Katerra, in memoriam

Katerra, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based startup, is shutting down after a six-year run and over $2 billion in investments. This was the company that was going to revolutionize the building industry. It was going to do everything; Katerra would be architect, supplier, manufacturer, contractor, and project manager. Think how many middle men that would cut out! How much time and money would be saved! Off-the-shelf, factory-made, turn-key! The future is now! Another round of mass timber for everyone; on the house!

Yes, the future IS now…but architecture isn’t widgets, planning codes aren’t uniform, and there’s something very substantial to be said for local know-how and homespun seat-of-the-pants-idness.

Katerra’s demise has me ruminating on the nature of Studio Combine. Three comparisons come to mind:

Pluck vs Hubris

Katerra had delusions of grandeur that were compelling and infectious. Just last year I had a colleague who was convinced that Katerra was the way of the future and that architects needed to figure out real quick how to adapt to this marketplace. Pivot or die. The profession as we know it is on the brink of obsolescence. It gave him real existential dread. Fear and sensationalism are powerful forces, especially when we see tech behemoths seem to pull of analogous feats, like Amazon, Tesla, Apple, and Google.

Architecture is indeed changing. Good lord I’m still pretty young and I can definitely feel the ground shifting and shifting again. But the revolution will not be televised. Keep your ear to the ground for this one.

Switching to a sports analogy: Rather than administering the whole league, I’d prefer to excel at the game; support my teammates and leave it all on the field. I like being an underdog, punching above my weight, and juking defenders (budget and schedule, for example) out of their jock straps (budget and schedule identifying as male in this metaphor) on the way to the goal (i.e., a successful project).

Economies of Means vs Economies of Scale

Katerra began with big ideas and a scrappy, can-do ethos. As funding poured in, it bloated quickly into bureaucracy. For the company to survive it needed to grow. For a solution to be viable, it had to be applicable en masse. Economy of Scale requires speed and debt.

I would prefer to do more with less; to adapt to conditions at hand and give each buck a bigger bang. I work within ecosystems that are subject to the complexities of human nature at every scale–individuals, families, social groups, economic production and consumption, civic life, fashion, politics and governance – that are endlessly varied and dynamic. Thinking critically, acting strategically, and constantly assessing risk allow me to course-correct quickly.

Errand-Running vs The One-Stop

Instead of designing buildings from scratch every single time, Katerra would have building products: standard, off the shelf buildings that could be customized for a client’s needs, the same way mass produced cars offer a wide variety of trim options.

I’ve entertained this thought. How different do designs really need to be? What if I handed out menus at the first meeting?

I’ve got builders who go the extra mile, engineers who tune right into my wavelength, and developers who strike the right balance between quality and cost. What if I could just work with that same bunch of people every time?

And I’d only recommend the teeniest tiniest fraction of all the light fixtures, finishes, and appliances that are out there on the market. What if those were the only choices there were? Cut the crap! Trim the fat!

However, my ability to navigate the building industry ecosystem—and to explore new nooks and crannies—makes me incredibly adaptable. My eggs (and therefore my clients’ eggs) are never in just one basket and my clients, collaborators, and I are constantly making new discoveries.