There’s a movie called Indecent Proposal from 1993. You know,
its the one where a dashing Robert Redford offers a million dollars for a night with Demi Moore,
much to the anguish of her husband played by Woody Harrelson. Woody Harrelson’s character,
named David Murphy, also happens to be an architect. And in this video
we explore architectural best practices by learning what not to do from David Murphy.
Look, Indecent Proposal not a good movie and it definitely has questionable morality all
around. However, despite all the movie’s flaws, it does hold the distinction of showing me my first
architect. You see, growing up near Detroit, I had never really met an architect before,
I didn’t even really know what they did. So, regretfully, I absorbed a lot of this
movie’s architectural lessons. Turns out I’m not the only one.
Discussing it with an architect friend of mine, they thought for many years that Woody
Harrelson was actually the person who asked what a brick wants to be. Like literally,
the actor, Woody Harrelson. When of course, in reality it was the architect Louis Kahn. Filmic
portrayals of architects can be powerful. Fun fact: Student #2, played by Art Ghudabala,
the one who talked about the brick as a weapon. also played an employee of the architecture
firm in Life as a House. Anyway, looking back on it,
there’s some pretty glaring issues to David Murphy’s approach to architecture which
directly relates to the idea of a proposal, as the title of the movie suggests.
Architects make proposals all the time, that’s what they do. “Hey, make me a proposal,” a client
might say. They don’t mean draw a sketch on my wall. They mean give me your fee structure.
Show me how you plan to make a building happen. Even when responding to an RFP,
or request for proposals, architects are proving their competency while taking their
first stab at a design scheme. David Murphy is completely and repeatedly unable to do this.
The indecent proposal in this movie isn’t made by robert redford for a night with demi moore, the
indecent proposal is from Murphy. His inability to fashion architecture proposals is embarrassingly
indecent. So I thought I’d help him out. And, if you were influenced into architecture by this
movie at all, you might need to hear this too. Here are five ways to make decent proposals. And
if you follow this advice, you’ll avoid the professional pitfalls that David Murphy
so willingly swan dived right into. #1 Use Protection
David Murphy was operating as a sole proprietorship which is really the
riskiest business structure because it doesn’t offer any legal protection in case of business
debt or financial obligations. As Murphy learns the hard way when his property goes
into foreclosure. He becomes personally liable for his business’ failure.
A much better arrangement is to setup an LLC or a limited liability company. This video is
not offering legal advice but an LLC is really the best arrangement for Murphy
because it offers the protection of a typical corporation because it’s treated as a unique
entity. But at the same time it offers the tax simplicity of a sole proprietorship.
So, profits and losses are reported on the owner’s personal tax forms but the LLC offers
protection from business liabilities. To setup an LLC is different in every
state. You will need a lawyer, Murphy already has one played by Oliver Platt,
but if you don’t, you would need one. While we’re here, I would also advise paying
close attention to sexual harrassment policies in order to alleviate the possibility of developing
a hostile working environment. #2 Put away the Charcoal
In an opening scene, we are shown David Murphy sitting on the bathroom floor
drawing in charcoal on a piece of paper that wraps the corner into two other rooms of his house. He
claims to be designing his dream house, one that includes all of his ideas about architecture.
There’s your problem. House designs can only hold so many ideas, one or two is enough. Time
to put away the charcoal David. You see, David doesn’t understand that there are a number of
phases to architectural production and he is stuck in the phase called Schematic Design.
According to the American Institute of Architects, aka the AIA, there a total of five phases to the
development of an architectural design. Schematic Design is the first, but it only accounts for
maybe 15% of a project’s time and fees. So, what, like two or three weeks for a house?
Schematic Design includes site and programmatic analysis, space planning and finding the size and
locations of spaces. It also includes determining how the building will look and work. During this
phase the architect might be making sketches, models, diagrams and basic renderings.
Then comes Design Development which accounts for 20% of time and fees. See that’s already more than
Schematic. This is when you pick materials, fixtures, appliances, etc. Get more specific
about the details of the design. Start talking to engineers about plumbing, electrical, HVAC.
Really nail down the cost estimate. Construction Documents 40%
of time and fees. Produce the all the technical drawings and specifications.
This is where the real time and money spent. Then comes bidding. Where the owner prepares
to select the contractor for the job. 5% of time and fees. The architect has a few
responsibilities here to help the process. Construction Administration - another 20%. Visit
the job site to see progress and make sure things are progressing according to the design intent.
You are not supervising!! During this phase an architect also reviews contractor’s
request for payments. #3 Cultivate Clients
One of Murphy’s most egregious oversights, the real indecency as a professional architect,
was his pathological disregarding of Redford’s character as a potential client. Whenever you
meet a billionaire, that is your chance to develop a relationship that could lead to a commission.
