52
|
design
mag
Andrew Maynard is an unaffected, intelligent and informed
young architect making quite an impression with a small
practice he founded 10 years ago in Melbourne’s inner north.
Unlike many architects, he prefers projects that require close
collaboration between the architect and the client, a time-
consuming and emotional process.“We like that emotional
connection”, he tells us.
The firm’s work is mainly new residential builds and extensions
along with other interesting projects such as competitions for
urban renewal and change.The practice is not interested in the
‘big statement’ project, and their clients are very unconcerned
with what the Joneses are doing.“We are really interested in
density, the challenges of a five-metre wide block,” explains Mark
Austin, Maynard’s co-director who joined the practice in 2007.
“How do you face the sun, how do you create a really rich
connection between spaces?”
They see planning constraints, if tackled with wit and talent, as
opportunities to achieve better solutions.Andrew and Mark relish
the hard discussions with planners and anxious neighbours,
working to develop solutions that cover all bases.
Maynard intelligently reads the signs and listens intently for the
solutions. He is more than willing to try 10 options and make nine
mistakes before the right solution arrives. His willingness to take
risks makes it possible to move forward to new planes of
understanding and design awareness that he believes can be
applied to solutions the planet so desperately needs.
Sustainability, he contends, is not an optional extra.You can’t
help thinking that Frank Lloyd Wright would have strongly agreed.
design
mag talks to Andrew Maynard about his work, the media, work/life
balance and the importance of making mistakes.
In Pro
file
