Dossier: Nick Doichev, AIA

Name: Nick Doichev, AIA
Firm: DLA+ Architecture & Interior Design, Principal
Family: Single; Daughters: Maya (10), Nora (7)
Years in practice: 17
Education: Master of Architecture, Virginia Tech
Your first job: Philadelphia, Kitchen & Associates Architectural Services
Project you’re proudest of: On the boards: Energy Innovation Center (Former Connelley Trade School), Pittsburgh, PA; Completed: Yuma Arts Center, Yuma, AZ
Most embarrassing moment: January 2010…I could not get out of bed the morning after I was laid off.
What’s the best part of your job? I get many chances to work with people to create space.
What would you change about your job? Working for a minimum or no fee.
What have you always wanted to tell your clients? Good architecture is client-specific and place-specific. Hire the architect who will deliver this, and pay them well!
What’s the most annoying thing architects do? Not listening… Boasting about the projects they have done, instead of focusing on the project at hand.
Best gift to give an architect: A hearing aid
Favorite tool: Pencil
Architect you’d like to have a drink with: The late Carlo Scarpa. He said: “I draw because I want to see.”
Where you live in Pittsburgh and why you think it’s great? Mt. Lebanon – great for kids.
Something you’d like to learn how to build with your own hands: A sail boat
People would be surprised to know that: Bamboo is grass.
The secret to my success: I engage…
Building you’d like to renovate into something else and why? I believe the address is 224 1st Avenue, here in Pittsburgh. It is a tall, skinny 6-story brick structure… all boarded up and lonely. It would make a good place to work.
Wish list for downtown Pgh: A building that seeks to utilize all that Nature offers… preferably without a LEED label.
Architectural quote to practice by: “You cannot make a building unless you are joyously engaged.” – Louis Kahn
I belong to the AIA because: I love my profession.