The projects of Studio Weave sound magical: a house on stilts for a poet from the Middle Ages, a floating cinema in front of the Olympic Stadium, a church garden in the City of London. Maria Smith and Je Ahn talk about the reflective thinking behind this.

What do people in your circle of friends think about the Olympics?

Je Ahn | Many of our friends want to sublet their flats and leave the city. Others are looking forward to weeks of partying and being continuously intoxicated.

Maria Smith | It’s uncool to think the Games are good. But many people believe the adjoining neighbourhoods will profit.

How?

JA | The tourist image of the city is defined by West London and Soho. That will now change. In areas of East London that were very dangerous not so long ago, today there are trendy bars and a Swedish furniture store. The West London people come here to shop. However, some people have had to move out of the area because of the escalating rents. Even we are relocating our office every couple of years a bit further to the east, where prices are lower.

MS | The Games has changed the way people think about the east of the city. The biggest change is that transport has improved so much. The canal is getting cleaner every year, maybe soon we’ll be able to swim in it. We live in Hackney and didn’t really know the canal…

…until you launched a floating cinema on the canals around the Olympic complex in summer 2011. Tell us about it.

MS | We submitted our idea to the curator of the programme for art in the vicinity of the Olympic Park. The budget was infinitely small. You don’t do things like that for money. We learnt a lot about boats, permits, electronics and film projection. For example, only 12 seats are allowed in a travelling motor boat before complex licenses are required. There were also open air events on the banks. In three months we had 75,000 visitors. Many of them discovered the canals for the first time through our cinema.

JA | The floating cinema has once again confirmed our general approach: Whatever we do, people should enjoy it – everyone involved: money lenders, engineers, users. I seriously mean that. Many architects are not concerned about that, the important thing is that it appeals to themselves and the critics. They behave exactly as with pop music: if too many people find it good, something has to be wrong. 
 
Surely nobody doubts that a floating cinema will appeal to the public. How is it with other projects? How do you ensure that everyone is satisfied?

JA | Communication is the key. People must understand what we are trying to do and say. We architects have our own language that we learn at university. We draw plans, cross-sections and diagrams. But often they are only understood by other architects. It’s not necessarily a good idea to recite the building history or provide overly technical explanations.
MS | It’s important what people feel. We always create a story. People understand things much better than if they are presented with an abstract picture or a drawing.

How do you create your stories?

JA | Sometimes we invent them; sometimes we elaborate on the tales of residents. Sometimes we personify places as if they were actual characters.

In Aldgate you are erecting a sculpture on a traffic island. It’s at the start of the High Street leading from the centre of London to the Olympic complex in Stratford. Thousands of people will pass by it. What’s the story behind it?

MS | Until 1761 Aldgate had a gate from the Roman era, which was modified several times. In the Middle Ages British poet Geoffrey Chaucer lived there and wrote two poems: “The House of Fame” and “The Parliament of Fowls”. They were about fantastic, mysterious temples in strange landscapes. The purpose of our “Paleys upon Pilers” project is not so much to commemorate the old gate as the fact that Chaucer lived here.

JA | Geoffrey Chaucer is a poet hero for the British. The little house on high stilts is a room with walls of skilfully decorated larch. It’s inaccessible, uninhabitable – a place for dreaming.

But the St Pancras Church Garden you designed is open to all.

MS | Yes. It’s the site of a church from the 11th century. Not much has happened since the Great Fire of London in 1666. The property is tucked away, surrounded by office towers and resembles a small forest. The City of London invited us to participate in the competition. We were asked to prepare ideas for redeveloping the site and making it accessible to passers-by. JA | Our tale is about the history of the site. We worked together with wood carvers on the benches. The theme was “After the Fire” and they were able to give vent to their creative ideas. This type of cooperation is very satisfying: working in a trusting relationship and sharing the same idea of the quality of a project. That smacks of high risk for the contracting authority, but St Pancras Church Garden gave them an opportunity to embark on a journey with us. 

Do you think that visitors to the garden will understand the stories hidden in the benches?

MS | Everyone should read their own story. If a child visits an old castle with its grandmother, the latter will probably have a completely different interpretation of what happened there than her grandchild.

JA | The members of the jury described our project as “professionally playful”. That hits the nail on the head. We take being happy seriously.

Fakten
Architekten Studio Weave, London
Adresse London

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aus Bauwelt 24.2012
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