This series of conversations, organised and chaired by AA tutor Juliet Haysom, explores the relationship between designing and making, and between designers and makers. The politics, poetics and practicalities involved in this exchange are regularly overlooked, with representation and documentation of completed projects tending to emphasise the role of the designer as sole author. Although a process of design delegation is intrinsic to construction at an architectural scale, the skills and expertise of a projects’ makers are often integral to the development of the design itself. In a year defined by the challenges of working remotely, it seems particularly important to maintain a conversation about working relationships, and to examine the means by which practical experience is exchanged, instructions communicated, and designs developed as shared endeavours.
In the first talk in this series, Amin Taha and Pierre Bidaud will discuss their experience of working with natural stone, focusing on the creation of 15 Clerkenwell Close in particular. This seven storey building, completed in 2017, utilises quarry-finished limestone columns and lintels to form a structural stone facade. Amin and Pierre will discuss how craft expertise is incorporated within an architectural design process, and the practical challenges involved in working collaboratively with structural stone.
Amin Taha was born in Berlin, moving to London where now practices architecture as one of the founding partners of Groupwork. The practice’s projects have been widely published and are characterised as narrative and tectonically driven. Amin has taught and still writes on architecture, is on RIBA National and International Awards committee and advises pension funds on sustainable investments.
Pierre Bidaud has been a stonemason for 30 years. He left France for England in 1998 working in restoration. He developed an interest in contemporary architecture and in 2005 began to work on new projects. After a meeting in 2009, he embarked on the research and development of a new method of mineral construction. For 10 years he has worked at the Stonemasonry Company, designing stone stairs and structures using techniques such as post tensioning, and discreet steel reinforcement.
