On IK Studio\u2019s unique approach to design SK:<\/strong>\u00a0We\u2019re good designers, but we struggle\u200a\u2014\u200aas we should\u200a\u2014\u200awith the robotics and engineering. But we love that aspect of it. I feel like we\u2019re at the cusp where someone\u2019s going to give us a museum, and we\u2019re going to design the thing and it\u2019s going to be this really strange, immersive environment that\u2019s never the same way twice. That\u2019s the part that I look most forward to.<\/p>\n MI:<\/strong>\u00a0Well, a beautiful, immersive environment. *Laughs* We have an inside joke, this back and forth, between the strange and the beautiful. I was thinking, we\u2019ve been doing all these self-driven projects for a number of years that operate from the urban scale to the architectural scale, sometimes to the artifact scale. We look at them as a way of understanding urban context, and that is done usually through a series of responsive connections. Those projects are not built, but when you look at the architectural results, you can easily understand them as pavilions, for example. We understand that every architectural project is not only immersed in a context, but it\u2019s also building its own context. These projects are trying to do those two things.<\/p>\n On their dream project MI:<\/strong>\u00a0We work a lot with performance artists, so we\u2019ve done a number of set designs and nonhuman performances.<\/p>\n SK:<\/strong>\u00a0The Masque, the City of SURA, the Minister for the ICA, these projects have been important to us.<\/p>\n MI:<\/strong>\u00a0Our recent work was part of this conversation about pavilions at Columbia University last week. It\u2019s interesting because one of the questions that the moderator asked was, \u201cPavilions seem to be very popular at the moment. Every young practice is trying and building pavilions. What\u2019s the role of pavilions not only in practice but in contemporary architecture?\u201d In a sense, the answer is in being able to build something and build it quick and to test ideas\u2026 For us, even though the pavilion is in itself its own thing, you can also use it as a means to prototype at another scale. In these projects, even it it\u2019s something small, we still understand it as architecture and all that comes with it.<\/p>\n On the next 5\u201310 years for architecture and IK Studio SK:<\/strong>\u00a0But again, to make it meaningful is what we are good at. You can have a layer of technology overriding everything, but then to create meaningfulness from that, in terms of species of spaces and tactility of objects in environments\u2026 that\u2019s the critical thing. Not only that we can merge sophisticated media and electronics into cities and buildings, but that we\u2019re able to do it well\u200a\u2014\u200afor the production of culture, for new social exchanges. Otherwise, it\u2019ll be a Google engineer that\u2019ll do it.<\/p>\n MI:<\/strong>\u00a0I think that a lot of innovation in architecture might come from a Google engineer, and that would be okay, too. The difference between adding a layer of technology and the Internet of Things is a very fundamental principle, that it is not about that technology or the layer of technology. The two of them are not separate anymore. It will still have the same cultural and social pressures that conventional architecture has right now. And where do we see IK Studio? We want to see it growing. I am super interested in continuing work that could be experimental and related to other forms of occupation, like performing arts, etc. But we want to build buildings. I want to think about what the museum or the library or the housing or the offices of the future might be, so hopefully that\u2019s what we\u2019ll be doing. All over the world, if I may add.<\/p>\n SK:<\/strong>\u00a0In five years\u200a\u2014\u200abecause we\u2019re laying out the steps now\u200a\u2014\u200ait\u2019ll be a division of IK interactive, IK products, IK architecture, again that expanded, augmented field that we just discussed. I want to see us be just successful enough that things are still risky, that we can still have that chance of trying things that are unknown in outcome. Yet unencumbered by a salary from an institution.<\/p>\n On advice they would give their younger selves SK:<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019ve always enjoyed the fact that not everything I do is necessarily cautious because I just go for it. Of course, having the infrastructure and support to take this position cannot be minimized. But back to advising my past self\u2026 do not be afraid to put yourself out there. It\u2019s not selling out to self-promote, it\u2019s just smart. Being cool and withdrawn is fine if you\u2019re Nick Cave, but it\u2019s not the best way to run a design office.<\/p>\n MI:<\/strong>\u00a0Intellectually, it is the exposure to a lot of people both inside and outside your own profession that brings in opportunities. The things that happen, sometimes by chance, can only happen if you\u2019re out there. You have to be out there, even if you aren\u2019t outgoing. We always looked at the types of practices we were attracted to, but you can learn from everybody. We\u2019re a lot more open minded about what we learned from all the people we surround us, and their different forms of practice.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/modelo.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Subscribe-Button-300x57.png\")
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\nMI:<\/strong>\u00a0We do the occasional museum competitions, library competitions, and things like that. But in terms of what we have built, I think that it\u2019s more on the side of physical computing, responsiveness, adaptiveness, which is also very central to our work and our agendas. I don\u2019t know if it can be a single typology or type of work, but I think it\u2019s that collection that defines us. Having said that, Simon and I both have years of prior experience designing and delivering buildings.<\/p>\n
\nSK:<\/strong>\u00a0Before we were able to practice in the US, we made our dream projects. We\u2019ve produced our own projects and we designed them; we create these synthetic worlds into which we inject a few parameters to see what happens. We also produce full-on public performances and events. We\u2019re never lost for a job- we just finished the pilot project for Opera Philadelphia where we remade the Orpheus and Eurydice Opera with mechatronic objects . That was our foray into soft robotics. If you\u2019ve never done it before, it is frightening to get into but since we are designers at heart, nothing scares us that badly. The less you know, the better it is for you in some way because you can just naively jump in and make it work (with very smart engineers). That\u2019s what architects are good at: synthesizing and making things work, and we\u2019ve been accepted into a conference based on that project.<\/p>\n
\nMI:<\/strong>\u00a0There\u2019s always going to be an aspect of architecture in the emerging technologies we see now that will continue. The social needs and pressures will always drive a certain aspect of the profession. In terms of progression, the Internet of Things and Human-Nonhuman Interaction is going to change architecture quite dramatically. We definitely see ourselves as part of that investigation. Everything will talk to everything else, including the spaces and all the elements that make up those spaces.<\/p>\n
\nMI:<\/strong>\u00a0Having your own practice early, with regard to talent, hard work, connections\u200a\u2014\u200aall of these things. There are certain aspects that are less discussed in the profession that are how to run a business. Even if you\u2019re doing the most experimental work, you still have to buy the materials, manage the office, etc. Definitely get informed earlier about how to do these things. I wish 10 years ago, I spent more time learning about these business aspects. Experience managing projects isn\u2019t the same as experience managing an office. Start early. It\u2019s good to have experience working for others, but the moment you have the opportunity to have your own thing, start early. Some advice I would want to give others, because I think it worked for both of us: if you admire an architect or an institution, do whatever it takes to go and learn from them. Because then if you have the chance to have a personal relationship or experience, it really helps you learn how you would like to do things in the future.<\/p>\n