Architecture has always been multidisciplinary, demanding new expertise for each project and challenging designers to remain nimble. This seems more true now (and more embraced) than ever, with architects turning their eye towards technology, agriculture, data science - even to Mars.
Metropolis Magazine’s 2018 New Talent feature bears this out, with each of the recipients having built their careers in one field now bringing their knowledge to bear in another. The Swiss-American architecture duo Karamuk Kuo (a practice you’d be wise to watch) established themselves first in academia before ever starting to build. Joe Lawton, of Chicago’s Valerio Dewalt Train Associates, translated his talents in architectural marketing and communication into environmental graphics so successfully that he is now the office’s youngest principal.
As traditionally non-design institutions begin to embrace ‘design thinking’, it’s perhaps worth it for designers themselves to consider what other disciplines can bring to them. Doing so, as the practices shown in the feature have, show there’s rich ground for the sowing.
See Metropolis Magazine’s editors’ picks for the 2018 New Talent feature here.
