Modern Architecture
Design Detail Q&A: Architect Jeffrey L. Day
A Nebraska architect shares his favorite tools of the trade, contemporaries he admires and how he works with clients
Jeffrey L. Day of Actual Architecture is an architect based in Omaha, Nebraska, who works on projects around the world, including in San Francisco, Chicago, New Zealand and Canada. Here he answers questions about tools he can’t live without, whom he admires and more.
What’s a favorite tool you use in your work that you can’t live without?
Leuchtturm1917 sketchbook and Muji pen [shown here], apart from my computer, and Photoshop, of course.
What is your favorite house?
It’s a toss-up between Sir John Soane’s house in London and the Schindler House in West Hollywood. The Soane house was definitely an inspiration for our Bucktown House [featured in this article].
What’s one thing you want homeowners to know about what you do?
That working with us is a process. We don’t begin with preconceived ideas or images of a completed project as a goal. We work closely with the owners to draw out their personality, address all of the needs and circumstances of the project —including site and context — and, filtered through our own sensibilities, approach a result no one could have predicted from the start.
Leuchtturm1917 sketchbook and Muji pen [shown here], apart from my computer, and Photoshop, of course.
What is your favorite house?
It’s a toss-up between Sir John Soane’s house in London and the Schindler House in West Hollywood. The Soane house was definitely an inspiration for our Bucktown House [featured in this article].
What’s one thing you want homeowners to know about what you do?
That working with us is a process. We don’t begin with preconceived ideas or images of a completed project as a goal. We work closely with the owners to draw out their personality, address all of the needs and circumstances of the project —including site and context — and, filtered through our own sensibilities, approach a result no one could have predicted from the start.
What does your work desk look like?
The “desk” is a single, shared work table in our Omaha office, [pictured].
Where do you do your most creative work?
Wherever I am, hence the importance of the sketchbook.
If you weren’t an architect what would you be?
Maybe an artist, or a curator, or a gardener. I am already also an educator.
Read about Jeffrey Day’s slotted cutout detail in a Chicago house he designed
More on Houzz
A Few Words on the Power of Simplicity
Step Inside a Frank Lloyd Wright House Saved From Demolition
Read more stories for pros
The “desk” is a single, shared work table in our Omaha office, [pictured].
Where do you do your most creative work?
Wherever I am, hence the importance of the sketchbook.
If you weren’t an architect what would you be?
Maybe an artist, or a curator, or a gardener. I am already also an educator.
Read about Jeffrey Day’s slotted cutout detail in a Chicago house he designed
More on Houzz
A Few Words on the Power of Simplicity
Step Inside a Frank Lloyd Wright House Saved From Demolition
Read more stories for pros
I look to contemporary art as much as architecture, and I admire Olafur Eliasson, Rachel Whiteread, Pierre Huyghe, Roni Horn and many more. I like too many architects to name just a few.
What do you think is the most interesting city for architecture or design?
Barcelona and London are always good, but emerging design centers such as Mexico City and Istanbul deserve more attention.
What is something new or different that you’re finding a lot of residential clients asking for?
Clients are asking more and more for internet-enabled electronic features such as smart home controls. These don’t necessarily change the way we design spaces, but they allow homes to function differently for users (i.e., you can turn on the radiant heat in a house a day before you go home so the temperature is just right).
What are you excited to see develop in your industry in the next 10 years?
New forms of “nonstandard” production such as 3D printing will start to open up possibilities for those on a budget. More vertical integration where financing, site selection, design and construction are integrated. The latter can be a risk for designers if they don’t find a way to become leaders in the integrated delivery system.