About Me

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Southsea, Hampshire, United Kingdom
I grew up in a semi-detached 1930s house in Croydon with my policeman father, nurse mother and younger brother. Ever since my childhood I wanted a career, which like my parents' was people-centric whilst not suppressing my creativity; architecture seemed to offer the perfect balance, and so I relocated to Portsmouth in 2005 to study for my degree at the university there. After graduating in 2008, I moved back home for my year out at Bell Associates Architects and Designers. I returned to Portsmouth in 2009 to study for my diploma. For my thesis foundation I designed a Community Hospice on the site of the Hilsea Lido; affirming my interest in existential architecture. Around this time, I wrote my manifesto Out of the Ordinary, which called for architects to create an everyday architecture of simplicity and honesty; based not on quasi tradition or nostalgia, but rather a hidden reality that ought to be revealed.

Saturday 18 December 2010

Writing | Symposium Video

Sameness: The Indian Transgression

A short talk discussing my experiences of domestic life (dwelling, eating, bathing and sleeping) in India with feedback from Roger Tyrrell and former head of school Professor Geoffrey Broadbent of the University of Portsmouth, and Adrian Carter and Lars Botin  of the University of Aalborg.

Sunday 12 December 2010

Writing | Symposium

Sameness: The Indian Transgression

“Modern architects have been harping continually on what is different in our time to such an extent, that even they have lost touch with what is not different, with what is always essentially the same.” Aldo van Eyck

These words ring true now more than ever. There is nothing banal about the familiar, and nothing poor about honesty. Simplicity can be sensual, and the truth can be humbling. There is beauty in everyday objects and occurrences, which in turn will become relics and rituals. By celebrating everyday architecture, the secular will become sacred.

Through a dialogue of differences between his experiences in India and the UK, Simon hopes to distill the underlying principles of architecture through identifying a prevalent human condition.




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Thursday 9 December 2010

Domestic Transgressions | Model





Domestic Transgressions | New Havant Linear Marketcross (with Paul Cashin)

Predicated upon a apocalyptic scenario in which Christianity has imploded and sea levels have risen by ten metres; a levee has been erected through the centre of Havant - and the extant St. Faith’s church - dividing land and sea dwellers.

I worked with Paul Cashin to design a place for these two distinct civilizations to dwell and trade in the post-apocalyptic era, which surmounts the levee and is accessed through the bell tower.

The hearth is used as an anchoring device, both for individual families and the new commune as a whole.














Follow Paul's blog at emergentstudiopcc.blogspot.com