Talk

/ Seeds and fruit

What ideas have emerged and contributed to the evolution of Allies and Morrison as a practice?

by Bob Allies

Starting with his fascination with the Palazzo Massimo in Rome and the question of how the ideal form of the palazzo has been manipulated to suit the site it sits in, Bob discusses the notion of adapting the ideal with the found geometry of sites, a condition that plays out through a lot of our buildings.

Projects covered range from Bankside 1, 2 and 3 to our studios in Southwark Street to Rambert at South Bank.

Bob suggests that there is value in two types of spaces within our projects: one that carries a particular function that is treated with precision and expresses itself in the plan, similar to what the Arts and Crafts movement would have envisioned. The other is a space that could be described as typical or generic, a space that has to be much more open-ended and much easier to adapt and change. This dichotomy has been ever present in the work of the practice.