It is a reaction to an object in the middle of a building. We felt that it had to be transparent and open the idea was about carving away space a sort of erosion. Its like taking a volume and eroding it. it's related to a piece called 'z-scape' where the starting point is a block. There was a big discussion in the office some years back where we talked about carving, the act of carving away space. It allows light to come in. this lead to thoughts on exploring geology, archeology and topography. Larger pieces are informed by landscapes, and the erosion of them. with this house the idea was that one can move from the chair to the bed to the sofa, as if they were one continuous piece. its a concept of living, as it is on two floors you can move up and down, look back on where you have come from. This piece is not in isolation of the other work, forms always come out of what we are looking at, at that time. Sometimes there is a departure, but it is usually a product of what we a researching at the time, what's taking place at that moment.
Do you prefer open living spaces?
I think that when technology moves on maybe walls will move, the kitchen will move. Eventually you might not even have to have a fixed place for a bathroom. Some people like to live in a house where there are three or four rooms, all the same size, because they like to live in a confined space. Other people might like to have an open plan house where there is no rigidity, built walls,...It was in the seventies in new york when people went and took these really big raw spaces and lived throughout the room, now there is more separation. No-one has really invented the perfect open house... yet. Different societies use things in different ways some like sleeping on a futon and in others it could be that the beds are very high. It depends on the scale of the house, the light, where the house is - if it is by the sea or in the mountains. I think that people should be able to interpret certain things and elaborate an architecture of space that suits them. a platform where everything can be moved around.
Is there a designer or architect from the past that has influenced you or that you particularly appreciate the work of?
Yes, there are a lot. Erich Mendelsohn, Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, the constructivists...
And contemporary designers and architects?
Many. But too many are too obsessed by method. It becomes a dogma.
You are working in a man's world...
Like many women today, I am travelling a lot and I work crazy hours. working on an architecture project means perseverance. but no matter how much progress has been made, there is still a world that for women is taboo.
Do you have any advice for the young?
You have to be very focused and work very hard, but it is not about working hard without knowing what your aim is! You really have to have a goal. The goal posts might shift, but you should have a goal. Know what it is that you are trying to find out.
