18
INSIGHTS
ASK THE ARCHITECT
Benedict Zucchi, chair of BDP’s Global Board, speaks to ADF about his design philosophy, the role of architecture as a civic art, and how collaboration, context and sustainability will shape the profession.
AFTER SPENDING MORE THAN 30 YEARS AT BDP, HOW DO YOU REFLECT ON WHAT HAS INSPIRED YOU OVER THAT DURATION? I’m still sustained by my original enthusiasm for BDP’s founding ethos, the idea that design should be centred on the specifi c characteristics of people and place; the clients and users on the one hand and the social, historical and natural context of the project on the other. Our contextual, interdisciplinary approach marked us out from our foundation in the 1960s and anticipated by many decades the drive for sustainability that is now at the top of our environmental agenda.
AS RECENTLY APPOINTED CHAIR, WHAT ARE YOUR SHORT-TERM PRIORITIES FOR THE FIRM?
My number one priority is to ensure that we continue to think holistically about the complex challenges facing society and respond sensitively to the context of each project. This is the only path to innovative authentic solutions that will stand the test of time. As a growing global team, my role also focuses on drawing together the different parts of BDP, joining the dots between capabilities and alternative perspectives in different locations, always with a view to providing the best possible combination of talents for each project.
YOU’VE SPOKEN ABOUT ARCHITECTURE AS A CIVIC ART AND WHY IT’S MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER; WHAT DOES THAT MEAN IN PRACTICE?
It means listening to people and driving genuine engagement, what I call the
‘choreography of the collective’, making the design process a core driver of success. This is the idea that the journey we undertake with clients is as important as the ultimate destination because it’s the process, as much as the actual design outcome, that determines a project’s long-term success. Environments only last if people appropriate them and that only happens if projects are embedded in their context, from inception.
WHAT HAS WORKING ACROSS HEALTHCARE, EDUCATION, HOUSING AND MASTERPLANNING SECTORS TAUGHT YOU IN TERMS OF TRANSFERABLE LESSONS THAT APPLY ACROSS ALL ASPECTS OF DESIGN? Our success in all these sectors has been founded on a people and place-centred approach. Most of our work in health and education, where I have been most active, has been publicly funded, so there has been a common emphasis on collaborating with users, whether medical staff, academics, teachers, or residents, patients and students. In this context the role of the architect, or other lead designer, takes on a civic dimension because one is acting in the broader interest of a large group of people, a community, rather than a single client.
HOW DOES MULTIDISCIPLINARY COLLABORATION LEAD TO BETTER OUTCOMES FOR CLIENTS, COMMUNITIES AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT? I would call it an ecosystemic approach. Through multidisciplinary collaboration, we grapple with the complexity of each project, harnessing its full potential rather than rushing to preconceived solutions which oversimplify the challenge and recycle generic responses. We believe that each project is enriched by the shared conversations it instils between people of different backgrounds and skillsets. Harnessing this dynamism is where true innovation originates, adding to our collective knowledge and the great work-in- progress that are our cities.
Everton FC Stadium
IN YOUR BOOK ‘BIG HOUSE, LITTLE CITY,’ YOU EXPLORE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BUILDINGS, CITIES AND ECOLOGY. HOW SHOULD ARCHITECTS BE RETHINKING THEIR APPROACH TO URBAN DESIGN TO RESPOND TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES? The overriding message of my book is that we must reunite architectural and urban thinking. They are part of an indissoluble
WWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK ADF SEPTEMBER 2026
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