Design Legend Interview
47 Froen
I have always been interested in drawing from a young age, my Meccano set was a prized possession, and I also enjoyed making mathematical paper models.
Could you please tell us a bit about your design background and education?
I have always been interested in drawing from a young age, my Meccano set was a prized possession, and I also enjoyed making mathematical paper models. My father worked in London Docks and at the weekends he would sometimes take me as a young boy of 9 or 10 to the wharf; I loved the ships and cranes and meeting with the officers who with my dad would be planning how the various items of cargo (it was before the days of containers) would be stowed into the holds. As a teenager I desperately wanted to be an artist but I was good at sciences at school so my family thought that was a safer bet for a career. I started studying mathematics at Manchester University but began reading about architecture and was able to change course. When I was still an undergraduate at the Manchester University School of Architecture I was extremely lucky to land a job at Foster Associates which at that time was based in a small office in Hampstead, London. Early experience working at the elbow of Norman Foster was seminal, wonderful and I was totally hooked into a new way of seeing and thinking. These were my beginnings in architecture.
What motivates you to design in general, why did you become a designer?
I enjoy designing and making things - you are always learning something new. Now I’m an architect with some experience I feel able to make a real contribution to society.
Did you choose to become a designer, or you were forced to become one?
I chose - and in fact changed direction to get into this field. Then from my early twenties on it became locked into my DNA.
What do you design, what type of designs do you wish to design more of?
I have designed many types of building during my career so far. Current preoccupations include the design of small modular living spaces at one end of the spectrum and large scale parametric structures for sports at the other.
What should young designers do to become a design legend like you?
Identify your heroes, find a mentor if you can, keep dreaming, drawing, reading and don’t ever give up trying to be a legend (I’m not there yet)
What distinguishes between a good designer and a great designer?
A good designer might stop work when the brief has been satisfactorily met. A great designer does not stop there - in fact that’s when the work really starts.
What makes a good design a really good design, how do you evaluate good design?
Design first and foremost has to work - in terms of the brief and the budget, use of appropriate technology, be sensitive to its context, create a sense of place. Further, with good fortune, it will evoke a strong sensory and emotional response.
What is the value of good design? Why should everyone invest in good design?
Design is of increasing importance in today’s world. Space on earth is becoming increasingly scarce. The way we build today ensures that a built form exists for many decades. For this and many other reasons (cultural, financial, technical etc) there is an increasing imperative to get it right - the building needs to have a beneficial impact on both its social and environmental context now and for future generations. The only option is to invest in good design.
What would you design and who would you design for if you had the time?
A cabin in the wild for my muse
What is the dream project you haven't yet had time to realize?
There are many ideas! For example: I’d quite like to design a village centred on modern day industrial activity - like they had in the Industrial Revolution, but a more diverse, sustainable and sexy twenty-first century version. It would aspire to be both a university, and a natural wilderness.
What is your secret recipe of success in design, what is your secret ingredient?
Every successful project has a secret ingredient - different in each case. You have to search for it until you find it - that’s the secret!
Who are some other design masters and legends you get inspired from?
One is always stimulated by the work of others, and much contemporary architecture is immensely inspiring, for example by Gehry, Hadid, Ingels, Saunders to name but a few. However I am constantly drawn back to those legends who had the earliest influence during my architectural education: Khan, Barragan, the Japanese Metabolists, Archigram, Buckminster Fuller… Closest to my own era those who have had the most immediate impact on how I think are probably Piano, Rogers, Shinohara.. And still most specially and regularly Norman Foster who was my earliest mentor and exemplar.
What are your favorite designs by other designers, why do you like them?
There are so many! Great designs by others demonstrate close attention to detail, materiality, perform well and are experientially responsive to their occupant and contextually respond positively to the environment and existing sense of place…and have an X-Factor (no pressure). Most recently I have been greatly impressed by the Len Lye Centre in New Plymouth, New Zealand by Patterson Architects.
What is your greatest design, which aspects of that design makes you think it is great?
It’s not been built yet, but will be soon. Watch this space!
How could people improve themselves to be better designers, what did you do?
Always, be open to criticism and feedback. Designers need themselves to constantly reassess how and what they do. In the office there are regular critiques and workshops - our office culture is vitally important. As a team we work to constantly improve our game, including developing the use of new tools and technology.
If you hadn't become a designer, what would you have done?
I initially did mathematics at university but was always fascinated from a young age of how something is put together. So I might have become an industrialist.
How do you define design, what is design for you?
Design is in everything
Who helped you to reach these heights, who was your biggest supporter?
My life partner and fellow architect Ainsley O’Connell, along with my many colleagues I have worked with through the years.
What helped you to become a great designer?
Hard work, experimentation, determination, persistence and always challenging myself to improve.
What were the obstacles you faced before becoming a design master?
I wouldn’t call myself a master… I think it’s incredibly difficult to master any field, you can always improve and make adjustments to a craft that can equally be just as potent therefore I think being adaptable is very important.
How do you think designers should present their work?
With confidence and belief. Don’t be deterred by boundaries that discourage. Some of the most revolutionary ideas over the centuries were laughed at when first proposed.
What's your next design project, what should we expect from you in future?
We have several exciting projects ongoing currently, a roof over a velodrome, a football clubhouse, some cabins in the woods and some residential projects to look forward to.
What's your ultimate goal as a designer?
To better the environment around us and to enhance the lives of individuals, community and society.
