Deep Consciousness: Lisa Gray on Mission Focus, Environmental Awareness, and Seeing Differently

By Amy Stone

Elizabeth Gray is the founding partner and principal at Gray Organschi Architecture in New Haven, Connecticut, a firm recognized internationally for its innovative conception and careful crafting of architectural projects ranging from the adaptive re-use of damaged buildings and neighborhoods to the development and implementation of low-impact component assembly systems for ecologically delicate sites.

Lisa believes that Gray Organschi’s wide range of project types – from single family homes to institutional projects and bridges, all based in principles of regenerative building – is the foundation for the creative and productive cross-pollination of design and construction knowledge within the practice. In her interview with Amy Stone, she talks about her mission and focus on the environment, advising those just starting their careers to find mentorship.

AS: How did your interest in architecture first develop?

LG: I was an English major at Yale for my undergrad. For a lark, I took an architecture class. The professor, Alec Purves, a profoundly knowledgeable and terrific man I’ll never forget, gave a talk about how buildings meet the ground and how buildings meet the sky. It was essentially asking people to see the world differently. I came out of that class and I began looking at the world in a different way than I ever had before.

I ended up doing a double major. I thought that I had a skillset that might have made me a decent lawyer. I felt a lot of commitment to social justice and working with the community. When I graduated, I had different jobs that focused more on architecture: I worked at a model shop; I was part of a framing crew on Martha’s Vineyard; then I worked for an inspiring architect who was a friend of my professor. He was interesting; his whole being and whole way of proceeding through the world was about seeing architecture, how it operates, and being analytical with how buildings and cities work. At some point he said, “Of course you’re applying to architecture school, right?” I was caught off guard. I said, “I suppose so!” [laughs] After a couple more years, I went back to school.

What did you learn about yourself while studying architecture?

Coming into architecture with a liberal arts background, I had to learn a new language. I did not possess the vocabulary to express myself or represent my ideas until I learned the language of drawings and seeing. It was a great experience for me. But it was hard. I learned a ton from my classmates. I will say that there was a freedom of being unknowledgeable --- you don’t know what you don’t know, so you do things with a lot of freedom.

Mill River Carousel Pavilion. Photography by David Sundberg

Common Ground High School. Photography by David Sundberg

Nauset Beach House. Photography by David Sundberg

How did you first get your start in the field?

Alan and I met in architecture school. After we got married, we looked for opportunities to build. We both had that hands-on inclination. We started doing small projects in New Haven -- very small things for people we knew. Someone has to take a leap of faith to hire a young architect. As hard as you may work and as passionate or smart as you may be, there is a ton you don’t know. We had a couple of small lucky breaks and we learned. We are quick learners. But we had a feeling the scale was wrong. I wanted to do bigger stuff.

From 1992-94, Alan and I were in Berlin because he had gotten a Von Humboldt, a German grant, and was focusing on the reunification of Germany after the wall came down. It was really an interesting time to be in Germany. For me, it was the first time in my life that I hadn’t been working in school or working, so I thought it was a great time to have a baby. Our first child was born in Berlin. In retrospect, it was challenging. I knew the language but not super well and I had no family around.

That period in Berlin was an incredible experience. It would have been logical in some ways to stay there because there was a huge building boom in the mid-90s after reunification, but it didn’t look to us like we were going to be able to hang out our own shingle, which is what we wanted to do.

We came back to Connecticut and started doing small projects around here. We started our firm. At the time, we realized we wanted to live in a small city that is culturally vibrant, that is affordable, that has a great university; we looked at Austin, Philadelphia. We kept thinking about that and meanwhile we were building our practice. Turns out it’s New Haven!

“It was essentially asking people to see the world differently. I came out of that class and I began looking at the world in a different way than I ever had before.”

— Lisa Gray

When you started your practice, did you focus on a certain project type or scale? How did you determine your focus together?

We took on residential projects, which were the first we could get. The first ones we built ourselves because that was the only way we could get them built. Without a tremendous amount of conscious planning, we fell into doing residential. We always had a concept of bigger things. In Berlin, I had the great pleasure of learning the city well and going to neighborhood meetings and meeting very engaged citizens who talked about the meaning of the massive political change in the city. They were very engaged in how the city should get built. When we came back to New Haven, we cared about that, too. We started to build and be a voice in the city about how it was developing and how it ought to develop.

In terms of building, we designed what we ourselves could build. Then we started to get projects where our clients were going to hire an actual contractor and that was a learning experience. We were self-made in terms of our training.

The presence of Yale was important. Alan started teaching at Wesleyan and then moved to the faculty at Yale. I started to teach some classes. Alan is a natural teacher; I had to learn. It was harder for me. I’m not as extroverted as he is and I was also very focused on our work and the conduct of our practice. What was our office going to look like? How was a viable practice going to work? That has been a real passion of mine - to make sure we are a good employer. Meanwhile, we had another kid. Raising the kids was pandemonium. [laughs]

I relate to the pandemonium! It’s intriguing to hear you identify your own strengths and natural focus. Over your career with this practice, how has it grown? What have been your milestones along the way?

