In a recent interview with Bespoke Careers, the KPF Managing Principal offered candid insights into his journey through architecture, the demands of leadership, and the evolving nature of the profession.
Forth spoke to the core motivation behind his career, stating, “It’s the same answer that propelled me into the profession to begin with, which is just the desire to have an impact on cities, on neighborhoods, on making positive contributions to people’s lives.” He emphasized the importance of adaptability and empathy, especially when working on complex, mixed-use projects: “You have to be sensitive to the world around you as an architect… particularly as an architect engaged in mixed-use large projects, with lots of corporate clients, you have to have that level of comfort.”
Reflecting on the challenges of leadership, Forth recalls advice from mentor Robert A.M. Stern, former Dean of the Yale School of Architecture: “You’ll never be a successful architect without two things—empathy for your clients and optimism.” Forth also addressed the reality of delayed gratification in large-scale work, saying, “You have to be super comfortable taking the small wins every day and being grateful to work in a place where there are 70 other people working harder than you every day on all aspects of the project.” Forth’s reflections underscore the value of patience, collaboration, and staying true to one’s ambitions and values in a rapidly changing field and address how the internal organization of the firm aligns with that. “Everything at KPF is in service of good design that gets built and executed.”
Read the full interview here.
