The importance of materials
when it comes to the drawing BOARD, architectureplb LEADS THE FIELD WITH A thoughtful EMPHASIS ON CRAFTSMANSHIP writer
Sutherland LYALL
Choosing and
using materials is a central part of the architectural task. For some practices it amounts to a passion. So it is for ArchitecturePLB director Rupert Cook. ‘There is something fascinating about new materials. When we receive new samples in the office, you catch people surreptitiously stroking them and turning them to see how they look in different lights and feeling how much they weigh,’ he says. ‘You can tell that they will have already started thinking about how they might be fixed on or in a building and how they can relate to adjacent materials and structure.’ Other people in the practice talk about their collective passion for using such materials as oak, zinc and brick, which they cherish for their inherently satisfying qualities, and their openness for exploring new perspectives. The architects like the possibilities they can worm out of materials. For instance, they are intrigued by the surprising flexibility of newly sawn green oak, the difficult-to-believe inherent shear strength of glass and the need to allow for lengthy setting times for lime mortar. They quote enigmatic aphorisms about materials by
the master builder and architect Louis Kahn. Furthermore, they offer near-mystical propositions, such as a belief in the need to respect materials and to allow them an opportunity to express their truth. However, when it comes down
to the drawing board, and actually doing materials, ArchitecturePLB takes a fresh approach. Of course, the architects are enthusiastic, curious and passionate about them. But they make it their business to know what the limitations of these materials are, how they are best used and how to best detail their surfaces and edges. This is enthusiasm curbed by practical conservatism. The big thing, they argue, is the way a material is used in a building. They don’t do details for the sake of visual interest but because the detail is right for the condition in which they place the material – throwing off water, serving as an edge or peak, or joining up next to another material. ArchitecturePLB enjoys using
crafted, even traditional materials whenever the opportunity arises, and it is sensible in terms of cost or performance to take this approach. But that does not mean that the architects are fixated on using
ArchitecturePLB / 1971–2011 / Essays 031
© JONATHAN MOORE
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