When Andy Phan was young, his teachers decided he needed a creative outlet; after all, he’d been doodling all over his English and math worksheets and his desk was a disaster. He ventured into visual art classes, and soon became fascinated with “art with substance” through which others could interact with an artist’s work. This led to architecture school, where Andy found his niche applying 3-D graphics to renderings and animations of buildings. Now at Page, Andy contributes his talents to projects as Director of Visualization.
Andy’s personal favorite quote is “Render big, or go home; anything worth doing is worth overdoing!”, and he approaches all of his projects with that spirited enthusiasm. Thus far, one of his favorites is the University of Houston Cougar Football Stadium. An alumnus, Andy greatly enjoyed revisiting his old stomping grounds while documenting the site during the interview process. He explains that the pleasure came from imagining how he would want the stadium to look and feel and how he might visually convey that dramatic story to the athletic board of directors; winning the project was merely “icing on the cake.”
The architectural design and visual rendering process obviously requires an exceptionally creative mind like Andy’s; however he adds that commitment and collaboration impact his work as well. “You have to show a lot of commitment to [the creative process],” he explains, “but [you must also] be humble enough to collaborate.” Andy’s work earned him a Texas Studio Design Award in 2000.
Page has benefited from Andy’s creativity in other unexpected ways, including his skill in photography. When this talent became known in the office, he became the unofficial photographer for employee photos, first at the Houston office, then firmwide. In addition, Andy’s other interests include design, furniture, cinematography, sketching and civic support of the arts. He serves on the parks and recreation (PARCS) board for his home community of Sugar Land, which is tasked with facilitating the development of public parks and the installation of related artwork.
He and his family also volunteer at their local martial arts Vovinam Hoa Lu Center. “This organization is like a large family unit,” he says, adding that the people there make excellent role models for his two children.