That is called ‘networking.’ Even if the commission doesn’t come right away, it is good to
stay in touch with folks through email campaigns, newsletters with major firm milestones, or
personal notes and inquiries. I mean, later in the movie Redford even buys the half-built house right
out from under Murphy. He was a client all along and Murphy didn’t even see it. *shake head*
Person-to-person contact is one of the primary and often one of the most effective ways
to market services. Networking, whether in person or through electronic means,
is a way to understand the market, identify the needs of potential clients, develop trust,
and maintain contact when a business opportunity arises. Through networking,
an architect can identify a lead, or a source of information about a potential client who may
need the services of an architect now or in the future. A lead can also be a planned building
project that requires design services. Murphy should also be carrying a business
card at the very least or some form of brochure or pamphlet with a brief description of his firm
and its capabilities and service specialties, and includes representative photographs of past
projects. The should serve as a reminder of the firm and encourage a potential client to seek more
information from the architect. The traditional printed brochure is now often supplemented with
or even replaced by a well-designed website that can be updated more frequently and easily
than a full-color brochure. #4 Make a proposal
Here is another point where Murphy really falls on his face. After Redford’s character expresses
interest in architectural services, he might ask for a proposal. While Murphy would likely think to
provide a charcoal sketch, what Redford is really asking for is fee structure and a project plan.
Let’s just use the million dollars for sake of simplicity. That million dollars Redford offers
could have been Murphy’s design fee for a house. Let’s walk through this.
Murphy is an award winning architect, he’s won AIA awards, the Prix de Rome, which isn’t really
a possibility for him since he’s American, so let’s just assume they meant the Rome Prize.
Others winning the Rome Prize around this time were Henry Cobb of Pie Cobb Fried, Elizabeth
Plater-Zyberk of Duany Plater Zyberk, and Leon Krier. This is elite company. Murphy needs to know
his worth while developing a budget proposal. Of course there are multiple kinds of fee
structures like hourly, not-to-exceed, but I think what makes the most sense here is what is called
a stimpulated-sum fee structure, which can be determined a few different ways, the easiest being
a percentage of project costs. I’d say 10% sounds very reasonable given Murphy’s credentials, which
means Redford would be building a $10 million house which is in line with our expectations
for a house in Santa Monica in 1993. With such a design fee, you might lose 40% of
that right away to consultants like the landscape architect, Mechanical, Structural, and Civil
engineers, etc. With a high-end house like this you might also have a pool consultant, lighting
and AV consultants. This stuff gets expensive. And, using a typical breakdown of time and costs,
you might end up with a schematic design fee of around $90,000. A part of that has to go
to overhead costs like rent, and reimbursables like printing costs. Maybe he bills out around
$300/hour or so and we’re only talking a week max of his time spent sketching on a wall.
#5 Use a Contract While there is a scene of
Murphy's lawyer going over contract negotiations for the so-called indecent proposal, we do not get
equal insight into his treatment of contracts for his architectural work. However, given is
track-record of carelessness, its easy to imagine that he may overlook this crucial component.
It seems Murphy’s vision of an architect is that they are difficult to work with and often get it
wrong. This is why it is important to have a solid contract in place prior to the beginning of work.
A great resource for contracts come from the AIA and you gain access to these once you join and pay
your dues. We already know that since Murphy won an AIA award, that he is a member.
The most important contract would be the A201- 2017 General Conditions of the Contract for
Construction. The general conditions are an integral part of the contract for construction
for a large project. They set forth the rights, responsibilities, and relationships of the owner,
contractor, and architect. Though not a party to the contract for construction between owner
and contractor, the architect participates in the preparation of the contract documents and performs
construction phase duties and responsibilities described in detail in the general conditions.
Bonus Architectural Character Analysis While I feel the biggest lesson of David Murphy’s
journey is regarding the lack of following well-known professional standards, it’s my
duty as a design professor to talk a little about his design work. Majority of the work shown in the
film is an accumulation of student projects from the school sci-arc which was also the
filming location at 5454 Beethoven St Los Angeles, now the location of the Deutsch ad agency.
His house design is probably done by the production designers for easy mock construction.
Even roger ebert calls it architecturally undistinguished, which I would agree.
However, the other work and lecture shows a real struggle of working through a style
called deconstructivist architecture which was popular during that late 80s and early 90s.
One of the primary questions of this period and type of work was about
revealing the inner conflict that is inherent to architectural forms. So, while in the past,
buildings tried to iron out all of the tension and conflicts of a design in service of showcasing
more pure shapes. Architects at the time were testing ways to showcase and express
this inner conflict that had been repressed. For a time, this might have been accomplished
by arranging simple shapes in a way that forces them to intersect in complicated ways.
And this is this technique is seen in the drawings on the wall where circles and squares are arranged
in various overlapping fashions. However, Deconstructivist architecture and those
practicing it were seeking a way to showcase conflict within the form itself to create
a sort of unstable monster or alien form. This is also my assessment of Murphy’s character.
Its not the external circumstances that cause him to implode, his chaos comes from within.
He depends and needs Demi Moore’s character to complete him or keep him viable. Without
her he dissolves into chaos. Where this is seen architecturally
are in the slides leading up to the final lecture with the work of Frank Gehry,
Louis Barragon, and Richard Meier. Frank Gehry was featured in an exhibition on Deconstructivist
architecture and the design principals become a modus operandi for Gehry ever since.
But that’s no excuse for poor business practices because frank Gehry is one of the most financially
savvy and successful architects alive. Despite the films many flaws in writing,
plot, acting, and morality, one of its overlooked indecencies is the blatant disregard for standards
of professional architectural practice. I hope that you can learn from David Murphy’s mistakes
for you to make some decent proposals. If you enjoyed this video please consider
giving it a like. You might also enjoy my assessment of building leaks
or the architecture of George Costanza. If all that sounds intriguing, consider subscribing
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