| THE AWARD |
| CATEGORIES |
| REGISTRATION |
| SUBMIT YOUR WORK |
| ENTRY INSTRUCTIONS |
| TERMS & CONDITIONS |
| PUBLICATIONS |
| DATES & FEES |
| METHODOLOGY |
| CONTACT |
| WINNERS |
| PRESS ROOM |
| GET INVOLVED |
| DESIGN PRIZE |
| DESIGN STORE |
| THE AWARD | JURY | CATEGORIES | REGISTRATION | PRESS | WINNERS | PUBLICATIONS | ENTRY INSTRUCTIONS |
Interview with ADD Architecture Studio |
Home > Designer Interviews > ADD Architecture Studio |
Editor Frank Scott (FS) from DesignPRWire has interviewed designer ADD Architecture Studio (AAS) for A’ Design Award and Competition. You can access the full profile of ADD Architecture Studio by clicking here.
FS: Could you please tell us more about your art and design background? What made you become an artist/designer? Have you always wanted to be a designer?
AAS: Both of us –Argyris and Dionysios- are architects. We studied together at the Faculty of Architecture at the National Technical University of Athens and have been collaborating ever since our University years, but have known each other for a lot longer. Our families have played a hugely influential role in our becoming designers, our fathers being a civil engineer and an architect respectively. Yet, these were not the only facts that led to a design-oriented life. We both felt the need to be able to combine knowledge from various disciplines so as to create something new, something personal. Our acceptance to the Faculty of Architecture triggered the beginning of an era of constant research and inspiration from our surroundings. The more we studied, the more we felt this was the place for us. Since then, not a single day has passed without producing at least a single sketch. A sketch will always mark the beginning of the exploration of an unknown territory. We guess that our innerself had always wanted to be a designer,thus it all just came naturally and felt right.
FS: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
AAS: ADD Architecture Studio was formed by us -Argyris Chronopoulos and Dionysios Koutsioumaris- after our MA graduation from the Faculty of Architecture at the National Technical University of Athens in 2016. Our graduation was marked by our Diploma Project getting awarded an Honorable Mention at the 2016 European Architectural Medal Awards-Best Diploma Projects- and getting nominated for the 2016 EU Mies van der Rohe Young Talent Architecture Awards. We were also selected as representatives of the Technical Chamber of Greece for the UIA 2017 Seoul Congress. Since our graduation, we have continued our collaboration as ADD –a collaboration spanning through all of our University years, and a longer friendship. We already have numerous built projects and publications in architectural and design sites and magazines as well as projects in progress.
FS: What is "design" for you?
AAS: Sometimes people tend to treat “design” as a rather “taboo” word. This happens a lot when designers try to view themselves as rather an autonomous community. Yet for us, this is not the case. We believe that “design” can be found everywhere and inside everything. “Design” is both tangible and intangible. “Design” is a drawing, a plan, a sketch, an industrial product but also a piece of music, a way to talk, a way to walk, a way to have sex. Good “design” makes our lives better, bad “design” makes us sad and might also prove to be dangerous. We sincerely believe that “design” is an innate quality of human nature. The ability to combine different disciplines, to think out of the box, to produce something originally benefiting. If there is something that our architectural background has taught us is that most pioneers in our discipline never drew their inspiration from any kind of academic “design” environment. Instead, they lived and thrilled by life they designed. That is the reason why our motto is that simple: “We design”.
FS: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
AAS: Just everything! We design everything we can get our hands on. Whole buildings from scratch, interiors, industrial products, expressive pieces of art, anything that combines a multidisciplinary approach and hidden possibilities. Since we believe that “design” is both tangible and intangible, we also “design” music. Yes, that’s right, we also design music, we do not write music.
FS: What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
AAS: We both adore Villa dall’ Ava by Rem Koolhaas. It is a private-commissioned house in Paris. It is a work that has had a great influence in our work, since it incorporates the seminal theorems that can be found in the later work of OMA, which we adore. Villa dall’ Ava serves as a great lesson on themes such as analogies, references to constructivism and surrealism, games of perspective and most of all: how to make a work of art pass as a camouflaged expression of personality whilst respecting the mission of design-a mission surpassing our immediate needs.
