Candelaria Design: Inspiring Living with Mark Candelaria

Mark is not your typical architect. Our conversation goes deep into his passion for travel, Mediterranean cuisine, philanthropy, and the finer things in life.

He explains why he decided to include a page on his website featuring his favorite family recipes and why he believes that there are few experiences in life that leave lasting memories as the family meal.

Mark also touches on what inspired him to host wine tours and the power of travel to refill his creative tank as a designer.

He and Ted lament the lack of focus on classic styles in design school, but find hope in the fact that more and more clients today have been gravitating toward traditional architecture and backing away from the “boxy” look that dominates contemporary designs.

Finally, Mark goes in-depth on his initiatives to pay-it-forward, as well as his desire to see more of his countrymen living out the American Dream.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• [01:58] The origin of Mark’s recipe book on the Candelaria website
• [05:06] Why Mark began hosting wine tours
• [10:23] How travel refills Mark’s creative tank
• [12:27] The challenges of working with different builders on projects in different locations
• [17:33] Traditional vs contemporary architecture and the emerging “Mediterranean” style
• [20:22] Encouraging aspiring architects to embrace traditional styles
• [28:09] What Mark has learned from working with prestigious clients through the years
• [30:00] Giving back
• [38:30] Mark’s most memorable career moments
• [39:30] Upcoming trends in the industry
• [44:08] Mark on how anyone can live the American Dream

Key Quotes by Mark:

• What I’ve learned from those wine tours is how much they emulate life itself: You can plan this amazing life and this amazing trip, and things will go wrong. It’s what you do when those things go wrong—you can turn them into something amazing. Just keep going. You never know what’s around the next turn.
• Travel refills my creative tank.
• You’re not hiring us for a set of plans but for the experience we’re going to bring to the table.
• Part of our job is to make these old-school professions and crafts sexy again. We’ve got to show the kids how cool they are. When you make something unique and different, it’s very fulfilling. A lot of these kids don’t have an outlet for expression other than a computer.