Thomas Hillier

I have referred previously to the fantastic work of Thomas Hillier, and specifically his incredible 2D/3D models which were the inspiration for my own piece on transgression and the fair [and seemingly the inspiration for one in two models throughout the SSoA MArch this year]

Thomas process builds on narrative, and is therefore extremely relevant to my own studio investigations this year. However, I find it problematic, and think that it raises many fundamental questions about architecture as a whole, and about student work in particular.

Hillier's works sits at the very edge of architecture and art, flirting with transgression - as with the fair. His narrative response is richly metaphorical, but the programmatic parts are uncommunicated. This raises the question as to what makes architecture, and it is my personal feeling that programme is key - without use all we design is colossal sculpture.

Hillier's projects therefore provide an interesting starting point for my own investigations, but his construction of architectonic metaphors from literature is a methodology I would like to challenge. I want to explore ways of using narrative to drive programmatic architecture, but what form that will take is unclear.