MEET OUR TEAM: Jacob Gulezian, R.A., AIA
This series will highlight a different SKOLNICK team member each month, offering readers a glimpse into our process, office culture, and the people who make it all possible. Below is an interview with Jacob Gulezian, R.A., AIA, Architect.
What’s the coolest or most interesting thing you’re working on right now?
The new headquarters of the Child Mind Institute is a project that I've been working on for over two years. One of the simplest but most important design moves was that we designed the space with extra wide corridors that always terminate at a window bringing more light into the offices. Also, we inserted 3 communicating stairs to connect their 4 floors of space and encourage staff to get up and walk. Plus, we're working with them to collect an incredible art collection to display for staff, patients, and their families when they come for a visit.
Tell us a surprising or a fun fact about you.
I'm a certified scuba diver and was recently diving WWII shipwrecks in the Philippines. Besides the slightly spooky yet awe-inspiring wrecks, I encountered some beautiful and unique sea creatures like a free-swimming flatworm, a seahorse, and a sea turtle. During an idle moment at the end of the dive (a 3-mintue safety stop) I was reflecting on my interest in diving and the underwater world and realized a similarity with Architecture in that both require attention to and an appreciation for both the technical and the poetic.
What do you love most about what you do?
My favorite thing about the field of Architecture is that it is incredibly varied and wide-ranging. One day we may contemplate something as small as a custom door handle and the next something as large as a 28-acre masterplan for a summer camp. One week I might find myself selecting fabrics to re-upholster furniture or at a metal shop in Queens or stone quarry for a countertop. We get to work with incredibly creative Artists and skilled craftspeople, as well as highly technical Structural and Mechanical Engineers. Every day brings something new and requires an open, curious, and flexible mind.
What is your favorite building of all time and why?
This is always tough to answer because there are so many great works of Architecture, but one that I am thankful to share a city with allowing me to continue to return to and be amazed by is the original Whitney Museum building at 75th and Madison Ave. Designed by Marcel Breuer and opened in 1966, it has an incredibly commanding presence on the street. It is 'Brutalist' in style, but that moniker belies a softer, spatially varied and generous, welcoming, textured, and impeccably detailed building. I love its use of scale in the galleries, the beautiful sunken courtyard, and that incredible staircase. I sincerely hope that the whole building remains open and accessible to the public.
