Register - Architecture & Landscape

In this episode Nana Biamah Ofasu interviews Marius Grootveld. Marius is a partner, along with Jantje Engels of the practice Veldwerk. Established in 2015, their practice is part of a broader movement in Flanders of practices interested in making work in weaving narratives from the contexts they are asked to make work. Representation, typology and precedent act as a site for investigation, and discovery. Restlessly passionate about architecture in its widest sense Marius also pursues this interest in is work as an educator and curator. In this work he both seeks to provoke a discourse, and to shine a light on lesser known voices in our discipline - be they practicing today or a precedent from many centuries ago. http://mariusgrootveld.nl --------- Credits: Register is the Research Centre in the Department of Architecture & Landscape at the Kingston School of Art, Kingston University London http://kingstonarchitecture.london Head of Department: Mary Johnson Producer: Laura Evans / Andrew Clancy Regis

In this episode Ellis Woodman interviews Timothy Smith and Jonathan Taylor of Smith Taylor Architects. Ellis is director of the architecture foundation, and a valued thinker and writer about architecture. Jonathan and Timothy established their practice in 2010. In their practice and their teaching they investigate classicism, and its potential as a living language of architecture. They engage with this way of thinking, not through nostalgia or sentimentality, but with criticality. This is unusual among contemporary classicists, many of whom seek to make perfected classical fragments, solely by engagement with the classical treatises, and an elitist approach to brief and budget. This hermeticism misses the point that architecture gains its value by abrasion against the forces which bring it into being and shape it, be they technical, economic, legislative etc. It is in this friction between idealised and realisable that a conversation emerges that allows architecture to act as a carrier of cultural k

In this episode we are joined by Prof Hugh Campbell Hugh is a writer, a curator and an educator. His research examines the the relationship between photography, architecture and built space and the visual culture of cities. His recent publications include the edited volume Architecture 1600- 2000, volume 4 of the RIAI/Yale UP production Art and Architecture of Ireland (2014); a special issue of Architecture and Culture on Architecture and Film, edited with Igea Troiani. Forthcoming are an edited book on Architecture Filmmaking (also with Igea Troiani) to be published by Intellect in 2018, and a book Space Framed: Architecture, Photography and Built Space, to be published by Lund Humphries in early 2019, which will built upon a sequence of papers and book chapters on this theme. With Nathalie Weadick, he was curator of Ireland's pavilion at the 2008 Venice Biennale. He is also co-curator, with Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara of the ‘Close Encouter’ exhibition in the 2018 Venice Biennale. https://p

In this episode Bushra Mohamed interviews Jaume Mayol who is a partner in TEd’A Arquitectos along with Irene Perez. Their practice, based in Mallorca is a territorial one, seeking to make its architecture from the lessons in the vernacular of the areas they build - both in the tectonics found there, and in the formal arrangements of elements. This sensibility is married to ideas which emerge from the canon, to produce a hybridity of grounded ideas rigorously resolved. A clear sophistication in their understanding of typology results in an acute refinement in how they consider the internal arrangements and formal disposition of their works. Perhaps more simply stated their plans are exquisite - clearly a central fascination of the practice. Here elements are nested, framed or juxtaposed such that misalignments or tensions emerge in how programmes and the building fabric cohere. Structural elements are frequently deployed as characters occupying the spaces that they make, less an ordering device than an

In this episode Bruno and Sylvester and Diego Calderon interview Manuel Rocha de Aires Mateus. His practice, which he established with his brother in Lisbon in 1988 represents another pole of the deep architectural culture of Portugal. In contrast with the work of the Porto School Lisbon architects engage with more abstracted reading of type and materiality. Aires Matues are among the best known proponents of this way of thinking. Externally their buildings tend to the monolithic, with a language of eroded forms. There is a calibrated conversation with gravity here, and with mass lightly suspended, or tautly drawn on its surface with windows and other detailing. Internally the landscapes are rich, even sculptural. Manuel is a Professor in the Accademia di Archittetura in Mendrisio, a school which shares our agenda in prioritising the practitioner and the built work in thinking about our discipline. --------- Credits: Register is brought to you by the Department of Architecture & Landscape at the

