There are many kinds of clients. When we first started, years ago, we sat at a computer and looked for clients on google. All we had to type was "Looking for an architect", hit search and begin the phone calls. As total newbies that had no connections, for whom we could have worked, we gained a good deal of valuable experience. But it didn't come without a price. This trick to kickstart our own studio proved to be demanding and tedious. We enjoyed the kickoff of our studio with clients who were interesting to say the least. And some downright bizarre. Many situations were just exceptional. We would hire debt collectors, drive our old company lada car and lay waste to hotel rooms, our dear clients would have us stay in.

Things are different now. Clients approach us and we get to choose. The scope of the project or the amount of money to be gained for our services are scarcely the deciding factor. Instead it is of the highest importance that we see eye to eye with the clients. That defines everything. Mutual trust with the client predetermines the success of the project. We are often approached by people who are about to make the biggest investment of their life. And mutual confidence is the best prerequisite to a fruitful long-time cooperation. The path towards the completion of a building might be riddled with a myriad of problems and complications. And to overcome them requires solid foundation.

The current clients of Mjölk are our long-term investment. Those with whom we work today are our future. In three years, they again will make our studio into something new. And when I look at what lays on our desks, I believe we have a lot to look forward to.

So what are our clients like? Various. Mad, calm, patient, nervous, visionary, creative, independent, but most of all positively tremendous for working with us - so that we might together make our common dreams into reality. The stakes are high in this game and we accept nothing but victories.

Bejrút, Libanon. Foto: Jan Vondrák

Podkamenná Tunguska, Rusko. Foto: Jan Vondrák

The smartest of our clients have found, that the closest working relationship will give them our loyalty both of the professional and the personal kind. And so we go on trips with our clients, go fishing, have barbeques, travel the world, drink whiskey, drink rum, learn to speak Russian and then Spanish and suddenly we are friends, and there is no escaping it. Strange things happen then. Like designing a house, drawing up documentation for a building permit for it and then - just before applying for it - we decide to redesign the whole project at our own expense. Ugh. You don't do this for clients. You do this for friends.