Lunch with Vernon Swaback

Lunch With:

Vernon Swaback

Vernon Swaback, founder of Scottsdale - based SWABACK architecture firm, is a renowned architect and visionary. Swaback was a mentee of the man called the world’s greatest architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. For nearly two decades, he studied at Wright’s home, “Taliesin West.” While there, Swaback gained priceless knowledge, experience and wisdom from one of the biggest names in American architecture.

Following his studies at Taliesin West, Swaback founded SWABACK architecture and planning firm while he was renting out a poolside cabana as his partial living and office space. Growing his company from a one - man shop to now over 40 employees, SWABACK has a diverse, competitive portfolio of award - winning and highly recognized projects.

Wright had an incredible influence on Swaback. After Wright’s death in 1959, Swaback became deeply involved in the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, serving as its chairman of the board and as its CEO in 2004.

Vernon Swaback

CEM: What was it like working with one of the world’s greatest architects?

V: It was an honor, but it was also challenging, and it could also be puzzling. When I first saw him hold up a common brick in the air, as though it were some kind of golden chalice, and then to hear him say “A brick is just a brick, but oh what you can do with it.” This became far less puzzling and more of a gospel when I later viewed what he could do with a brick. He could make magic out of the most common materials.

CEM: Among the people you have met, who has made the greatest influence on your life?

V: The first person to make that kind of impression was Frank Lloyd Wright, followed by my acquaintance with his friend, Buckminster Fuller. In “Bucky’s” words, he said “I can’t see what Frank sees in me, we are both so different.” They indeed were both different, but what they had in common was this seeing out-of-the-box exploration into areas of life that were far closer to nature than to the understanding of their human peers. They treated the present as a time of discovery, innovation and magic made possible by the application of design-based architecture and engineering.

CEM: What have you learned from your travels around the world?

V: Among the most memorable trips was the one I took with Mrs. Wright, along with a group of others, to meet with the Toyoko Inn Co. officials who were responsible for the fate of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Imperial Hotel. It was one of the only buildings to withstand the great Kanto earthquake of 1923, made even more interesting because he used a foundation system that had no prior usage and no reason to believe it would work, but it did.

To give a sense of some faith in himself, after the earthquake struck, he was contacted by the national press saying, “Mr. Wright, your building has been totally destroyed, how would you like to make a statement for the rest of the world to hear?” His response was (not having any facts on his side), “If you print that, you will surely have to print a correction because there is no way that earthquake could have toppled that building.”

It was an experience I will never forget, knowing I was probably one of the last people to eat in its dining room or to sleep in its treasured rooms. Also, to experience the variety of ways in which Frank Lloyd Wright took the common lava stone, having artisans shape it into sculptural works of art.

Although the building with its remarkable and innovative structural system was able to survive the earthquake, it could not survive the wrecking ball, which, prompted by economics, took it to the ground. It was replaced with a tall building which would require far fewer people to serve a far greater population. To whatever extent, this could be considered a small victory. A major portion of the building was reconstructed and is now on display at a park in Meiji Village in Japan.

Vernon Swaback and Mandy Purcell

CEM: What decisions made in the past scared you the most?

V: Of all such decisions, the one that required a major leap of faith was to secure and take on the burden of a loan for more than $2 million. This may seem like nothing in the world of business today, but I was in possession of $1,500 at the time. Every time I went to a bank, they said they would like to see eight months of profitable earnings, and I would say to them, “If you think you would like to see that, how do you think I feel?” In pursuit of this loan, I went to a variety of banks. My persistence finally paid off and the loan was secured. That was followed by the start of construction on what is today the studio, but that security did nothing to calm my fears as to how I could ever pay off the loan. I first tried to figure out how much revenue I had to take in each month, just to make the payments, and nothing seemed to pencil out. But ultimately, I persevered.

CEM: When considering the future, what brings you the most optimism?

V: The firm is in excellent hands, thus freeing me to do things that are more self-initiated. Those other projects are made possible by clients who, along with their specific sites, specific budgets, hopes and dreams, laid the groundwork for the activities to follow. Being very different, the client (that I now seek to serve most) includes those that Frank Lloyd Wright referred to long ago as “our typical best citizens.” As I look to the future in general and perhaps the evening news in particular, there would seem to be little hope in which to build a future worthy of humanity, including that of our not yet quite United Nations. The focus of the evening news is more on the drama of disagreement and tragedy of what happened the day before. In my way of thinking, what the world needs now most of all is the vision of Frank Lloyd Wright, in which he saw nature as being the visible body of God, and architecture as human partnering with the understanding and gifts of nature.