Be er: on ; robe Pos es TEren sci PATTERNS fe Reta) eyes er) Piney So ed ares ae Gi ered PRODUCTORA Pettus ramet Fi 2.) lk en i beer) coors Ciro Najle CONTENTS {I ARCHITECTS / 12 CONVERSATIONS: od PRAKI + MICHAEL MEREDITH ae © Alejandro og _ PATTERNS > Mos P16 MOS > ALEJANDRO ARAVENA Aravena P29. ALEIANORO ARAVENA > nARCHITECTS eet az naRcHIfEcTS» PRODUETONA oe pot | WoRKoc> ran P16. FAR> AVANDAWASCH 3s ANANOA\LASCH » CIRO MALE 98 CIRO NAJLE > THELWING 08 THE LIVING» HOWELER»OON biz} HOVELERSYOON > PATTERNS 133 TMOTHY HYDE + LUCIA ALLSPRODUCTORA HOaRG!SShas tnore been a recent project, that you fee! particularly interested in, or that hhas galvanized an issue for you? Petles: We jist visited the small chapel of Peter Zuminorin Wecnernicn, Germany. I's beaut inall senses. Bedoya! Mies’ National Galery in Berin realy Struckme when | sav it, havent seen a recent projec that mace me foe! ike that lek Two days ago ve saw another Mies van der Rohe just ob'sice Mexico City Hoang: Bacardi? [ee Yes the Bacardi offices just next othe Felix ‘Candela bolting pant, Not many people vsti Bukit very interesting. The way the two archi- Iaels, Mes and Candela, ereata an mprossive Inferior space in such ciforent ways. And then tore was this surorisinly negative experiance When [vsiee the Now Musou in New York. lam ‘fant Sehme and Nishizawa, Their work ¢ not What Would make, but ke ter way of thinking ‘and way ofrepresertation. But wae disappointed when I saw he Nov, Muscum because Ifo that all fatchitecture had sisanpeared. The tin boundaxios And the understated cetas were confusing, The museum evaporates. nas no matoraly, Bas ho contrast. There was no architecture, That was the biggest shock or morassion | had ast year Hoangils tthe only SANAA project you've seen? leks: Yes, Ile the frst one | eam in person, ‘re you going to raise my hopes that there are Hoang: Is there a project in your office, bullt ‘or unbullt, that you fee! has an importance beyond its completion? Oris there ‘an unbuilt projact that you still think about and revisit? lel Who do you consider tobe your role mod- els oF mentors in architecture atthe moment? | know you spent time at OMA, but Im guessing you've had other influences Wood: The question is, guess, "Who's your daday?? Andrags: We came out of OMA many years ago, but we hope that we have evolved. lek: colleague once said, To become a good architect, you have to ind a master and learn fom him. Then ata certain moment you have to step away and kill your fathar lke Osdipus. ‘Andras: think “kiting the father" isa cliché. lobe: Maybe kiling isnot a good wore, but you nave ta be rebelious, no? Every chic has. to revolt Wood: OMA was a huge influence when we were there, but maybe I can best explainit with a story—appropriately—about a Mexican architect. We visited Legoretta’s office in the early nineties. The entrance takes you tirst by tequila-making casks and pasta painted yellow wall with a grid of small square holes init. Then you go down stairs and there are glass balls anda red wal, followed by a blue wall. Essentially you're ina mini "Barragan’s greatest hits.” The frst question we askea Legoretta was about his relationship with Jojo OF eourse: LIMAC, the Museum of Contemporary Artin Lima. Iwas one of our projec, Isa ertique and analysis of architec ture anc the history of museum speces through 8 formal intrest we had in working with growing rooms, Ithae a lear way ef combining an archi tetural proposal with Ivestigatian and theary. It sets more complete every day, as we have beanPRODUCTORA interviews WORKAc 55 Barragan. He replied, “I'm not influenced by Barragan at alla knew him slightly but my ‘main influence is" and he named a corpo- rate architect he had worked for, wno was. obviously not as threatening. Interms of influences. we've spent the past ‘wo years deeply engaged in our 49 Cities project, which reintroduced us to people Uike Le Corbusier, Frank Lloy Weight, Yona Friedman, and archigram. Andraos: Yesterday we hada panel discus- slon with Michaet Webs of Archigram. Itwas retreshing to hear him talk about how casual land fun it was designing the Plug-In City. We are inspired by his unbridled vision and are Intrigue by the thinkers of that era. ‘asked to explain it so many times, Each time, we ‘communicate it beter, so we understand it bet ter oursalves Peries: The compettions we enter are important Dcause they allow us to rethink certain themes, to.address new programs and contexts. For ‘example, the House of Arts and