Antoine Predock Lecture

Architectural Motivations

Antoine Predock gave a lecture on February 15, 2011. On February 14th he was in the hospital with eight broken ribs and a broken scapula in Los Angeles from a motorcycle accident. He spoke about his life leading up to speaking about the architecture because understanding what Antoine has experienced, can explain what drives his buildings. He told the students at the school to find out what it is inside themselves that drives them and use it to create architecture. He added that he was not suggesting everyone go out and hurt themselves doing dangerous things, but that he could not stop participating in high-risk physical activities because the thing in him that made him do that, made him do architecture.

Inherent in Antoine’s architecture is narrative, which implies motion. It is no wonder that skiing, scuba diving, dance, and riding motorcycles are inspiring to him. The circulation of his buildings inspire journeys that are fantastical, haunting, spiritual and beautiful.

New Mexico is an apt choice for someone to live who is interested in the phenomenal aspects of life. Antoine‘s home and primary office are located in Albuquerque, a place he has chosen to live for most of his life.. His first project was La Luz, a housing development that was ahead of its time in terms of its application of ideas such as critical regionalism and sustainable design. Embedded in La Luz are the spirit of places Antoine visited in his life, such as Spain and Chaco Canyon.

I worked for Antoine Predock and participated in his poetic design process. I helped to create a collage one of my first days on the job. All conceivable contexts surrounding a site are researched and visual imagery representing them are rendered by multiple members of the design team. Antoine orchestrates a painting process where the images are added and subtracted until a narrative of place emerges. This collage is a starting point for discussion with clients and is hung in the office, so the design team will never forget who they are designing for and what they are designing.

Later in my employment, I researched potential materials to present to a client for a building. The building had a client who shared Antoine’s interest in poetry but also had other motivations. I found stone for the building which fulfilled the artistic and physical intentions of Antoine and the client but felt uncomfortable, when one of my bosses told me that the client would not use the stone if it was quarried by, shipped by, or the transaction was otherwise profited off of in any way by a specific religious group. I researched the stone company and found the concern to be a non-issue. I never had to decide whether or not to be so directly complicit in contributing to the economic disenfranchisement of a religious group.

When projects become large and expensive, separate interests converge in the realm of architecture. When combined they can contribute to a building which is truly a work of art, however, sorting out the other implications of your actions becomes more difficult.