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Questions of authenticity: brickwork and ‘found space’

This paper represented a somewhat unusual collaboration between an architect working in practice, Simon McCormack (Thomas Ford and Partners) and Andrew Peckham whose background is contrastingly academic. Drawing on their complementary expertise, it aimed to bridge the schism between theory and practice in the production of a text written by both authors as a mutual narrative (approaching the subject from their respective points of view). While Caruso St John’s Brick House is a modest project in scale, its aspirations were significantly greater in theoretical terms and it attracted considerable international attention (the practice has gone on to now be sought after by major clients in Europe). The paper set out to unpick the assumptions about the house’s material constitution generated by its initial design, taken for granted subsequently in a plethora of available criticism, yet contradicted in detailed aspects of its eventual built form. Grounded in detailed consideration of its constitution and occupation, the paper critiques the architects’ theoretical assumptions while highlighting the house’s positive qualities. The authors intended the paper as a model for on-going collaborative work.