FS: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
AAS: Our first commission as ADD Architectural Studio was for the interior design of two sibling stores in Arachova, Greece. The former concerned the turning of an abandoned storage space into a boutique-concept store. The latter revolved around offering a new and strong identity to an existing clothing store. The effort was driven by the desire to form a common architectural dictionary shared between the two spaces, thus creating a kind of an open dialogue while satisfying the unique programmatic needs of each space. The proximity of the two stores along Arachova’s central promenade axis favors the aforementioned strategy. Visitors and by-passers conceive the two spaces as consecutive stops along a single walk through the stores of Arachova. The similarity of the design imprint creates the desire to visit both. The design concept of each store is complementary to each other. The use of steel as the key material of the design concept marks the identity shared by the two stores. The similar light patterns create a distinctive atmosphere through the surgical use of LED tapes. Finally, the carefully designed movement routes reveal a dipolic case study: the former store favoring the customers’ linear stroll whilst the latter enclosing the visitor into a nautilus-like wandering. They were both realized with an interval of one year and have been published in architectural design sites. More on the projects can be found in our site.
FS: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
AAS: We try not to treat materials discriminately. However, looking back at our projects-both realized and not- we would surely admit a favoring tendency towards steel, marble and polycarbonate. We also prefer the convenience of LED tapes, but use them surgically and with great caution so as not to disrupt the overall design
FS: When do you feel the most creative?
AAS: Creativity might ring our door as we are working on a project our on our way to work. However we do know that when you hit a dead-end, the solution could as well be hidden in a stroll and coffee in the sunlight or a night drink. One thing is for sure: we feel the most creative when we work under the knowledge that our customer has open ears towards what we have to propose and also when we are on site, where one of our projects is being realized.
FS: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
AAS: Since we have been educated as architects, we feel lucky that we design on a multi-scale basis since the very start of a project. We like to examine how ideas work on both scales, small and big, both on a conceptual and a construction level. However, we believe that practicality, usefulness, originality and visual aesthetic are the key elements to a good design. The element of pleasant surprise is also a key factor in our effort, which can only be realized under the persistent focus on detailing which we have implemented in our work since day one.
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
AAS: It is a strange mix of enthusiasm, happiness, anxiety and self-doubt. Yet, after a number of “trial and error” attempts, doubt turns into confidence and you know you are on your way, the way towards the realization of your ideas.
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
AAS: Relief! It is the moment when all the amount of stress, agony and hard effort gives its place to happiness and satisfaction. At first it is hard to believe. Especially when it is about an architectural design project that has to do with people’s everyday lives. After that, you slowly realize that the design has started to live a life of its own.
FS: What makes a design successful?
AAS: It has to do with the Japanese notion of “ikigai”. “Ikigai” is the intersecting point of “what you are good at”, “what the world needs”, “what you love” and “what you can be paid for”. This does not only apply to human beings –designers- but also to inanimate objects or notions like a design. A successful design evokes love at first sight. It is not necessary to be fully conscious love –you do not have to realize that you love a piece of design-. It is sufficient to say that a design is successful when you cannot easily or immediately think of an alternative to it upon asked. It just feels right, even to the educated eye. In that case, the success of any original design always sets the foundation for the birth of a new idea.
FS: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
AAS: The power of design to communicate its purpose without the designers having to argue on its virtue.
FS: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
AAS: A designer should not make the mistake to consider him/her self part of an autonomous community. What we design, from the smallest to the largest scale project does affect people’s lives. It seldom mediates interpersonal relationships and can even add to the overall formation of our psychology. A design also affects the environment, having a great impact on natural resources. Being society-caring and environmental-sustainable is not a matter of new-age trend. It really is a responsibility, not just for designers, but for everyone. We have the power to suggest solutions towards social or environmental problems : for example use materials with a small CO2 imprint, imagine and create spaces that promote openness and equality through their design and so on. We don’t have to be loud about it, we just have to incorporate this logic into our everyday design-lives.
