Woman With Remote

Collaborator Profile: Peter Lau, FMA Builders

teenage engineering, The Art of Noise, SFMOMA,  Photography by Matthew Millman

FMA Builders is one of the high-end residential builders Amplified Lifestyles collaborates with. One of their principals, Peter Lau, has a career that spans the esoteric of apprenticing with a Japanese master temple carpenter to the practical of running world-class projects for international developers. He started at FMA in 2000 as their first project manager, working with founders Dave Forde and Charles Mazzola. After six years, he pursued other professional opportunities. Peter returned to FMA in 2018 as a principal. In addition to his work at FMA, he serves on SFMOMA’s Architecture + Design Accessions Committee.  

AL: You recently joined the Architecture + Design Accessions Committee of SFMOMA, what is your favorite piece in the collection?  

PL: Years ago, before Snøhetta designed the addition and the reconfiguration of the lobby, there used to be two large Frank Stella works on opposing lobby walls. I loved their visual impact and how they transformed the experience for visitors as they entered the museum. That was my favorite piece, then. Fast-forward to SFMOMA’s expanded building, its new director as of 2022, Chris Bedford, and some fantastic exhibitions; my favorites are Ragnar Kjartansson’s 9-screen video installation called The Visitors, which is playing through January 26, 2025; The Art of Noise, which just ended, lured you in with music compositions, a collection of radios spanning many decades and styles, and, my favorite part, a unique vintage collection of music posters from the 60s and 70s. Get in the Game is an upcoming exhibition from October 19, 2024, through February 18, 2025, looking at sports, contemporary culture, and how the two influence each other. My favorite piece in the show is the National Anthem by Kota Ezawa.

AL: What FMA project did you enjoy working on most and why? 

PL: Much of the modern lifestyle is fragmented or interrupt-driven regarding communication and information flow, and I believe this negatively impacts the design and construction process. I’m blessed to be working with some phenomenal teams right now, and whenever a team finds its groove, great things can happen. Anytime a project team can achieve good energy, then communication and information flow are often good, too, and projects kick into high gear and overcome hurdles that otherwise bog them down.

AL: As the builder, how do you coordinate cohesively with the Architect of Record, interior designer, subs, and systems integrator? 

PL: Great question! Many projects involve these roles, and progress is complicated without proper planning, focus, and communication

AL:  One of your first jobs was to apprentice with a master temple carpenter in Kyoto, Japan. What led you on that path, and what was the experience like? 

PL: I found myself in Japan right after graduating from university in architecture. I spent several years at the university as the principal assistant for a community-based artist workshop called the Mountain Lake Workshop. The workshop created significant bodies of art with established artists from outside the community. I worked closely with avant-garde composer and artist John Cage several times, folk artist Howard Finster, and Japanese artist Jiro Okura. It was mainly the influence of John Cage, a student of the Buddhist scholar D.T. Suzuki, and Jiro Okura, that led me to Japan. There were a lot of amazing Japanese architects at the time, such as Fumihiko Maki, Tadao Ando, and Shin Takamatsu, and initially, I planned to work for one of these firms. 

However, my plan quickly changed when I arrived in Kyoto because the traditional architecture and Japanese carpentry immediately blew me away. Realizing that’s what I wanted to study, I was able to eventually get an introduction to a temple carpenter, where I apprenticed for several years. It was hard work, six days a week, and learning from such highly skilled craftspeople was humbling. I was in my mid-20s, the youngest on the crew; the next youngest carpenter was 55 years old, and the oldest, the master carpenter, was 75 years old. It was a deep dive into a part of Japanese traditional culture that even most Japanese rarely saw, outside of being tourists who visited the temples and shrines. 

AL: How has your time in Asia influenced your architectural aesthetics?  

PL: Even though I’m a licensed architect, I’ve spent most of my career on the client side and as a builder, and not so much as a designer. Asia’s most significant influence on me as a builder and businessperson, however, is how I developed my ability to focus on the task at hand. Not to multitask but to give a task the time and attention necessary to complete it properly, an approach that stems from Zen Buddhism. My personal preferences, aesthetically, are heavily influenced by the concept of Wabi-Sabi and In Praise of Shadows, a book by Junichiro Tanizaki. 

 In Praise of Shadows,  by Junichiro Tanizaki

AL: You also worked in Doha, Qatar, and Gurgaon, India. What were the differences and similarities between the built worlds there and in the United States? 

PL: I worked for Hines, an international developer, when they opened an office in Gurgaon, India, in 2009. I raised my hand to lead the construction of a new two-tower commercial office high-rise project for them there. My family and I uprooted from San Francisco and moved to Delhi, close to Gurgaon. The diversity of cultures in India is mind-boggling, and the differences between the built worlds of India and the U.S. are so far apart in many ways. However, the high-rise project was meant to align with international norms at the time for Class-A commercial office space and sustainability. Finding and procuring the right general contractor and subcontractors who could pull off glass towers to such standards was the biggest hurdle, and just as we were able to lock in the right contractor and subs, the global economic crisis caught up to India, and the project was shelved.

My family and I had been there almost a year when this happened, and without any significant construction happening in the U.S. at the time, I had to look elsewhere for employment. Through some connections, I landed a job in Doha, Qatar, working for a development company chaired by Sheika Moza, the wife of the Emir at the time and someone I consider a visionary for what she’s done for Qatar. We were in Doha for five years, and on the client side, I led many aspects of master planning, sustainability, and other design initiatives for a $6 billion urban renewal project comprising 100 buildings. Like India, there was significant focus (and success this time!) on delivering quality buildings that met the highest standards of international architecture, construction, and sustainability. 

The Middle East is by far the most international in culture, design, and construction compared to the U.S., Japan, and India. That’s not to say anything negative about the latter countries, but rather, the Middle East has put a lot of emphasis on raising its standing in the eyes of the world by appropriating buildings, brands, and events typically found in the international sphere of influence. Countries like the U.S., Japan, and India have evolved more organically into unique identities over a longer time span.

AL: You started at FMA as a project manager, and after a 12-year segue into the commercial sector, you returned as a Principal; how does that trajectory influence your management style?  

PL:  Working on the client side for 12 years was foundational to my approach as a principal at FMA Builders because a builder needs to understand as much as possible from the client’s perspective to build a great project for them; this has been invaluable to me, as well as the experiences I gleaned from working on the client side in Northern California, India, Qatar, and Oklahoma City—four locales that taught me so much about people, processes, and culture. Ultimately, however, I think the most effective management style I strive to do well at is engaging people clearly and positively: treating people well and leaving the BS behind. 

AL: How do you balance aesthetics with technology?

PL: As an architecture student at university, I was immersed in a design pedagogy influenced by the Bauhaus. We learned that form follows function and that there’s a balance or inextricable relationship between them where neither should subvert the other.  

As an apprentice carpenter in Japan, I learned that technology (e.g., power tools and CNC machines) was great for quickly transforming a rough-cut wooden member into a nearly finished product. However, the skilled use of well-maintained hand tools achieves the best results for fine joinery or exquisite finishes. In my opinion, there’s a whole aspect of Japanese culture around the use and maintenance of tools, machinery, and implements that gives one a sense of how to strike a balance between aesthetics and technology. 

Ultimately, technology should never undermine the user experience or built form (building or object) and should always support the creation of something meaningful in terms of use, form, and sustainability. 

Peter Lau
Amplified Out and About: CEDIA Expo Round-up

Previous Post
Amplified Out and About: CEDIA Expo Round-up

Collaborator Profile: Designer Jay Jeffers

Next Post
Collaborator Profile: Designer Jay Jeffers

Accessibility Tools
hide