Culture in Beirut allowed us to experiment with layers of columns. ‘The exploration of now formal schemes, in rola- tion to the oy, climate, and program, is more than sufficien! for us Bedoya: Competitions allow us to grow and develop 28 an office, even if thay ara built [About two years ag0, we entered the Tsunami ‘Memorial Competition in Oslo and although we let win, people noticed the project. As aresul, ‘we received a related commission for an exhibi- tion In Bajing, And although isnt our project, [Andrea Branzi's No-Stop Citys beautiful hat way for mo. Even as an unbult idea, ls a way to think about breaking the boundaries between arehitosture ane theory. Hoang: The No-Stop City projectis teritying Perhaps its importance is that it's unbuilt ‘and changes value from generation to gen- ration. The social agenda of the 19608 was very different, but the project is still relevant today. Do you think any of your projects are better unbuilt? a a A Re ae gh il ‘Schafer: What specifically inspres you in their wel? ‘Angraos: They were not obsessed with tne discipline of architecture andits boundaries butinstead were cross-pollinating between disciplines. They were simultaneously think= Ing at very large and small scales—even at he scale of furniture. There was a sense of play, ‘0f projection and humor, nol an obsession with torm-making but rather with inventing new systems and projecting lite, Icke Queting you from ancther interview: “When wo started cur offica, we thought wo couldn't com: pete with OMA but at least we could be funnier” ‘Andtaos:We use humor asa critical tool, allowing us to enter complex situations lel Maybe. LIMAG Is toreiying Bedoya: Some curators have tld us that itis 37 ‘almost impossible museum todo something in Schafer: What about the Arpafil competition? “The entire building hovers above the city? lolx No, we should have built it! This project is ‘great because itis a typical modernist projectin the sense of horizontal foor slabs and the idea of iin the building up from the flocs Schafer: It's diagrammaticaly stcang—an Luncampromising image, but the height seers a bit preposteraus, What iit, forty feet? lel: That's @ crucial point ofthe building I's great to be taking about architecture again because we ara discussing measurement and distance, Its very different 1 if building seven meters than twenty meters, ass the case in cur bulaing. So the square we create underneath is really a public space that could be a viable open ‘space inthe city again. That was the strength of that project. Of course we should have bul it diagonally. It allows us to move quickly through design issues anc trame certain criti- cal positions. Joi In our office certain books ae places ante the design table again anc again, What books land whose work inspires you? ‘Wood: Betore we nad workwe started a col- lection of first edition architecture books. We read alot. lek: Are they now on the design table? Wood: They are definitely on our conference {able I's important to have as comprehen- sive a knowledge of architecture as pos~ sible. [certainly don’t think we're there yet, but knowledge of lypology-what’s been tried betore—can really shortcut the designPrSeass, getting us to more interesting solu- tions sooner. Tekx Im ooking at your brary now and I see a lot of Corbusier, Team x Wood: Andy Warhol, Christopher Alexander. Laughter) Jckx: Are you nostalgic when roviowing these utopian projects, especialy those fiom Le Corbusier? Nostalgic for the belief hat architects could change the werle, improve ving conditions, cramaticalyinuence the way the worl 1ooks? Wood: Sure. Jekx: Today architects have a more complex ‘agenda: we are involved vith the structures of ower and we want commissions. Wood: It's cyclical: you are describing a situ- atlon almost tnirty-tive years old. I's also nostalgic to tear the big project. That goes backto the early days of postmodernism. (t's time to get ria of Both kings of nostalgia. Andraos: You can learn from history without being nostalgic. You don't nees to change the world, Avery small project can havea big impact Icke: The last project of yours that | saw was the Cadavre Exquis Lebanese—the “exquisite corpse” project in Beirut, which was exhibited at the Rotterdam Biennale, What role does sure alism play in your projects, particularly the one inBeirur? ‘Andraos:The Beirut project was so complex. thatit became a game with the entire ottice. Today we can explain it with more distance ‘and clarity. At the time, we were