Artist or Architect ?

My Final Major Project Submission is presented  in the form of a dissertation entitled Inter-Disciplinary Practices, the  relationship between art and architecture which is a study that uses practical  and pragmatic research to investigate branding within the art industry, and  the relationship between the different disciplines contained within the creative  professional sector (The Interdisciplinary).

The two disciplines that my research  focuses on are art and architecture as these are integral within the context  of my practice. I decided to approach the major project in a written format because  I found it to be the best way to communicate my thoughts and ideas was  through documenting research that I could then look back on after my masters  when thinking about how I will conduct practice beyond Art School. My  research question came about because throughout my master’s degree I have been  producing work that is heavily influenced by architecture and the making of  structures which meant that I had to develop many methodologies and ideologies  that architects would utilize within projects. However, this presented me with a dilemma in terms of identity  because I couldn’t decide whether I was playing the role of an architect or whether  I should consider myself as an architect I didn’t know where to place my-self  and my professional practice which I feel can sometimes hold back the work as  it is important as a practitioner to know what societal role you wish to adopt in  order to produce the best work and not knowing what role you are playing can  make this more difficult as it creates a mental block which limits the  projects and ideas. The first sections  of my dissertation looked at branding and the Interdisciplinary. For these  sections I read several books whereby artists look at the philosophy of branding,  identity and the Inter-displinary  I  found mark Rothko’s book The Artist’s reality- Philosophies of Art by Mark  Rothko (2004) and Elizabeth Fishers book on not knowing how artists think  (2013) were very informative when thinking about branding in the art industry  especially when discussing what the term artist means and the preconceptions  that it brings. After which I wanted to better understand what the contemporary  views were on navigating the interdisciplinary, I therefore conducted a  series of questionnaires with localized artists. I also considered the  artists of the renaissance period who worked in multiple fields like Leonardo  Da Vinci.

I selected materials through reading  and research which informed my chosen area of study some of the research was  sourced online when applicable like the case studies at the end of the essay  as the practitioners are contemporary meaning that most of the relevant information  is found digitally rather than as published books, there were many books on  Ai Wei Wei however they mainly spoke of his sculptural work rather than his architectural  projects.

I chose my display by looking at  other printed dissertations and how they are bound and considered different  papers to use I choose to go for a spiral binding with silk paper as I think  that this gives a professional look and feel giving the reader a comfortable  experience both visually and in terms of texture which fits with the context  of the work which is a research paper.

My decisions were informed by a  series of debates, ideas and they were also informed by different strands of  research. I made decisions logically by analysing ideas and information at  each stage, as the project progressed for example, I found that architects must  be qualified in order to use the term architect in one of the sections whereby  I then researched the pathways to become an architect through education.

I wanted my dissertation  to communicate a good understanding of branding within art, identity and the  relationship between art and architecture. But also, how other artists/  interdisciplinary practitioners have navigated these shifts in practice and  identity when operating in multiple fields. I want other practitioners that read  my study who have similar questions in relation to crossing disciplines and  the inter-disciplinary to be able to gain greater knowledge about these subject  areas and how they can conduct pragmatic research to determine how they might  navigate their practice.

My methods for writing my  dissertation were informed by my previous written projects which I have  undertaken throughout my four years of study most notably my research in  practice project which I undertook during the maters which helped me to develop  my style of writing to a high level. I started by determining my research question  and the themes which are relevant to explore by conducting a series of bubble maps and initial research. Which then assisted me in determining how I would  plan my time. I spent the first 4 weeks reading literature around my area of  study and researching my topic, I then structured the further 8 weeks by planning  how many words I should write per week whilst still conducting, further research,  reading and conducting interviews/questionnaires. I also made sure that I left two weeks for the editing, printing and binding my dissertation.

I tested my dissertation  at each stage of writing by reading my essay and rewriting/editing meaning  that I had several drafts before reaching the final printed study to make  sure that the writing was as strong as possible. I also asked my peers to  read my essay and had meetings with Carla Hammer who assists with written  projects, she was able to give me advice on referencing, Layout and structure  when writing a dissertation at masters level I found her help to be  invaluable especially when writing appendicitis, referencing and producing a table of figures which I previously had a limited knowledge  of.

