As part of our research for Small size practices and projects we had a presentation followed by a visit:
1. 00://Architecture by Bethany Wells presentation
2.WHAT Architecture practice visit
Overview of our visit to What_Architecture
What_Architecture is a practice located by Old Street, in London central. They have completed a large number of projects from a small scale for example a labyrinth fish tank, to larger commercial and residential projects all over the world, for example the BBC Scotland HQ (pictured below). Anthony Hoete is the Director, leading a young team of 15 including designers, model makers, administrators. Anthony and his assistant talked to us about how the practice operates, how they work along on the day to day basis, as well as the different projects they have just completed and are in the process of. We have also got to know about different client profiles, and how architecture firms form generally. In the next few posts we go into each topic.
Anthony Hoete, Director’s Introduction to
What_Architecture
Upon entering the What_Architecture practise via a rear entrance it became clear that the practise was not as client friendly as we had expected. Being an architect of course, Anthony Hoete opened his introduction with a description of the space that they worked in and made a point of the space being open for ease of communication between the employees. This sense of community between the employees continues out of the work space as all of the meetings take place outside the office. He also went on to explain the unfriendly client environment being because good architecture is down to good clients. The layout consisted of a long table on one half of the room which provided for all of the 15 employees to work individually whilst having the freedom to communicate with others whilst on the other half was the kitchen worktop, communal seating and modelling table. Anthony went on to explain the different clients they deal with and how they keep clients updated through personal blogs. This record of progress was also organised onto a whiteboard where the RIBA stages, deadline dates and architects were shown for each project. As alot of their projects were situated all over the world, the question was raised about how often they visited the sites. Anthony explained some projects hadn’t been seen in person which was frustrating as they had to use google earth for surveying and look at photos for record of progress however this didn’t seem to be an issue.
Operations and Clientele at What_Architecture
What_Architecture was founded by 4 associates, and still operates in a small open space office. They get jobs through 2 sources, by applying for competitions and from clients directly. Applying for a competition is a more engaging and creative process of a project, therefore is much preferred in the practice. ”To produce good architecture, you need good clients” by Anthony. He went onto explaining about all the different clients they work with, and the positives and negatives about them. Working directly with clients can be very interesting also, when the client is not ignorant. For residential projects, the client is very involved in the process, whereas public clients are less active and tend to care more about the budget and the deadline. Public clients give trust to architects and leave them do their job, whereas private clients want to know everything and sometimes get involved with things they have no knowledge on, they can also change their mind from time to time, which resolves in the designers having to re-do work they have already completed. These acts of a client can be very frustrating and can hold projects back. He adds that with wealth comes taste, so wealthier clients are usually more difficult to work with.
Bethany Wells of Architecture 00:/
Bethany created a very inspirational lecture for us, presenting her work from university days along with her ideologies and strategies. It was incredibly interesting to listen to her speak about how she got from one morning noticing the hot air coming out of an air went, to creating these bags out of plastic to experiment with how air travels around the space. She’s a very young and soft, but seems very intelligent and determined. Bethany didn’t come to introduce her firm to us, instead she talked about her own personal interests and work. During her university studies, in Bartlett School of Architecture and the Royal College of Art, she experimented with form, structure and material through various community projects. Bethany likes to work around her own community and the environment. Recently she participated in an organic farming volunteer program where she was able to engage with the fields, and have to chance to break away form the big City of London, the noise and busy lifestyle. We believe every designer would benefit from such experience from time to time, to freshen up one’s mind and re-charge. We at university especially know how appreciated holidays are. In a nutshell, we got to know in a hour, just how inventive, hands-on, propositional and creative Bethany is. Now lets talk about some of her projects and lets see just how much she likes the creative industry, from all kinds of angle.
http://www.bethanywells.com or http://www.architecture00.net for more info
Projects created by Bethany
Constructions made out of frames outside the the Royal College of Arts was a final year project Bethany’s done. She used frames, created and used by someone else, and left behind. This is a very good way for students to save money and reuse materials. She put them around a spiral shape outdoors, creating a corridor. To take the project further, she wrapped plastic paper around it and as the final layer, in the very middle she added wool. It looked quite like a construction site from the street, and a very dark space in the inside. She was so engaged and in love with this project, she even spent a night there, with her friends, around a temporary fireplace, singing, making music.
Folding cubes: 8 cubes, with pictures on it, put connected in a way that it can refold and refold, still creating a whole image. It is a very small as an object and a project, but it catch my attention and interest very much.
Air went project: Bethany was inspired by the hot air coming out of an air went on side of a big office building, which shows how everything around us can be an inspiration. I also used to walk past an air went every day on my way to college, and in the winters I used to love that few seconds of hot that I got from it. That must have been how Bethany felt. But on her way to university, she was very inspired by it, and she didn’t let the opportunity pass to create something out of nothing. So she though of a way to emphasise this travel of air and she became very interested in the subject from that point on. As a result, she put together plastic bags and stuck it on the the air went. This created this very out of place but original objects on the streets of London.
Hot air around Tottenham: As I mentioned before, she became very interested in air, hot air and the way air travels. This influenced her everyday life and they way she started to observe her own area in North London, Tottenham. She looked at such things as the tube station, bus station and hot air travel from houses. She then mapped up the whole area with this idea of bringing the hot air from these places onto the streets and keeping the outdoors hot. It is a very imaginary way of looking at Tottenham.
By Zsofi & Luke Published on: Oct 2, 2012 @ 15:46
Zsofia Tompa 