Designer Inspiration
This post is part of a series exploring the places, people, and things our team draws inspiration from. Today’s design inspiration post comes from architect Rachael Taylor.
Humanitarian architecture inspires me with its often unguarded solution to basic needs. Projects such as the Plastic Bottle Home for the Aged and Haiti Partners’ Children’s Academy remind me that design and innovation are powerful things; architects can improve living conditions and offer community resilience simply through building.
Plastic Bottle Home for the Aged – San Pablo Laguna, Philippines by Architecture for Humanity
Haiti Partners’ Children’s Academy – by Architecture for Humanity
Haiti Partners’ Children’s Academy – by Architecture for Humanity
Since visiting Barcelona, I have become captivated by Antonio Gaudi’s organic and wonderfully intuitive use of materials. Parc Guell’s narrow paths of twisted rock and mosaics left a lasting impression on me and modest, everyday materials can become beautiful with an understanding of the potential they hold. The Guell Crypt in Colonia Guell expresses the forces and nature of brick and stone outside the limits of traditional form and technique. Gaudi’s understanding of and experimentation with materials inspires me to approach design with an open mind and reminds me to enjoy the process.
The Guell Crypt in Colonia Guell by Antonio Gaudi
There is something about natural light washing a wall that seems to emphasize the inherent beauty of architecture. The experience of moving through a space – the textures, the passage of time, the patterns – is made more poetic by the motion of sunlight. The Holy Redeemer Church sculpts light in a way that creates a sense of awe and connection with the place. The spaces transition from darkness to light, corresponding with the use of each space throughout the day. This sort of awareness and balance is what every architect hopes to achieve.
Holy Redeemer Church in Tenerife, Spain by Menis Arquitectos
Holy Redeemer Church in Tenerife, Spain by Menis Arquitectos