We got better and better at doing houses. We are really terrific at it now. It remains a passion of mine. The thing with us is that we didn't want to be only house architects. I don’t mean that in any disrespectful way. It’s a wonderful kind of practice to have a very rich investigation and extremely great relationships with your clients, which by and large has been good for us. But the scale feels incomplete. So then, how do you get someone to hire you when you’ve never built a larger building? How do you get someone to hire you for something that’s not a house when you’ve built a bunch of houses?

We’ve found success working with mission-based clients motivated by our same ideals and values. We’ve had a strong environmental focus that’s been a part of our practice since we started in the 90s. That’s why we try to build as much as we can in wood. In some cases, our clients haven’t gone through the process of choosing an architect before. They may be willing, without really realizing it, to take a chance on you. Our career has been punctuated by projects like that which I am really proud of.

Tell me more about those projects and why they are so meaningful.

The Common Ground High School here in New Haven was an incredibly meaningful project for us. It was just an honor and a great journey to craft a process together with the School. It meant a lot of meetings and more work, but it was worth it. The students were involved from the beginning, including the architect selection process. One of the students that was part of the interview group said “We just want a building that is as great as our program.” The most powerful thing for me is that you have these students who take ownership and can talk about embodied carbon, material sourcing, bio-based insulation, and on-site energy generation.

The Fairfield Jesuit Community Center was another mission-based partner that was so interesting. Neither of us was raised Catholic. That’s the great thing about architecture: you have the opportunity to deep dive into worlds that you didn’t necessarily know much about. We came to understand the Jesuits’ value system and their commitments to have a building that would perform. Their question was, “How can we live lightly on the land?” We learned a lot from them and I think they learned from us. That was a great process.

We are working on the first mass-timber affordable housing project in the United States. It’s for a community in our city that desperately needs well-built affordable housing. Can’t everyone live in an apartment that has some wood in it? People do better when they are near wood; they think better, learn better.

“I am proud that we are a good employer and are always striving to be better. If you don’t have a business that can support a life that is reasonably well-funded for your employees, you don’t have a business. ”

— Lisa Gray

What have been your biggest highlights?

I’m proud of our work and our role within our community. I am proud that we are a good employer and are always striving to be better. If you don’t have a business that can support a life that is reasonably well-funded for your employees, you don’t have a business.

What have been your biggest challenges?

We were largely self-taught in terms of practice when we started our firm. We hadn’t spent a decade or two in another firm like some people do. It wasn’t clear to us that we were the ones in charge. Our challenge has been figuring out how to create an office environment where people's roles are clear, where the conduct of the work is professional, and where we understand the delivery process. We are trying to get more deliberate about how our office is organized.

Students at Common Ground High School. Photography by David Sundberg

Fairfield Jesuit Community Center. Photography by David Sundberg

Chillmark House. Photography by David Sundberg

Who are you admiring right now?

Anssi Lassila with OOPEAA in Finland is an inspiration. He has a great practice that is very concerned with resource management, timber buildings, and being at the cutting edge of environmental building. He and his team are terrific designers.

Andrew Waugh is a leader in timber building in UK with a specialty in housing. A great person, inspiring friend, and wonderful collaborator.

Omar Gandhi is a cracker-jack designer, with such craft and care at the residential scale. He’s also just an incredibly nice guy, which is meaningful. As part of the steering committee for US Architects Declare, I’ve come to admire the work of Sekou Cooke and Teddy Cruz. They are focused on a deep connection to their community and place. I find that very inspiring.

“That’s the great thing about architecture: you have the opportunity to deep dive into worlds that you didn’t necessarily know much about.”

What is your core mission? What is the impact you hope to have on the world?

My goal is to leave places better than I found them. If we are building on an untouched site, we approach that with a deep consciousness. In New Haven, which is a city that has gone through a lot, we are trying to help stabilize and reclaim certain parts and listen to those communities. For our office, we are structuring a business that is supportive and convivial for the people who work there.

What did you wish you knew starting out that you’ve learned?

There have been lessons about professional practice that I could only learn by doing and practicing. On one or two early projects, I wish I had known more about the professional standards that govern the collaboration among architects, contractors, and clients.

What advice do you have for those who are just starting their careers?

Find a mentor. Find people who are inspiring to you and try to get around them and learn from them.

Look at as much architecture as you can, to try to understand in yourself what scale of architecture and what project types you care about. What kinds of issues are you grappling with? Do you want to be a person who is working at the scale of the city or do you want to be a person who is working at the scale of designing and making chairs? Try to investigate what’s natural to you and what’s hard for you. If you don’t know a lot about how buildings are put together, make it your business to learn.

Also, get licensed. I mean that for men, too, but especially for women.