Interview with Architect Pierre Lhoas, pt. 1
Pierre Lhoas is to Base what John Cage was to Merce Cunningham: a friend and like-minded collaborator who helps to push projects to greater heights. He has designed three of the six Base offices, two of the five Base partners’ houses, and a good deal of the furniture that goes into all of them. After a bit of prodding, Pierre finally succumbed to our interview requests, sitting down to talk to us about his work, his love of Japan, and his hair.
Base: Hello, Pierre! So, tell us…how does it feel to be an architect today?
Pierre Lhoas: Well… I find it rather difficult to develop unique projects that are off the beaten track. Architects are stuck by “restrictive urban regulations” and are often confronted by civil servants or political decision-makers who dead-end “strong architectural expression,” thinking of it as an expression of the vain architect’s ego. If you add to this the complexity, the slowness of construction, one could believe it is a painful and difficult job. Not at all! Perhaps it’s rather odd but people think we are still able to do a wonderfully creative job. Some women even find architects rather sexy!
B: You work with your brother Pablo. Is Lhoas & Lhoas architects a family business?
PL: We are the first architects in the family so it’s not yet a family business. We’re trying to convince my niece and nephew to join us but they’re still on the fence.
B: Please name five major influences that are not architects and why they are influences.
PL: Barnett Newman, because he said: “Il y a près de 15 ans, Harold Rosenberg me mit au défi d’expliquer ce qu’une de mes peintures pouvait bien vouloir dire pour le monde. Ma réponse fut que si lui et d’autres pouvaient la lire comme il convient, ça signifierait la fin de toute forme de capitalisme d’État et de totalitarisme. La réponse vaut toujours.” ["Almost 15 years ago Harold Rosenberg challenged me to explain what one of my paintings could possibly mean to the world. My answer was that if he and others could read it properly, it would mean the end of all state capitalism and totalitarianism. That answer is still true today."] [Ed note: interview, 1962]
Sigmund Freud: As Winnicott said, “J’étais en bonne santé et, grace à l’analyse et à l’autoanalyse, j’ai gagné un dose de folie; j’étais sain et, par l’analyse et l’autoanalyse, je suis parvenu à une certaine démence.”
Tony Smith: He wrote a text about how seeing a highway at night was the strongest artistic experience he had.
Marcel Duchamp: As Robert Morris said, “Duchamp, of course, attacked the Marxist notion that labor was an index of value…”
William Morris: because of his political and social commitment and his revolutionary vision of the place that art has in modern society.
B: Your work seems to bridge the gap between architecture, interior architecture, and furniture design. Is this a conscious decision?
PL: I don’t see a gap there. Maybe it’s linked to the teachings of La Cambre—and specifically the example of Henry Van Velde, the founder of the school—that are based on the idea of continuity between the different disciplines: design of furniture, objects, books, etc… an approach to an architect’s way of working inspired by the Arts & Crafts and Bauhaus movements.
B: Is risk-taking a constant conviction in your projects?
PL: I don’t think it’s a conviction. It’s more a collateral damage of searching for different shapes, materials etc…
B: There’s humor in your work. Can you tell us more about this and about your references? What makes you laugh?
PL: Thanks. I’m happy that you’ve noticed this! It’s difficult to explain our sense of humor or why we try to include it in our work. It has something to do with Venturi I think. It’s a way to bring some “contradiction and complexity” into the projects. As for what makes me laugh: a good Iranian joke [editor's note: Pierre's fiancée is Persian], Gary Larson and Vuillemein comics, Pierre Desproges, Thierry Brunfaut and Christophe Beaucarne in their summer performance « the oil barons ».
B: We noticed that some of your projects (like BozarShop, Parti Socialiste or Casa Encendida) look like an enlarged model. You seem to like to play with scale. Can you elaborate a bit?
PL: Absolutely. We also try to offer a reading that’s a bit contradictory in the scale of the projects. La Casa Encendida was really a test to do a model at a 1/1 scale. For the BozarShop it was a bit more complex. There was a more elaborate work done with the models.
B: Without being pompous, does Lhoas & Lhoas offer in your view a different proposal in architecture? If yes, in what sense?
PL: That’s really a very difficult question to answer. We certainly bring very specific answers to the questions that are posed to us. I would first say that what characterizes us is a mix of our influences: Our work is very anchored in modernist tradition, on a line that is part William Morris by way of Hugo Haring, Alvar Aalto and the constant questioning as embodied by BBPR or the Smithsons; to that we add an unconditional love for Robert Venturi and Hans Hollein. Other particularities are well expressed in your questions above: humor, shifts, DIY and particular attention to details, materials, and construction systems.
B: What is your relation to contemporary art? Is it a strong influence in your work? How?
PL: All artistic disciplines of our time interest us and are undoubtedly an influence: Plastic arts certainly but also music, dance, film, design. All that’s related to culture concerns and influences us.
B: You seem to like designing kitchens (and you’ve done some amazing ones). What is it that attracts you to kitchens? Are you a good cook? What’s your best dish?
PL: It’s true that we’ve designed a lot of kitchens! It’s almost becoming a specialty. I think the principal reason is that the kitchen is becoming a central and super important space in our way of life, a place where people spend a lot of time with family and friends. Besides that, it’s sometimes the only architectural element in larger projects. We renovate a house in a way that’s pretty classic, technical, and the clients want an [architectural] intervention that’s more personal, more specific, and contemporary for the kitchen.
I’m not a particularly good cook. I like to cook but I always make very simple dishes from my limited repertoire. I’m more inspired by products than by sophisticated recipes. My best dish according to my wife: a curry recipe that my grandmother learned in South Africa. On my side, I love pasta with fennel, caper, and anchovy sauce.
B: Can you describe your relations other architects?
PL: Not really.
B: What is the advantage to be based in Brussels? Do you do projects or build outside of Belgium? Do you plan to expand or move?
PL: Brussels is very easy for travel. Our office is very close to the Gare du Midi (South Station) so it’s very convenient to go to Paris, London, or the airport. We’ve had some projects abroad, shops in France for Heschung, the entrance of La Casa Encendida in Madrid, a gallery in New York for Marc Jancou, and a few apartments in Paris, to name a few. We’re looking for more projects abroad but currently have no plans to expand.
B: You did (and still do) a lot of projects with us (Base). Why is that?
PL: Friendship first and foremost. We also have the same creative vision and a strong interest and respect for each other’s discipline and work.
Read part II of this interview.
To see more work from Lhoas & Lhoas, please visit their website.
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