REGISTER - DKCM - DAVID KNIGHT AND CRISTINA MONTEIRO

In this episode Andrew Clancy speaks with David Knight and Cristina Monteiro of DK-CM architects. Their practice is one concerned with the public in many forms. Often their clients are public bodies, their work is very much for the public, and they often seek to incorporate these public voices into their design processes. In many ways they carry a tradition here with a long lineage in architecture - of architectures role in ameliorating, improving and adjusting - as a part of politics and of society more generally. They do not have a naive view of the positivist political possibilities of architecture, but rather see its political and social relations as a fundamental constituent. In their own words "We are interested in an architecture that is an active participant in the actions, movements and conversations that form society.” So their work has a beautiful capacity to be read in high and low terms. It is engaging playful and rigorously resolved. It is participatory in its gestation and draws its ideas from a deep understanding of history. It is frugal in its specification and robust and joyful in its making. They write, design buildings and public spaces and research. So their research will range from the value of the pub as a social infrastructure to cheat guides to permitted development to allow people modify their own places in confidence. Their website is a great respository of all of this, and is well worth some time - to engage with their essays and see their projects. All are welcome, so bring up a beer from the bar and see you in the atrium. http://dk-cm.com/ —— Credits: Register is the Research Group in the Department of Architecture & Landscape at the Kingston School of Art, Kingston University London www.kingstonarchitecture.london Head of Department: Heba ElSharkawy Producer: Laura Evans / Andrew Clancy Interviewer: Andrew Clancy Editor: Andrew Clancy Music: Poddington Bear - Rainbow Architecture