Untitled - UNStudio

<Entrevista> Interview
Caro line Bos If! form ada em
Hist6ria da Arte e 0 Ben
es t udou arq uitect ura . Como
If! que a te orta complementa a
parte pratica e v ice-ve rs a?
Emu ito importante nu ma obre.
Sabemos pe rte ttemente. qrecas
erqutterture Que, se par um
taco. era t e rn de ser fun clcn af.
16gicana forma como fun ciona.
por ou t re. ecr eoitemcs Que
eta tern de ter ta rnbem uma
quanoaoe pecul iar intanglvel.
a
o vcss o trab alh a If! a re sultad o
de urn en co ntrc multidi sciplinar
com pessoas fo rm ada s em
areas crsnntes. Como encontra
a equilibria com ta ntos
contributos?
u e pe nue do projecto. por vezes
56 t em os um cons ultor, dois au
tr es. Depende. Par exemplo,
estamos a t rabalhar numa
compettcao para a const rucao
de uma grande estaca o de
1. < Theiltr~ Agora, Lel~tad. 200S .
UNStud io O~ <Chr ;';tian R;c::ht en; ~
2. <Worl d Busi ness Tow ers. HUS<In ~
UNStu dirte~
3 < Urba n o..sis _ Devel opm ent at Hea rn
Road . Sin gilpore 2 006 - . UNStud io O~
Caro line Bas is trained in art history
and Ben studied architecture.
How does theoretical teaching
complement practical matters, and
vice versa ?
It is very Important in a work. We
kno w so w ell from archi tecture
tha t on the one hand It ne eds to
be funct ional, logical in the way it
operates. bUI at t he same time we
believe that it needs to also have a
Quality of oddness that you can no t
grasp.
Your worle is the result of the
multidisciplinary enc oun t er with
people train ed in d ifferent areas.
How do yo u find a balance between
so ma n y con tribu t ions?
It depe nds on t h e proj ect; sometimes
we only hav e one co nsult ant. two
or three. It depend s. For inst ance
we are doing a comp et it ion for a
larg e t rain station in Bologna and we
hav e a lot of advisers. infrastructure
adVisors and comm ercial advisers.
4. < Urban OMi'S- Dl!'velopme nt at
Be a ch Road. Singapore 2006!interi or},
U N5 tud ioCl ~
combot os em Bolonha e temos vane s consultores.
de infra-estrutura e comerciais. Porvezes fazem os
urn t rabamo para uma toja. como aque te Que
estamos a fazer para a Louis vuttt on. e gost amos
de t ranetne r com consemelros de mod a. gosta mos
de te r orterentes tipos de optmoes inesperadas.
Os erqutt ectos crescem ate ao resurtaoo final. e
eu esto u sempre a descobri r diferente s trpos de
meto dcs para introduz ir no processo de design . E
par lsso Que te mos to dos estes especraflstas.
D Qu e If! Que constitui um bo rn « Mooeto de
Design »? Que car act eristicas ere neve r eflect ir?
Os «Modelos de Design» t ern uma sene de
principias em si mesmos Que estao liga dos a
uma SOIUl; aO qecmetnce pcssfvet A quaudaue
•
Sometimes we do a job for a department store. like the
one we er e doing for Louis Vuitton. and som etimes we
like to work with fashion forecasters. we like to have
different types of unexpected advice. Architects grow
towards th e end results and I'm always finding differen t
types of me thods to introduce into the desi gn process
and met's w hy we have all these specialists.
What constitutes a good «De sign Model» ? What
characteristics sho uld it display?
«Design Models» have a certa in se ries of principles in
themselves th at are actua fly connected to a possib le
geometrical solution. rn e organi sational Quality of th e
model is more important than the mod el itself.
•
5. < Erasm us Br idge, Rotter dam , 1996. UNStudio O HChristian
Ril;ht ers >
6. < W" Id5d1Ilk,schenbrii t ke , n eeere n 2007, UNSt udioCl>
7. <VilLA NM, Upstat e New York i!007. UNStudi o D ><(hris t ian
Richters>
orqantaaclo ne! do mcderc
prop ri o modelo.
e mars importan te qu e 0
Ifarchitecture influences the way we live and
experience o ur lives. what is it that influences
architectu re?
Se a ar qu itectura In nuencte a fo rma como
vivemos, 0 qu e e qu e in fl uen cla a arquitectur a?