In this episode Matt Wells interviews Dingle Price and Alex Gore of Pricegore Architects. Their practice, now in its fifth year, is among the more compelling recent arrivals in the UK. Much of the work of a young practice inevitably involves situations rife with uncertainty, contingency and the need to use minimal means. In this context it is remarkable that the core concerns of the practice are already so clearly and consistently established and interrogated. In common with many of their peers Pricegore are invested in a culture of continuity and historically sited work, but with their own particular take, based on a shared education incorporating architecture, furniture and landscape design. In their work discrete elements such as Roof, Window, Wall, Stairs etc are considered both singularly and as a society of elements which make a building. There is a care taken in how each might possess a characterful fragmentary stance, and yet sit as ease in the complex whole that is the finished work. Put si

In this episode Andrew Clancy interviews Floris de Bruyn, one of three partners in the Belgian practice GAFPA. GAFPA's is concerned with a careful unpicking of the contexts in which their buildings are situated and in they way that they are then made. This contextual read does not extend only to the physical site, but to todays vernacular of mass produced standardised building components. This is all governed by an underlying connection with the deep architectural currents of type and architype, and in a careful calibration of proportion, rhythm and order. GAFPA make spaces and forms which sit in a careful equilibrium - beautiful in its consideration and realisation. While the construction is expressive of its assembly, articulated and layered. http://www.gafpa.net --------- Credits: Register is brought to you by the Department of Architecture & Landscape at the Kingston School of Art, Kingston University London www.kingston.ac.uk/faculties/kings…-and-landscape/ Head of Department: Mary Johnson Produ

In this episode Andrew Clancy interviews Dr Cat Rossi. Cat is a design historian, with a socially and politically engaged approach to researching and communicating design history. Consistently provocative, insightful and nimble in her ability to weave multiple narratives, Cats work allows new light to be cast on the areas she explores. In this conversation she takes us us on a lyrical tour of the design history of Nightclubs, and their relationship to broader architectural currents, with particular emphasis on the post-war Italian radical tradition (Gruppo 9999; Superstudio et al). We also talk about the exhibition she is co-curating, and which opens in the Vitra Design Museum on 17 March 2018. This exhibition, entitled 'Nightfever' is the first comprehensive study of nightclub design, and will be travelling to the UK at some future date. https://www.design-museum.de/en/exhibitions/detailpages/night-fever-designing-club-culture-1960-today.html http://www.kingston.ac.uk/staff/profile/dr-catharine-rossi

In this episode Hugh Strange interviews Beate Holmebakk of Mathey Kula Architects to speak about her work, and that of her practice. Beate is a leading figure in Norwegian architectural practice and education. Her practice has made a singular position with works that seek to establish a resonant formal presence within the remarkable landscapes in which they are situated. In considering the lineage for this work it comes as no surprise that Beate studied with Sverre Fehn and John Hejduk among others. Harnessing pragmatic concerns (such as the consideration of snow melt and rain water on a roof form, or of the organisational requirements of a hydro electric plant) Manthey Kula find space for expression sited within the particular logics of each site and brief. The manner in which they distill this into the finished work is remarkable, through a process invested in the power of abstraction while never losing sight of the vitality of the material presence of the finished work. Her buildings are not mute,

In this episode Aoife Donnelly interviews Marcus Donaghy and Will Dimond of Donaghy Dimond Architects. Donaghy Dimonds work is characterised by robust, elemental massing which is then inhabited and tuned with a meticulous level of attention to the details of how it is made. They appear to be constantly seeking opportunities where the matter of the building can be tuned to support inhabitation - be it in how a doorway might be a good place to sit in the sun, or in how a window in a classroom relates to a tree . These moments are folded throughout the projects, producing a density of consideration which does not overwhelm, but rather sits at ease with the otherwise direct (elemental, typological) strategy as a whole. This is probably best exemplified by their recent Inchicore School project, which was recently awarded the AAI Downes Medal (The highest architectural award in Ireland). http://www.donaghydimond.ie Aoife Donnelly, our interviewer, is an architect in practice and also is a senior lecturer in

