Interested in Iceland?
Steve Christer of the Icelandic firm Studio Granda is coming to town on Monday, January 12, to talk about “the soft grip” of architecture.
Here’s what Christer writes:
Architects have the enviable task of making places, a requirement that is often forgotten…Every point on our planet has qualities just waiting to be discovered; sometimes cultural or historical or physical.
Even the apparent lack of any attributes can be a defining mark.
Architecture need not bow to its ethereal foundation but should grip it, softly. —Steve Christer
Of his studio’s practice, he says:
The sands of an arctic volcanic desert are black, shadow-less and constantly shifting. ..To survive one must watch the celestial bodies, focus on the horizon, heed the warning of the winds and make clear and precise judgments.
The necessary acuteness of thought and tuning of the senses is equivalent to the practice of architecture where listening, reevaluation and production are all equally interdependent [emphasis mine].
Attitudes and ambitions gradually change and mature as one moves through life.
Architecture is the embodiment of our precious thoughts and philosophies and therefore it is natural that it develops parallel to our vision.
The process of achieving the metamorphosis is rugged and tortuous yet the result should appear effortless and obvious [emphasis mine]. —Steve Christer
Steve Christer established the architectural office Studio Granda with Margrét Harðardóttir in 1987, as a result of winning the open competition for the design of the Reykjavík City Hall. In 1992 Christer co-directed of the ‘Rafha’ architecture workshop in collaboration with AHO. In 1994, he was a guest professor at the Berlage Institute.
Steve Christer lecture on “soft grip” architecture
Seattle Public Library
Monday, January 12 :: 6:30 pm
Tickets: $10 advance, $15 at the door
Available at Brown Paper Tickets and
Peter Miller Books, 1930 First Avenue:
Reference: StudioGranda.is
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