P a t t e r n P l a c e P u r p o s e / S t ep h e n P r o c t o r a n d A n d r ew M a t t h e w s
Proctor and Matthews’ Bermondsey studio, London
Pattern Place Purpose S t ep h e n P r o c t o r a n d A n d r ew M a t t h e w s
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Soon I became aware that between the facts of life that should have been my raw materials and the quick light touch I wanted for my writing, there was a gulf that cost me increasing effort to cross. Maybe I was only then becoming aware of the weight, the inertia, the opacity of the world—qualities that stick to writing from the start, unless one finds some way of evading them. 1
1988, the year Proctor and Matthews was formed also saw the publication of the first English edition of Italo Calvino’s Charles Elliot Norton Lectures- Six Memos for the Next Millennium. Here Calvino articulated a series of characteristics—lightness, quickness, exactitude, visibility, multiplicity and consistency—which he passionately believed were central to inspired works of literature. At a time when public architectural debate seemed to be focussed around issues of style—postmodernism or iconic form-making— these observational essays seemed to offer an alternative series of strategies which could have equal relevance to architectural design as to that of the written word. The memo on “Lightness” offered most. The central tenet here that good stories, like traditional folk tales should lift beyond earthly constraints—”the weight… the opacity of the world”—and ascend to another realm even suspending
belief, reinforced for us the thought that good design must always look beyond the pragmatic brief of any project.2 It is not sufficient to merely create buildings which provide solutions to a series of technical performance specifications, spatial audits and detailed room schedules. It is after all this approach which often leads to the banality and standardisation of business parks, budget hotels and both subsidised and private housing developments across the country. The safe, predictable, yet impoverished products, of which we are all too familiar, are driven solely by a slavish adherence to Quality Indicators, notional space and performance standards, technical design guides and nothing else. As designers we have a responsibility to offer more than this: to have one foot in the pragmatic world through a strong dialogue with clients and stakeholders, but to simultaneously look beyond—to defy gravity and ultimately to exceed expectations. It is this challenge or aspiration which continues to inform an approach to design within our studio. This has led away from an architectural ‘house style’ towards more project and site-specific investigations. Strategies to solve the often demanding constraints of user requirements are
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