My methods for researching  were reading, conducting interviews and doing online searches on google and  through summons which I then narrowed down as I progressed to the most  relevant and significant pieces of information. This proved successful as it  meant that I could find a variety of different sources and strands of informative  research which can often be difficult to locate with such a broad subject  matter therefore I think looking in multiple areas for research strands was  the best way of achieving a good body of research. I made sure that I was  conducting research simultaneously across multiple areas and contexts to  ensure good time management. Whilst reading I made sure to use post its as a  way of book-marking significant pages so that I could find previously located  important information easily without having to re-read the whole book which  again I felt was helpful in organizing my research and ensuring that I was  conducting research efficiently and effectively.

My dissertation  articulates relevant ideas through a series of debates and practical research  like the use of interview/questionnaire transcripts, I have also looked at information  in the sections where I discuss the term architect and architecture education  which was supplied by various institutions and government bodies to inform my  research. During the last section I also conducted case studies based on two  different practitioners that operate across art-architecture disciplines. By  conducting research in a variety of ways it has helped me to construct a body  of knowledge that can be navigated in a logical way which flows well and is  well supported. I don’t think I would have been able to have conducted a  study which is as in-depth without the use of multiple research approaches  because the subject is so philosophical and complex that it needs to be well  supported by many relevant outlets, ideas and debates.

I think that the dissertation  successfully articulates my research question because it gives a deeper  understanding of how we brand our selves in art using terms like art/architect  but also the fact that nobody is just an artist but we operate in multiple  contexts or fields (The inter-disciplinary) and it is breaking down the particulars  & similarities of these disciplines that helps us to determine who we are  as practitioners and where we can take our practice next by utilizing relevant knowledge, debates  and research in a pragmatic way. One of the most important elements within my  project would be the opinions of others using Interviews and questionnaires  left me with a series of transcripts which I utilized within my essay and  research which has allowed me to collaborate with other practitioners when  conducting my study, which was highly informative in determining how other  people feel about working in the interdisciplinary and how it can be  navigated in different ways. This is important because there are a lot of artists  that have similar questions and ideas around identity and it is good to  consider these opinions as they can inform, support and even sometimes  contrast my findings which I think is of significance when conducting an in-depth  impactful study. Within the Mid-section of my essay I looked at the similarities  and differences between art and architecture which enabled me to think about how  the two practices are similar so that I can determine if an artist has the skills  and knowledge that is required to become and architect this section was  informed by both literature and online sources. After discussing the  relationship between the two facets I determined that artists present many  skills that an architect must have in order to conduct a successful practice so  I therefore questioned the term architect like I did in the first section of  the essay with the term artist to figure out if I can adopt this term to form  my identity. However, I found that the word architect is protected by law and  you cannot use this term without being qualified through architecture  education. This therefore led me to looking at architectural education in  greater which was mainly informed by online research sources studying  different architecture courses, institutions and the knowledge that they  provide. I found the Royal British Institute of architects to be significant  when looking at architecture education as they are the government body which  provides the certification required to become a qualified architect in the uk.

When  Identifying the role an artist could play in an architectural practice, I  found the book entitled de-Architecture to be highly relevant especially page  50 onwards where Wines discusses the advantages of visual communication  within architecture which is currently lacking in modern buildings of which  he says could be better communicated by artists. (J,Wines, 1987).This was  significant as it shows that there are benefits for artists working in a  discipline like architecture which must be noted when considering the role of  an architect. Studying Assemble and Ai Wei Wei have been very informative in relation  to my practice as they work within art and architecture creating innovative  projects through case studies I was able to get a good understanding of how  they brand themselves, how they conduct practice and the importance of collaboration  that exists in both art and architecture which I can utilize going forward  when considering where to take my practice next. Like forming a collective  between artists and architects or work between the disciplines like Ai Wei Wei.  I found the art-architecture complex (H, Foster, 2011) and the Art and architecture  a place between (J,rendell,2006) when discussing the relationship between art  and architecture and how they have been used to collaboratively to produce  thought provoking contemporary public art I also used a series of books to  help strengthen my practical skills the main book being 15 methods: 20  Questions Interviews with UK Art and Design Educators(2013). In helping me to  form questions for interviews and to help strengthen my writing by looking at  how other educators talk about art and ask questions in an interview format which  has been beneficial in strengthening my writing and commination skills.

