ABSTRACT
For example, this continuum can begin with the design of a small object, say, a spoon (incidentally, Alsop has designed a set of coffee spoons for Alessi), and then the detailed creation of the spatial setting in which the object is encountered. The structuring of attendant and surrounding volumes, connected by visual and physical transitional thresholds, takes us beyond the building envelope and on toward the need to create the space between buildings. As this continuous spatial progression unfolds, we move across the now blurred boundaries of product design, interior architecture, through building design to urban design and on into the wider realm of city masterplanning. It all seems terribly obvious but, as Alsop insists, to accomplish the sweep of this spatial embrace, whether designing a coffee spoon or planning a conurbation, the designer has to operate from inside the space of the project, i.e., occupy and experience at first hand that space in the mind’s eye. Indeed, it is the lack of ‘being there’, of not immersing oneself in the predetermination of spatial potential for delight and of obviating the implications of boredom, that has been such a problem with some of those who have planned our cities in the recent past. Of course, as well as a highly refined colour vision, those who will inhabit the spectrum of this spatial continuum possess long-and short-range sensory receptors. Often ignored in the creation of architectural space and, especially, in the planning of cities, Alsop’s approach recognizes the orchestrated interplay of our senses when we navigate the built environment. Consequently, he responds with a rich diversity of form, material, surface and chromatics – attributes that have become a hallmark across both his individual buildings and his big architecture.
