We’ve been writing about New York-based Daniel Frisch and his architecture practice for about three years now –at first with a post about his studio program that can save clients 25 percent on an apartment renovation. Later we toured and covered his classical restoration of a Connecticut farmhouse. Now the architect has a new book out that – in the face of the current barrage of trade tariffs and the plummeting stock market – brims with optimism and enthusiasm for the 21^st-century process of running a practice. It’s called “Looking Forward to Monday Morning,” and we’ve pulled a few excerpts from its essays here to give readers a quick take on Mr. Frisch and his architecture.

The University of Virginia’s influence on your career?

At Virginia, I fell in love over and over again with architecture and design, demonstrably reinforcing the decision I had made to pursue my future in the field.

What about Columbia’s influence?

Graduate school at Columbia gave me useful insight into the competitiveness of the field; in the academy and in the profession, stiff spines and broad shoulders are required

The significance of Monday morning?

For many years, I would start the week onerously writing in longhand on a yellow pad, a to-do list of everything that needed to be done. The top of the list was dominated by items which were repeated every week yet were unlikely to be undertaken…The numbing repetition was not a predictor or celebration of success but the recording of the unaccomplished. Without knowing it, I had created a depressing and solitary way to start the week whose only salvation was saving others from writers cramp. After a dozen or so years and with a great sense of relief, I abandoned the practice of Monday morning to-do lists.

But the meetings resumed in 2016, with a different approach?

While nothing compares to the Quaker meeting with its prolonged silence, our meetings have become my personal bully pulpit. My Monday morning conversations with our team sometimes cover recent project developments, yet more often introduce broader concepts, addressing the “why” of what we do – a running conversation seemingly without limits.

The importance of your firm’s “A, B or C” projects?

When evaluating the balance between discretionary and necessary, we utilize a simplistic and disarming algorithm we call “A, B or C.”

An “A” project type is one in which the scope can be contained, and is unlikely to expand. This may be a stand-alone kitchen or bath renovation whose scope will not extend to installing central air, room reconfiguration, and a complete rewiring and repainting of the entire residence.

A “B” project is described by having many acceptable or even well-liked components, but where the intended scope touches many areas. These “B” projects represent the majority of projects to which we are introduced.

To finish the alphabetical allegory, a “C” project is, therefore, a fully considered project for which the entire client program has been evaluated.

What about working with friends?

Residential architecture is founded on honesty, intimacy, personal exploration, and shared agendas: the same building blocks as friendship. I can’t imagine anyone better to work with when designing a home than a friend, and in my experience, the deeper the friendship, the better the outcome. I have found this to be universally true, that when someone claims not to want to work with friends, I reflexively question the quality and depth of their friendship.

For more, go here.