Frank Lloyd Wright and Ralph Walker, two architectural masters.

Disclaimer: I am not an architect.

A GREAT architect is both artist and craftsman.

Art is subjective.
Craftsmanship is not.
An artist’s calling is to express, evoke and innovate.
A craftsman’s (or artisan’s) is to design, and to create form and function.
It is rare to find one who can combine both effectively.

The great architects that I have worked with that manage to combine both effectively leave their egos at the door. Their agenda is not to create a personal expression, but rather to achieve the highest level of design, form and function for the end user. They have a deep respect for history, but their work is current. Ironically, by successfully achieving this, they create intrinsic value that is a fingerprint of their work.

The attribute I respect most in a great architect is their ability to design from the inside out. Residential buildings need to be livable. There are too many buildings constructed that have a deceptive exterior and a disconnected interior. These buildings may have a definitive facade, but the interiors offer homes with layouts that are incongruous.

How does this happen?

All too often, the merits of an architect are based on successful self-branding and business acumen – not artisan artistry!

Continuing a theme from my previous appearance on Selling New York, in the April 22nd episode I had a chance to focus on identifying and addressing the inherent “energy” of the apartment that I was tasked to sell. An apartment, house or any kind of home acquires its energy not only from its own history, but from the histories—the experiences, goals, aspirations, obstacles and anxieties—of the people who live in it,  as well as of their guests, their neighbors and, dare I say, their brokers. I was educated in the existence and power of this type of energy by my friend and colleague Reginald Arthur, who for years has studied the energies of individuals, their homes and their environments. Almost as soon as I took over the listing of an apartment at 50 Gramercy Park North, I brought Reggie in to help promote the residence’s positive energies. Similar to the penthouse (at 350 West 23rd Street) featured in my previous episode, the one at 50 Gramercy is a relatively new construction and its current occupants have lived there for less than three years. Reggie and I have come to understand that new developments often attract and absorb negative forces that accompany the building process: the stresses of financing, the convulsions of construction, the uncertainties of the marketplace in which the apartments are sold. Furthermore, the 50 Gramercy project incorporates an old New York hotel that has hosted many unusual guests over the years, each of whom contributes his or her own energy to the bones of the building. All of these factors, if sufficiently negative, can create a pall that, on a certain level, deters buyers. Reggie identified this immediately and took measures to reverse its effects. He tries to help homes release negative energies from dark periods in their histories by assisting their owners and brokers in doing the same. In other words, if the people who live and pass through an apartment are able to expel their negative energies, so too will those energies be expelled from the apartment itself, resulting in a space that is brighter and more attractive to prospective buyers. Whether or not they believe in the veracity of Reggie’s methods, my sellers (and I) are always filled with confidence by his presence and charisma. And, after all, isn’t confidence  just another form of positive energy?