I speak with the designers of the Tom Ford flagship store in Miami, Benjamin Aranda and Chris Lasch
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Aranda\Lasch is the namesake Aranda\Lasch is the namesake design studio of Benjamin Aranda and Chris Lasch. Their New York and Tuscon based studio was established in 2003 and focusses on installations, furniture and building designs through thorough investigation of materials and structure. The duo graduated from Columbia University in 1999, prior to launching their practice. They are acclaimed for their elaborate explorations of natural geometry and their fascinating ability to translate them into structural masterpieces. “For us, design is about putting in place a process from which you can guarantee surprises” The practice has received numerous awards of recognition, including the Young Architects Award, Design Vanguard Award, AD Innovators, the United States Artists Award and the Architectural League of Emerging Voices Award.
N: What inspired you to venture into architecture? How would you describe your journey?
CL: Well before we started our practice my primary inspiration was always my grandmother being an architect. In fact she was surprisingly the only one in her graduating class in 1942. She never practiced her profession but when I was younger, we would play together and I think she implanted it in my brain when I was defenceless, so I’m going to blame her.
N: How did you start your practice and develop it to the stage it is at now?
BA: We started our studio kind of inadvertently. We were interested in birds and New York. We had just graduated and started our practice by filming things in the city. Chris actually had a van which we used as our studio on the go travelling the country and meeting people and learning new things. We actually won a small grant for a short film that we made called The Brooklyn Pigeon Project. It documented a bird’s-eye view of the city. This was actually enough to get us started and then we got into installations and furniture, eventually buildings. It has been a meandering path ever since.
N: What is the most insightful project that you are currently working on?
CL: Every project is a full dedication for the office. We are currently designing a store for the Milanese fashion brand Valextra, which uses artisanal techniques and takes a very contemporary aesthetic.
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N: We are huge fans of your Art Deco Project in Miami. What was the inspiration behind it and how would you describe the process ?
CL: Art Deco was the inspiration for the building in Miami. Located in Miami’s new Design District, the building houses four luxury retail tenants including the Tom Ford flagship store. Miami’s historic architecture was shaped by the Art Deco movement from the 1920s to the 1940s— where bold geometric motifs define the city’s landmarks. Inspired by the pleated Art Deco patterns found in architecture and fashion, the concrete facade is given a texture that references the exuberance and ornament of Miami’s “golden era.” The folds in the concrete are especially exaggerated by the intense sunlight of Miami.
N: What inspires your work and how do you remain so innovative?
BA: We’re inspired by the world and by its lack of simple answers. We often use design to ask questions. Design allows us to set up a process of discovery where we can be open to ideas, where they might lead, and be honest about our own biases. It lets us find our place in the world.
N: What would you consider to be important traits of a good architect?
BA: I’m quoting John Cage [American composer] here: “Remain open to what comes next.”
N: Are there any figures within or outside of the architectural world that you aspire or look up to?
BA: I look up to so many people I can’t keep count. Architects I admire: Eero Saarinen, Lina Bo Bardi, Louis Kahn, Rem Koolhaas, Cedric Price ... the list is honestly endless.
Outside the world of architecture: Patti Smith, John Cage, Susan Sontag, Stevie Nicks, Jonas Mekas, I could do this all day.
N: Finally, do you have any particular expressions that you live by?
CL: It’s important to start the day in a good mood and definitely with the right coffee and conversation. Beginnings make a big difference. The rest of the day is a horrible mess. But I’m certainly speaking for myself.
BA: I would say we’re very committed, not just socially. We commit to one shape in our work, sometimes for years.