The current practice of Architecture is dominated by the design and production of isolated objects. These are presented to society as necessary and relevant because, somehow, they are the most up-to-date expression of the values of our culture.

It is this obsession with its relevance to right now that qualifies this body of work as an Architecture of Time. Ironically, these projects don’t express the will of our society as self evidently as they claim. They are slaves to consumerism and fashion, narrow personal gratification and financial benefit to a few. How ironic that our streets are littered with buildings designed to be exalted as works of individual genius, while their authors are either ignored or already forgotten.

By contrast, an Architecture of place delivers projects that respond to two fundamental purposes: Incrementally constructing the city and establishing a sustaining relationship with nature. And doing so for the economic and psychic benefit of the community, often with popular input, criticism and support. This pro-urbanist and pro-environmentalist Architecture delivers settings for human life that are appreciated, if not beloved, and constantly evolving, while being validated by citizens who stake their identity and their everyday life upon them.

We at Moule & Polyzoides fervently believe that Architecture and Urbanism so considered and practiced are both an enabling theory and a deeply empowering method of design. Their principles can be expressed in diverse form and stark contrast to the stereotypical, one-shoe-fits-all tendencies and products, particularly those of internationalist modernism.

The figural void of the city is the essential ingredient of Urbanism, as the building is the measure of its Architecture. We have rediscovered the fact that cities should be designed reciprocally between buildings and the public realm that they define. Architecture has been historically conceived as a discipline in terms of formal repetition, types of objects recurring over time. In the practice of Urbanism, urban space should also be cast typologically.

The patio, the courtyard, the quad, the green, the field, the plaza, the square, the greenway, the thoroughfare, are all kinds of urban space with historical precedence, dimensional and proportional characteristics, geographic and climatic variants, symbolic and functional expectations.
Urbanism is not a style. It is a set of place-making options ranging from simple to complex and from rural to urban that can be realized through conscious physical design choices. Every kind of development site, in redevelopment, new or old infill, brownfield or greenfield, has its own powerful character and context that needs to be tapped to provide the founding idea for a project.

Architecture is also a matter of design choice among different kinds of languages: Vernacular for housing and commercial buildings, classical for institutional and civic buildings. Our reference to language is literal: A grammar and a syntax that can be composed freely and creatively, even experimentally, into objects of both stirring beauty and social relevance.

The Architecture and Urbanism of Place, first and foremost, varies from setting to setting. We are convinced that the most important ingredient of any design is its physical permanence as a response to the unique qualities of society & culture, climate & geography, city & nature inherent in every region of the world.
The character of a project at any scale depends on the judicious mixing in design of the appropriate types of buildings and urban space that we hold in our memory. We know that these may vary for each region we are typically asked to design in, the arid Southwest versus the tropical Southeast, for example. In order to reveal the formal character and performance expectations of all types of urban buildings and places, we have had to become heavily engaged in learning through continuous research.

Ours is an office where the urgency to act is moderated by the propensity to think. Reading, writing and drawing have become central to our method of design. Principals lead by example and our entire staff is heavily involved. Before we profess in a given setting, we become expert in its history and evolving life. If we are asked to work in a place where we have not been or practiced before, then we spend the time and energy to become native there, in the shortest period of time.

The fact also is that we love the Southwest, its people, its rituals, its urbanism and architecture, its natural environment. We have learned how to be effective designers within the cultural framework and physical constraints of this beloved part of our country. We live and practice in Pasadena by choice and are constantly inspired and challenged working in the Southern California region.

Moule & Polyzoides, 2005 & 2014