Blog

 

Leslie Saul founded Leslie Saul & Associates (LS&A), an Architecture and Interior Design firm almost 30 years ago with the following mission: to make the world a better place for people who work, play, age, live and learn.

 

Lesli Saul’s wealth of experience and knowledge has led to countless success stories and satisfied customers. One of the more exciting of these stories is LS&A’s continued and growing partnership with high-end French furniture company, Roche Bobois. The esteemed French company has been collaborating with LS&A for over 16 years now. Leslie Saul took the time to explain this successful and exciting ongoing design partnership in further detail.

Continue reading “Leslie Saul x Haute Design MARCH Editorial”

I was fascinated by an article titled “Head Space” by James Somers, in the December 6, 2021 issue of The New Yorker (yes, I’m a bit behind in my reading). Somers spends a lot of time talking with Ken Norman, Chair of the Psychology Department at Princeton University, as he learns more about thought decoding. Norman describes the way his former student, Sam Gershman, “likes using the terms ‘lumping’ and ‘splitting’ to describe how the mind’s meaning space evolves. When you encounter a new stimulus, do you lump it with a concept that is familiar, or do you split off a new concept?” I recognized this at once as central to my design process, to my understanding of the world, and to my approach to teaching architecture and interior design students. It even applies to learning Spanish!

Let’s start with Spanish. When I see a new word, first I look for similarities to other words in English or French.  Sometimes that gets me in trouble (frio is cold not hot like fried), but often I can glean enough meaning to understand the sentence.  If I don’t see similarities to other words (lumping), I then put the word in the unique pile (splitting), with the understanding that I will have to memorize it.  Here is lumping in Spanish: teatro is theater.  Here is splitting is Spanish: ajedrez is chess.

Now let’s apply the concept to teaching.  The student’s work looks like a hot mess, but it won’t be constructive to say that.  I look for the bits that are similar to the work of other well-known architects, especially the work of the 20^th century masters, so the students can look at their work and begin to understand what they may have been trying to achieve.  I also look for the bits that are unique.  Sometimes those are the parts that are making the project look wrong, but if you can take away the parts that are similar to the work of others, the unique parts may have the most potential. The student can decide how to develop the design, not to fit to my tastes, but to understand how to make their intentions clearer.

Finally, how do I “lump and split” when I am designing? I usually do both in a single project! I guess I intuitively understand how the brain processes information. If there are too many elements that call attention to themselves, the person going to a space (especially for the first time) will not understand how to navigate the space. We want to control where you look, and how you proceed through a space.  We want you/your brain to “lump” the parts of the space that we don’t want to call attention to by using more typical design solutions. People recognize those elements as things that they’ve seen before and mostly ignore them. The parts that we want to grab your eye, we want to “split” off from the lump that is recognizable.  It is the one thing that doesn’t belong with the rest. Now I have your attention!

Ken Norman and his team are working on decoding the brain, now you can start decoding space.

This was the proclamation from Warby Parker eyeglasses.  I agree with it.  This is not the time for Neutrals! After being somewhat home bound for almost two years, it’s Time for Some Color!

One of my friends who lives in a moderately-sized home on a large lot said that she is feeling like the walls are coming in on her. How is this possible?

How many white walls have you looked at on Zoom or Teams? Who said that your background needs to be neutral? Not me!

Now is the time to paint the room something fun or calm or meditative or energizing. Have you even thought about how your “office” color could be influencing your mood?

How do we help? It can take a lot of work, but we can help you transform the space that you are so tired of into something fun, or sophisticated, or cool. You name it, we interpret it with a custom design.

Start dreaming about the mood or feeling you want to achieve (for yourself and for others who see you virtually) and we can make those dreams come true. Not sure about what you want?  Never fear, we can lead you every step of the way.  Our clients think the process is half the fun.

Let’s get started!

 

Leslie Saul & Associates specializes in additions and renovations. The team of architects and interior designers thrives on challenging assignments in the New England and South Florida areas. Clients appreciate their full-service approach, from concept to completion. Continue reading “Leslie Saul & Associates”