A Designer’s Mind: Reflections on Architectural Design(Speed of Working: ‘Capturing the Violence of the Idea’)Part Four

Hussain Varawalla

The French designer and architect, Philippe Starck, has a reputation for working extraordinarily quickly. He claims that while travelling by plane on one occasion he designed a chair during the period the seatbelt signs were on for takeoff. He says working at this speed allows him to ‘capture the violence of the idea’.

In my experience of plane journeys, when the seatbelt signs are on for takeoff, the only thought in my mind is that of the discomfort and boredom of the journey ahead. Mr. Starck must be travelling first class, a design opportunity I have yet to experience. Having said that, I too subscribe to the idea of the design process at its best happening in a creative rush. I get impatient and thus upset with the good people who give me drafting support at times like this, as the process of drawing never seems to keep pace with the sped at which the design pours out. Many times I have to apologize at the end of the day, when the dust has settled down, for any inadvertent offence given (but never taken, I think).

It is commonly held that creative work is characterized by periods of intense activity interspersed with times of quieter, more reflective contemplation. I confirm this as being my experience too. Some architects have described the periods of intense activity as being like juggling. They speak of the need to oscillate very quickly between the many issues with which an architect must be concerned. To take your mental eye off any of these issues is the equivalent of dropping a ball. This kind of concentration is extremely intense and difficult to maintain for long periods. I agree. Every evening I feel the need to contemplate seventies and eighties rock and roll, best seen through the bottom of a glass.

As Richard MacCormac (of MacCormac, Jamieson and Prichard, Architects, fame) puts it “one couldn’t juggle slowly over a long period”. This analogy, I think, describes the skill perfectly. I have found this to be one of the skills young architects find most difficult to acquire. However, they excel at endlessly debating within themselves a minor facet of the design. Each to their own, as I have always said.

Michael Wilford, (previously James Stirling’s partner) refers to the “skill of prioritizing the stages at which certain inputs are valuable as distinct from an impediment to the process”. Creative inputs on design issues when construction documents are being prepared are not always welcome to those preparing the construction documents, and these fine people too are critical to the overall scheme of things, and must be kept happy. It’s not just about juggling, but also about knowing which balls to use, and when!

There is also the need to contrast the intensity of working in the group within the office with quieter periods of solitary contemplation. The need for longer periods of quiet reflection as well as the intense periods explains why the design process cannot be hurried and compressed without considerable loss of quality. Certainly, it has not been my experience that the quickest and cheapest design process will give rise to the most desirable result. (Imagine trying to juggle too many eggs too fast). (Undesirable results!).

In fact, bearing in mind the small part of the total cost of a building that goes on the design process, this is an entirely fallacious and counter-productive notion!

Present and potential clients please note.