PAM PUBLIC LECTURE II

SUTHERLAND HUSSEY ARCHITECTS

Charlie Sutherland started of his talk by introducing the becomings of his firm with his partner, and the interest and passion that lies within him. He is adamant about knowledge, which he is keen that it is derived from experience, to which he states that we should always expose ourselves to gain experiences and therefore, enrich ourselves with new knowledge. Meanwhile he also states his interests in creating monuments or his preference to incorporate such structures in his designs.

It is a firm who engages in small allotment shed projects to large projects of museums of 250 million pounds in costs. It made its name through the building project of An Turas, where is it listed as the best building of Scotland in 2003, while shortlisted for the Stirling Prize and The Mies van Der Rohe Prize in the same year.

An Turas

It began as a funded project by the Scottish Arts Council, to provide a leisure spot in the form of a structure for the island of Tiree. Sutherland’s proposal was designed with “Shelter” being the key in the design, imitating that of a pier, as it is placed nearby the seaside and being continuously horizontal despite of a decrease in slope along the landscape. Similar to that of a shelter to those who await ships to come by. As it went forward, a 3-part sequence is incorporated into to the shelter concept structure. With it being the White walls, The Glass box, and the Bridge.

In a horizontal line, the 3 part covers the aspects which will fulfil the occupants needs in the building. Namely the White walls provide the view to the sky while covering the occupants from the harsh sea and land breeze throughout the day, and the Bridge segment provides seamless views to the beach and sand below the structure whilst covering the occupants from the sky and the winds. Whereas the Glass box being the end of the structure, provides all of the above traits, and a endless panoramic view out to the sea.

From my perspective, the transition between these spaces fully explores the senses of the occupants, in a way that they could also fully explore the environment, from the sky, to the rich terrain of the island of Tiree, to the seamless panoramic view of beach to sea.

The building encapsulates what architecture is about, from solving the basic needs of the anthropometry of the future occupants and their activities, to the connection between the occupants and the amazing environment of the island of Tiree, to the highly sought after view from the island to beyond the sealine. Not to mention the smooth transition to slowly expose the occupants to their senses and environment.

The building itself also includes close to no ornamentation, a minimalist design, to allow a full appreciation of the environment, fully encapsulates what is less, is more.

Lawson Park

The second discussed project was Lawson Park. It was a former hill farm, site used a production chain to supply wool, or as a sheep farm. In a more recent times, it is utilized more as a site for leisure purposed activities. For example, holiday homes, hostel and the most recent, the farm is used for hosting artists.

Sutherland have spoken on the latter, about the proposal of balancing between art and farm. On the prospect of converting existing home farms into a more purposed space for art.

The conversion of space could be seen as adaptive reuse, as former barns were converted into residential accommodation units, artists’ studio along with other small scale facilities.

It was also faced with the challenge of allowing light into the interior of the renovated building as the barns usually has a hermetic environment.

LA Beach House

Situated at the residential area of Venice Beach, Los Angeles, this project was inevitable to be mentioned as it was only completed last month, February 2017. The proposal includes a studio apartment within the residential unit. The result was an artists residence, similar to other projects handled by the firms as to Loveshack House and Lawson Park.

The design was straight forward in its spatial organization, having the floor plan wrapped around a skylight piercing through every floor and having a courtyard which allow the diffusion of light to every floor.

On the lower floor, the bedrooms all have an aspect inwardly, evading the harsh views and openings facing the street, while maintaining proper organisation of spaces.

The openings between floors and height of floors are perfectly proportioned to provide a visual satisfaction. To quote Le Corbusier, proportions provoke sensations, a series of sensation is like a melody in music. And with the correct proportions, it does set off a soothing visual contact with on-lookers.