Frendin Architecture : A project on the practice of an architect

Abstract: ‘Frendin Architecture – A project on the practice of an architect’ uses the realm of architectural design to engage with the design of architectural practice. With only a limited network of contacts and practical experience, without commissions in the pipeline or a portfolio of works, this project approaches the city as a site for architectural office and explores strategies for establishing an architect’s practice.  At the core of the thesis is a belief that a viable strategy for establishing a practice is to locate a potential within a given area, unlock that potential within a given site and position a practice at the heart of the potential with which we wish to engage. This statement translates into three key strategies of the practice that have been explored in the threefold structure of the project: firstly, as participants in and builders of society, to live, work and build locally; secondly, to appeal to a common condition by working within the framework of a typology; and thirdly, to initiate projects on a small scale and as an enlightened architectural developer as a means of establishing trust and generating clients. As such, with the main objective to design an architectural practice, the initial stages of the project aimed to formulate a series of strategies for establishing, operating and marketing an architectural practice, these strategies and the speculative process of the project were developed then within the context of a given area and the framework of a typology.