Alguns de nos costu mam dizer que a arqutte ctura
nao Eo ta o impcrtente com o a vida. As coisas
terr fveis qu e podem acontecer na vida ou as
cotsas mais bonit as nao necesstt am no rm almen te
da arquftect ure. A erquttecture imp orta nte
mas tamnern e imp orta nte qu e se aprenda a nao
sobrestlma-ta. A arquttecture oeve abrece r as
expertenct as da vida mas, ao mesmo tempo, n este
envolvtment o. eta t em de ser cr mca.
e
Some of us like to argue that architecture is not as
important as life. The terrible things that can happen
in life. the most beautiful things that can happen in 'ife
often don·t n eed architecture. Architecture is important
but is also important that you need to learn not to
overestimate a rchitect ure. Architecture should emhrace
the experienc es in life hut at the same time, in this
emorac emenr. archite ctu re shOU ld he critica l.
Based on t he assumption th at our s ocie t y wor ks
t h roug h repe t it ion, h ow ca n we still m<Jnage to
innovate nowadays?
Baseado no pr essu posto que a no ssa sociedad e
funciona atre ves de r ep encac , como e po sstve r
inovar no s di as de h oj e?
rnovar e ser original. Mas, par outro raoo. eu acho
que a r epenrao. com o acont ece nos «Mod elos de
To innovate is to he original. But on the other hand I think
that rep e tition, as in «Design Models». crea tes families
of similariti es. rnars important because you can then
evaluate the q uality of the origina'ity of your work
e
Design», cr ta conj untos de semerhencas. Isso
imp ortante por que podem os a parti r da f avattar a
qualid ade da originalid ade no nosso t r abalho.
/s it your in tent to create buildin gs t hat las t fo re ver?
No. The destiny of architecture is not what I am after.
E voss a tntencao crt er edlf fclcs que durem para
sempre?
Nee. Eu nan estou pr ocure do dest ino da
mu ch different tha n their ro le today ?
I think architects will take on more responsibilities;
Wha t role will ar chitects pl ay in the futu re? Will it be
a
erqurtecture .
Que pap el va n desempenh ar 05 ar quitect os
no fu t uro? Ser a muit o diferente daqu ele que e
desem penh ad o hoj e?
Acti o que os arq uttectos vee ter mats
respo nsab ili dades, VaG trensfo rrner-se cada vez
mai s em ctentlst es publicus. Felizment e a protrssao
esta a expendtr-se .
E co nsid era-se um ci entista pub li co?
Um oouco. Per vezes ten ho de dar vari es consethos
e tazer construcoes pubtic as para um determ inado
local sem ter de construtr um eottlc!o. e isso
Que eu gosto . Eu nao gosto de ser um cientista
publico sem desenhar. Gosto de ser am bos. Acho
que os ar quttectos se devem envorver mais com a
esters publica. Somos responsevets pe los va rtos
orcarne ntos com que lidamos.
e
Entre ou t r os , no ano p assado r eceb eu 0 ore mro
« A rc hitect of the Year 2007» , gan hando t res
de cinco re teqor tas. Que lm pc r t ancra t ern os
premtcs no vosso trabalho ?
Ado ra (risos)! A coisa boa dos prerntos que eres
sao bons para mtrn parttcutarm ent e. m as tarnbem
para as pessoas que t rau atba rn aro uarnente
e
they'll become more public scientists. The profession is
expa nding luckily.
And do you co ns ide r you rse lf a pub lic scie ntis t ?
A little bit. Sometimes I have to give a lot of advice and
make public constructions for certain locations without
doing a building and that is what I like. I don't like to be
a public scientist without designing. I like to be both.
I think that arch itects should be mo re engaged in the
public environment. We are responsible for the amount of
budgets that we are dealing with .
Amon gst ot hers, last year you received t he « Archit ect
of the Yea r 2007» award, winning t hree of t he fi ve
ca teg ori es ? How impo rtant are awards in your work ?
I love it (smile s). The good thing about awa rds it that
the y're good for me. particularly, but also for the people
who work so hard in the studio. We have wor ked very
hard with 85 peop le to make the com pany work. We
got this award not only because o f my work alone, but
be cau se of how we a re organiz ed, how we communicate,
bec ause o f the qualit y of our organizat ion. I have learned
that if you make a good infrastruct ure to your company,
if you take care of your peop le then YOU'll have more time
for your work
.;
no es tu ofo. Traba lha mos aft ncadam ente com
85 pesscas para faz er a empresa tunclc nar,
Ccnquistarnos este pr ernfo nao 56 perc meu
traba lho, mas tam bem grat;as forma como
esta mos or ganizados, com o comunlre mos. pete
quandede da 005513 c rqantaacao. Aprendi Que
se crtamcs boas mt re-estrutu res par a a ncs se
empresa. se cuide mos das pessoas. en tao temo s
mats te mpo para 0 trabalho.
a
8. <Mobius Ho use , He! Goo i 1998, UNSt udio-:O><(hr ist ian
Ric:hters >
9. <Tea House on bun ke r, Vree lan d, t he Netherlands 2006,
UNSt udio\Cl><Chris t ian Rid rt ers>
10. < Be n van Ber kel , UNStudiD-O><Valer ie Ben net t>
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