Sean Godsell
Sean Godsell is one of Australia’s most venerated and accomplished architects. Since founding his small practice in Melbourne in 1994, Sean’s work and ideas have achieved international recognition. His work has been published in El Croquis, exhibited in the Venice Biennale, and awarded a Papal Silver Medal. Most recently, Sean was the recipient of the Australian Institute of Architects Gold Medal, and toured the country presenting a talk on his work, career and philosophy.
In this episode, Sean and I discussed:
- Why he believes his small practice structure, currently himself and associate director Hayley Franklin, allows him to stay closer to the work and achieve the best design outcome.
- Why Sean believes committed clients will find their way to him without the need for heavy-handed marketing and PR - even though it can sometimes mean having to wait for the phone to ring.
- How the profession has become too obsessed with creating good looking images for Instagram, and why this form of feedback can lead architects off in the wrong direction.
- How Sean has developed a design methodology where his client are heavily involved in their project from day one, rather than the stereotype of the architect who imposes their ideas onto the client.
- Sean explains how viewing each project as an opportunity to improve on the ideas in the last has led to a consistency quality to his buildings, and shares his response to the popular argument that architects should avoid having a recognisable signature or style in their work.
If you’d like to learn more about Sean and his work, you can visit seangodsell.com or follow the studio on Instagram at @seangodsellarchitects.
Office Talk is hosted by Dave Sharp, M.Arch—an architectural marketing expert and the director of Office D.SHARP, a practice providing specialised consultancy, marketing and PR services tailored to meet the particular needs of architects. Working as a sole practitioner, Dave employs a collaborative, conversational approach to his work, fostering long-standing relationships that yield tangible results for clients.
Office Talk is hosted by Dave Sharp, M.Arch—an architectural marketing expert and the director of Office D.SHARP, a practice providing specialised consultancy, marketing and PR services tailored to meet the particular needs of architects. Working as a sole practitioner, Dave employs a collaborative, conversational approach to his work, fostering long-standing relationships that yield tangible results for clients.
This episode was supported by ArchiPro. ArchiPro showcases the best and latest in the architecture and building industry, and connects people with trusted trade professionals and products to suit their needs. Visit ArchiPro.com.au to learn more.
