An interview with Murray Legge, structural poet

Now that the lease is signed, we’re rolling up our sleeves with Murray Legge, the visionary architect who comes to us by way of LZT Architects, Inc.

Murray grew up in Canada and got his architectural training at Cooper Union in NYC. He lives in Austin with his wife, the filmmaker Deborah Lewis, and their daughter. Here’s our discussion of architecture, coworking, and their interesting intersection at LaunchPad Coworking.

Spike Gillespie: Tell me about your creative process.
Murray Legge: We generate so many computer models — we’re fanatical about documenting work. We build computer models and use them to grow inspiration. Looking at a computer model of a section through the building might produce an idea for a piece of furniture, for example.

SG: What do you work on besides architecture?
ML: I do interdisciplinary public art with my wife and my sister all over the country. Our website is LeggeLewisLegge. I think of it as architecture. Some of it is event based. We have an art project in progress in Boston right now. This one started when we were dreaming about what we would do if we didn’t have to make money. It grew to be several large projects.

SG: What sort of architectural projects do you work on?
ML: I started out with LZT doing the Recording Studio for the Blind and Dyslexic. I liked the combination — it was meaningful socially and the client was receptive to doing things differently. Recently — a resource center for the homeless, a non-denominational chapel, and the LBJ High School Don T. Haines Performing Arts Center. Architecture is a tough profession. For every 100 architects maybe two get a chance to build what they want. I’m very open to different new work. And I’m receptive to sustainable design — there’s a big support community for that in Austin.

SG: What makes architecture work?
ML: Successful architecture comes from real reciprocity. If client isn’t on the same page as the architect or vice versa, it’s not a good fit. The thing I find really great about working with the LaunchPad team is their willingness to hear every crazy idea that goes through my head and to express their crazy ideas. Not everyone can handle me suggesting fun fur, or bubble wrap on the walls or an Astroturf floor. It’s not that I actually want to use bubble wrap, but thinking it out loud leads you to some other place. I love these great discussions. They have a practical element, but they’re also about being expressive or lyrical.

SG: What are you thinking about for our space at 800 Brazos?
ML: At first it was difficult to get my mind around it — we’d been thinking of other, very different spaces. But I love it now and I think it’s got a lot of potential with the space along the alley and the two-story atrium.

SG: What’s your first priority with the space?
ML: One of the keys is that the individual workspaces be really successful. That’s the core of the business — that the individual spaces are really functional and fantastic. That will set the right tone, and will help the rest fall into place. So we spend a lot of time talking about how big the desks should be, what are you looking at when you look up from your desk, and what are the acoustics. There are all these people who are officeless looking to get out of the house and into a more social environment. Julie [Gomoll, the Launchpad visionary and CEO] understands that and wants to respond to it. This is about creating a social work environment that will provide a new existence for people who can be working anywhere in the world. As an architect, I find this exciting.

SG: So, what do you think the space will ultimately look like?
ML: The workspace and the lounge area are two very different spaces. The lounge will be louder and informal and so in a certain way it can be more daring. I imagine walking into that space and it’s like stepping into a novel. I don’t mean like a carnival or a nightclub, but something really transportive.

The workspace is a different kind of environment, one that calls for clarity of design, something that will be boat-like in its efficiency, or maybe with an airplane fuselage quality to it, much more linear. So it will have to be more neutral in design than the café.

SG: Thanks for the peek, Murray. This stuff is way exciting. Do you mind if we share the drawings on our blog? We’d like to keep everyone posted on progress and share the ideas.
ML: Not at all. I like sharing this stuff.

See all the LaunchPad Coworking models & drawings