I would say that my dissertation  is unique because it brings together thoughts, ideas, opinions and research  in a way that has a logical trajectory with a key goal to establish where I  should go next. I think that there is limited knowledge about how artists  think cognitively about their practice beyond their making it is under-documented  or the public doesn’t have access to it, but I think that needs to change as  the art sector is becoming ever more diverse therefore we must have a better  understanding of the operational roles contained within it and how they can  be navigated.

It contributes to the field of art-based  research in showing how a practitioner can effectively navigate their  practice by considering opinions and debates formed by many practitioners to  inform findings about how contemporaries can form their identity through  research in a logical pragmatic way.

If I had to change anything, I  would probably conduct even more interviews with practitioners although these  can be quite hard to set up because most professionals have very busy schedules  meaning it can take months to organise talks, but this is something that I can  explore in further projects to further develop my research. I would have also  liked to have conducted further case studies however I feel like having too  many would have made them less in-depth, but this is again something I can  tackle after the project without the time constrains and word limit that the 12,000-word  dissertation presents.

I have drawn independent conclusions  by reflecting upon each piece of research therefore forming my opinion about how  art-architecture practices can be best navigated by an artist and at the end  of the essay where I concluded my studies by looking at how I should progress  based on the research I conducted.

I think that the dissertation was successful  in communicating key knowledge and ideas on the relationship of art/architecture  and the Inter-disciplinary. It is logical and easy to read which is one of its  biggest successes I often find research papers can be overwhelming, but I think  that the logical order and structure makes the information easy to digest and  look back upon at ease. Another success would be it’s use of multiple debates  and opinions about working within art and operating practice because these  prove very informative when considering contemporary societal structures like  art and architecture which can be reflected upon in the future.

I would say that the main weakness of  the project would be the fact that the notion of branding and the  relationship of art and architecture is such a broad subject matter which contains  many different complex strands of applicable knowledge that can take many  years to fully understand so I would say the limited time frame of three  months would be the biggest weakness as you can only do a certain amount of  research in three months. However, I have broadened my knowledge to a high  level which can be utilized within my professional practice and the subject  is something that I will no doubt explore further after university as it is  integral to the context of my work and my identity within the creative sector.

When conducting research, I considered  ethical issues for example when doing questionnaires and interviews I made  sure that I had the consent of the participant to use the research within a  written document and to inform my research. I did this through consent forms  which required the participant to sign and tick that they understood where  the findings would be used.

I have considered the  audience within the display of the dissertation by making sure it flows  logically making it easy to read and ensuring that it was comfortable for the  reader to hold and spend time with as I want the document to be used in a  practical manner to gain key information therefore I want them to spend time  with it, I also made sure that I provided appendices at the back of the essay  so that the reader can read some of the important documents which I produced  without cramming the text with too much information. Although I didn’t put  all the documents within the main body of the essay, I still think that they  prove useful as key opinions, debates and transcripts which the reader might  find relevant.

all of your senses being utilised Ai wei wei on architecture 

Throughout my latest projects, I have been studying the role of architects and artists in society and the duality that exists between them. Ai Wei Wei is a practitioner that works between the two disciplines working on notable works of architecture such as the Beijing Olympic Park.

I have been struggling to determine where my work sits and what my role should be within the creative industry should an artist conducting architectural work be considered an architect or simply an artist who is playing a role.

Although it is against the law to call yourself an architect I find Ai Wei Wei’s perspective to be fascinating as he considers himself an architect and many regards him as an architect although he isn’t qualified by law. 

