Conversations on Architecture

Book excerpt: Ten conversations on current issues and timeless aspects of architecture form an inspirational reader for both professionals and anyone with an interest in architecture. Sergison Bates architects, established in 1996 and today running offices in London, Zurich, and Brussels, have made a name for themselves with projects ranging from housing to care homes, from educational and cultural institutions to urban-scale regeneration designs. Since the outset, the partners have engaged with the debate within the professions and have curated a number of exhibitions about the themes they explore in their teaching and practice. This book features ten conversations Jonathan Sergison, Stephen Bates, and Mark Tuff have conducted with prominent Swiss-based architects, historians, and researchers and in which they reflect with their guests on the many aspects of making, teaching, and writing architecture. Toipcs and guests include: Learning from the European City (Roger Diener), The Provocation of Sustainability (Sascha Roesler), Rethinking Housing Conventions (Jean-Paul Jaccaud), Learning from the Recent Past (Stanislaus von Moos), Thinking and Writing (Martin Steinmann), Exploring Construction (Roger Boltshauser), Shaping Public Space (Maria Conen and Raoul Sigl), Finding and Repurposing (Elisabeth and Martin Boesch), Lessons from Teaching (Ludovica Molo), and Working Methods (Oliver Lütjens and Thomas Padmanabhan). The lively dialogues draw shared experiences in practice, teaching, and research, and form an inspirational reader for anyone with a deeper interest in architectural practice.