Design Book Magazine

Sign up for Design Book updates, news and events!

Interview By:

DAMIR A. SINOVCIC

Images Courtesy Of:

GFAB

Send to Friend

Design Book [DB]: You received your degree from the Bartlett School of Architecture in London; however, your firm is located in Bali with projects throughout Southeast Asia. What prompted the move?

Gary Fell [GF]: During my post graduate studies I was short listed, along with some close friends, for the final stages of Cardiff Opera House competition. 2500 architects entered the competition along with most of our external examiners at the Bartlett. This moved us into a rarified strata of graduates I suppose. If we had won, instant super stardom, and as we didn't, we became almost unemployable! After a number of offers to be essentially a "competition jockey" for well known architects, I was offered the opportunity to work on Four Seasons Sayan (Bali), a building that has become something of a landmark project, despite extremely hostile reactions initially. I went to the site due to problems in translation, etc and basically stayed initially on request, later out of choice. The project was something of a trial by fire and the learning curve was very steep. With 4500 people on site asking 1 architect how to do things, one quickly learns to handle a lot of pressure.

DB: As the principal of GFAB you have built a firm with nearly 40 employees and have designed some quite impressive projects. How difficult was it for a European-trained designer to establish a successful practice in Asia?

GF: Aside from what I am sure would be the anticipated issues - communication etc, the biggest hurdle was getting people to accept the contemporary nature of our work. There was, and to some extent still is, a prevalent strain of thinking that says that buildings should reflect the traditions of their host locale. Philosophically I have no issue with this. Some might think of it as critical regionalism perhaps, but as usual this has been corrupted and turned into some kind of ‘proto Disney' position; "stick a local roof type and some faux decoration on any old building and instantly it's acceptable" - something I find insulting and quite frankly ridiculous. Our refusal to engage with such ideas meant we had to wait for the right clients, invariably those with sufficient vision to see past the coffee table books they bought at the airport! DB: The first time I saw your work in person was at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The building stands in striking contrast to the adjacent properties as well as the historic temples of the Angkor Wat World Heritage Site. What was your design intent at the FCC?

GF: Interestingly this is a listed ‘heritage' building, the restaurant portion at least, being the French consulate in the 50's, which we reworked and refitted utilizing original details. Onto this we added a hotel component based upon the original building's structural grid. This often comes as a surprise; some think the hotel is also a renovation! In Cambodia there was a strong "modern" architectural tradition from the 50's and 60's - in essence we tapped into this and chose to interpret the architecture of Angkor not as an exercise in surface appropriation (formal) but as a sequence of courts, reflecting pools (spatial) etc. In this way we hope, with all our Khmer projects, to capture some of the ‘spirit' of Angkor rather than paste a weak copy of its formal language into our buildings.

DB: Western buildings are largely dependent on mechanical means of cooling and ventilation. This often creates a separation between the building and its site. Your work, on the other hand, seems to explore this connection quite strongly. What is your stance on this connectivity?

GF: I think there are two dimensions to this question which should be addressed independently. First, you are right; our buildings are largely derived from their individual sites. This may be an urban condition or a landscape/topographical condition. Sometimes it is a case of scale sometime it can be something as simply as a desire to preserve mature trees and introduce natural features (rock outcrops, streams etc) into the heart of the composition. Many of our villa sites are on steep sloping ground, this leads us to explore a notion of stepping in the section which approximates to the ground conditions themselves, again, I suspect, reinforcing the relationship between site and building. Secondly, we have long sought to introduce "passive" cooling into the buildings we design. We have spent a long time researching more ancient techniques for air movement and climate control. For GFAB, the issue is not to eliminate the use of mechanical ventilation but to reduce dependence upon it; our thesis is to achieve ‘comfort' in a building so that recourse to AC is a last resort. We do this with reflecting pools, shaded courts, creation of large thermal masses (planter roofs) etc. Much of this is drawn from historical examples rather than relying on technological examples that are often prohibitively expensive and frankly not attractive or even (often) available/serviceable in Asia. Practically, this second dimension of our approach means a greater openness of the design and fluidity of spaces which again leads to a greater connection with/to the site.

DB: Would you consider your designs green and if so what are some of the components with which you achieve this?

GF: Green is a loaded term. I am sure we could improve upon what we are currently doing massively, but to a large extent our work is identified as ecologically orientated. In essence we attempt to keep the thermal mass of the building high to reduce heat gain on the fabric itself and this inevitably reduces the amount of energy required to cool (in our case) a building. My feeling is that people pay more attention to the sale of units, air conditioners to solar panels, than research into the benefits of passive solutions, thus making our thesis more difficult to prove or substantiate with data. With respect to the development of new technological solutions etc, I believe that architects urgently need to be invited into the design process to ensure that conditions are understood and that these items never become a "tail that wags the dog". The best technology is the type that we hardly notice is there. I like the idea of solar power, for example, but I do not see giving up the roof space of a building and covering it with inclined panels as a good idea. This would extrapolate across the board. Often M&E designers see our work, certainly in Asia, as little more than an armature on which to hang units. Similarly engineers think that we are averse to anything that detracts from the buildings beauty, the issue is how to synthesise the two items so they are no longer in opposition. Our proposals are essentially aesthetic as much as "Green" and thus we are able to employ them with some ease.

DB: Architects are often reluctant to discuss style when it comes to their own work. That said, how would you describe your own designs?

GF: Yes, traditionally style is something we sneer at, believing it to be somehow derisory, a position I share of course. Whilst I assure you it's never conscious, I do realize that there are certain "ticks" (as in the neurological use of the word) we have in our work and that this to a large extent represents a "style" that is GFAB's. For me, our designs simply attempt to maximize the potential of a site and program, that they have certain stylistic similarities is inevitable and perhaps reflects my hand in their design development more than anything else.

