Practice in Profile

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WHEN I LOOK BACK ON THE WORK OF our practice of some 35 years, there are many common themes and concerns that connect the individual projects. From the earliest efforts, we have tried to steer the work to be formally spare and programmatically dense, contextually selfconscious, spatially rich, carefully crafted, long-lasting and experientially based. Option studies, models and precedent, especially places and spaces we have been to and experienced, inform the process; clarity is everything and a few aphorisms like ‘the section is generator’ endure. We try to gather our thoughts at the outset of any work and understand what we can bring both to the task and, more importantly, to the places and people of which it will become a part.

For most of the work, in my memory at least, there are moments, though, that stand out that could be characterised as ‘inspiration by incident’. This could also be thought about as a kind of selective thinking, as it gives priority to some aspect of the project: not necessarily the most important but one that gives the work impetus and direction and, for better or worse, sets the agenda for the task at hand and, often, others in the future.

The incident referred to here is generally a moment in the iterative design phase where a trajectory for the project is found. This can be precipitated by the pressure of time – that is, it has run out and something simply must be done – but,