The video above is an Interview whereby Ai Wei Wei talks about his opinions on architecture and the role of an architect.

When asked if he considers himself an architect Ai stated :

“I am an architect, I don’t have to become an architect once I start to build I am an architect”

Ai’s perspective is that anyone who makes buildings is an architect even if they do not possess that title by law which I can agree with an extent as I design buildings meaning that my work and the work of an architect co-inside. 

This opinion is the complete opposite of that of Assemble who are trained architects who don’t think that an artist can take the role of an architect and that all architects must be qualified. However, Ai Wei Wei is highly respected for his work across many creative sectors and many other architects consider him as an architect because of the sheer scale of the architectural projects he has undertaken.

Ai goes on to talk about how he got into making architecture discussing the design and creation of his studio in 1999 which he was inspired to build so that he could move out of his mother's house and have a place to work.

When Ai Wei Wei talks about how he was first inspired by architecture I found particularly interesting as he states that he was inspired by the images in a book but I thought he might list a particular building which he is fond of within built environment. I find architecture in a book to have a very different feel to it as you cannot fully understand the building without all of your senses that can be utilized when steeping into a building.

This made me think back to what inspired me to look at architecture. My journey into architecture came when I was doing research on the population problem and cage homes in hong kong, I wanted to find a solution and I felt that the best way to do this was better-designed housing structures. 

when asked if Ai Wei Wei was inspired by Wittgenstein another notable architect he discusses the fact that they have very similar philosophies in terms of the way that they think about architectural design. 

Another thing that I like about the Interview is when Ai talks about what the making of architecture is and he describes the making of buildings like a chess game because it contains so many complex components and states that “there is no perfect architecture only perfect architecture with the reasoning” I also find this to be true as I have been approaching the making of my structures I find that every element needs to be well thought out in order for the building to be successful.

I have found the interview by Ai Wei Wei to be very useful in relation to my practice when trying to determine what my role is within the creative sector because Ai has likely asked himself similar questions and undergone the same dilemma.

Ai wei wei is a Chinese contemporary artist who has made his mark within the creative industry creating work which stretches the boundaries of the interdisciplinary.

Within my work I am trying to determine where my work sits within the interdisciplinary as my work has been heavily influenced on architecture however I have been stuck between wanting to make work about architecture or to make work as an architects. 

One of the main blocks for me is that I feel that I need to be making work as an architect but can an artist actually make buildings and be taken seriously by the public ?

Ai Wei Wei is not only a contemporary architect but has also worked on many architectural pursuits some which are of great significance like the Beijing National Stadium for example where the 2008 Olympics were held in china.

Date of Recording: 19.06.2019

                                   Assemble Interview Transcript

 I started the interview with Holly who is a founding member of Assemble by introducing myself and talking about what I study and why I thought that an interview with assemble would be useful for my practice.

Interview officially starts: [00:01:42].

Mitchell: How did assemble come to be and what are the difficulties of working across multiple disciplines?

Holly: The majority of us were students at Cambridge University, we had just finished our undergrad and it was in the time of the recession, so sort of 2009 and Jobs were scarce as you remember, and opportunities were scarce so the majority of us moved to London and remained good friends and stayed in touch, there’s about 20 of us. Mostly Architecture students but then a few from, so say Fran is Alice’s cousin, Alice was in my year, Alice studied art well she studied philosophy first at Oxford and then went on to study Art at Leeds and became part of the first project very early on. Also, two other members of the collective Anika who was an English student at Cambridge and her friend, Louie both of them have quite a bit of experience in putting on film festivals and experience with sound systems and so on, so they also became part of the group right at the start. Anyway, we were all kind of in London most of them working on our practice getting our part one experience. Are you familiar sorry with architecture education, are you part 1 part 2, part 3?

Mitchell: Well I study Art and Design, but it is something that I am familiarizing myself with and considering in the future. [00:03:54].

