Patrik Schumacher: Economic Theoretical Reflections for Architectural Innovation

Estefanía Campos  | 04 de abril de 2019  | Vistas: 318

Patrik Schumacher, in conversation with Roberto Quevedo, Dean of the Architecture Faculty at UFM shares details on his trajectory as an architectural theorist and as principal of the architecture practice Zaha Hadid Architects.

He talks about his years as a student in London, how he met Zaha Hadid and got his first job. As a theoretically minded architect, he describes the conceptual things and ideas he brought to the firm from his learnings in London and other professional experience he gained in academia.

Without the theory guidance, it’s not going to be pertinent and historically guidant aimed; innovation and creative explorations need to be filled with theoretical reflections”.

Later Schumacher explains the deconstructionists influence in architecture and how it was underpinned by the the post fordism theory. He says, there was not a economic based, social theory of architectural movements such as Parametricism and Constructivism which is an element he brought to Zaha Hadid. He also describes how he developed his own architectural theory, embedded into a social theory.

I saw my role as orienting and finding the best version of a system of social theory and then build on this, and ground architecture theories”.

Patrick builds on the idea of this new paradigm of design he created; reflects on how everything surrounding us is design and we must think of a total remake of that phenomenal world, everything now needs to be different, new, recognizable, highly dynamic, where we have to reinvent our roles. He describes how through time, economic theories also evolve at the same time that architectural theories.

Story evolves through stages because you have systemic constellations within which there’s a cumulative process but the arrangement of the overall system variables is stable and then the system changes…”.

Finally Schumacher comments on how not to fall into central planning when it comes to urbanism, the contradiction he found in needing more control and planning tools when they started parametric urbanism, but they realized that the actual urban development process has fully emancipated itself from the grip of the planners in many ways, and shares his ideas on this matter. 

Now watch: Patrik Schumacher: Architecture’s Contribution to the Progress of Freedom