Constructing Practice Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation

Christoph Zeller and Ingrid Moye, of Zeller & Moye, discuss how they started their practice and how collaborations with artists and architects help enable them to work globally. Constructing Practice traces the narratives of young firms from around the globe, featuring the participants of a Columbia GSAPP symposium that took place on November 17, 2017, and expands the conversation to include many others, to tell us how they do what they do. Hosted by GSAPP Professor Juan Herreros, principal of Estudio Herreros in Madrid.
Zeller & Moye was founded in 2013 and operates between Mexico City and Berlin. The studio designs a wide range of projects at all scales, from furniture design to large cultural buildings in different parts of the world. Christoph Zeller and Ingrid Moye have been practicing architecture for over ten years, including work for international practices SANAA and Herzog & de Meuron, where they lead projects such as the Tate Modern Switch House and the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2012.
"We see ourselves as an international architecture office, although we do site-specific work, which means we are not designing buildings without looking at the context where they are, even if we are not necessarily based in that place."- Ingrid Moye
Watch the full conference online: https://www.arch.columbia.edu/events/747-constructing-practice
Zeller & Moye: http://zellermoye.com

Magui Peredo, of Estudio Macías Peredo, talks about the influence of both Mexican architectural traditions and modern Latin American approaches, as well as the challenges of staying involved in all aspects of the design and construction process. Estudio Macías Peredo, based in Guadalajara, Mexico, was founded in 2012 by Salvador Macías and Magui Peredo. The practice is interested in creating a dialogue with its surroundings through the exploration of the constructive processes and the formal and spatial systems that define a specific location. Both architects graduated from Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente (ITESO) in Guadalajara and completed their master’s degree at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) in Barcelona, Spain. They teach at the Architecture School at ITESO.
"The idea of an architect is closely linked to construction [in Mexico]. We founded Estudio Macías Peredo to have an office that seeks to be part of the building process, but no longer takes care of the logistics and administration of construction."
—Magui Peredo
Constructing Practice traces the narratives of young firms from around the globe. Each week, we hear long distance from an emerging architect who tells us about what they do. Hosted by GSAPP Professor Juan Herreros, principal of Estudio Herreros in Madrid. Constructing Practice was initiated as a conference at GSAPP on November 17, 2017. Watch the full conference online: https://www.arch.columbia.edu/events/747-constructing-practice
Estudio Macías Peredo: http://emparquitectos.com

Tran Thi Ngu Ngon, of Tropical Space, talks about the practice's work building homes for lower and middle income Vietnamese. Tropical Space was founded by architects Nguyen Hai Long and Tran Thi Ngu Ngon in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The firm is committed to the use of environmentally friendly building practices and sustainable material selection, and their work spans housing, interior architecture, landscape design, and master planning.
"We try to focus on basic form, purity of material, and the simplicity of space. We try to use light mostly as our main material to create space, and we try to teach people to be more sustainable in the future." - Tran Thi Ngu Ngon
Constructing Practice traces the narratives of young firms from around the globe. Each week, we hear long distance from an emerging architect who tells us about what they do. Hosted by GSAPP Professor Juan Herreros, principal of Estudio Herreros in Madrid. Constructing Practice was initiated as a conference at GSAPP on November 17, 2017. Watch the full conference online: https://www.arch.columbia.edu/events/747-constructing-practice
Tropical Space: http://khonggiannhietdoi.com

Jan De Vylder, of architecten de vylder vinck taillieu, talks about the importance of pure or rough use of materials in their work, and Flemish architecture influences of the firm. Founded by Jan De Vylder, Inge Vinck, and Jo Taillieu, the practice is based in Gent, Belgium. The architects question the distinction between décor and construction, and believe that understanding how to build something that architecture can play out its critical potential.
"Our practice was founded because we enjoy making things. For us, architecture is not only a matter of designing things, but also a matter of understanding how things can be made"
—Jan De Vylder
Constructing Practice traces the narratives of young firms from around the globe, featuring the participants of a Columbia GSAPP symposium that took place on November 17, 2017, and expands the conversation to include many others, to tell us how they do what they do. Hosted by GSAPP Professor Juan Herreros, principal of Estudio Herreros in Madrid. Watch the full conference online: https://www.arch.columbia.edu/events/747-constructing-practice
architecten de vylder vinck taillieu: http://www.architectendvvt.com

Aaron Forrest and Yasmin Vobis, co-founders of Ultramoderne, talk about how their practice began, their systems-based approach, and interest in material experimentation. Ultramoderne was founded in Providence, Rhode Island, in 2015. The office is committed to creating architecture and public spaces that are at once modern, playful, and generous. The principals are driven by an experimental approach that leads to conceptually rigorous and well-executed designs. The office has experience working at a wide variety of scales, from single-family residences to urban-scale planning, and its work has been recognized internationally, including the 2015 pavilion commission from the Chicago Architecture Biennial, the Architectural League of New York, and AIAri.
"For us the work is always a dialogue between abstraction and reality. I think that the projects look simple on the surface: squares, circles, triangles, and so forth. But I think that for us the abstraction is a way of reorganizing a piece of reality.” —Yasmin Vobis
Constructing Practice traces the narratives of young firms from around the globe, featuring the participants of a Columbia GSAPP symposium that took place on November 17, 2017, and expands the conversation to include many others, to tell us how they do what they do. Hosted by GSAPP Professor Juan Herreros, principal of Estudio Herreros in Madrid. Watch the full conference online: https://www.arch.columbia.edu/events/747-constructing-practice
Ultramoderne: http://ultramoderne.net

James Shen, of People’s Architecture Office, talks about the studio's interests in design and social impact. People’s Architecture Office (PAO) is a multidisciplinary studio founded in 2010, in Beijing, China, focused on social impact through design. It is the first architecture practice in Asia certified as a B-Corporation and serves as a model for social entrepreneurship. PAO’s office is located in a traditional courtyard house in Beijing’s historic core, a setting characterized by urban informality, and one that inspires the studio’s work. The studio’s award-winning works have been exhibited at the Venice Architecture Biennale, Harvard Graduate School of Design, and the London Design Museum.
"We feel that architecture practices today are less and less able to have a real relevance in our built environment, as well as in our natural environment. So for us, social entrepreneurship is something that we see has a potential for us to engage in a more full way." – James Shen
Constructing Practice traces the narratives of young firms from around the globe, featuring the participants of a Columbia GSAPP symposium that took place on November 17, 2017, and expands the conversation to include many others, to tell us how they do what they do. Hosted by GSAPP Professor Juan Herreros, principal of Estudio Herreros in Madrid. Watch the full conference online: https://www.arch.columbia.edu/events/747-constructing-practice
People’s Architecture Office: http://peoples-architecture.com/pao/