Holly: okay yeah so just a bit of context there, so there are three stages to becoming a qualified architect. Part one is your undergrad, Part two is your diploma and part three is your professional qualification where you sort of basically learn about practice management, professionalism and how not to get sued and so on contract law and all that so part 1 is three years, part 2 is two years and in between those periods of studies you are working in practice to get experience. So, for most of us working in an architectural practice it is getting that experience and we just found that in the time of the recession it was quite negative and didn’t feel as creative as we thought it was going to be and we really missed our architectural education and decided to have a go at a project. We decided basically that we wanted to come up with our own project and we were all working full time in our own practices or elsewhere and we were hunting for a site to find out what that opportunity could be we were meeting in our evenings and weekends whilst working full time so it was all outside of that, the pub, spare bedrooms, and all sorts.

We came across this site in Clerkenwell and we approached the owner of the site and him was supportive of us doing anything that engaged the community because he has since filled the site with a mixed-use development, and it was just an abandoned petrol station that had been decommissioned.

So we thought it was a very interesting pilot project to work with and we very quickly had the idea of wanting to bring the community together and thought the grandeur and romance surrounding cinema-going and the picture palace was a very an interesting area to bring the community together so we did a lot of research into the history of that and we very quickly came up with the idea about enclosing this roof canopy with this large curtain creating the draped seating beneath and putting together a whole weekend of film screenings over a month period and we were working full time so this was all in our spare time and taking some holiday to do it and we all put in a little bit of money each to make it happen. We applied to a company at the time called ideas tap in which we pitched our ideas to and they put 2,500 pounds towards the project.

Beyond that there were a lot of materials that we found or borrowed or people donated to us. Tyvek roofing membrane was provided by a company called dupons because it was quite good advertising for them, good expose and we made this huge winched curtain that we could wince up. We got lots of Formica and we redressed some junior school furniture and overlayed Iconography from the cinema era on top of the furniture. We crossed hatched these textures and made a pattern on some furniture for the forecourt.

This was a temporary project that we did ourselves and it was really we received, we were so lucky it was a complete sell-out and it generated a lot of interest we had so much fun with it that we thought we just have to keep going with this.

That led us to our second project, straight of the back of this we thought we have got to find another opportunity and we soon learnt about a competition that create in London were putting on around the 2012 Olympics, where they were running a competition for 40,000 pounds for the winner. You had to be company to enter so at that point you had to be a company to enter so at that point we registered as assemble. We created a company, we got a business bank account again all of this in our spare time, whilst working full time elsewhere and we entered the competition and put a pitch together, we found this site through love art and architecture because Lewis was working for them at the time and they new of this really cool site in hackney wick under this flyover, this leftover space. an unusual space that was fenced off and public on a main walkway by the canal, but you just couldn’t access it, so it was really odd, it was quite interesting to propose something there and we obviously approached the council as well as a temporary project engaging the community and we won the competition which was fantastic. To quickly summarize the ambition of it we wanted to grow where the synerinyiom had been to cater to a wider audience child through to the elderly and different event so not just screenings but workshop classes, excise classes, musical recitals absolutely all sorts. So, we created this structure that was a raped seating underneath the flyover and then the pitched element was a curious resident that lived there before the flyer over was built and that created an internal space where we had a café. Again, we were so lucky it just completely sold out and so we extended the programme by another two weeks to include more and the money that we generated through ticket sales covered the overall cost of the project which ended up being around 70,000 pounds. From that we had a company and a business account, so we just kept looking for opportunities and we have grown from there now nearly 10 years on the directions that we have gone since are so varied.

We work across the fields of architecture, art and design, we do permanent projects, we do temporary and we are interested in architecture, interior design, product design, furniture design.

Mitchell: Do you think an artist making architecture should be considered an architect? [13:19:27].

Holly : So, my theory on that is to be an architect you do need to study architecture, that’s not to limit but if you are an artist that is interested in architecture you can absolutely become engaged in those projects. The key is collaborating and that is something that we absolutely love to do most of our projects involve collaboration of some sort with others.

