Cottrell and Vermeulen Practice

Cottrell and Vermeulen

Cottrell and Vermeulen architecture practice is very diverse in their interests, which is very obvious in there work. They are interested in the built Environment landscape and new technology in design. However it is most obvious that there practice has an underlying hunger and willingness to learn and teach. A desire that is perhaps not seen in many architecture practices but is one that informs and inspires their designs. They aim to create a collaborative process rather than a preconceived product with the hope of creating architecture that imaginative, open and enjoyed. They have been involved in designing schools, where a very active role was taken to interact with the pupils to exhibitions where they worked with curators to form spaces to view art work in. I think that it is very obvious from Cottrell and Vermeulens work that this constant willingness to gain knowledge and pass it on somehow through their designs forces them to connect with both the client and the wider community.

link

Listen to Richard Rogers speak about David Adjays work.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/architecture/nwp_adjaye.shtml

Inspiration for stairs

materials models

Plans for design project. Brick Factory/Spa

We believe in Sanderson and Hambi's vision of architects as facilitators or enablers. However, it would be a mistake to attach these terms to the role of architects loosely. In maintaining a 'duty of care' in situations such as the Haitian earthquakes we should consider that boundaries must exist for architectural practice, and that we can have ambitions to facilitate involvement as long as we have clearly defined and achievable parameters. If we neglect this in our practice models, we run the risk of causing harm, rather than good.

David Sanderson - Guardian Article

Hambi's idea of enablement is echoed by David Sanderson, who suggests architects need to 'move beyond their traditional role of designers of buildings in places of relative uncertainty, to become facilitators of building processss that involve people in places of uncertainty and rapid change'. Sanderson writes in relation to architectural involvement in the aftermath of the Haitian earthquakes.

see below:


http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/03/architects-disaster-reconstruction-haiti-chile

PEAS - Nabeel Hambi - Oxford Brookes University

Hambi's own models of practice relates to his idea of PEAS (Housing without Houses, 1995, IT publications).

1. (P)roviding - how much provision do you give for a scheme?
2. (E)nablement - such as political engagement; are you prepared to get involved here?. Idea of a catalyst in liberating the resourcefulness of people.
3. (A)dapt - accept that change is integral
4. (S)ustainability

Ryugyong Hotel, North Korea

Duty of Care Seminar

We found that duty of care was inherently linked with practice. In particular, we saw duty of care located in concrete models of practice that are adaptable, measured, and culturally/historically/site sensitive. Further, we see it linked to the setting up of firm boundaries in these models of practice, to the extent that a measured decision is made in regard to the ambitions of a project and what is achievable with the budget, personnel and technologies available. A case study of how such a duty of care is neglected is the Ryugyang Hotel, North Korea (construction ceased prematurely in 1992), where the enormous ambitions of the project did not measure up against the budget available to the project. Jobs were lost, promises were not met, and as such, a duty of care was abused.