Barbara Sassaman

Her Work: draftsmen, unlicensed architect.

“The one thing about my work that is really fun is that people don’t come to me for a particular style. A lot of these big name architects— people see their work, like the way that work looks because it’s a certain style and that architect gets boxed into that style. So for me it’s I’ve done everything from Japanese tea houses to British countryside, turn of the century summer houses [and] country houses.”

Ms. Sassaman’s workspace is in a tower like room attached to her home. For about 15-20 years her work are was in her bedroom, and she tells me how she would fall asleep with piles of work around her. Now that she has space purely dedicated to her work she says that she can “just sort of forget about it at the end of the day” which is great because the boundaries are more clearly distinguished.

Her eyes light up as she tells me about Bob Knight and says “he out of all the architects I’ve ever met has the best attitude about where architecture falls— between service and art, because it’s both… Bob was the person that said ‘you know, I’m going to do the best I can to make this clients house as good as I possibly can make it.’” Ms. Sassaman tells me how this shapes the way she thinks about her work, that she tries to live up to that statement and tries to get the house as close to as what her clients want. She tells me that you have to “ listen to what they’re saying and really go for it instead of having preconceived notions about what you’re doing.”

She tells me that there are certain parts of her work that she loves doing, like specs and making models. She says she looks forward to doing these things because they’re “just so much fun.” She contrasts this with saying that whether or not she is excited to walk up those spiral stairs to her workspace depends on the day. “If you’re feeling lousy, you’re feeling lousy, and if you’re feeling good, you’re feeling good.” One of the benefits that Ms. Sassaman emphasizes is the relationships that develop through her work. She says “I have had some really excellent clients that have turned into really good friends after the projects are done.”

Ms. Sassaman mentions that in the past she has worked collaboratively with other architects and enjoyed that. She describes to me the benefits of being able to bounce ideas off of coworkers and have fresh eyes. Since 1986 she has been on her own though and likes working in her own space for herself. She tells me “9-5? No, I hate that. And I don’t mind making no money, I mean you need enough to live on but that’s about it, you know… life is too short.” She appears to have fun with her work and says it’s personally rewarding and fulfilling and she loves working with people who really care about the project. Ms. Sassaman says she “Gains joy from some of the people [she] [has] to work with.”

Themes: love, joy, fulfilling, rewarding, fun, service and art.