So, we work with many artists and are interested in meeting new artists to learn from others, ceramicists, illustrators absolutely all sorts. So, I think the key to that question is collaboration finding the people you are interested in working with and making something happen. You can realise what ever it is you want by collaborating. But to deliver architectural projects you do need architectural training.

What works well about our collective is that we have such a mix of skills in house, so we are all bringing different things and learning from one another, we all have different interests sometimes that can be quite unruly and quite difficult to mange as a company but it is also one of our greatest strengths because we have this pool of resources, learning and experience and we can pull from one another.

Mitchell: Would you say that it is important for artists/ practitioners to push their boundaries and develop skills outside their normal disciplines? [15:18:05].

Holly: My personal feeling on that is it completely depends on the individual I don’t think it’s essential. It depends on what your interests are or what one’s interests are. Myself personally and speaking on behalf of the rest of the group I’d say that we are all of a similar mind set where we are so interested in learning and expanding on experience that we are all questioning all the time and we wouldn’t be intimidated about not knowing a  certain field of something we would  try to find who does know that. Who is interested in that field and find out if they are interested in working together or collaborating? Hats from experience the best way to go about these things but it doesn’t mean that everyone should do that.

Mitchell: Would you say that there is a need for more inter-disciplinary collectives within the creative industry? [16:22:06].

Holly: Again I think it totally depends on ones practice or whatever one is looking to do, I really think that as long as you and when I say you I mean one whoever that person is, that company or whatever they believe in what they are contributing to the world in whatever form that is and contributing to their own life. It’s not essential but I personally think it leads to richness in new avenues and new opportunities. So personally, for me yes but it is not essential for everybody.

Mitchell: What are the difficulties of constructing a self-built project? Like the Four Corners project for example. [17:15:00].

So it’s important for me to set up the context a little bit more for that, so that whole set of work which we have incrementally been involved in each year is all because of an extortionary group of residents the existing community that is there and they have been fighting for their community for twenty plus years they are absolutely extraordinary people and very resilient, they approached us after they became a CLT (Community land trust) they approached us to see if we would get involved because they had bought through different streams of funding bought 10 of the houses on the street. They wanted creative ideas for there refurbishments.

So, they approached us to see if we were interested and that is how we got involved and from that it has grown to include the Granbury winter garden and Granbury workout which was integral with the ten houses and that was what the whole turner prize project was around.

 I’m at the minute involved in the next piece of the jigsaw which is for a new three-story domestic building, that’s a new build where it’s going to have a community café, ground floor and two residential flats above.

We have got ideas about developing the cladding with Granby workshop and the whole community can be involved in making the cladding for this new building.

Mitchell: Do you think it’s important for communities to have more access to knowledge about building and architecture? [20:07:11]

Holly: Absolutely I think that’s a really good question, that is something that we look to do with all of our projects to break down those usual barriers that make it hard for people to relate to the construction industry, the understanding of how projects are realised and what’s possible.

With every project we approach the detail of that project basis, we wouldn’t have a kind of set oh this is how we can approach this, what is in the projects best interest? the brief is this that they have given to us but here’s the opportunity this is really what’s going to enrich this project and this community. How we can really engage with however the particular group or the locals. Absolutely upskilling and trying to find the opportunities to deliver the best that’s possible. We are also interested in education of all backgrounds, ages and there are various different projects where the workshop upskilled the locals and gave some of them paid employment in the production of materials that then went into the houses the sale of which went back into the model to help the renovations. So, it’s a cycle/ system.

Also, another project on that basis which you might be interested in is black horse workshop in Wollen stone London and this has been quite pioneering as a project, working with the council and it delivers facilities, you can become engaged in black horse workshop in a number of ways everything from just going to the café which is a popular place for brunch, to going for classes where you can learn how to make a table and other pieces of furniture, to being a member where you have access to workshop facilities and specialty skills on site, or to be able to rent studio space.

It’s a complete variation of different packages that you can be involved in at different scales and it’s hugely popular and there is a feeling that most councils /boroughs would love this everyone is wanting a black horse workshop. It’s great in upskilling people and offering different ways that people can engage and get involved.