working within two contexts: the Israeli-Lebanese war ‘and the Biennale. We hae Lebanese interns, so some of the images and narratives we pro- duced were away to exorcise the shock of ‘the war. The other context, the Biennale, nad ‘an ambition to re-project the city in distinct ‘eategories: Informal City, Corporate City, Spectacle City. Capital city, ana Midden City The Cadavre Exquis suggested that these abstract city models are not separate ca ‘egories: within the context of Beicut, you ting them together. Wood: We were also channeling # Lebanese gallows humor. For us, surrealism provides a conceptual jolt in which you're Inserting the proverbial umbrella onto the operating table to make people more aware ot thelr experiences, their circumstances or space. ‘There's a great quote about this use of humor trom the Chilean "anti-poet” Nicanor Parra, who says that “real serfousness rests Inthe comic.” Jk: laughed when | read that when you startes your ofice you made a five year pact te accept ‘very commission, no matter the scale or pro- gram. We are in our fourth yoar now and we sti s2y yes to everything, Doesnt every architect ‘say yes to everything to get startoa? /Angraos: Yes ang no. There's a sitference between North America and abroad. In Europe. one can work the competition route, in which case you're not saying yes to every thing, but only pursuing large commissions. Inthe US another option isthe academic route. Both are very different models from Going bathroom and kitchen renovations and slowly growing in size. lok: Why did you choose the “yes" route? Was it ‘a way 10 gah experience? To startbulding? Radiant City ==@ Woods It was really a way to define WORKac. Emerging trom OMA, it felt as itwe had been Ina cave for years ana were coming out Into the sunlight. ‘Angraos: We nad an operative hypothesis, ‘that we Bult one hundred projects a few threads might emerge, some of which we are following now. Wood: Maybe not every young architect Would say yes to everything, just us. loka: We share a simlar ethos, PRODUCTORA ‘means something lke “production company” the ea was that as we were making projec, we would aiseaver what we stood for and develop as an offee, Ieckx: You are actively developing a public pro: flees a visionary office that ries to rethink and improve things Andras: The visionary Idea has.a role whether you Build it or nat. We ike to project proposals and ideas. I don’t know how some- fone canbe pessimistic as an architect. lol's tike they say: “Think reasonably pesst mistic, act reasonably optimistic, Andraos: Very good. Is that Outen? It must be Duten, Jodo No, | think its Latin American, Ses &Ick: Your work spans a range of scales from ‘partment refurbishments to urban designs lke the Lebanon proposal. You maintain an intent io combine different reali, diferent from other architects who bind everything into one gesture What is refreshing for mei that you design projects wit dtferent elements, meanings and ‘atmospheres that estabish camplex intarala tionships. How do you synthesize diferent con: ‘cepts oF reales inte one architecture? Andraos: Often our main gesture sete up relationships, leaving the remaining ele- ments to be freer or more specific, We've more i Plug-in City Interested in cuts and interruptions than we aren homogeneous consitions. Wood: We always set up a dichotomy. event We use a singular gesture. The various sides Will De aitterent. or tne inside wil be ditterent from the outside. In our project forthe video Spotwelders, for example, we created a single volume witha series of spaces forlounging around its perimeter, while simultaneously hosting four different interiors for editing lek: Your practice extends bayond the discipline of atchitecure, The PSI instalation eeaches out to a braad disciplinary field that includes cis ‘courses on nature and agriculture inthe city. Do yu see your pracice extending the iscipinary boundaries of architecture? Wood: Our generation engages practice more Intensivaty than our predecessors, atleast at this point in our careers. And practice allows tor the possisilty of complete immersion Into gitferent worlds. The oynamic work- Ing environment at OMA exemplifies this ‘multipticity: trom Prada tothe Seattle Public Linrary, you would interact witn incredibly itterent worlds that Rem took very seriously In terms of esearch. In our practice, projects like P51 have allowed this contamination: =e PRODUCTORA intervene WORKAC 57 rather than bleeding out allthe “reality” ang