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1st ProofTitle: BA: Architectural Design
Job No: PD0710-67/4028Chapter 3 final (3.1)_.qxd:layouts to chapter one 7/24/10 9:19 AM Page 71
Clients, users and brief › Site, context and placeJudith Lösing
Sussex Road School was a very good example of where
a special client relationship was built up very early. The client
team is not duplicating the role of the designer but they are
being educated to be clients. The children were playing out
the problems that the school had, so they were playing the
deputy head teacher who didn’t have a private toilet with a
mirror to put on her make-up. We tried to steer it away from
the children saying ‘we want a green sofa’. It’s more about
them being aware of the issues and giving us a very detailed
brief that we couldn’t come up with because we haven’t
been using the school to the same extent that the students
and their parents have done for years. In a series of further
meetings we then told them what we understood the issues
were and tested if that was right. Sometimes we are making
our models together and other times bringing in models that
can be manipulated.
Dann Jessen
Models are much easier to enter into than drawings because
there’s a very direct relationship between them and the
spatial reality. It’s amazing how much imagination people
have, though. Sometimes their input can be so rich in ideas
that can go straight in to a project, whereas at other times
of course, it might be a bit more like establishing a common
ground or understanding.
Judith Lösing
There’s a moment where we come up with a concept that
we think answers all of the problems that are there. At that
stage we try to describe that concept and make the clients
enthusiastic about the leap we have taken. This can be
adjusted if necessary.
Dann Jessen
What we find is that people are worried about change and
then it becomes really important to articulate what is good
about the place as it is, both in physical terms and also
culturally or in terms of social relationships. There is a kind of
economy of means built into the whole idea of valuing places
as they are and adjusting them to make the most of the
opportunities that exist.Text
1st ProofTitle: BA: Architectural Design
Job No: PD0710-67/4028Chapter 3 final (3.1)_.qxd:layouts to chapter one 7/24/10 9:20 AM Page 71