In this episode Andrew Clancy interviews Job Floris, a partner with Sandor Naus in Monadnock Architects, a practice based in Rotterdam. Their buildings possesses a formal intensity which is leavened with careful attention to their materiality. Their buildings sit at ease with their place in the living tradition of European architecture and yet speak of our current time, and the ambiguities of contemporary tectonics. In their practice the history of architecture is seen as a place for invention, a place to dream using the tools of our age. Their buildings possess the same peculiar familiarity of their drawings, a sense of something seen before and yet entirely new. A sense of delicacy and simultaneous formal heft. This takes great skill and careful balance which can be easily overlooked. If we examine how for example they treat brickwork in two projects (Atlas and Nieuw Bergen) we see in one (Atlas) how the joints are manipulated to offset the purity of the skin, giving a textural reading which chang

In this episode Andrew Clancy interviews the architect and educator Tom de Paor. Tom graduated from UCD in 1991, and established his practice that same year. Since this time he has cut a singular path, establishing a clear position through work which seeks to communicate spatially and in detail regardless of programme or location. In the work process narrative, reference, and material are frequently interwoven and infected by sensitivity to context, the material experience of construction and light. Underpinned by a conviction in the creative design process the built projects illustrate a concern with perception, construction and tradition. Projects such as the N3 pavilion for the 1999 Venice Biennale capture this attitude in its most essential and pure form, but it is found no less in other works which range from infrastructure, to public and domestic spaces. This diversity of scope and type of work is captured by the practices current workload which includes completing a remarkable cinema in Galway (

In this episode Andrew Clancy interviews the architect and educator Tony Fretton. Since establishing his practice in 1982, and by example and instruction Tony has persistently made the case for the value of quiet and thoughtful architecture. This thinking was made powerfully manifest in his ambiguous masterpiece - the Lisson Gallery - makes a reading of its London context which is at once lyrical and scholarly, and does so in a manner respectful of its programme as a small gallery, and its civic responsibilities. When this project was completed it provided an exemplar for architects across Europe who were seeking a means to engage with history and context without recourse to pastiche and on the terms of contemporary tectonics. Its value remains today and we talk about this project at length in this interview. A wonderful companion to get to this project is the sketchbooks published by Drawing Matter, and available to download here https://www.drawingmatter.org/publications/fretton-lisson-gallery/ Tony

In this episode we are joined by the sculptor Maud Cotter. Maud's work, frequently exquisitely made from every day materials explores space, and the relational potential of space beyond the closed question of resolution. Her ability to articulate 'open questions' in her work and work process makes her an inspirational critic and speaker, who gets to the heart of what is involved in producing a sustainable creative practice in art or architecture. Writing of her work to date she says "We exist in a network of relations, one that allows formation in pattern in order to engage with its force. In this field of play, in which things carom, my practice lies. Sculpture as an action is critical to our understanding of this mercurial game of randomness and order. I understand the human condition as being, not just tentative by virtue of our vulnerability, but one that is necessarily so, in order to retain our closeness of connection with a changing world. We exist in a network of relations, one that allows forma

In this episode we are joined by Donald Matheson and Jason Whiteley. They set up their practice in London in 2012, after some years working for Tony Fretton and Herzog & deMeuron. Theirs is an architecture of minimal means. They have a careful eye for latent possibilities in the fabric where they work, and many of their projects find their language in these observations. They build on these with typological references and an unsentimental engagement with the realities of contemporary construction. Refreshingly they welcome budget negotiations as a means to engage with reality. In this there is no reduction of ambition, but rather a refinement of how it is manifest. There is a delightful directness from the work that results with the plans in particular worked to a high level of refinement. Underlying this there is an incipient figuration - with structural elements or the facade arranged not in the search of being fully background, but rather to possess an unpretentious presence. Our conversation cove

