I could not agree more on Julia response to her first two paragraphs. No two RFP or RFQ are the same and need tender loving care to define what you (the owner) are looking for. RFP and RFQ need to be modifies to suit your specific museums conditions, circumstances and programming needs. In this way Architects will very their responses to suit the conditions indicated. Our firm does not have a set of boiler plate documents to just throw a cover letter on and hope for the best. 

Julia response to "vibe" is also critical. I call this part a mini marriage where you will work very closely with Architects, Exhibit Designers, contractors and fabricators to design and construct your project. You want to have that warm and fuzzy feeling throughout the entire design construction process. You can not get this feeling by just reading through a submittal package. This is why you interview process is so important so you can see their work and get a felling on how you all can work together. How does the mix feels. Sometimes it gets down to just a gut feeling.

One of the biggest problems you will face is larger firms can have big marketing budgets to “WOW” potential clients with their submittal packages whereas smaller firms do not have those resources. Smaller firms might not be able to have the “pizzazz packages” created from four color offset printing on 30# glossy photographic paper. This is where hearing what others museums say about working with these design firms come into play. Do your homework and talk to other similar institutions about their previous working relationships with these firms. Don’t be afraid to ask them hard questions about their working relationships.  

I do however have some concern with part of Julia’s last paragraph. “All architects have similar technical skills,”!

If you have a specific injury or disease you would not just look for a PHD in general practice but would look for someone who specializes in that injury or diseases. They have the extra working knowledge and skills for a particular field and have spent many years homing there skills.  Architects and Exhibit Designers are no different as many specialized in selected fields of practice where they have learned from many projects what works and what does not work. What problems to expect and how to solve for these problems in the first place. In terms of museums they know how to integrate exhibitry into the whole scheme not just leave open areas to stuff exhibits into. If someone has never designed a museums or exhibits before how can they know how the exhibit areas and components are to work together, what size is really needed and how the exhibits and building flow together to form a coherent project.  


William M. Greaves
Architects iN Design
www.architectsindesign.com


-----Original Message-----
>From: Julia Moore <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Apr 9, 2007 10:46 AM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Search for museum architect
>
>Sarah--
>
>To add to the information below, RFQ responses by an architectural firm
>are carefully prepared in response to the specific conditions of the
>job. No two qualifications packets by a firm are the same. The firm
>selects its proposed project team, presents documentation of past
>relevant projects, and answers the RFQ questions set out by the hiring
>committee.  For us, it takes one person about 40-60 hours to prepare a
>RFQ response, often more people and more time if the committee has a lot
>of specific questions.  You might not get a good idea of what a firm can
>really do for you if you look at the response to someone else's RFQ. 
>
>Also, an interpersonal "vibe" has a lot to do with a successful project.
>Sometimes the RFQ packet and the feeling you get from an interview don't
>match up.  Sometimes the RFQ packet is really slick and professional but
>when you interview with the architect, you get the feeling they aren't
>going to be there for you, or that this is not the most important job on
>their plate.  And sometimes you meet an architect that you really click
>with, but you are disappointed with their packet.  My feeling is that
>you should trust the interpersonal vibe more than the RFQ packet,
>although seeing the qualifications does help to narrow things down a
>bit.  
>
>It all comes down to people working with people.  All architects have
>similar technical skills, but the combination of client and architect is
>what makes a building project into Architecture.  
>
>
>Julia Muney Moore
>Public Art Administrator
>Blackburn Architects, Indianapolis, IN
>(317) 875-5500 x219   
> 
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
>Behalf Of Glenn A. Walsh
>Sent: Saturday, April 07, 2007 1:03 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Search for museum architect
>
>Sarah,
>
>I forwarded your question to an architect friend in
>New York. He had an interesting reply, which follows:
>
>--- Claudio Veliz CV A <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>...
>> An organization should select a firm based on the
>> firm's design 
>> philosophy, approach, and emphasis. ...
>> Architecture is a process. Think of it as varying
>> quality of meat 
>> grinders. A good firm will give good results no
>> matter what you put 
>> into it, because it knows how to research, interview
>> their clients, 
>> users and understands, intimately, the purposes of a
>> project, and the 
>> desires of the client. 
>
>
>--- Sarah Damberger <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2007 14:09:43 -0700 
>From:  "Sarah Damberger" <[log in to unmask]> 
>Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Search for museum architect 
>To: [log in to unmask]
>
>> Hello all,
>> 
>> Has anyone been involved in the search for/selection
>> of a museum architect?  I'm interested in seeing
>> what
>> architecture and planning firms send in response to
>> requests for qualifications (RFQs).  If you have
>> examples of qualification submittals (either
>> successful or not) that you would be willing to part
>> with, please let me know.  I'd be happy to reimburse
>> for postage.
>> 
>> Thanks!
>> 
>> Sarah
>
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If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).