creating a pure architecture, we brought in ‘complex array of consultants fiends, and Andraos: What defines the boundaries of architecture today? I'm sure everyone detines them sitferently. For Le Corbusier architec- ture's Boundaries were not the same as for his predecessors. They are constantly shitting, ‘and we fing that interesting, Wood: Maybe ten years ago architects were utilizing sclence to ciscover new metaphors and ways of torm-making. An architect would bring in a scientist to speak about DNA. Then thearchitect would build a ONA-looking form that wouls become, say, an office building or train station. For usit’s the inverse: we try develop forms to help farming, rather than farming informing form-making. With PSt, we wanted to sze now the project could became an experimental place for soil Since wepublde branch {a bearahad to elevate tne structure, it became the pertect application to experiment with vati- ous lightweight solts ana the possibilities of roottop farming, where dead-load is one of the main issues. Andraos: Ultimately our position on, and Interest in, tarming comes trom our interest In ities and now they might tunction differ ‘ently. PSt was the fest expression of mixing Infrastructure and public interaction within a productive landscape. We're now working with the Alice Waters foundation an what we call P52, whieh isan edible schoolyard for ‘aschool in Coney Island. We try to frame a problem and fing an angle from which you think you can make change. at da you consider to be your most sig hiicant built or unbul project? Wood: The Dog House ie our mascot proj- ect, the Diane von Furstenberg (OVF) Headquarters is our signature built project, and PFI is our manitesto project. ‘Andraos: The competition weare doing now for Hua Qiang Bel road in Shenzhenis par- ticularly significant because we are finally designing architecture atthe urban scale ioe: While the Dog House and PFI transcend the boundaries of architecture, the DVF offices lack tis larger view on society. How do you tnd Joy inthis work that lacks @ utopian aspect? Wood: We would be reticent to put the OVF bullding in that category because it was based on such a personal lationship with ourclient ans had a diverse set of spa~ tial and programmatic requirements. I's Tex: Wi simultaneously an architectural project. an urban project. and a residential project. t mixes office space. a design studio, store, showroom. library, private apartment, print= ing. and parking, and atthe same time can also sponsor a dance troupe or parties for 800, people, benefits, ete Andraas: And the main intervention s a piece of spatialized infrastructure to bring natural light down into allot those areas. Woods Which also extenas tothe outsige, cre- ating a landmark for that neighborhood, Andraos: Many of our current ideas germi- rated In that project. Woods A number of smail-teale “ottice Improvement” type projects supported the cifice in the past. New York provides us with ‘good clients. Even when the budget is emall, there's some compelling aspect to the work. In tne smaller projects we look or one inter~ ‘sting, totalizing element that ties it together, We try to straddle straighttorwara work with Visionary projects, to take us aut ofa purely protessional mind-set. ‘Ancra0s: While they may nat have broader architectural or urban planning implications, these projects still further our design agenda Not every project can be charges. Wood: And "Works so much mare tun than tun/*as Noe! Coward sala Ickx: You clearly had fun rasalving the tectonics in the DVF project you designed a afieut ana annoying star and then hac! make the spaces ayound it work Woods That's so true! Did you work on It? Icke: Our office attributes ttle Importance to the program, since i's $0 malleable, Instead, we ‘develop the project through formal explorations [AL OVE, you created a beaut stair, buts itthe best stair to accommodate the program? Or ig there an explict formal vl? Wood: The stair was a response to amoment in which Diane's office grew trom twenty to thirty people working on one loot to two hundred people distrinuted on six floors, ‘The stale had to be more than ameans ofOrdos Villa #29, 64 PRODUCTORA intevaws wORKAE WORKac INTERVIEWS FAR Ashley Sembso:. 