Architect Matthew Coates recalls a moment in his childhood that changed his trajectory. He grew up in rural northern Michigan, where he would often go on hikes and explore the wilderness. One day, he came across an old, dilapidated log cabin with a tree growing inside it, all the way up through the roof. This experience sparked his interest in creating shelters from trees, and he knew right then that he wanted to pursue a career in architecture.
Early Beginnings
Matthew Coates would go on to become an award-winning architect, launching Coates Design in 2005. The studio, based on Bainbridge Island, has a portfolio that includes residential and commercial projects, with a focus on sustainable design and building practices. One of their recent projects, reHOME, is a development of three tiny homes for farming interns built almost entirely with unwanted materials.
Shawn Williams of GRAY magazine sat down with Matthew Coates to discuss design and life. When asked about the smartest thing he’s ever done, Coates replied, “Bet on myself. The smartest thing I’ve ever done was create this design firm and hire people smarter than me.”
The Impact of AI on Architecture
Matthew Coates believes that Artificial Intelligence will have a huge impact on the future of architecture. He notes that AI is already affecting businesses in writing, graphic design, and film-making, and it’s exciting and a bit scary to think about where this will go. Coates imagines a future where programs like Autodesk can create design options in any style or vernacular using just an itemization of spaces.
He thinks AI will never be able to imitate true creativity or that its creations will ever have the intangible soulfulness he can imbue in his work, but he’s not sure it won’t come close, or that given the extreme savings a program like that would offer, people would accept it.
Dimmers are essential in every project, according to Coates. He is always amazed to see new buildings with simple ON/OFF switches and no ability to control the lighting. Being able to adjust the lighting to whatever is going on at the moment is important.
A Design Idol
Matthew Coates has a design idol, Tadao Ando, a Japanese architect known for his genius and other-worldly work. Coates has seen many of Ando’s works in person and believes that he gets the most out of architecture.
To learn more about Matthew Coates and Coates Design, visit their website and check out their Instagram channel. They are just one of many architecture and interior studios that are pushing the boundaries of cultural stories through design and building practices.
