Firm name: Outpost Office
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Year founded: 2013
Firm leadership: Ashley Bigham and Erik Herrmann
Education: Both: B. Arch., University of Tennessee College of Architecture and Design; M.Arch., Yale University School of Architecture
Experience: Bigham: MOS Architects, Gray Organschi Architecture; Herrmann: Trahan Architects, Gray Organschi Architecture: Both: currently teach as Assistant Professors at the Knowlton School at The Ohio State University
How founders met: Working together for Brian Ambroziak at the University of Tennessee College of Architecture and Design
Firm size: Never less than two

Mission:
To seek new public audiences through experimental creative production ranging from the serious to the absurd, often simultaneously. We do this to produce spaces that are unexpected, are unanticipated, and—we hope—ignite curiosity about the built environment.

First commission:
Safety Not Guaranteed

Favorite project:
Another Stack, an experimental environmental design in the commons space of the A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan. The principal element of the project is a series of large-scale seating platforms that can easily be rearranged and stacked to accommodate a host of functions.

We made these large seating platforms from structural insulated panels, which are typically used (and hidden) in conventional, high-efficiency residential construction. The system features a set of 12 platforms that generate social bodies of different scales as they are moved and stacked throughout the space: one person can fit in a center cutout, six people can sit around one unit, and it takes three to four people to move each piece. We were very happy to see faculty and students intermingling among the holes, offsets, and steps.

Second favorite project:
Upstate House is a project that began with a set of compositional studies and has turned into multiple designs for multiple houses. The project, which has had half a dozen names over the past few years, became an excuse to work through a lot of the issues that are foundational to our practice. We like projects that multiply themselves and become design ideas for the future.

Origin of firm name:
We actually started with the initials “OO”—they felt right on the page. At the time we named the office, we had been living in Europe and we felt pretty adrift in completely new cultural contexts—a bit like outsiders. Ironically, the connected world exacerbated that feeling. We thought a lot about the perspective that gave us and the strategic benefits of being an outpost—ideologically and practically.

Now we’re back and practicing in the U.S., but we still work to push boundaries or conventions to stay authentic to our name.

Biggest career leap:
Our fellowships after graduating from Yale. Ashley earned a Fulbright to study architectural defense systems in Ukraine, while Erik had the opportunity to study the history of computational design as a Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany. The fellowships were rewarding for the research we did, but it was the time and space that were most important. We were able to begin a conversation that continues through the practice and our work as collaborators.

Greatest mentor:
We’ve each been fortunate to have a lot of great mentors over the years and even more fortunate to share many of them. Brian Ambroziak at the University of Tennessee ignited our passion for design. Alan Organschi and Lisa Gray taught us how to turn those passions into architecture with intelligence and sensitivity. Hilary Sample, AIA, and Michael Meredith, AIA, continue to give us models for academics and professionals. John McMorrough taught us how to look at our own work from new perspectives.

Advice for your younger self:
Stop worrying, just work

Best advice you have ever received:
“They’ll decide when you are ready.” We got this advice from a colleague a few years back when we had some anxiety about academic positions we were applying for. We realized that it was impossible and foolish to try and determine if we were “right” for the position. We also realized that this kind of attitude likely keeps many qualified people from applying for positions, seeking commissions, etc. In architecture, that’s a problem we hope the field can overcome.

Special item in your studio space:
Motorized turntable display—the kind you can buy on Amazon to photograph jewelry

Design tool of choice:
GIFs

A tool you would love to invent:
An image search tool with good taste

Trend that needs to come back:
Polychrome … we’re working on it.

Your favorite place to get inspired:
The library or the internet

When I’m not working in architecture, we:
Apply for the opportunity to work on architecture.

Most urgent policy change:
Licensure upon graduation from accredited programs would solve a great number of issues in our field.

Skills to master:
The art of the YouTube tutorial