2 ‘conveyance:it had to provide a social space that would recreate the connections the com- pany was aboutto lose Jeb | s60 I a8 a very beautiful stair. and you're suggesting, “Nol I's also a way to connect differ {nt programs and people” Wood: Welt, it was for Diane, so it goes with= ‘out saying that had to be beautiful {Anaraos: Ithad to be beautitul aesthetically ‘ang performatively, Like her clothes: they truly don’t wrinkle when you travel! We trust program ‘asa barometer, even fi’ lett outinine end Andraos: We alse manipulate the program to [Andrags: We see an affinity belween how we present our work ang how you present yours tnat seems to reflect a large’ vend In American ‘academia these days. We frame the problem and inen snow how that tramework produces a certain result, However, we don't believe inthe inevitability ot form. we arevery con~ scious thal there sa level of interpretation. It we take tne same Bullsing codes or the same data as you, our design willbe very citterent trom yours. Frohn: But isn't the trick to Imply thats specific Ine of thinking leads toa particular form? seems tobe 8 common strategy in architectural presentations. Wood: Yes, right. Fiahn: Obviously, that isn't te realty Andraos: Maybe't'sstillan issue because ‘we're unhappy with the way the prior genera~ tion framed its workand we're searching foran alternative. Ifyou weren't talking about your ‘work as you have been thus far,now else would you trame it? What it you were forbidden trom speaking about your work in terms of prob- lems, framework, process, and had to speak ‘more generally about yout approach. the “project” of he office? For example torus your projects all share an interest inreinterpreting typologies ana sensibility of angled forms. reveal an agenda. ‘Schafer: Can lask about fun and joy? Most of the firmesin tis seve designed an Ordeshouse and yet nobody mentianedit. Was t (Ordos you? Woad: 100% jay. When we were in the Ordos Holiday Inn we coulde’t waitto leave, but now {eel tke we'll never have that experience again and I would love to be back there, Andraos: I'm surprised nobody's mentioned lordos because for us it comes up allthe time. twas an Important moment when almost ‘everyone in out generation came together to part ‘competing: at east not for the same project You detinitely nave to bring your “A” game ‘when you put your proposalin front of ninety-nine of your peers. lokx: Our Ordos project in similar to yoursin that both are massive blocks with specie openings and rigid volumes. Wood: That's a compliment, Yours was a fan- tastie project. lok: Can you talk about the relationship between the artificial ane the natural? After PF and the Green Belt City in Las Vegas this seamed to become a recurrent alement of investigation in your office Andraos: First we have to detine nature, since joyin ipate in one project, And we weren'tFichn: Typology is important to our work, which probably stems fvom my teaching. | taught @ course on typologies in Aachen in Germany. tis important to question typologies, but at the same time, it would be rave to abandon them because they have an accumulated intligance from hav ing evolved. | ke to consider typologies, but also to reconsider or reread them. As far as speaking about my work, it weuld depend on the context. I I were presenting in Germany, | would never use a typological argument. Its one ofthe biggest trage for designers there. Thay think and argue about design in a more compartmentalzed way, such as typology or detail. | tak differently about my werk depending on where | am peesenting, In the US. | Ike presenting a typological reading, so if Late to present at SCI-Arc tor example, | would discuss this nation af rereading typologies because it would bring a fresh perspective to the way architecture is usually discussed there Andraos: Are your lectures more ofa perfor ‘mance that targets its strategy toa particular audience? Fror: think so ‘Schafer: Dan and Amale, do you do the sare? You once toldime that you ware working with an acting coach WoodsAndraos: Oh yeah. Definitely. Wood: Although we consulted tne acting coach primarily for presenting to clients, we learned a ot, We uniearned conventional architectural presentation techniques. You don't look at the slides, you keep the lights fon, and you use words rather than images to tell the story. Fiohn: Are the stories you tell entirely different? ‘here do the cient story and the university le ture story mest? Anaracs: The ditference ie what you high Light. For both, we've learned that rather than constructing a lecture linearly, project by project, we try to address one question, oF issue, across aserles of projects. An argu- ment makes a more interesting presentation, soe reorient our work o create