DB: What would you say is the defining characteristic of your work?

GF: All of our projects use their sites well I think. Often we seem to be able to get more from a site than was originally expected; creating the appearance of a larger "lot" than what is in fact the case. Our first consideration is always "spatial" – we never advance from a notion of, for example, the skin (though it may represent a nascent idea and end up being a dominant feature) or the structure or technology, as I know many architects do. In essence this notion underpins many of the ticks I mentioned before which in turn become defining characteristics of our work.

DB: Although your work is contemporary, it references the culture and the architectural language of its surroundings quite naturally and without any blatant historical imitation.What are some of the elements with witch you manage to achieve this?

GF: Hard question; as with any artistic endeavor, one assimilates influences from a variety of sources, often too arcane to bother referencing or even to be conscious of. In the case of our Siem Reap work, this is related to a synthetic appreciation of the temples themselves and what was a strong modern movement in a newly liberated country (50-60's). In the case of our works in Bali, it may be prevalent materials being used in original ways that allude to the locality. For example, in my own home, the area is urban and populated with buildings that have terracotta tiles for roofs. We took the heights and compositional "weight" of said roofs and adapted these to the design of the façade to produce a building of what is essentially sympathetic mass, scale and coloration. In other cases it may be as simple as using the site's natural excavated stone to ensure that weathering is sympathetic to the locale, etc.

DB: A large portion of your work focuses on the hospitality industry. Is this a particular interest of yours?

GF: Not at all. I believe the programs are similar in their complexity to ‘cultural' buildings and this appeals to us. I believe the hospitality industry is fuelled with received certitudes viz design and these are often reactionary (Bali hotel = traditional roof and lots of rattan interior etc) we are forced to work against these constraints - it is often creatively rewarding in itself!

DB: Most of your projects are built in the tropical countries of Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Indonesia. What is the impacting issue to address when designing for the tropics?

GF: Climate. Climate is both the challenge and the advantage. In the case of the former it is to ensure the building stays cool, in the latter, there are no seasons per se so we do not, typically, have to address low temperature driven issues.

DB: Water seems to be an important element in your designs. What is the significance of it?

GF: Water is something we feel can be used to control climate and air movement whilst introducing a (positive, perceptually at least) ‘decorative' element to the work. It would be easy to over intellectualize this element's use in our work, obviously all of these ideas are present but ultimately we feel these two basic tenets define why we use it so prevalently.

DB: What are some of your architectural inspirations? What can we find on your bookshelf?

GF: I tend to concentrate on historical works and architects. I pepper my reading with novels, biographies and books of wider "social" interest, keeping several things on the go at the same time. I have what is really rather a pitiful knowledge of my contemporaries' work to be honest. Some of this reflects the fact that books are not easy to get in the tropics (as a rule) and when they do get here, the various governments typically tax them heavily. I am a big fan of what may be called "the usual suspects"; Corb, Niemeyer, Mies, Aalto, etc. I also read widely on architects from the Renaissance through the Baroque period as well as books on sculpture and artists generally. I tend to research the areas I work in, sifting through lots of diverse stuff in the search for clues that may imply a direction later; this isn't a conscious move, more unimpaired interest, I guess.

DB: How important is landscape design in your work?

GF: It is a significant component, often left to us to do to be honest! I am still waiting for a genius landscaper to step forward and "complete" our work - I live in hope!

DB: Many of your designs have very strong yet elegant geometric lines. What inspires that geometry?

GF: I am a stickler for proportion - spending a lot of design time on said "elegance" and often asking my (engineering) collaborators to work that bit harder to achieve this. I believe that abstraction is essentially our game as architects. I rarely resort to curves not out of hostility so much as the recognition that a) these are often poorly considered (by their users) and gratuitous/unnecessary and b) when I do use them, my work tends to look like its been culled from the Neimeyer back catalogue.

DB: What does the name GFAB mean and how did you select it?

GF: Gary Fell Architecture Bureau. As is the case with many practice names, it was something that was invented out of expediency and it stuck.

DB: What other types of buildings are you interested in designing?

GF: I hope to work on a wide variety of buildings. For some time now I have been hoping for a tower and we have just got two. Be careful what you wish for! This was largely generated by the acknowledgement that most of our work are very much "ground scrapers" and so I was interested in the possibilities of composing vertically. Beyond this, I am very interested in what may be referred to as "cultural buildings." There is something very appealing about designing a library or a theatre, something which impacts many people and their lives whilst also directly affecting the organization of an urban environment – I'm sure this is something that is irresistible to all architects really. I have limited ambition to return to Europe for work though frankly, nowhere is off my radar. I would be fascinated to participate in (local) public schooling/education projects though evidence of corruption/collusion in such spheres is massive. Finally, for the challenge of ineffable space, rather than any specific allegiance to a faith, I'd like to do a religious building. This may be a mosque given where I live.

DB: What is currently on your drawing boards ?

GF: Obviously we are working on many different projects concurrently. Those that, as yet, are not "published" include a new international school community in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, a large luxury villa development in Phuket and a major resort in Vietnam. The school will cater for upwards of 2000 students and the project also involves the construction of a pair of 22 storey residential towers. The Phuket project involves 19 residences set in jungle conditions, which is interesting for us as we normally get drier sites, and finally the Vietnam project involves constructing on large areas of sand dunes which again is challenging to say the least.

DB: Do you have any plans to expand in the European or American markets?

GF: At present its unlikely, my schedule is so full it really isn't feasible to make any commitments as yet. That said, we would not object if the right project were to come along and would welcome the opportunity to collaborate with local architects etc from a different cultural settings.

For more information on GFAB visit: www.gfabarchitects.com.