Peter Bohlin Archiculture Extras Interview
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Archiculture Interviews17 / 30
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RoomComputer animation
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BuildingScale modelWindowParkFloor planCity (band)Grade (slope)CentringComputer animationMeeting/Interview
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Earthworks (engineering)HouseCASTOR-BehälterArchitectBuildingLand lotClassical orderModerne Kunst <Geschichte>Computer animationMeeting/Interview
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HouseNursing homeHandrailBuilding materialDimension stoneComputer animationMeeting/Interview
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Railroad tieBridgeRoomDoorWindowIssue (legal)WallFuturismArchitectComputer animationMeeting/Interview
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Computer animation
Transcript: English(auto-generated)
00:13
Steve Jobs says he sees himself as the intersection, at the intersection, of art and science.
00:26
And I would just shift that slightly and say I think we're at the intersection of people, art, and technology. And in a way, in every circumstance, it's different, it's one of the great pleasures.
00:41
The need to get people to want to go down was crucial here. And people tend not to want to go down. And of course, what had been down here before, all through the years, it always failed. Well, you understood what was available below grade.
01:01
And you had this terrific need to go down effectively and with a sort of, in my view, particularly with Apple, but in any case, a sort of spare vision. And you also, so we looked at a number of alternatives and then it just saw, you know,
01:21
a number of seeing and sketching. A cube is a really good solution, right? You know, Steve, it's a great solution. Actually, not great. You're on the center line of this building, which isn't a great building. I mean, it went behind us. But still, it has a strong attitude.
01:43
You're across from the Plaza Hotel on access. You are seen in a glance as you come by on Fifth Avenue, you know, so it's got to stand forward down the corner of Central Park. So how do you simply bring people down?
02:02
I mean, it's not just bringing people down. You're making a window for the underground upwards into the sky and the city. And how do you do that? How do you get it just right? That's how we did it. And then we looked very hard.
02:20
We began to look very hard at the scale, varied it even by two or three feet. And that was really interesting. And of course, by we, I mean, we did it with Steve, of course, and with Ron Johnson and Bob Bridger and of course, ourselves. How do you get that just right?
02:42
It's highly intuitive. You can go through all the arguments and all the words, but in the end, it's good intuition. Speaking of what attributes are useful, it depends. But my first partner, Dick Powell, who retired, I don't know, he was older than I was,
03:07
maybe retired almost 20 years ago now, 18 years. He said before he retired, he said, Peter, he meant this in a pejorative way. He said, Peter, you treat this corporation, which is our practice, like a hobby.
03:26
He meant that as a sort of negative observation. It wasn't, because you really need, you know, you may, you have to look at things in a rather serious way, but if you lose the sort of childlike quality of looking around and imagining and touching people,
03:51
you've lost it. At least I think you've lost much of the possibility of doing extraordinarily good work, at least on occasion.
04:03
There are so many different attributes and it affects what you do. I believe in making humane buildings, but I think it is humane. And I think of that as a sort of soft modernism. I don't mean soft-headed, I just mean somewhat touchable. And I, you know, I see examples of that in the past, people that I find touchable.
04:27
Beyond that, I think you must visualize well. Although I've worked for one or two architects before we started our practice, who were very good architects, but couldn't draw very well. And I think it's handy to be able to draw, because that means you can visualize.
04:44
And, you know, you can make the connection between your body and what you're thinking about, and so on. But I think desire is the most important thing. I think we enable people at our best.
05:03
For instance, you know, that early house that I did for my mom and dad in Connecticut was in the early 70s. I don't think you change people, but you can enable them. I think I enabled my mother.
05:20
And I figured her out, like in her kitchen to within six inches. Of really how she operated, and how she liked to operate. And I knew a bit about how she understood the world and what interested her. And also gave her those opportunities.
05:43
And I think whether you're dealing with a university, or dealing with an individual, or whatever. Whether it's how they grasp a rail, or how they see how the light is. Or how the materials, you know, people see a history of a material like stone, for instance.
06:02
How there's magic all around them. And I don't mean that in a superficial way. Because you know, we may think we're rational, but we're also, we're emotional beings. And how to affect people. So I think we can have extraordinary effect. And we have to keep looking for ways to do that.
06:25
Looking ahead is always hard. And we do tend to misjudge often. I would say, one, it'll be interesting to see what by present economy, what effects it has on all of us. And on young architects.
06:43
I'm not sure it's all going to be negative. Some people can say, oh, it's going to be terrible. Of course it's out of business. Everyone's going to lose their job. May be true. But that too would somehow be an opportunity. I don't mean a crass opportunity. I mean, it will open other doors. As long as there are people, there will be a need or a desire and a need, therefore, for help from people like us.
07:10
Whether to sort out the world and help shift it. And the most mundane challenges on one hand.
07:22
Which are often fascinating. And on the other, to make places that are emotionally compelling and, again, are enabling. I don't think people are going to lose that.
07:40
Now, maybe those people won't be called architects some day. Maybe they will. And undoubtedly they may be a bit different. But I believe those requirements on money on the technical and somewhat sensible, in quotes, needs. And on the other, the issues of people, emotional qualities, aren't going to be with us as far as we can see into the future.
08:12
And therefore, there's a world for all of us.