In a recent edition of Time magazine, Brad Pitt is quoted as saying “While acting is my career, architecture is my passion.” He said this when asked about his getting to help design a hotel in Dubai. You know what I say? If you want to be an architect Brad, good for you! Go to school, get your Masters (BAs aren’t enough any more), do the multi-year internship (which must be documented) as required by the licensing boards nation-wide, take the 9-part test and the orals, get your license, and THEN you can be an architect. Until you do all of that, you’re taking paying work away from real architects who have spent god’s own wallet on school and testing and software and who don’t have a second career to fall back on.
Maybe Brad will be a fabulous designer–maybe he has it in him, and if so, that’s great, if he does it fairly as described above. It is more than unfair to have a celebrity take paying work from really hard working creatives in other industries like that.
We see it too often in photography too. Some celebrity gets a plum assignment solely because they are already famous for her/his singing or acting. Every time that happens I want to just scream! With Mr. Pitt I would love to look him in the eye and say something like “How would you have liked it if you didn’t get the breakout role in Thelma & Louise because they gave it to Robert Mapplethorpe*, just because he was famous in his field? Would that have taken bread off your plate then? I bet you it would have since you were doing bits on TV before that break made you a star.”
I’m sure Mr. Pitt hasn’t even thought about this and means no disrespect. However, the taint of it still is there. Whenever a creative project goes to someone famous for their work in another field, it hurts. I bet Brad is a nice guy who just hasn’t been made aware of how bad something like this sucks for the creatives in this other industry. Maybe this will reach him somehow. Or someone will tell him.
It’s hard enough making it in any creative industry (acting definitely included)–we need ALL creatives to stop cannibalizing the work in their sibling industries. If you make it big as a creative, thank the heavens and just say “no” to the ego projects like Mr. Pitt’s Dubai hotel.
*yes, I know he died before this movie came out, but you get the point.
I think this post is harsh and over-the-top. And the logic just doesn’t really hold water, in my opinion. He’s not actually “taking” work from anyone. Clearly, it’s a publicity stunt by the developer/builder of the hotel and he’s merely going to have some input. Will he be doing the actual drafting, engineering, research, materials sourcing, etc. etc.? I really doubt it. People who have done their “9 part tests” and internships and gotten their certifications most certainly will.
Is there some aspiring architectural genius out there who actually didn’t get this job because of Pitt? Come on, that’s ridiculous. I just can’t imagine the developer sitting down with a list of talented and qualified architects and designers and picking Pitt over “Joe Awesome Architect.” That just doesn’t compute.
He’s a face and name. He’ll draw attention to the project and get some kicks out of offering creative input.
I don’t disagree that it can be frustrating to see people who’s fame has afforded them opportunities that supposedly “deserving” creatives might have otherwise had. But should good ‘ol Brad have turned down this little gig and demanded that they hire Johnny Starving Architect instead. No. That would just be silly.
I mean no disrespect and love your blog. Just respectfully disagree on this one.
Ben–
This isn’t his first architectural project. He’s taken several and yes, it IS taking a gig from a real architect. Just as Michael Stipe and David Byrne have taken photo gigs from real pro photographers.
-Leslie
Over here in Europe, we see a lot of Bryan Adams the photographer in magazines.
Personally, I would rather see Solve Sundsbo’s work than Bryan Adams but I’m told I’m in a majority of one…..
I agree with Ben great blog but I disagree on this one. It may be true that Brad has taken on several projects but I am sure that he is in the roll of the “idea man” for publicity/EGO and not engineering anything. After all you can have a great idea and not know how to execute it. I don’t think Michael Stipe or David Byrne are “taking” work from other photographers. Their celebrity has allowed them access for their own press as well as publicity for the client. Its deliberate and calculated. It is given not taken. I find it hard to believe that editors/art directors have celebrity photographers in the mix with solid reputable photographers for serious projects. If that the case keep moving to the next because its a drop in the bucket.
Interesting theory, but the reality in this case is that while if your celebrity photographer takes bad pictures you just get bad pictures, if your celebrity architect screws up, a building falls down and people die. (Or they get trapped in a fire because your exit flow isn’t compliant, or the building becomes a “sick building” because your HVAC routes are bad, etc, etc.)
I’ll guaran-darn-tee you that NOTHING Mr. Pitt “designs” gets built without a real architect going over it. Using him, if anything, just adds to architect employment because it adds review cycles. 🙂
What I want to know is how between owning The Coolest Camera In the Universe and getting to see Angelina Jolie naked ANY TIME HE WANTS, he has any interest in this architecture business in the first place.
