Both architects, Eddie Seymour and Edgar Gonzalez embrace the fluidity with which architecture, design and technology continue to integrate at an exponentially fast pace to find compelling design solutions for implementation in the built environment.
The Two partners, with over 30 years of combined experience, are the founders of The Flux Architects, a Miami-based practice with a strong focus in the greater South Florida area, including Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Orlando and Tampa.
As the name implies, Flux (continuous change) they are constantly evolving in pursuit of improving and building upon previous achievements.
In the following interview with Helena Costa, Architect from Alma de Luce, Eddie Seymour and Edgar Gonzalez explore their early inspirations and what it means to practice and run architecture today.
Helena Costa: What determined your passion for architecture/design? Tell us about when you decided this is the way to go.
Edgar Gonzalez: My passion for creative design led me to take my first art class at the age of 12, that then evolve into an interest in architecture inspired by the landscape of Salvador Dali’s paintings and the built environments of James Turrell.
Helena: Share something you want the world to know about you or your ideas.
Eddie Seymour: At Flux, we truly believe that everything is in constant change and motion. Therefore we strive to take a progressive approach to our design philosophy and the tools and technology used to execute them.
Helena: How can architecture or interior design connect us with communities?
Eddie: The spaces we create in our built environment have a huge impact on our society, both in conscious and subconscious behavior. Great design has the ability to generate activity, lift our moods and inspire us.
Helena: What is your creation process? Start with drawing for inspiration.
Edgar: Start the process by drawing inspiration from how we (humans) perceive nature with its contrasting elements and colors.
Helena: Can you give an example of something recent that inspired you?
Edgar: I was recently inspired while working on Fit & Go Pets (pet spa & hotel in Wynwood) with the idea of Materialization of Light, which is an optical creation produced from light passing thru colored lens. The colored light reflected in the space creates a mood within the space.
Helena: What is your first design project or favorite project, and why?
Edgar: My thesis was a film school/movie theatre. The project consisted of several spaces of various sizes and shapes that carefully manipulate the journey a person takes from the ground level to the rooftop theater. As a person moves thru the spaces, there are opportunities to see and be seen. The person becomes the “movie.”
Helena: What is the most rewarding aspect of your job as an architect? And the most frustrating one?
Eddie: The most rewarding aspect of our career/business is having the ability to create a new physical environment which can positively impact the lives of those whom encounter it, not only today, but for many decades in the future. On the other hand, the economic realities do not always line up with the client’s wish list, so often great designs are simplified down to ordinary ones.
Helena: If you had no limits (money, resources), what would you create?
Edgar: Create a self-sustained city using recycled materials, renewable energy sources, recycled water and mass public transportation systems.
Helena: What would you say will be the future of architecture or interior design? Or the next big thing?
Eddie: Prefab/Modular Housing. Due to the deteriorating affordable housing situation, it will be a paramount challenge for our society to produce a pragmatic solution. This will take a combined effort between the public-private sectors working together to reduce bureaucracy and cost at every opportunity within the production and permitting pipeline.
Helena: If you had to advise young architects or designers, what would you say?
Eddie: Like anything else in life, you get out of it what you put into it. If you’re passionate and willing to sacrifice the time to excel at your craft, then you will produce great results and society will be better off for it.
