SPACE September 2024 (No. 682)
Memories of Home
We first met 18 years ago in a sophomore design studio class at university. As we were the only people the same age in the studio, we got on like a house on fire. Obviously, being friends is one thing and working in architecture together is another, but we have a flexible relationship that straddles the line between friends and collaborators, even after the 10 years since we opened our office. The forms that architects advocate for are often based on their own preferences and priorities, and so it’s not hard to deduce that even the most close-knit of architects will find difficulty in collaborating on an architectural project. This is the biggest reason why people around us are curious about our relationship as friends and architectural collaborators, which has lasted for quite a long time. The answer to this question will provide a clue towards explaining our attitude regarding architecture. Since our relationship has evolved from friends to collaborative architects, we often have trivial and personal chats about childhood while we are discussing architectural practice. Though our conversations might seem insignificant, in retrospect, reflecting upon the scenes from our childhood and the episodes in the country house that served as our backdrop have given useful clues to the development of our architecture. Therefore, we believe that our architecture has originated from our own memories of home. In preparing for this frame, we had the opportunity to recover our fading memories and take a deeper look at the various houses that we have lived in since our childhood.
