I may be the first architect to write the A. S. Hook Address from the confines of a study, within a family home, during a global pandemic. Reflecting in isolation is remarkable and unsettling – since the foundation of the practice, all I have done has been with others.
We are a practice of many across two studios, Melbourne and Sydney, led by five partners –Stefan Mee, Meaghan Dwyer, James Loder, Mathew van Kooy and myself – and four principals – Minnie Cade, Jasmin Williamson, Bill Krotiris and Richard Sucksmith. There are many others in the studio, along with a family whose life has, under my wife Susan’s constant direction, been interwoven with that of the practice.
Our conceptual sketches suggest layers of authorship by many participants, evoking multiple conversations. Often uncertain and exploratory, these drawings are almost always incomplete. The buildings themselves are the result of extraordinary collective endeavour. I thank all those who have shared the journey – the critical audiences who recognize the value our works create and the clients of whom we demand so much. I am deeply appreciative of those who have engaged with us.
I would like to draw you into the stories of practice, which expose some of its rationale. In doing this, I avoid any semblance of manifesto. I will speak of collecting; of people, objects and experiences; and of the underlying curiosity that compels me to appreciate most the work of others that is unlike our own.
It has been 34 years of running hard – always forward, but frequently deviating to navigate new territory. As we are a “first-generation” practice, new experiences are a constant. Often, I’ve been too concerned with the running to give much thought to the direction. In writing this address, I’m aware that looking backward can provide a sense of navigation. The patterns become apparent, despite the fact that until recently there has never been a script.
At the time of writing…
Having spent most of 2020 in lockdown in Melbourne, I found that my view was shaped by a curious merging of intimacy and detachment. From my domestic setting, the realities of isolation were felt profoundly, but it was also a year of unusual connection. People were simultaneously data (numbers, percentages, averages) and highly individual – faces on screens set against living rooms, bookcases and other evidence of personal lives.
We’ve been forced to reappraise what’s on our doorstep, the specific things that define communities and our place within them. The five-kilometre rule in Victoria’s stage-four lockdown provided powerful evidence of social inequity –
