Interview with ADD Architecture Studio

ADD Architecture Studio ("AAS") interviewed on Monday, 3 June.

Could you please tell us about your experience as a designer, artist, architect or creator?

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 been knowing each other for a lot longer. We worked for Kokkinou-Kourkoulas architecture office during our student years, a prestigious Greek architecture office. ADD Architectural 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 officially formed our collaboration as ADD . We already have numerous built projects and publications in architectural and design sites and magazines as well as projects in progress.

How did you become a designer?

AAS : Our families have had a huge influential role in our becoming designers, our fathers being a civil engineer and an architect respectively. But it was not only this 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. When we entered the University we would constantly look around us and be thrilled by the new world presenting itself before us. The more we studied, the more we felt this was the place for us. Since then, not a day passes without at least a sketch. A sketch can be relieving some times. We guess that our innermost selves had always wanted to be a designer, it all just came naturally and felt right.

What are your priorities, technique and style when designing?

AAS : Since we have been educated as architects, we feel confident about designing on a multi-scale basis since the very start of a project. We like to investigate how ideas work on both a big and a small scale, both on a conceptual and a construction level. However, we believe that practicality, usefulness and visual aesthetic are the key elements to a good design. On top of it all we should also add originality and the element of pleasant surprise as elements that keep any design concept from being monotonous. We love to sketch a lot at the beginning of any project, so as not to prison our ideas into anything concrete. 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.

Which emotions do you feel when designing?

AAS : During design process there is a strange mix of enthusiasm, happiness, and self-doubt. But after a number of tries, the doubt turns into confidence and you know you are on the correct way. And then, at last, relief! Your design is done, and if you are lucky, your project has just been realized. At first it is hard to believe. Especially when it is about an architectural design project, a place where people live. After that, you slowly realise that the design has started to live a life of its own. And then, back again, a new project, and everything starts again. However the design journey might be completely different, the basic instincts of fear and enthusiasm remain the same.

What particular aspects of your background shaped you as a designer?

AAS : As we mentioned before our families played a huge role into our becoming designers. Yet, what we think really shaped our design aspect is the close observation of architecture around us, of industrial design, of music-especially techno-, arts, theatre, cinema and everyday life. We always felt the desire to participate in this creative process that touches other people’s minds and feelings and eventually shapes and forms a mass psychology and mentality. Sometimes we like to experiment with the surrealist paranoid-critical method introduced by Dali and see how our minds’ “museum of inspiration” might reorganize everything we have read and seen, even if we don’t do it on purpose.

What is your growth path? What are your future plans? What is your dream design project?

AAS : We could actually say that our growth path was not so well planned or carefully thought before it actually happened. We like to be part or design projects spanning from small scaled ones, to big ones-from industrial design objects, to spaces and buildings. We believe that this interdisciplinary tendency is also responsible for our growth so far. We would like to be remembered as the designers who almost tried to design everything, yet we have already realized that we may need two lives for that to happen!! Yet, most of all, we aspire to formalize our lamps, the “Reverse Pickup Table Lamp” and the “Reverse Sunclock Wall Lamp”, if we only had to refer to our immediate future plans.

What are your advices to designers who are at the beginning of their career?

AAS : Be patient and energetic, be after your dreams every day! Never quit, even after you are disappointed with something. You become better after your failures and no successful designer has reached the top without failing. You should also try to finish every project you get your hands on, personal or professional because this process of completing things is your source of growth and understanding who you really are!

You are truly successful as a designer, what do you suggest to fellow designers, artists and architects?

AAS : The best yet most simple insight we could give to a designer, through our small experience of the world so far, is that he or she should be open to everything, from suggestions to project proposals and even to new life experiences. You never know what may come handy for you, what might make you evolve as a person or designer or what may even make you famous! All roads eventually lead to where you want to go, since you are the one who chose them.

What is your day to day look like?

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 night’s rest or go for a drink when there’s some energy left in us. It is the little and not so significant things that give us joy during the day, such as a good joke, a fancy and fresh idea, us meeting with an interesting partner or person etc.

