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changes. Maybe suddenly there is a need for something completely different. There is a Norwegian company that has worked on the Thai-Burma border and they are still publishing a project they have built in 2011 in Thailand. The people who use the building are very frustrated and they complain that the architect/builder never showed any interest in coming back and fixing the building.
I think it’s very important to give a lot of credit to the community, to the people that you’re working with and letting them participate as much as possible. Not just for us to come in to say, “I’m an architect who have studied architecture and this is the solution to your problem”. You need to strongly engage and understand what is the need. I would not do a project if I get the slightest feeling that expectations are completely different and there might be a lack of communication. That’s not how it should be. You really need to know and understand what the need is, and then work on an intervention together.
CL: Agree. In light of this, what do you think the architecture and building community can do more of? Especially so in the light of this pandemic? Beyond design ideas proposed to address issues brought forth by the pandemic, what else can the architecture community do? JG: There should always be hope and I’m generally an optimist. All the top architect firms that label themselves as sustainable architects have to step up their game, by developing and proposing ideas or solutions to common global issues. I had the opportunity to work on the Masdar master plan in Abu Dhabi for a year. The plan was to build this zero-carbon city in the desert on a 7-metre-high concrete plinth. The amount of concrete is mind-boggling to think about! Within this concrete plinth, an individual transport system should bring visitors automatically from plot to plot, and something like this get labelled zero- carbon and the architect gets celebrated for it? Obviously, it failed and they stopped it.
This is what I feel is very worrying. All the big firms say that they are sustainable, but I haven’t seen them come up with solutions that are not just theoretical, nor have I seen them engaging with issues that are happening in parts of the world where we are facing refugee crises, migration or the outcomes of the current pandemic. How is architecture meeting and responding to these global issues? I’m doing a lot of pro-bono projects, which is just a very small step, but I believe in our work and will continue to do so. I am also teaching, so it gives me a good balance between a stable income and allowing myself to do projects (in the way) that I want and sometimes even for free.
After these seven years in Thailand, I don’t see myself going back to corporate work. I’m back in London now and it’s not very cheap, but we have found a good balance and I will try to continue what I am doing, maybe going more into teaching. I feel that this new generation of architects needs to get exposed to hands-on architecture. If you look at the universities in Europe, they’ve been taught the same thing I’ve been taught 20 years ago. We should be looking more at traditional use of materials, such as bamboo, earth bricks, rammed earth and wood; as well as traditional/vernacular ways of building. Looking back at those very successful techniques and methods of construction can teach you so much. For me, till today, they are still very much valid.
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Photos by Bill Koehntopp
10 Wall details of Champion school 11 to 13 Construction details of Farmhouse School
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