Architects Who Improvise And Innovate

A trend among young architects to take matters into their own hands
By Edwin Heathcote, Financial Times
August 23, 2013 

Architecture is the most contingent of the arts. A painter or a poet, a musician or a novelist can, with even the most meagre of means, begin to create. Buildings need clients and sites, they need planning permission and approval from neighbours, they need engineers and construction crews. And, most of all, they need money. Architecture is consequently more intimately involved in the economic cycle than any of the other arts. But there is also a curious paradox. Much of the worst architecture emerges from a boom (think of Dubai) when there is too much work and not enough reflection. Similarly, the moments of real inspiration often emerge from economic crisis. Modernism was formed in the maelstrom of the Russian Revolution (the early masterpieces were built of timber offcuts and scrap) and the instability of the Weimar Republic. More …

Western Living Awards

Western Living magazine has announced its Designers of the Year selections for 2013. They include:

• Architecture: Cedric Burgers Architect AIBC, Burgers Architecture Inc. (West Vancouver)
• Eco: CEI Architecture Planning Interiors (Kelowna)
• Ones to Watch: One SEED Architecture + Interiors Inc. (Vancouver); JWT Architecture and Planning (Bowen Island)