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Gage / Clemenceau Architects: Making their Mark(c)s |
While many emerging architects feel they wear their hearts on their sleeves, Mark Foster Gage and Marc Clemenceau Bailly display theirs in Times Square. Commissioned to design a valentine to the famous intersection, Gage and Clemenceau created an intricate, 12-foot-tall, stainless-steel and luminescent Corian heart lit with pink and violet LED fixtures. “It provides a ‘happy’ distraction in a down economy,” Clemenceau Bailly explains.
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Winners of the AIA New York New Practices citation in 2006 and the Architectural League of New York’s Young Architects Forum in 2008, Gage / Clemenceau Architects (C/G) have established a distinctive aesthetic, at once belying and reflecting their traditional backgrounds. Mark and Marc met in Indiana as undergraduates in Notre Dame’s architecture program, known for its Classical emphasis. After working in different New York architecture firms learning how to detail and manage projects, they joined forces to collaborate on freelance work, making their own firm official in 2002.
Often operating with limited budgets, G/C’s strategy is to create one feature element within each project, from a liquidlike CNC-milled black walnut wall within a compact studio apartment to contoured pods lined with lush ferns and vines within a corporate Midtown office, while keeping the remainder of the design relatively simple. However, do not mistake G/C for Minimalists — their Classical backgrounds undoubtedly influence their design aesthetic. While their practice is thoroughly modern in terms of technology — they develop 3D models of their signature sculptural, organic forms in Maya and build physical models with the aid of laser cutters — they do not shy away from ornament, often a verboten term in Modern architecture. “We strive for beauty,” Clemenceau Bailly explains. “For us, architecture is about emotional impact,” whether designing a Manhattan apartment, a freestanding house in Queens, a modeling agency, a furniture showroom … or a heart in the middle of Times Square.
With many firms struggling to find work in this difficult economy, G/C has developed several survival strategies. Clemenceau Bailly’s number one rule: “I don’t hang out with architects,” who may make good friends but aren’t a potential source for project leads. Another important marketing tool for G/C is the team’s Web site (www.gageclemenceau.com), which they designed to reflect their unique design sensibilities, allowing them to stand out from other emerging firms. “People seek us out for a reason, because of what we do,” Clemenceau Bailly says. Additionally, G/C has developed relationships with vendors, including CAD software companies: They receive free software in exchange for providing the companies with product feedback. Finally, the visibility of their office — a storefront in Manhattan’s hip Lower East Side — has proved an asset in attracting clients, even if by accident. Once, a man chased his dog through the studio’s open door, and it just so happened that he was planning to renovate his nearby loft apartment. Sometimes, success comes in unexpected ways.
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