FS: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
AAS: We believe that the “design field” is greatly being influenced by the appearance of open-resource programs. Nowadays, knowledge and expertise is easily and more-equally (unfortunately not all-equally) distributed. This means that the basic resources needed to produce and distribute are spreading freely across the globe. Thus, in a few years –if not already- it might even be futile to name a person a “designer”. This is not a danger for contemporary designers. It is a promise for the long held “designer/ not-a-designer” societal gap to disappear once and for all. We expect a great deal of groundbreaking designs to emerge from people who, in another time, might not even have the chance to study in that field.
FS: When was your last exhibition and where was it? And when do you want to hold your next exhibition?
AAS: Our last exhibition was in Athens, Greece, during the 9th Biennale of Greek Young Architects, where our design “Meuble a habiter” for a private residence in Ekali, Athens, was chosen to exhibited at the Benaki Museum. We would very much like to hold a personal exhibition given the right time and opportunity.
FS: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
AAS: Our inspiration emanates from architecture, industrial design, music-especially techno-, arts, theatre, cinema and everyday life. Sometimes we like to experiment with the surrealist paranoid-critical method introduced by Dali and see how our minds’ “museum of inspirations” might reorganize everything we have read and seen, even if we didn’t do it on purpose.
FS: How would you describe your design style? What made you explore more this style and what are the main characteristics of your style? What's your approach to design?
AAS: We try to avoid the term “style” and the connotations it implies. We prefer not to judge a design by its “style”, as the notion of “style” might actually lead to division between designers.
FS: Where do you live? Do you feel the cultural heritage of your country affects your designs? What are the pros and cons during designing as a result of living in your country?
AAS: We both grew up and live in Athens, Greece with everything this decision comes with. Of course the cultural heritage is enormous and great, but so are the difficulties. We try to use our country’s cultural heritage as inspiration. Since a great deal of it is based and formed by the Mediterranean life, the sun, the water, the earth, the air, we constantly try to think how we can use these primitive notions as starting points and see where the design process will lead. The end result is not necessarily demonstrating the starting point as an one-to-one analogy. And then come the difficulties. It might sound cliché, but the crisis in Greece is more than an economic one. A “crisis” in ancient Greek was the term used to describe a moment of serious and mature evaluation before taking a big decision. Unfortunately, what is left of that notion in the modern era, is just remnants of the ancient meaning. What prevails, unfortunately, is a negative inclination towards anything new, design included. Yet, there is always a light of hope, as newer generations adopt a more collective way of thinking and of exposition.
FS: How do you work with companies?
AAS: We haven’t had the opportunity to work on a commission by a company yet. However, as architects, we like team work and always try to find the optimal solution working in favor of everyone’s interests.
FS: What are your suggestions to companies for working with a designer? How can companies select a good designer?
AAS: The selection criteria might differ greatly, so we are not sure if there is a good answer to how a company can select a good designer. Careful look into one’s portfolio is definitely a must. However, after the selection is done, we would suggest to the company to be open to what a designer has to suggest. This is the job of a designer. Why hire anyone to do a job if you already know what and how to do it?
FS: Can you talk a little about your design process?
AAS: It usually all starts with an idea or a new approach towards an older idea. It might be a practical idea, or a more philosophical one. If it is just a practical one, we like to see if there are indeed any philosophical extensions to it. This is not just a mind game. It is about trying to form a kind of filter through which ideas are characterized as realizable or “having potential”. Then, a lot of sketches and 3d models or even physical ones follow. They all swindle and wander around in our heads until the moment comes when they just fall into place. We know this moment has arrived when we cannot add neither remove anything without spoiling its basic virtue.
FS: What are 5 of your favorite design items at home?
AAS: Cups, light fixtures, bedside tables, office tables, shelves
FS: Can you describe a day in your life?
AAS: All days start with us meeting and deciding which matters are more pressing and important and have to be dealt with. The day will go on with us working or overseeing a project that is under construction. Around midday we have our lunch break and continue to work until 8 or 9 pm. Most of the times during the week we get back home and get a good nigth’s rest or go for a drink when there’s some energy left in us.
FS: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
AAS: Work hard every day and never leave unfinished projects behind you, try to finish everything you start and of course dream big!! That’s all you need to have in mind, hard effort and your dreams.
