Detail: Your work is so diverse that people must wonder whether you are an engineer, artist or scientist. How would you describe yourself?
Balmond: I have been involved in many architecturally exciting buildings, and my role in them has not reflected the normal image of an engineer. Traditionally the architect starts the design and is followed by the engineer. With me it’s usually different. That’s why cooperating with architects such as Rem Koolhaas, Toyo Ito or Alvaro Siza has worked so well: because I’ve been able to introduce my ideas from the very beginning, just like them. I don’t have a “label” for my role. It’s most important to bring your own personality to the table. Secondly, you must have an artistic way of thinking, followed by professionalism and finally there is your role as an expert. At the beginning of my career, I still had an engineer’s mindset and my first thoughts were about how the loadbearing structure would look, but now − 20 years later − that would be my very last question. My artistic and musical background has given me an open mind and I look first for the poetic in what there is.
The interview with Cecil Balmond was conducted by Andreas Gabriel in London.
Balmond: I have been involved in many architecturally exciting buildings, and my role in them has not reflected the normal image of an engineer. Traditionally the architect starts the design and is followed by the engineer. With me it’s usually different. That’s why cooperating with architects such as Rem Koolhaas, Toyo Ito or Alvaro Siza has worked so well: because I’ve been able to introduce my ideas from the very beginning, just like them. I don’t have a “label” for my role. It’s most important to bring your own personality to the table. Secondly, you must have an artistic way of thinking, followed by professionalism and finally there is your role as an expert. At the beginning of my career, I still had an engineer’s mindset and my first thoughts were about how the loadbearing structure would look, but now − 20 years later − that would be my very last question. My artistic and musical background has given me an open mind and I look first for the poetic in what there is.
The interview with Cecil Balmond was conducted by Andreas Gabriel in London.