M
I really have to side with Ben on this one Leslie. I actually have my BS in Architecture but wasn’t interested in the “intern” (read slave labor… at least we pay our assistants) program. Brad may be available to take “architectural design” jobs, but there is no industrialized nation where he could actually practice architecture without the oversight of a certified architect or structural/civil engineer. He could be held legally liable for structural deficiencies as well as any code violations… in the end, he is a design consultant to an architect, at best.
Above and beyond that, I also agree with Ben’s sentiment on this one. I had instructors in architecture school who were not certified architects, but they worked with civil engineers on every project they did. They did not call themselves architects but rather “designers” or “architectural designers.” Do they have no right to practice their craft? If Brad has the chops I see no reason why he should not do it. As for him getting the job because he is Brad Pitt… well of course! What can he possibly do about that? If he followed your directive he would not be able to do anything else creative with his life simply because he is already successful. Doesn’t really seem fair to me.
One last note, I can’t be sure, but do you really think all of the actors and agents in LA are cursing David Bowie or The Rock when they land acting roles? I kinda doubt it. Actually most people think it is cool. If you got it, do it!
I also love your blog which I have been reading regularly since SB2. I thank you for all of your thoughts you share with us and give my descent with all respect.
-Chad
To borrow an analogy from another field, there are golf courses designed by famous pros. Jack Nicklaus comes to mind.
However, I don’t think that Jack actually does the nitty-gritty work of designing the course. He has others doing that for him.
But, as for the creatives doing work on fields other than the ones they’re known for, there are some who do have talents in multiple areas. Remember Leonardo da Vinci? He wasn’t just an artist.
Wow! Lot’s of comments on this…which is great!
I’ll defend my point, though, as the wife of a struggling architect. My husband has student loan debts and, in the industry, firms will (almost always) not let you design at all until you have your license. That takes many years (and money) to accomplish. In the meantime, creatives like my husband are stuck doing door schedules (you do not want to know what that is–it’s mind-bogglingly dull work) and red-lining other people’s drawings, but never getting to produce anything significant themselves.
That’s why I’m ticked at Brad (et al)–he gets to skip the grunge work of being a drafter/engineer (at best) for years before getting to do the fun stuff.
Same for the other famous folks who jump disciplines. Sure, they may have the talent, but I think about how many talented people I know who are in need of that one break for their primary career–and then some alternately famous person takes one of those “breaks” without having to do all the crap work that one usually has to do to get to that level.
I just think it’s selfish of the already famous to take creative gigs that could be the big break for some artist who has already been working his/her ass off in their primary discipline.
-L
I forgot your husband is an architect! Wow, door-schedules and redlines. At least he has been promoted to doing the lining, I only had to do one or two “redlines” (actually making the handwritten corrections in AutoCAD) before I knew that wasn’t the path for me. Funny though, the person at the firm that was most content with their job and their life was the spec writer! Go figure. Different strokes right? Tell your husband that architects make the best photographers… perhaps he should consider a career change!
-Chad
Brad Pitt as an Architect? That’s like saying Boy George is a photographer. Oh wait actually Boy George is a photographer with a NYC based rep too.
Leslie – You missed it on this one. Your to close and need to gain some perspective IMHO.
I rather think this is a misguided attitude. Talent doesn’t need to be officially condoned (ie number of years training and passing of exams) to be real. Many photographers, artists and the like have no “official training”. All they have is vision, passion, or whatever, and then they teach themselves what they need to know.
In architecture, there are two parts to the equation – the engineering bit (making sure the place doesn’t fall down) and the arty bit (making sure you don’t need to “plant ivy”). Most architects are backed up on the engineering bit anyway, but if Brad was doing engineering drawings without a grounding (haha) in the physics of building then I’m not staying in that hotel (if they let it go up in the first place).
But artwise – if it makes a good composition, he’s as justified as any other artist to voice his vision.
You didn’t miss anything on this one Leslie. I like the point you brought up, very valid.
The title Creative Poseurs also makes me think of a ton of other people in this business who aren’t creative at all who suddenly start being a photographer… Of course art is all subjective but please you should be creative to be in a creative field. I see people everyday who are devoid of creativity, acting like professionals when they are really amateurs who should have kept their day job….
I think several of you fine readers missed my point. I’m not judging anyone’s right to do more than one creative “job” or saying in any way that one must limit her/his creative activities to one field. I’m all for doing as much creative stuff in every/all the disciplines you choose. The more creativity out there the better!
What honks me off is when a profession requires everyone “normal” to go through very specific hoops, but if you’re famous (in some other profession) the rules just don’t apply to you.
See the difference?
I’m happy that people are participating in the dialogue, btw! Thanks!
-Leslie