a narrative that answers the question, We also learned the importance of body lan~ ‘guage trom our acting coach. Architects tend to ely on images and visuals as evidence. But, of course, images don’t prave anything. The Image you project with your body. your voice, and your eyesis as important as those ‘on the walls. For example, when you are working with students ang they gesture with their hands we usually tellthem, "Don’t ges- ture with your hands, draw i." But in # good performance, you are supposed to gesture with your hands. there's very litte real nature ett. tn both projects, we were interested in redetining the relationship between the rural and the urban. Isthere away to integrate both systems, or do We need to aivorce them more radically? Ickx: Your 49 Cities project also investigates the relationship between city and nature, Wood: During our research we looked at forty- sine mostly unbuilt visionary city projects. We suspended ideology and judgment to evalu- ate their objective performance witha par~ ticular emphasis on ecological performance, For example, how much green space does Superstudio's Continuous Monument have? lekx: Who won? Wood: Itwas a tle Between Fuller's Tetrahedrat City—nota surprise, as density was one of his ceriterlaang Corb's Ragiant city. lekx: Did’ thay tart from opposing positions? Wood: Exactly. They took gitterent concep~ tual approacnes to arrive at the same Idea. When we returned to some of Le Corbusier's writing and drawing forthe Radiant city project we discovered tnat the “towers in the park idea is often misunderstoog. What ne was really proposing are towers ina drip ping wilderness, towers in the midst of a witd nature, lckx: How do you tink this research affects your WoRKacintarviaws FAR 65: {saw LizDillar give a tale where she revealed tne dilterent ways she presented the Lincoin Center project to four aittarentaudlences She changed not oniy her description but also the information on the images depending fonwnetner she was talking to an academic aucience orto the client. Maybe we should Ine works and the pettor- mance where you talk about the work. One ightaliow you to find out more about the other. Do you agree that audiences anc. asa resuit, your presentations ae atterent? Fron: | wouldn't completly separate the per formance fram the work, Dut it lcoresting and tential productive te rethink your work in at ferent terms, Maybe ane would ariv at new ter rtories embeded in the work. Andras thinkso. Wood: Would t make you uncomfortable i someone framed your workin purely formal terms, orif you were asked to present tne for- mal qualities of angled surfaces in your work? Frohn: It would be har. For example, | would have aificuty discussing the Wall House based primarily on its “angled surfaces" and diamond: Cul shape, It would be more intresting ta me toiscuss the project basec onthe relationship ‘of program and enclosure, oF the exploration of the wall by dissecting it and reinterpreting it. ‘dosign work? How do you integrate this research inta your practice? Andraos: The 49 Cities project started asa way to explore certain urban ideas, some of ‘whieh surtaced in our competition proposals. For the Hudson Yaras Competition we worked with Baimori Associates and Fritz Haeg-the artist who did the Edible Estates project. Our proposal was to transiorm nine blocks of New YorkCily into a wilderness, bringing in animals ang allowing crops to grow, and then finding waysto create a water collection/teuse system and expressing t through our design. lek: How do you start working ona project o's say 2railtoad station. Do you bagin by analyzing ‘the urban context, oF the program? Wood: We might dive inte the history of famous talroad stations: tne site, the city, the networks, and an expanded notion of pro~ gram—incluging the ellent. t's about looking inte and trying everything simultaneously: 8 pelos of immersion, like Metnod Acting Andraos: We look for an angle that can pro- uce tne most promising design direction. lok: Do the two of you sit down together frst anc then have a meeting with the whole team? Orie ‘everyone in your team involved inthe primary Investigations? Andraas: First we have a meeting with the‘THISSPBFOEED could open up a new world of pos iblities. We dicn’t design the Wall House in the classic way, by stating wth a plan. We spit the layers of 2 wall based on their performance value. ‘We determines the environmental properties of ‘each layer and then created a variety of cimatic ‘zones with ther. Eventually we reacred the point ‘where we Were reorganiing how someone would inhabit these zones. Andraos:in both that project ang the House InWest you seem to be exploring the potential ‘of peeling apart a wall or stratehingit into a thickened skin. Frohn: Yes, In the Wall House, we turned the Wall, oF ski, into a series of layers so the zone baliieen becomes inhabitable, And in the Hause in Heat the ski literally thickens. 