What people expect from an esteemed designer such as yourself?
Great results - so you have to be constantly improving your game
How does design help create a better society?
Architecture forms a threshold that connects People and Place, moulding the way people live, interact and respond thus creating culture and society itself. I think it was Winston Churchill who said: ’we build our cities, then our cities build us’ or something like that
What are you currently working on that you are especially excited about?
Rebuilding our office from a point five years ago when we had very little work. We now have a small team of incredibly talented and energetic people, we are restructuring a powerful office culture, and are doing some great projects once again.
Which design projects gave you the most satisfaction, why?
That’s a difficult question - every project is satisfying in one way or another. One recent example is the Broadcast Tower at the QBE Stadium in Auckland. This was a relatively small building but it transformed the use of the existing stadium for the client, enabling it achieve international standards for world-wide broadcasts. It won some design awards too.
What would you like to see changed in design industry in the coming years?
From our part of the world (New Zealand) we need our design to reach out to more global horizons. We also need the construction industry here more geared up to industrial prefabrication, adding value to locally produced resources such as timber, steel, aluminium and concrete.
How long does it take you to finalize a design project?
At one level a project is never complete - chinese proverb: ‘House finish, Man die’
More pragmatically there is usually a deadline to meet, and we always try to meet the client’s needs in this respect.
When you have a new design project, where do you start?
We begin with asking questions and researching the background. We need to understand the client’s brief, the context of the design as much as possible, its sense of place, constraints and follow on with a hunch of how to best integrate an intervention within this context. This hunch or overarching conceptual idea stems from a varied sources of inspiration, from the abstract, atmospheric, ephemeral right to the pragmatic, performance and environmental desires thus producing several iterations to explore.
What is your life motto as a designer?
‘Onwards and Upwards’
Do you think design sets the trends or trends set the designs?
Interesting question - very good design probably sets a trend, cream will always rise to the top! Although in other respects cultural shifts and complexities do also impact the design in many ways that can be described as trendy.
What is the role of technology when you design?
Technology plays a massive part for us. It allows designers to be able to spend more time designing with the capabilities and speeds of delivery it allows say during documentation, allowing fast feedback loops and allowing the design to evolve into the best it can possibly be. Analogue design such as drawing and modelling does also still play a big part in the design process, allowing for quick explorations and tactile connections so in effect the two ways of working collectively form a strong basis to the work.
What kind of design software and equipment do you use in your work?
We use various software during different stages of the design process, such as Sketch Up, Archicad, Rhino and Grasshopper, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe After Effects. This range of software helps us deliver several outcomes such as conceptual modelling, BIM modelling, parametric design, rendering, animation, collage, diagramming and image editing.
What is the role of the color, materials and ambient in design?
Colour shouldn’t be constrained. If used appropriately to achieve the design intent in the right way then it can be a powerful tool, same goes for the absence of it.
What do you wish people to ask about your design?
I wish for their curiosity to find out more about the design, its beginnings, to appreciate what it’s trying to achieve dynamically and architecturally - and also what it is for.
When you see a new great design or product what comes into your mind?
I try to imagine what process that the designer would have had to go through in order to achieve a great outcome. What was it that set it apart from other similar designs/products?
Who is your ideal design partner? Do you believe in co-design?
We very much believe in teamwork and collaboration with like-minded consultants and constructors. We welcome partnership that fosters friendly competition and is yet supportive. This always challenges our thought processes and design ideas towards constant improvements.
Which people you interacted had the most influence on your design?
Louis Khan (once fleetingly!), Norman Foster, all my clients and several engineers with whom I have collaborated
Which books you read had the most effect on your design?
The Turning Point of Building by Konrad Wachsmann
Architecture - A Modern View by Richard Rogers
On Foster … Foster On ed. David Jenkins
Kazuo Shinohara Catalogue 17 by Yasumitsu Matsunaga and Kazuo Shinohara
Natural Capitalism by Hawken, Lovins and Lovins
To name a few
How did you develop your skills as a master designer?
First I think that the development in my skills can be contributed to my curiosity in the design process and techniques used in architecture. Secondly I have practiced in both the United Kingdom and New Zealand and so have had a great variety of professional experience. I try to keep an open mind always challenging the unknown and asking questions. It’s all about a continual learning experience.
Irrelative of time and space, who you would want to meet, talk and discuss with?
Louis I Khan
How do you feel about all the awards and recognition you had, is it hard to be famous?
I think that if you are in architecture to be famous then you will not be successful. It is the successful architecture that makes a positive impact that is the most important aspect and is our job as architects. In that sense we are not famous, our role is just beginning.
What is your favorite color, place, food, season, thing and brand?
Orange, Venice , Seafood, Summer, 2B Pencil, Artek
What makes your day great as a designer, how do you motivate yourself?
I love getting to the studio, having a cup of coffee and discussing with colleagues what’s happened over the last 24 hours, checking with Archdaily and then getting to work
When you were a little child, was it obvious that you would become a great designer?
No, not at all I thought I wanted to be a singer
What do you think about future; what do you see will happen in thousand years from now?
The rapidly growing database of science, mathematics, robotics and digital technology will surely open interesting possibilities for architecture in the near future in terms of super materials and non-Euclidean forms. In a thousand years? Wow things are moving so fast, maybe humans will be obsolete by then! However, the crucial aspect of this new-age architecture from our perspective is to be sustenance of and sensitive response to life already on earth.
