Camila Crazut of Spivak Architects | Central Park West in New York City | Client Chemistry
Courtesy of Spivak Architects
Client Chemistry
Today we speak with Camila Crazut, an architect and interior designer working as a Project Manager at Spivak Architects in New York City. After training and becoming licensed as an architect in Venezuela, Camila came to the US to extend her training with a degree in interior design. Regardless of the title, Camila identifies as a designer capable of a wide range of creative projects, including the project we focus on today, a Central Park West residential apartment. We discuss the unique challenges of executing a renovation project in today’s climate with the increased cost and delayed schedules caused by the pandemic.
For young professionals entering the design and architecture field, it might be easy to accept any project that comes through your door. Camila dives into the characteristics that define a “good client” including trust in the designer, openness to new ideas, and a clear idea of the desired end result. She also shares her experience in identifying signs that a client and project might be a bad fit. Camila shares how design thinking transcends a project’s budget and can provide a satisfying result regardless of the cost of the furniture and finishes.
“As a business owner, I think you need to have unique connections. You need to know people and you also need to feel comfortable with all the details that it takes to have an office from taxes to HR. I still don’t feel comfortable. I still feel that I’m learning a lot of how business is here in the United States.”
Courtesy of Spivak Architects
About Camila Crazut
Camila is an architect and interior designer. She currently works as a Project Manager at Spivak Architects in New York City. Previous to joining the firm, she worked at TPG Architecture and McGinley Design. Her experience as a designer is concentrated in residential and hotel projects, but she has also worked on fascinating public projects like the Islamic Cultural Center near the World Trade Center site. Although she now identifies as an interior designer, Camila was trained and is licensed as an architect in Venezuela. In addition to her current project, Camila shares the differences she identified between her education in the US and abroad and how she navigates different perceptions of the title “interior designer”.
Episode Timestamps
2:17 – You did your training in architecture in Venezuela and your training in interior design in the United States. What were the differences in how you were taught in those two places?
7:02 – The project that we're going to be focusing on is the Central Park West project. So talk to us about the Upper West Side, the neighborhood where this project is located, and the building itself.
9:51 – Who were your clients and what was the process like and working with them?
12:01 – Walk our listeners through the apartment, describing what they would see along the way, including these beautiful millwork walls.
14:09 – You are about 90% done with the project. Now, looking back, what would you say are some of the biggest challenges you faced in the design process and then executing that?
16:35 – What do you think makes a good client?
22:34 – You talked about the clients that you've had on the larger, more expensive projects, but you've also had good clients on projects of vastly different scope and scale and budget. Could you talk to us about clients on a different type of project that were good as well?
26:42 – How can you tell the difference between a good client and a bad client? How do you start getting that impression?
29:09 – I want to hear what you think about low-end projects. Can those projects and clients also be interesting, too?
Connect with Camila Crazut:
LinkedIn
Camila Crazut Website
Spivak Architects
Instagram (Spivak Architects)
Courtesy of Spivak Architects
About your host:
Atif Qadir is the Founder & CEO of Commonplace, a technology company making it easy for commercial real estate professionals to find and use the $100B of real estate incentives given out every year in the US.
His work has been covered by Technology Review, The Real Deal, Commercial Observer, and Propmodo. He’s also a frequent speaker on the future of buildings and cities on popular industry podcasts and at conferences, including this past year at the Commercial Observer National DEI Conference, Yale AREA Conference, Columbia Real Estate Symposium, Open Data Week NYC and Austin Design Week.
About Commonplace
Commonplace is a founding sponsor of American Building. It is a 100% minority-owned, real estate technology company founded in 2020 to make financing social impact development projects across the US easier. It is funded by venture capital investors Hometeam Ventures, Park West Asset Management, New York Ventures and Shadow Ventures.
About Michael Graves
The world-famous design firm Michael Graves is also a founding sponsor of American Building. Its namesake, the iconoclastic designer Michael Graves, FAIA was a fierce advocate for people-centric design. His work defines a generation of American architecture and includes the Portland Building, the Humana Building and the Denver Public Library. The 1st season of American Building was filmed live at The Warehouse, his historic home in Princeton, New Jersey:
Rate, Review, & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
Did you love this episode? Let us know by rating and review our show on Apple Podcasts. It’s easy - simply click this link, click on Listen on Apple Podcasts, scroll to the bottom of the page, and select “Write a Review”. Let us know what you liked best about the episode, and what others can expect when they listen to our show.
While you’re at it, consider subscribing to American Building. When you subscribe, you can guarantee you never miss a conversation with one our renowned designers, architects, and developers. Subscribe now!
