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Paris-based architect Brendan MacFarlane, of the firm Jakob + MacFarlane, spoke to us during our visit to the FRAC Centre in Orléans for the ArchiLab 2013 exhibition and conference. MacFarlane, who studied at Sci-Arc in the 80s and later received a degree from Harvard’s GSD, successfully combines theory and form, placing him among the few architects that have been able to harmonize this balance.
Jakob + MacFarlane’s special and precise handling of the grids generates projects that, while outwardly complex, are actually deceivingly so. Based not on strong computational muscle but actually a more simple deformation of grids, their projects can appear nearly impossible or too complex to realize. Yet they are able to make these buildings a reality.
Along with his partner Dominique Jakob, the duo’s consistent methodology doesn’t rely constant innovation. MacFarlane posits that “sometimes it’s about doing something simple that’s kind of obvious.“ This has yielded a stylistic variety that evades singular typecasting.
They are not afraid to combine existing structures with their proposals–in fact, they welcome it. What they do is strategic, a kind of rational deformation of otherwise uniform and uncomplicated geometry, with the computer acting as a tool (but not a generative one).
Be sure to check out the interview, as well as Jakob + MacFarlane‘s projects on ArchDaily.
AD Interviews: Brendan MacFarlane / Jakob + MacFarlane originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on 03 Apr 2014.
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