Ed Feiner, FAIA
Director, Design Leadership Council
Perkins+Will, Washington, DC
Session: “Designing for Excellence”
Panel Discussion: “How Will Public State Architecture Advance from Good to Great?”
Ed Feiner has plenty of Tennessee connections. The Washington, DC, architect was director of design for the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), when he was involved in the development of a new Federal Courthouse in Knoxville.
Eventually the project evolved into the renovation of an existing building that became the Federal Courthouse. During his many visits to Knoxville he got to know Marleen Davis, then Dean of the University of Tennessee College of Architecture and Design. Marleen became one of GSA’s first Design Excellence Peers. Years later, GSA sponsored a 10-hour design competition (won by nationally-known designer Michael Graves) to design the proposed Nashville Federal Courthouse. The project still awaits construction funding. He also served on the architect selection panel with chose the firm to design the conservatory at the Tennessee governor’s mansion.
Barry Yoakum’s firm Archimania won that competition and Feiner and Yoakum have remained good friends. Feiner said he looks forward to being back in Nashville for the AIA Tennessee Convention & Expo on July 30-August 1. “I really enjoy visiting Nashville,” he said, adding he’s done the tourist rounds downtown and especially on Broadway, where he even bought a pair of cowboy boots (his usual footwear).
A leading expert in U.S. public building design and planning, Feiner will be participating in an AIA Tennessee session on excellence in design, covering the evolution of design excellence within the GSA over the past 50 years and exploring the meaning and components of excellence. Attendees will also learn about public design projects and get an overview of the origins of GSA’s Design Excellence program. Many aspects of the GSA Program have been replicated at the state and municipal level, as well as within private sector organizations, around the nation. Most notably, New York City has adopted one of the most ambitious Design Excellence Programs on the planet. Feiner encourages architects and public officials to visit the city’s website; as well as GSA’s, to learn more.
The GSA Design Excellence Program revolutionized the way designers are chosen for public projects, and Feiner said it was no small feat: it took 10 years to wait for right timing when a huge construction program and a willingness to try new things converged in 1993. Historically in the U.S., that happens only every 30-40 years. “GSA reformed the architect selection process in the way that the most important decision is who would be the lead designer or core studio responsible for the project,” he explained. Prior to the program, the lead designer was only one of the myriad of considerations.Too often other considerations such as the choice of the mechanical, structural, electrical, etc. engineers outweighed in “points” the design architect. As a result, you could end up with a mediocre architect “but a damn good electrical engineer” Feiner said, adding that it makes sense to focus on the overall architecture and concept of the building since electrical and mechanical systems can be replaced.
Buildings can be can be gutted, renovated, and restored but “the architecture is there forever.” The process allows all comers to apply, and uses a jury, including a private sector Peer, to narrow down to a shortlist of designers using their submitted portfolios. Later on the entire design team is interviewed and a rank order selection is made. Under the Federal Brooks Act, Quality Based Selected (QBS) fee negotiations occur with the top ranked firm. If the fee can’t be agreed upon, the GSA moves to the next team on the list. In a nutshell, “The program is about refocusing the selection process to identify the best Lead Designer for a project and their expanded team. Whoever you pick from the shortlist, you are assured that the team will be led by an extraordinarily talented designer,” Feiner explained.
Doctor, Engineer, Architect?
At age three, Ed knew he wanted to build – he was already erecting structures with his toy blocks. He attended Brooklyn Technical High School which specialized in architecture and engineering. However, to please his parents, who wanted him to become a doctor or dentist, he took the college preparatory liberal arts program. His parents later “compromised” and encouraged him to become an engineer. “They knew architects didn’t make a lot of money; they wanted me to be happy BUT make a lot of money,” he laughed. Ed graduated from the Cooper Union in NY and earned his graduate degree in Urban Design at Catholic University, Washington, DC.
After college, Feiner signed on as an architect/master planner for the Naval Facilities Engineering Command. He took a short break from public service to work for the noted urban design and architecture firm, Victor Gruen Associates. He returned to the Navy Department for several more years during the development of the Trident Submarine Program. Eventually, he headed up the Navy’s worldwide shore establishment Master Planning Program. In 1981 he responded to a two-sentence ad in the Washington Post for a job as director of Design Management for the GSA. After 24 years at GSA, he retired from public service and joined Skidmore, Owings & Merrill as Director of its Washington, DC, office. In 2008he became Chief Architect and Senior VP of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation. He was there long enough to oversee the final design development of the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, designed by Moshe Safdie. Feiner returned to DC in 2009 to join Perkins+Will, where as Director of the Design Leadership Council, he works with colleagues to encourage design excellence among the firm’s 25 offices worldwide. “What I’m doing is somewhat similar to what I did at the GSA: working with my colleagues to continually raise the bar on design quality and innovation. At Perkins+Will, you don’t have to raise that bar much. With 25 offices and over 1,500 professionals, the cross-fertilization of ideas and interoffice collaboration to maintain and grow the reputation of the brand, is an important part of the practice. It’s a fantastic job, it’s ideal for me, and I love it.”
Connect with Ed Feiner & Perkins+Will
Due to his extensive travels, Feiner said he just doesn’t have time for social media. “I get on the average about 100 emails a day; on LinkedIn I get at least two requests a day. I just can’t take on another thing,” he said. His wife keeps up with family events on Facebook but he said there will be plenty of time to dabble in digital media when he eventually retires. But you can connect with P+W, known for amazing projects that include Rush University Medical Center and the William Jones College Preparatory High School in Chicago, the Shanghai Natural History Museum, and an exciting project in London, UK, that has uncovered,on site, what may be one of several original sites of Shakespeare’s historic Globe Theatre. See their projects online here:
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