The interrogative development of the design and the tactility of building details are symptomatic of their interest in the human condition. Complexity is kept in check where appropriate: detailing in the Opera House dictates that no more than three materials meet. The materials, their quality, source and application have been represented in this study. Model montage of tea house
Outdoor theatre for Romeo and Juliet by Rodolfo Acevedo Rodriguez. Sort out the correct tools. This section describes the activities of a group of architecture students during the last six weeks of a 12-week design studio project. Their conception of scale as a relative experience rather than a hierarchical order means that ideas can be communicated on many levels. Both within and outside the office, debate is a creative act. I think to get a grip on these things is to bridge between carrying, being pregnant with something and then actually giving birth. right:
Digital representation of current proposal. The public and sensitive nature of several of their buildings demands this. Hand sketches, drawings, computers, models, digital model-making, hand model-making, music, reading, dance, performances; whatever you have. By maintaining an awareness of the tactile and the human scale throughout, and simultaneously considering the social and the global scale, Snohetta, with their ‘trans-disciplinary’ approach, retain a clarity of concept that is communicated in the finished building. above:
The design project
The museum is the only building on the Ground Zero site and will be surrounded by large-scale buildings. This requires the architect to resolve technical issues, such as designing a surface that is safe to walk on while also enabling the walker to experience the poetic qualities of the journey from water to sky mapped out by the roof. This sketch conveys the awareness of the architect that they are being watched; not only by the public and the government but also by the architects designing the neighbouring buildings and their clients. One suspects that they refuse to be precious about ideas. Interview summary
The willingness of Snohetta to embrace duality and see a situation from an opposite perspective is a driver for, and result of, their collaborative, discursive approach to architectural design. Architects can fall into the habit of seeing design as a broadly linear journey, with decisions being made from an initially large scale until they reach the precision of detail design. They describe the importance of the ‘performative’ quality of their buildings and open them up to be tested and experienced as widely as possible.