FS: From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?
AAS: Positives: It is super rare to get bored in everyday life, you are able combine all that is you and inspire you (music, art, cinema etc) into your art and create something of your own. Every day and every moment is filled with creativity as you search for your personal interpretation and improve your design method. Negatives: The long working hours as well as the fact that sometimes people don’t fully grasp what you are doing –since design is not yet considered to be a formal discipline, we don’t enjoy the respect we would expect financially and socially.
FS: What is your "golden rule" in design?
AAS: The golden rule is that there are no rules.
FS: What skills are most important for a designer?
AAS: We believe that the most important and at the same time most underrated skills are the communication skills. A designer might be very talented, however if he/she cannot express and communicate his/her ideas, it is most likely that he or she will not be able to fulfill our cause which is to improve people’s lives. This does not mean of course that this designer as a failed designer. Howeve,r it certainly deprives him/her of a lot of opportunities.
FS: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
AAS: We like to sketch a lot at the beginning of any project, so as not to limit our possibilities. Books, philosophy, movies and music are also a valuable way of communication between us, a way to convey the desired atmosphere. Then, as soon as things become more concrete, we test our approach through 2d plans, sections, physical models and a lot of 3d modelling and renderings in order to make sure that our design stands in three-dimensional space the way we had imagined it.
FS: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
AAS: Architecture school has definitely lured us into long working hours. However, while time goes by and our design seems to be refusing to find its way, we know the bell has rung for us to stop. We usually take a couple of days off the design, trying not to let it overpower us. It might sound crazy and more time consuming, but it does work. When you take your mind off what has kept it stuck you are able to come back to it through a different point of view and eventually come up with the solution you have been looking for since the beginning. You need to remember to let your mind decompress. Getting into the habit of brute-force problem solving without any break can prove to be much more time consuming as fatigue gradually kicks in. Of course this is the ideal scenario, which you can rarely implement as deadlines never stop.
FS: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
AAS: It depends on the complexity of the object, as well as on whether it is a commission with a strict deadline or part of our personal experimentation. For example, our Silver A’ Design Award awarded “Reverse Pickup Table Lamp”, started with an abstract sketch in Athens in January 2017 and was completed in early May 2017 as a concept design.
FS: What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?
AAS: “Where do you get your inspiration from?”
FS: What was your most important job experience?
AAS: We both worked for a very prestigious Greek architecture office for 3 years, while still studying at the Faculty of Architecture. This proved to be an invaluable experience, since we had the chance to work also as project architects for a number of projects and competitions, some of which are on their way to realization. The time we spent at the office was priceless since we really got to understand that design is something to be taken seriously. A line on a paper implies time, money, weight, space, labor, light and shadow. All lines must find themselves under a general umbrella in the end which is called harmonious balance.
FS: Who are some of your clients?
AAS: You can access this info at our website, we refer to all our clients.
FS: What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?
AAS: We enjoy all kind of design works, since each one is a different challenge. We design.
FS: What are your future plans? What is next for you?
AAS: Our future plans mainly involve the construction of the table lamps we have designed!
FS: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
AAS: We usually work as a team. On the rare occasion that a design does not start like this due to reasons of time and place, we definitely take it to a team level afterwards. We also like to propose to each other what would be fun, interesting and meaningful to occupy ourselves with.
FS: Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?
AAS: We prefer to keep it a secret until it is all ready and done, not because we are secretive as personalities, but because we don't like to talk about works in progress, we prefer to keep a small circle informed and ourselves totally focused.
FS: How can people contact you?
AAS: You can always contact us via the “Contact” layout in our website www.addarchstudio.com or through email at addarchistudio@gmail.com
FS: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?
AAS: We think that almost everything has been covered!
FS: Thank you for providing us with this opportunity to interview you.
A’ Design Award and Competitions grants rights to press members and bloggers to use parts of this interview. This interview is provided as it is; DesignPRWire and A' Design Award and Competitions cannot be held responsible for the answers given by participating designers.
Press Members: Register and login to request a custom interview with ADD Architecture Studio.
| SOCIAL |
| + Add to Likes / Favorites | Send to My Email | Comment | Testimonials |
