Orginally posted on Austin Business Journal 

By Cody Baird – Staff Writer, Austin Business Journal

Dec 23, 2024

His work includes Block 185, the Thinkery children's museum and the Seaholm Power Plant redevelopment

An ex-stereo salesman from Houston has made a big mark on downtown Austin.

That's because Jim Susman, a principal at architecture firm STG Design and recipient of the Medal for Lifetime Achievement from the Texas Society of Architects, took an unconventional path into the realm of building design.

As a young man overcome by wanderlust, he enrolled at New London Connecticut for college, where he said he spent his time traveling between New York and Boston. He spent a summer working at Connecticut's Harkness State Park and a few more working part-time at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

He came back to Texas after graduation and spent a few years hawking stereos at the Galleria in Houston. That's when his sister, a curator at a museum of fine arts, stepped in, impressing upon him that he couldn't sell stereos the rest of his life.

Susman dove back into college, taking a few courses in urban history and then falling in love with architecture when a professor nudged him toward it.

In Austin, he's been responsible for some of the city's most striking building designs — from the “Sail Tower” that is being sold in a $522 million deal to the redevelopment of the Seaholm Power Plant.

“I like things that have a start, a middle and an end. And they’re tangible,” Susman said. “That’s important to me. Retail would not work over a lifetime because there's no end. Every day is like the day before. And I can say confidently that in this profession every day is unlike any other day.”

How did you earn your first dollar?

I worked in a warehouse for my father’s several retail stores in Houston. I was schlepping boxes around.

How do you relax?

You know, I’ve come to realize that my hobby is my work. I don’t consider it work. I’m often here (in the office) or I’m home sketching or looking at ideas. I have to admit I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time running around Lady Bird Lake, and I think I’ve logged probably 25,000 or so miles over the course of 40 years, so that’s one of my big pastimes. That’s why I live in downtown because it’s like having a 400-acre yard that somebody else takes care of with a lake in it.

Do you have a favorite book?

No, I don’t. Often, it’d be whatever I’m reading at the time. Although I have to admit, my wife just picked up, for the first time, "Devil in the White City," so I had a chance to kind of reread that through her journey … Erik Larson is the guy who wrote it, and it’s about the Exposition in Chicago in 1893. It’s a murder mystery, but the backdrop is the Exposition and all the incredible architecture that was taking place in Chicago at the same point in time, and the rivalry between Chicago and New York.

What do you think needs to change in Austin?

There are two things at the top of my list, and neither will surprise you.

One is affordable housing. I think some building codes need to change to make that really work. And of course, unsheltered housing is part of that and what needs to be done there with more sufficient wraparound services.

The other thing, long-term, is water. On one hand, there’s the conservation and preservation side. On the other hand, there are possibilities of bringing more fresh water into Austin, which is a costly proposition. But I think things like the Central Texas Water Coalition and what they’re starting to do hopefully will continue to bring more attention to preservation or conservation of water.

What’s good advice that you have received?

I may be better able to say the advice I’ve given. In terms of my daughters, I’ve always told them to question authority and not to take the status quo as given. You should feel the freedom to try different things. That’s important in the practice and design of architecture as well. You can look for inspiration in a lot of different areas, but you also can’t be shackled by the way in which people have always done things before, or you would never develop some of the unique products such as the Google tower.

Where do you like to take out-of-towners for lunch?

My favorite place these days is Counter Cafe … that’s my new watering hole for lunch or for breakfast. They’ve got everything from eggs benedict to chicken burgers, which are my favorite. It’s all really good.

Out of all of the projects you’ve designed, do you have a favorite?

No, I don’t. The ones I’ve talked about are typically the ones that stand out in my mind. (The Lower Colorado River Authority headquarters complex), The Thinkery, Block 185 (the Sail Tower), Oracle — those are the ones that really kind of stand out.

We did work on the governor’s mansion. At one point in time, we were doing some site work on it. In fact, I was at some sort of brunch at Santa Rita, and I got a call that the governor’s mansion had burned while we had been working on it. It was the big fire. They never did find the guy who set the fire. The guy jumped over the fence and threw what was probably a molotov cocktail up against the front door and escaped. Massive damage to it. That’s one of those projects you don’t forget.

With all the new development in Austin, is there a shuttered local business that you miss?

I think Las Manitas, which was a Mexican restaurant on Congress Avenue. In the 80s, there was a great restaurant on Congress called the Congress Avenue Cafe that was really good. You can see restaurants will likely be most of my answers here. There was a fabulous Italian restaurant on the corner of Fourth and Colorado called Speranza's at one point in time, which was really good. Today, there are a lot of restaurants. There weren’t so many back then, so these were really big standouts.

If you hadn't gone into architecture, what would you have done instead?

I don’t know. I kind of joke about the fact that if I had to do it over again in college, I would have studied studio art so that I might be freer in my design. I tend to approach design in terms of geometry more than organic forms. I also kind of think from time to time I should have taken some courses in behavioral psychology, because so much of what we do in architecture and design — when you’re designing buildings and spaces people either live in or office in or whatnot — so much of it is the impact on human behavior.

Jim Susman

Title: Principal, STG Design

Age: 72

Hometown: Houston

Education: Master of Architecture, University of Texas; Master of Design Studies, Harvard University

Contact: 512-899-3500, jsusman@stgdesign.com