of translating in design the yearnings and desires of someone. | Francisco: The transformation of given needs into results by drawings and creative work.

Felipe: Modular houses and buildings with medium and high standard. | Francisco: Anything that challenges me through creativity.

Felipe: My favorite design is Linda house. It's a modular, two-story house distributed in 4 modules, 3 bedrooms and a large entrance with a double-height ceiling. I love minimalist design the house layout. | Francisco: I could say that the Heydar Aliyev Centre, by Zaha Hadid Architects is perhaps the one that outstands among everything I've seen in architecture so far. Its visual impact is astonishing at the same time it represents best the architecture of our time.

Felipe: A house. | Francisco: A public building.

Felipe: Steel / Archicad / Internet of Things. | Francisco: I can't name them. I like each combined.

Felipe: In the morning, after my creative hack. Home office with no disturbances. | Francisco: During the quiet and peaceful breaks I take along the day.

Felipe: Openings according to Solar Orientation, functionality and shape. | Francisco: The emotion it provokes.

Felipe: The art of creation brings me happiness and generosity. | Francisco: Curiosity and disquietude.

Felipe: I feel proud, I feel like my duty was fulfilled. | Francisco: Excitement and at the same time a sentiment of responsibility.

Felipe: When it achieves its goal in terms of function, style and budget. | Francisco: When one or more of its symbolic, aesthetic and/or practical function reach beyond the expected result.

Felipe: Function and style | Francisco: The emotion it evokes on me.

Felipe: We live inside buildings for the most part of our lives. The better the buildings, the better the life quality offered. | Francisco: We take from nature to transform the space that we live and surround us. We understand how society organize itself because we shape the way we live. Therefore, we have our share of responsibility to make the world socially and ecologically more sustainable.

Felipe: The future is modular architecture and construction. | Francisco: There's a mix of what we aspire with what we need. If I could point to a scenario that satisfies both, I would say that the design field shall evolve to a future with more efficient and sustainable technologies. That's include modular architecture as well as parametric softwares and coding knowledge.

Felipe: World of modular in Orlando. The next exhibition will be the Expo Container City in September. | Francisco: This edition of A' Awards Design will be my first exhibition. Let's see what will come next.

Felipe: Internet, Instagram, archdaily, pinterest etc… | Francisco: I like to think that inspiration comes from anywhere, like raindrops on a window, an exotic plant or a cloud in the sky.

Felipe: Modular minimalism. | Francisco: I don't know exactly where does my design fit. I'll probably use different styles and see which one suits best. When it comes to my approach I basically try to picture myself in my projects. I can't design something that I woudn't make use. If it's good enough, then I go further. If don't then I redesign it.

Felipe: I currently live in Florianópolis. I'm very influenced by foreign projects and the challenge is to adapt this kind of architecture here in Brazil. | Francisco: Florianópolis, Brazil. Our cultural heritage is already included in our academic program. One negative is that there's a lack of interest from most people to explore new approaches of architecture beyond the current barriers. At the same time, brazilians are very hard workers, thus we are always trying to find a way to make things possible.

Felipe: Partnerships. | Francisco: It depends.

Felipe: Portfolio. | Francisco: Portfolio and CV helps, but I would suggest companies to test some designer. Most jobs that I had, I started from knowing nothing and ended teaching things. I made myself inside the companies. I can know a variety of softwares that are being asked today, but tomorrow the scenario might be different. There's one profile I consider the most. The person who runs after things.

Felipe: First of all I start with the briefing, secondly I collect references and then I begin the design process on Archicad. | Francisco: My design process is flexible, but usually it all starts with the briefing. Then, I like to study the site and visualize a shape where the program fits in. When I get some results, I show them to other designers, collect a few reviews and finally make some adjustments.

Felipe: Macbook and Archicad. | Francisco: My computer, my desk, my bed, my window view and fresh coffee.

Felipe: In the morning I wake up, meditate, work out, design(home office), have lunch. In the afternoon I check the progress of ongoing projects with the design team, have meetings with clients and take care of business and administrative matters. I spend the nights at home and enjoy my social life. | Francisco: I woke cup with a huge cup of coffee. Read the news, sit on my desk and work till mid-afternoon. Have some lunch, read a book, go back to work. Early evening I take a shower, have dinner and watch something new. My favorite moments are the small breaks I take along the day to contemplate the view and get inspiration.

Felipe: Innovation and never stop improving your skills. | Francisco: Everything is up to change. Try to anticipate that while preparing yourself. Understand your role in the world, stand for a cause and make use of your tools and knowledge to make that happen.

Felipe: The positive side is to work with art and always try to solve a good problem of your client in a great environment. The negative is the remuneration. | Francisco: Having one of the best work that exists and at the same one of the worst recognition by common sense.

A good design.

Felipe: Organization, a global perspective of the process and creativity. | Francisco: Creativity, aesthetic sense, space perception, holistic view and last not least the ability to represent your idea.

Felipe: Trello to plan, follow and set things in order, Instagram and Pinterest to get inspiration and Archicad and Lumion to design. | Francisco: Primary tools: My sketchbook and a pen. Softwares: ARCHICAD, Rhino, Grasshopper, Twinmotionn and SketchUp. Hardwares: Macbook Pro and a VR Mask. Books: Neufert. I also use the internet to consult zoning and building regulations besides the e-books provided by the Architects Council.

Felipe: I separate by tasks and matters. | Francisco: I see if I can estimate the amount of hours each phase of project might take and try to stick with it.

Felipe: Usually four months. | Francisco: If this object refers to a furniture I would give one and a half months considering I have no on-going projects. If we're talking about a complex building I might give more than a year to end. The better the project, the faster its construction. The faster the project, the more expensive its construction.

Felipe: If modular architecture is cheaper than the conventional one and if it isn't too warm. | Francisco: How I did my designs and which tools I used.

Felipe: Layback park. | Francisco: Working as a self-employed has shown to be more challenging than I was expecting.

Felipe: Layback beer. | Francisco: Felipe Savassi Modular Studio.

Felipe: Modular house of medium and high standard. They allow you to have more freedom when it comes to design. | Francisco: Public spaces and buildings usually because the concept shows to be more important than the materialization itself and that gives me more freedom to design better.

Felipe: I want to expand the studio design to modular buildings and invest in my webserie: My favorite Modular. | Francisco: I shall study more about urban planning and how to code can help we design better cities. Yet, I'll try to keep my eyes open for opportunities that might come.

Felipe: I work as a team. | Francisco: I like to work as a team, but usually I develop my designs by myself.

Felipe: Minimal mood. It's a modular smart house designed to be presented in an exhibition in São Paulo. | Francisco: I have some ideas for public spaces that I would like to present when the time is right.

Felipe: People can reach me through my email address: falecomigo@felipesavassi.com and my Instagram account: @felipesavassi | Francisco: My email: franciscoeduardo.mfsa@gmail.com and my LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/franciscoeduardosa/

Felipe: No, I'm all set. | Francisco: Me and Felipe had thought that it wouldn't be fair to just one of us respond these questions. Hope those who are reading this understand the way we responded.