FOA
Foreign Office Architects Chosen to Design BBC's New Music CenterBig
flattering piece on them, in conjuction with their ICA show in London.
FOA have a reputation as the most formidably glamorous young architects around, so it's refreshing to learn that they are interested in banal activities such as shopping and nipping out for a latte.
They're also interested in turning established architectural practice upside down: they're not particularly interested in beauty, they don't have a recognisable style and they don't do sketches. Instead, they use raw data and mathematical formulae to help them design buildings.
But perhaps the most remarkable thing about FOA is their youth: in a profession in which most architects under 40 are still designing house extensions, Moussavi, 38, and Zaera-Polo, 39, are building their extraordinary projects around the world. They are considered one of the most important practices of their generation, representing a decisive break with the older generation of "signature" architects such as Frank Gehry, Santiago Calatrava, Zaha Hadid and Richard Meier.
Amusing story about their name (makes me think of the girls on this season's Joe Millionaire):
The name FOA also refers to their interest in foreignness as an architectural approach. "We were always interested in the idea of foreignness as a condition that could be exploited in a creative way," explains Zaera-Polo, who, like Moussavi, speaks with a pronounced accent yet is able to express complex ideas with more elegance than most native English-speakers. "Usually, to be a foreigner means you don't understand very much, but there's also a naivety and a kind of freshness. It's like when you're a tourist: your eye is more sensitive. You're more eager to understand."
During their formative years studying in America and working in the Netherlands, they were surrounded by people from all corners of the globe. "It is interesting to be working on something and a Japanese guy comes by, and maybe where you were stuck he doesn't see any obstacles and tells you this is very easy," says Zaera-Polo. "It's a condition in which you are liberated from any luggage that may have come from your education - the sensibilities you picked up wherever you grew up."
* Ray, 11/20/2003 03:59:07 PM