'm interested in residential design because the fnvirorimant isso complex. What nas most interesting for me in these two house projects Was how strategies about the environment, the skin, and inhabitation eventually merged into ‘one single stateny. Allowing an enviranmental strategy fo inform and create a new architec: {ural and sppticl language isa critical challenge ‘ofthe discipline at the moment and an ongoing Investigation for us. | nave 2 real problem with projects that simoiy aut a green brush strake ‘vet them at the end 65 PRODUCTORA intervions WORKAC BS. 216, em design team to discuss the conceptual agenda and plan the immersion phase. Then together we decide the tive or ten ortwo ctions to pursue. W's aprocess of editing during which we argue and ye Wood: Until we are Both happy. Andraoss Or until we agree. Wood: Or we are bolh unhappy. lek How do you balance your academic work with practice? ‘Andraoss We tend to workin parallel so they enrich each other. When you spend the day at Andras: Regarding performance, how can fone express systems and use them procuc- tively? Germany seems to beat the center of this discussion duet pertormance. Frohn: You'e watching too much television, [Andraos: Maybe, bul we don't come close in the U.S. [s itimportant that your build ings perform environmentally orisa project equally successtulit it merely projects an Image of, or creates awareness about, envi ronmental performance? Frohn: Actual performance is essential but ‘maybe the definition of architectural performance is more relevant because itis cifferent from sehaot and returnte the office, your body's tired but your brains retresned and a cioss- fertiization nappens. Jo: Teaching isnot alvays voluntary. Most fatehitects teach when starting ther office to supplement theirincame. Andraos: We have grown through teaching as ‘much as we have grown through working. We ‘would not be the same office tagay had we not been teaching Ickx: Do you rea architectural theory? Do yourite? ‘Andraos: We published the 49 Cities project, engineering performance, We are not as iter tested in engineering performance but it does play into architectural performance, Normally, yeu ean easly test performance, right? How do you test the performance of architecture? Some might say through research, but then it becomes @ ques tion af what you are trying to determine through research, The nation of research in architecture has always seemed tricky ‘one cifferently than in ether discilines, cause it must be Andraos: You framed itwell by saying that architectural pertormance'is not the same as engineering performance. We spend a lato time trying to derine how architecture performs and we haven't managed a satis- factory definition. It pertormsal the level of land are now working on an open source oval history of the making of PFI. We havent wi ten gicec We are more interested in the case study model than in the theory model, lok: One of the questions on the PRAXIS lst is which ofthe contemporary ciscourses you feel mos! affliated with? Are you an eca-atiee ‘anaffectbased office, ae you post-rtioal— fathough | am not sure whal that means—or more pragmatic? How would you define your practice? Woods! reject the question. It pressed, we would say that we specialize in Tudor. Andracs: The nation of participating ina sin~ ‘gular discourse is strange. We dont have any affinity withthe crtieal/post-critical cebate We're pragmatic because we workand have to practice. We're also interested inthe vision- ary and projective, but then again, why does this have to become an academic theory? How can you ignore working with contemporary environmental questions? Wood: Nobody wants o be called an eco- oitice. €co-projective-criticalality? Schafer: As anece ical archivo Inthe currant environmental and economic context, how do yeu think architects can main lok: Say yes to everything for another five about our work.ils tunction. as well as a the level of mage, beauty, culture, and technolegy. It touches ‘upon all these things ang some architects dive priority ta