How do you keep up with latest design trends? To what extent do design trends matter?

AAS : We always follow design trends, in an attempt to be up to date about the latest interesting projects around the globe which also keeps us up to date on new materials, interesting design approaches and ideas, technological advancements and so on. On the other hand, we strongly believe in timelessness, a notion that is above current hips and trends. What is almost surrealistic about design is that anything that has been born only through some kind of trend or hip “ages” quickly, it is a golden rule that governs design like a curse. Thus, we have always tried to form our design style based on our mentality, preferences and our own unique eye towards the world.

How do you know if a product or project is well designed? How do you define good design?

AAS : Sometimes people tend to treat “design” as a rather “taboo” word. This happens a lot when designers try to separate themselves as an autonomous community. But for us, this is not the case. We believe that “design” is everywhere and 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 be dangerous. We just feel happy and blessed because we have been given the chance to be part of the process of design. 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 the best architects never received any kind of official “design” education. But they lived. And hence, they designed. This is why our motto is just that simple: “We design”. But what makes a design successful? 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 on designs. A successful design is a design which is love at first sight. It is not necessary to be fully conscious love –you do not have to realise that you love a piece of design. It is sufficient to say that a design is successful when you can’t easily think an alternative to it upon asked, unless the alternative answer is even better. In this case, the success of the original design is the birth of a new idea.

How do you decide if your design is ready?

AAS : 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 and ready when you cannot easily or immediately think of an alternative to it upon asked. It just feels right, even to the uneducated eye. In that case, the success of any original design always sets the foundation for the birth of a new idea. It goes without saying that any design is never fully complete, there is always room for improvement. We just reach a point when time and deadlines decide what the final form of any project is and will be. You just have to make your inner peace with that otherwise you risk staying behind and one of the most important things to keep in mind in this business is progress.

What is your biggest design work?

AAS : Our biggest project so far is the design of the headquarters of a Greek fashion brand called “Devotion Twins” which included the design for the production spaces, a dedicated showroom and their offices. We faced many difficulties and challenges during this project which kept us busy for over six months. We used the concept of movement and light throughout the design process and we think that the final result justifies the amount of our effort and time we dedicated for it. You should check it out in our website and social media!

Who is your favourite designer?

AAS : Rem Koolhaas! 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 on our work, since it incorporates the seminal theorems to be found on the later work of OMA, which we love. Villa dall’ Ava is 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 a camouflaged personal expression whilst respecting the design’s mission-a mission surpassing our immediate needs.

Would you tell us a bit about your lifestyle and culture?

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. Good design is an investment towards progress and well being and we think that the north of Europe is more understanding of this notion and has implemented it in their everyday professional and personal lives. The south, having maybe less resources, is somehow behind and trying to keep up with the north.

Would you tell us more about your work culture and business philosophy?

AAS : Our work culture and business philosophy revolves around the phrase “hard work and effort”. We always look for people who adopt this notion in their work and life too. We also believe that decency and honesty are two traits that are hard to find in our business world and are truly appreciated by us when we see them in a person or a company. The above are the main ingredients for a successful partnership or team effort and when having such people or partners around you then everything becomes easy and effortless. It is a true challenge these days to be able to communicate well with people, clients and partners for numerous reasons so the least we can do is be honest towards our fellow designers and try for the best.

What are your philanthropic contributions to society as a designer, artist and architect?

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.

What positive experiences you had when you attend the A’ Design Award?

AAS : We have always believed that competitions offer room for experimentation to us designers. They provide us with the necessary freedom to produce new ideas, since that is exactly the objective of any competition. That being said, competitions are the necessary wheel towards progress, improvement (self and mass) and innovation. Apart from pushing designers to improve their presentation and design skills, competitions also push society to accept new models of life or work or coexistence and that is crucial for the growth of our business and society in general. We feel blessed to be part of this process and also hugely honored to be featured as Designers of the day!

ADD Architecture Studio Profile