In this episode we are joined by Hans Kollhoff, who we invited to Kingston to do a workshop with unit 6 of our M.Arch, and to give a register lecture. Prof Kollhoff teaches in the ETH, and practices from Berlin in partnership with Helga Timmermann. Kollhoffs life work might be described as a quest for meaning and language in contemporary archtiecture. Writing of the Piraeus building in 1995 he said “Un­der the eco­nom­ic pres­sure to cre­ate some­thing op­ti­mal in ev­ery re­spect, ev­ery­ building turns out to be noth­ing but an unin­spired shoe­box which the architect then dec­o­rates as they think best. To­day's build­ing pro­grammes de­fy for­mal analo­gies so that, if they doesn't want to mar­ket themselves as a win­dow- dress­er, the ar­chi­tect is forced to fer­ret around and find ves­tiges of for­mal in­ten­si­ty in even the most ba­nal build­ing pro­grammes and pro­jects” This search has taken him through an exploration of different ways this might be found. His early works seek this in the harne

In this episode we are joined by Oliver Lutyens and Thomas Padmanabhan. The work of their practice is thoughtful and scholarly, and yet open minded and lyrical. In teasing out the fundamental tension between façade and plan they have developed a characterful and playful expressive language through a series of modest residential developments. Invested in a deep knowledge of the history of architecture, they critically examine contemporary tectonics in a search for an appropriate civic language. They do not seek significance in monumentality or in the weight of material expression. Rather they find it by considering external insulation, rain screens and winter gardens, as valid sources of architectural investigation. Informed by precedents these technologies are each tuned to give a quiet dignity to the ordinary ways we must make buildings today. http://luetjens-padmanabhan.ch Credits: Register is brought to you by the Department of Architecture & Landscape at Kingston University. fada.kingston.ac.uk/

In this episode we are joined by Prof Elizabeth Hatz, of the KTH in Stockholm and SAUL in Limerick. Her early built projects enjoy a lightness of touch, grounded in the deep Swedish culture of architecture and yet playful and ambiguously figurative. Her teaching gained attention for the deep connection she makes between drawing and thinking, and it is this territory she has worked in in recent years. A wide range of practitioners value her voice in drawing out the latent qualities of drawings, and articualting their broader value to the discipline. Writing in the recent Quart Verlag book of Markli's drawings she writes "The drawing for the architect is where everything is open, until it is built... ...architecture undergoes continuing change and alteration through its lifetime, it is not finished when it is built; it merely starts its own life. Therefore we could also reconnect the built to the realm of the sketch, the essay and the fragment. And stand in front of it, both with the mark of will and t

In this episode we are joined by Prof Terunobu Fujimori and Takeshi Hayatsu. Their collaboration through the work of Unit 5 here in Kingston (run by Takeshi) is reaching a culmination this year with the making of a Japanese teahouse for the Barbican Japanese House exhibition. In this discussion we talk about how Prof Fujimori started to make buildings, and the challenges he faces as he now works on progressively larger works. We talk about the value of theory and criticism, and about the times when it is necessary to let the work talk for itself. https://www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery/event-detail.asp?ID=19951 Credits: Register is brought to you by the Department of Architecture & Landscape at Kingston University. fada.kingston.ac.uk/al/ Head of Department: Eleanor Suess Unit 5 Leader: Takeshi Hayatsu Register Editor: Timothy Smith Interviewer: Andrew Clancy Audio: Justin Howard

In this episode we are joined by David Grandorge - an architect, photographer and academic living and working in London. As a photographer he undertakes commissioned work, collaborating with architects, artists and art institutions. He also makes work independently. His work has been shown in numerous exhibitions including the Venice (2008) and Prague (2005) biennales and has been published internationally in magazines, journals and books. He has written several published articles on architecture and photography. David is a also a senior lecturer in structure, construction and materials at the the Cass School of Architecture, London Metropolitan University and leads Diploma Unit 7. He has been a visiting lecturer, tutor and/or critic at the University of Bath, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, ETH Zurich, Cambridge University and Kingston University. In this conversation we talk through David's history as a practitioner and educator. He talks about the importance of architects such as the Smithsons in de