Mitchell: How does assemble choose what projects they take on? [23:13:11].

Holly: Our process is very democratic we have two people who are responsible for going through all the opportunities that come via email. We look through all the material, we might need top go back and ask some more questions so that we can properly interrogate that opportunity and then we put it all together in a digest. Every week the whole group comes together to sit down and review in a meeting those opportunities and discuss alongside our resources, how much time we have available will we do the project justice. Is it in our interest or is their someone else that we could recommend that is more appropriate and we go through them all together, everyone has a chance to pitch a project if they really want to work on it and then it comes down to how busy are you, is that really feasible and maybe other need to be working on it in a group. That goes back to that earlier question about that shared skill set sometimes a project is resourced with different skill sets in the group to deliver it. Myself bringing more of an architectural perspective, then say Fran or Anika bringing a more strategic early stage conceptual vision to the project. I hope that answers the question.

Mitchell: Where do you see assemble being in the next ten years? [24:58:10].

 Holly : It isn’t easy being so many of us there are eighteen of us a the minute and for the first time we have taken on employees, we’ve got three employees who are fantastic, but I’m sure you can appreciate that as soon as you take on employees you have got obligations that you are stature in terms of their pay and their wellbeing.

We try to make sure that we are meeting those things for ourselves personally but we are running our own business and that’s a constant balance that we can properly pay people and deliver all of those things That’s a work in progress, a challenge that we are constantly trying to better our selves at and we are constantly reflecting on, reviewing and improving on.

So, I’d like to say ten years from now we will have improved on lots of those things which every company is faced with these challenges, but we are actively trying to better ourselves all the time.

I think also within the next ten years, I would like to say that we have taken on more large-scale architectural projects like our project Goldsmiths (Goldsmiths centre for contemporary arts) that was our largest commission so far and we have already started work on a few other large-scale projects that we are excited about.

We are not able to share them yet, but we are hoping to build on that. I think that we would like to grow as a practice to become a robust model that can grow slightly to accommodate more people more expertise and more skills that would be fantastic.

Mitchell: Have you guys completed the level three education in architecture? [27:06:04].

Holly: Yeah so, I have and there are another four that are about to qualify for part three but at the moment it is just myself.

Mitchell: Had any of you qualified at the time of assembles conception? [27:30:06].

No that’s like I was saying on the first project we were all part one student working full time elsewhere, so no a real mix. A lot of us being in the architectural profession had a lot of friends that were at different stages that we went to for advice along the way and I would say that very early on if anything we were following professional guidelines from a very early stage just to make sure that we had the right insurance in place and we were doing everything by the book. We have probably been adopting those principles earlier than most students.

Ai wei wei sculpture park 

“Ai Wei Wei’s “Archeological Archive” is one of the few that have weathered well. The concrete form stands in proud contrast to the other decaying pavilions (foolishly made of more than one material).”

that “Aei Wei Wei’s ‘artist’ skill as a sculptor was utilized in the making of his structure. The artist’s skill as a sculptor becomes apparent as one orbits the building, which offers up multiple, often contradictory associations from different vantage points.” (Arch Daily, website).

The Jinhua Architecture park has been highly praised by architects which allows designers to rethink how we look at architecture, each of it’s seventeen structures provides new exiting ideas about the future of architectural design. “each pavilion represents a new path forward for architecture, at least in the mind of the designer.” (Arch Daily).

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Architecture Education 

https://www.archdaily.com/884590/architecture-education-is-unhealthy-expensive-and-ineffective-could-online-learning-change-that

Archi Soup a highly regarded architecture website discusses the role of an architect stating that architects have a very complex role whereby they can be made to do many other tasks during the making of buildings which can range from surveyor to a mediator just to name a few. "from a site surveyor to concept developer, a planning adviser to a detailed designer; a team manager to a dispute mediator, the list could on."

Simply put, an architect can find themselves in any given position that is required to push the building project forward, whether they specialise in it or not.

https://www.ft.com/content/0a0d7874-2ef5-11e5-91ac-a5e17d9b4cff

Edwin Heathcote