a+u Architecture and Urbanism 22:08_623

a+u’s August issue features the work of 6a architects, founded by Tom Emerson and Stephanie Macdonald in 2001 and based in London’s historic Holborn district. Deeply immersed in the British art and design scene, and in the cohort of British architects who came of age in the post–high tech 1990s, 6a are at the forefront of a contemporary movement characterized by deep sensitivity to the environment, community, and context, while appearing to play down conventional signatures of style and theory. Divided among 4 chapters – “Repairing,” “Gardening,” “Shaping,” “Walking” – 20 projects present themselves as invitations to distinct experiences. Setting the tone for a trajectory that has endured the past 2 decades, 6a’s earliest work, at Raven Row, captures transformations accrued on the building over the past 300 years and…

For us, contributing a+u 21:07 issue “House Looking into the World,” guest edited by Go Hasegawa, was a highlight of the dematerialized and disembodied lockdown. The enforced homeliness of 2020 was an opportunity to reflect on wider issues of habitat as multitudes of private interiors were shared on screens gridded for work, education, and recreation. Paradise for some, hell for many others. Yet despite the liberating or suffocating stasis, the world kept turning, people were working, goods kept moving, architecture was built. We had 7 projects on-site at the moment of lockdown. JW Anderson Flagship Store (pp. 152–157) opened the day before in what was surely an unknowingly super-spreader event. Our project for Holborn House (pp. 158–163) adjacent to our office was suddenly no more accessible than other sites throughout…

a+u’s August issue features the work of 6a architects, founded by Tom Emerson and Stephanie Macdonald in 2001 and based in London’s historic Holborn district. Deeply immersed in the British art and design scene, and in the cohort of British architects who came of age in the post–high tech 1990s, 6a are at the forefront of a contemporary movement characterized by deep sensitivity to the environment, community, and context, while appearing to play down conventional signatures of style and theory. Divided among 4 chapters – “Repairing,” “Gardening,” “Shaping,” “Walking” – 20 projects present themselves as invitations to distinct experiences. Setting the tone for a trajectory that has endured the past 2 decades, 6a’s earliest work, at Raven Row, captures transformations accrued on the building over the past 300 years and…

For us, contributing a+u 21:07 issue “House Looking into the World,” guest edited by Go Hasegawa, was a highlight of the dematerialized and disembodied lockdown. The enforced homeliness of 2020 was an opportunity to reflect on wider issues of habitat as multitudes of private interiors were shared on screens gridded for work, education, and recreation. Paradise for some, hell for many others. Yet despite the liberating or suffocating stasis, the world kept turning, people were working, goods kept moving, architecture was built. We had 7 projects on-site at the moment of lockdown. JW Anderson Flagship Store (pp. 152–157) opened the day before in what was surely an unknowingly super-spreader event. Our project for Holborn House (pp. 158–163) adjacent to our office was suddenly no more accessible than other sites throughout…

Credits and Data Project title: South London Gallery Location: Peckham, London, United Kingdom Completion: 2018 Architect: 6a architects Project team (South London Gallery): Jane Wernick Associates (structural engineer), Serge Lai Engineers Ltd (service engineer), Fraser & Morris Garden Design (landscape architect), Stockdale (quantity surveyor), John Perkins Projects (general contractor) Project team (Orozco Garden): Gabriel Orozco (artist), Richard Wilford at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (planting scheme), Gardenlink (general contractor) Project team (South London Gallery Fire Station): Eckersley O’Callaghan (structural engineer), Serge Lai Engineers Ltd. (service engineer), Lengard (general contractor), Stockdale (quantity surveyor), Alan Baxter Ltd. (heritage consultant) A series of projects spanning 15 years transforms the South London Gallery (SLG) from a single building with a gallery space, into a thriving collection of buildings and gardens for showing art. Founded…

Two Grade I-listed houses, built in the 1690s and now home to non-profit contemporary art center Raven Row, carry deep and lasting impressions from their 300-year history. In 1754 the buildings were remodelled by Huguenot Silk Mercers whose rococo shopfront at No. 56 was described by Nikolaus Pevsner as the best surviving example of its time London. Following the collapse of the weaving industry, Raven Row became the subject of multiple conversions, neglect, damage, and major fires. The project weaves another layer through both houses and excavates 2 new galleries at the rear. Inspired by anonymous archive photographs, it reconstitutes past events into new material assemblies. Charred timbers bear witness to the fires. The material also forms the molds for a new cast-iron façade on Frying Pan Alley. History finds…