Houston boasts world-renowned people in various fields. Special attention deserves those who have achieved everything on their own. Even more respect should be granted for women who have managed to break through to recognition in a man’s world. Lauren Rottet is a highly qualified architect, interior and furniture designer and art curator with an extraordinary list of awards, publications, lectures, jury memberships and honors. This is far from an exhaustive list of the regalia of this creative and extraordinary personality. Read more about her on houston1.one.
Sparks of creativity
‘When I was growing up in Waco, all you could do there was go to church and play in the streets. Of course, I did both. However, I was quite bored in church as a teenager. On the streets, I found entertainment, building houses out of stones, mud and branches for horned frogs. I really enjoyed this activity and felt incredible enthusiasm and pleasure from this game. Even a spanking from my parents for a dirty appearance and torn jeans from crawling could not overshadow the joy of creative work’. This is how Rottet says in her memoirs about the time when she lived with her parents in the city of Waco, not far from Dallas.
Later, Lauren’s family moved to Houston. There was no time for horned frogs and mud houses there. However, the girl still had a desire to create and many unrealized ideas. However, the pragmatism of life demanded that she acquire a profession. Thus, young Rottet entered the University of Texas at Austin.
In college, she was supposed to become a doctor. However, the girl felt that this was not her life path. Lauren was attracted by creativity, art and architecture. She made the right decision and left medical school to study architecture. Then, she found her passion. In 1980, Lauren received a bachelor’s degree in architecture. There were not many prospects for her. Despite the considerable ambitions of the certified architect, there were no vacancies for work after her diploma. Lauren Rottet received an invitation to work at San Francisco. She set off to pursue a career far from Houston.
Work in an architectural company
The next stage of her life began with work at Fisher Friedman Associates. The company was engaged in the design of residential buildings. Rottet plunged headlong into work, as it was her favorite one. However, there was not much opportunity to let her imagination and creativity run wild while designing residential typical houses. Therefore, the young architect moved to Chicago, as she received a more promising invitation to work at the Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) firm.
The young architect got a job as an office space designer. After several successful projects, fate brought Lauren back to Houston. SOM received an order to design several significant high-rise buildings, including a museum. Lauren Rottet got a position as a senior designer and returned to Houston to work on these projects.
She devoted herself to this business for several years. Lauren established herself as a good architect with an extraordinary vision of solving the set goals. Therefore, when all the commissioned projects in Houston were completed, SOM invited Rottet to open an interior design practice in Los Angeles. Lauren’s creative nature coped with this task perfectly.
However, this position no longer satisfied her. She wanted more. Therefore, together with several like-minded people, the architect and designer set off on a free voyage, creating her own firm, Keating Mann Jernigan Rottet. A little later, they merged with Daniel, Mann, Johnson & Mendenhall (DMJM). In this corporation, Lauren Rottet was responsible for interior projects for 14 years. When she felt that there was not enough space for her, she left to create her own private company, which was called Rottet Studio.
Own business
2008 was a landmark year for Lauren. At this time, she implemented her largest project and created her own company, which was engaged in architecture and design. The recognized designer chose Houston for the head office of the company. She received worldwide recognition and was certified by WBE very quickly. Later, additional branches of the company were opened in Los Angeles and New York, as well as in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Along with recognition, serious orders came. Among Lauren’s most famous projects are corporate ones:
- Artis Capital Management, San Francisco, California
- United Talent Agency, Los Angeles, California
- Mattel Design Center, El Segundo, California
- offices of the law firm Paul Hastings LLP in various cities.
Notable are also hotel projects, such as The Surrey Hotel in New York, The James Royal Palm in Miami Beach, Hotel ZaZa in Houston and the St. Regis Aspen Resort in Aspen, Colorado. This is not an exhaustive list of the firm’s work. In a relatively short period of time, Lauren Rottet’s firm has established itself as one of the world’s leading companies in the field of corporate design and interiors. Rottet has come to be considered an expert in creating spaces that are simultaneously beautiful, functional and user-friendly.
Having worked in the field of architecture and design, Lauren’s creative personality could not stop there. She began to look for new niches for the implementation of her ideas.
A new round of creativity: developing furniture design
For several years, she had been nurturing the idea of creating her own furniture design. Rottet was able to realize this ambitious dream in 2013. Together with Decca Home, she released a furniture collection. Lauren managed to gain recognition again. Connoisseurs noted the elegance and functionality of the furniture. In her first works, Rottet used her own design with a combination of classical elements.
The next work in this field was the production of office furniture for the company Haworth. In this collection, Lauren managed to combine simplicity, aesthetics and ergonomics, which is very important for creating a working space in the office.
The next collection was released in 2017. It received many positive reviews and various awards, including the Furniture Design of the Year award.
Secrets of success
Lauren Rottet is the first woman to become a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the International Interior Design Association (IIDA). She was repeatedly accused of stepping into a purely male territory. However, Lauren only smiled in response. No matter what this creative woman took on, she succeeded in everything. What is the secret of such success?
Rottet answers this way: ‘You have to take on work with love. First, I think for a long time, selecting a variety of options. I call it synthesis thinking. Then, I design in my head and on paper’. She is also convinced that well-done work can change people’s lives. The next factor in success for the architect and designer is responsibility for the work performed and the prospects of the project, that is, the ability to see the further fate of the creation.
Currently, Lauren Rottet is actively involved in curating art collections for her projects, collaborating with renowned artists and photographers. She is also one of the most influential and successful female designers in the architectural field, which is why she is often invited to serve on commissions and juries to evaluate the work of young designers. Rottet is known among her colleagues as an innovator and teacher who devotes a lot of time to the development of the design and architectural profession.