certain aspects over others. Wood: It's important to discuss projects per formatively but, at the same time, no one asks Peter Zumtnor now the water moves in the thermal baths at Vals because he detines per- formance as beauty, light, ana views. Andras: True, but you could look ata Peter Zumtnor project fom the perspective of plumbing. Maybe architects con't because we want to avoid the tough questions that diminish the capital "Rot Architecture, We're dissatisfied with the narrow ways thatthe dis- ciptine looks critically at ise. Frohn: The general perception of environmental performance can be quite odd. For example, | recenly saw a large advertisement in a German train station that showed a building wth a see: ‘ond layer of rigid foam insulation tacked onto the outside, You can't get ary cheapar and you can't et a higher degree of insulation. Recently, a Chilean client of ours was focused fm enuironmental performance. When describing his needs, he kept focusing only on solar panels $0, | said to him, "Okay, if you really want that then lets start there." We developed the fune tions ofthe house and the environmental idea years, righ? Andraos: Maybe the only people who no lon- er feel relevant are architects, Everyone alse expects us to do something about the curent situation, Ata recent conference, sameane asked, "You know. Live downtown, and thear we're going to get flooded. Is that an archi- lectural design problem?” | mentioned the On the Water study done at Princeton by Guy Nordenson, Catherine Seavitt-Nordenson, land Adam Yarinsky. Icke I's broader question about he role the profession plays in society, Woods There's oom for architectural thinking inany debate, any activity, Anaraos: And at this moment, we are ina epe- ial situation in which tnere’s an audience that is much more open to Ideas. That's why we'te parti ‘That audience might disappear ina year, but tor now ts tistening. larly Interested in the visionary. together, and the project emerged out ofthis unusual paiting, Wood: Bld you create any new social condi tions as aresult? Frohn: Yes. We organized the nouse into zones of hot and cold, It was interesting te design around environments that were net temperate er homog ‘enous. The house became local and specific to ‘a particular point in time. It was almost lie 2 ame where we played with pattems of activity We were rethinking how activity relate to times of day and year and ta particular temperatures, In the end, the envitonmental performance crove the organization ofthe functions. But it started as a way for us to communicate with the client Andraos: An article in the New York Times. Magazine recently cited a study on how people make shor!- and long-term decisions relative to risk. The one detinitive conclusion that emerged from the study was that people ‘who are intimately involved with the risk are more inclined to act anit. For example, in ‘Alaska, even though everyone knows the ice- bergs are melting. only people wno see them matt feel compelled to take action. This study ‘offers an important lesson tor architecture in that design has the potential to trigger aware ness. Ifthe temperature changes in your ‘environment ar you have an experience that woRkicintrviews FAR 67 heigntens your knowieage of how you are connected to ine world, then atehitecture has the potential ta influence now people think. Your houses do that by reshulfing the way people use them. You've questioned notions fof beauty and hierarchy ina house and that is very intriguing. Frohn: A Russian ifestyle magazine recently published » photo of anal painting ofthe Wall House. The atist painted a Land Rover out front and, in so doing, created a new image ofa doit able itestye forthe house in Russia While this story doesn't respond directly to your observation about auaraness and the impact of architecture, it was interesting for me thatthe house could have an impact far beyond the context at Santiago cr even Chile. t's now in another world and an entirely ciffeent climate tian we over considered “Andraos: This does get at the issue because the narrative you constructed around the performance of the bulling ina certain envi- ronment is supplanted by another narrative in Russia. Fronn: In the Wall House we also trie to recon sider the classic client- architect relationship. We set up an online store, wallhouse.net, where You could purchase aitferent configurations ofthe house. You could buy the existing model or we could work withthe buyer to develop variation