Germany. Detroit. China. Spain. All four regions couldn't be more different, but, to Lars Gräbner and Christina Hansen of VolumeOne Design Studio, these locations provide them with the opportunity to approach architecture and design with a new perspective.
According to Gräbner and Hansen, exploring and testing new design solutions means learning to "not react to each task with predetermined concepts or solutions." For the duo, it is essential to learn how to develop an agile design process.
For this week's Studio Snapshot, Archinect had a chance to connect with Gräbner and Hansen. Together, they share their experiences working within the constructs of design by exploring regional differences and learning how to celebrate them. With their knowledge of running a practice, teaching at the University of Michigan's Taubman School of Architecture and Urban Planning, and having an extensive client list in China, both discuss the importance of communication and embracing scale and cultural differences.
How many people are in your practice?
8 (including two partners).
What prompted you to start your own practice and how did you two meet?
We both met at the Universität Hannover in the graduate program of Architecture in 1996. While in school, we both worked for Studio Libeskind in Berlin, and after graduation in 1996, Lars continued working for Libeskind as lead designer on various projects for four years.
In 2000, we both moved to Detroit following the invitation to teach at the University of Michigan’s Taubman School of Architecture and Urban Planning.
While Lars took on a teaching position, Christina worked in various firms as designer and project architect in the Detroit region gaining knowledge necessary to start our own practice. In the meantime, we participated on various competitions and realized several small projects internationally.
With the successful competition entry for the Acrobatic Center in Hefei, China, and Lars’ coinciding appointment as Assistant Professor of Practice in Architecture, we formally registered our firm as “VolumeOne Design Studio, LLC” in Detroit in 2011. Since then, we have worked on numerous projects in China, which has enabled us to be a firm experienced in large-scale projects.
Is scaling up a goal?
We both have continuously discussed the pros and cons of scaling up the office to a size beyond 10 workers. We can imagine an ideal office of no more than 25 at this time, so we can be involved in the design and execution of each project. Already with a small office, we can execute large projects by partnering with local architects of record. This has been proven to be successful in all our internationally realized projects already.
What are the benefits of having your own practice and staying small?
We are able to contribute to the current design discourse with our own work and are able to test and explore new forms of living, produce adequate urban responses by defining contextual relationships we believe in, and contribute to urban design much more effectively.
We enjoy working collaboratively with other entities and government departments, and love to get our shoes dirty on the job site.
We have the flexibility to explore, test, and design to the best of our ability, in order to find innovative and inspiring solutions for unique questions. We enjoy not having the pressure of a corporate firm, and try to keep our energy high in innovation and creativity with everyone in the firm.
What have been the biggest hurdles of having your own practice?
While having the flexibility with our staff to explore and innovate, we have to make sure that everyone gets paid on time and adequately. With a small number of projects at a time, this can be challenging. We depend on a good client relationship and have to deliver always first-class products. There is no slack possible.
What we learned is to be agile in the design process. Clients and government agencies have no patience for theories and concepts.
What do you want your studio to be known for? Where do you see your firm in 5 years?
We want our studio to be known for the creation of innovative design solutions at varying scales, from urban design to architectural implementation, and all the way to the detailing. We love to be challenged with difficult sites and programs, which stimulates us to produce unique and convincing solutions. We see our work as holistic from urban context to the detail.
We see our firm as being highly diverse, with a continuously international team, and hope to be innovative and culturally sensible while producing inspiring and unconventional work.
Do you have a favorite project? Completed or in progress.
We have many favorite projects and it is almost impossible to compare them due to their project-related challenges. Each realized project, as well as many successful competition entries, taught us a great deal. Several projects have yielded amazing discoveries.
For example, we found ourselves in the sensitive realm of interpreting a local Chinese architectural tradition with the Anhui Museum of Art. We succeeded over the three big Chinese offices, which made us quite proud of our hard work. This sensibility, together with our culturally diverse team, gave us a path to explore and test new solutions. This taught us to not react to each task with predetermined concepts or solutions—each project has its own life in our office.
Do you notice your academic work influencing your own practice and design approach?
Certainly, we see the university studio work as an integral part of our professional work. We conduct fairly realistic studios without losing focus on exploration, innovation and experimentation. We allow the students to have this freedom, but also communicate the results convincingly within the realm of realized work in the international context.
Therefore, we take the work of students seriously, and we are sure in some way that certain solutions have a positive impact on our own work. Especially in the domestic market, we test and explore housing solutions, which can be implemented to some degree. This stimulates us to go further and beyond the current models of developer-driven solutions for housing in this country.
Detroit has become a “must-watch city” thanks to its resilient design community. How has the city of Detroit influenced your practice?
We moved to Detroit in 2001 already with the vision of being a part of a revitalization of the city. Finally, after many years we are playing an active role as recognized designers. We have taken part in several local competitions, such as the re-design of Hart Plaza. We strove for an adequate new vision for the riverfront, which also has been influenced by the research Lars has conducted as a contribution to a recent publication called "Mapping Detroit" where he discusses an alternative to urban planning and urban design by day-lighting the covered rivers of the city in order to restructure the entire city based on necessary environmental solutions.
Since we relocated to Detroit, we always had the vision of involving the public more in what is happening behind the scenes in regards of ongoing or future development and starting an ongoing discourse about the importance of design for a city and its residents in many scales.
Can you talk a little bit about your involvement with Detroit Design 139?
Since we relocated to Detroit, we always had the vision of involving the public more in what is happening behind the scenes in regards of ongoing or future development and starting an ongoing discourse about the importance of design for a city and its residents in many scales.
Housing takes the most important role in this endeavor. In 2016, in discussion with Maurice Cox, the City of Detroit Director of the Planning and Development Department, we suggested to form an initiative similar to the IBA’s (Internationale Bauausstellung), which have been conducted in Germany and several other European countries since 1901. Some of those efforts have gained immense international recognition, such as the International Building Exhibition in Berlin (1979-1987) or the “IBA Emscher Park (1989-1999). We suggested a similarly organized process of showcasing excellence in housing architecture and named it IBX_D 2017-2021 (International Building Exhibition – Detroit). During the time from 2017 to the final exhibit in 2021, a collaboration of academic and cultural institutions, as well as the City of Detroit and the State of Michigan are to support excellence in design for the housing sector.
In the short term, this idea became the “Detroit Design 139” exhibition with many players such as the Design Core Detroit, the Planning Department, Taubman College/ University of Michigan, AIA Detroit Chapter and many others. Bedrock became the main financial supporter of the initiative, without which this concept would not have been able to be realized. Now conducted for a second time, the exhibit became a recognized initiative in the field of architecture and design to showcase the best work that is yet to be realized in the City of Detroit. Many of the collaborating student teams of Taubman College are being showcased in the exhibition with their contribution of innovative housing in Detroit.
Your practice has worked on a handful of educational design projects in China. What are a few things you’ve learned when designing these institutions? Do they differ from designing an academic institution in the United States?
What we learned is to be agile in the design process. Clients and government agencies have no patience for theories and concepts. The communication of one’s concepts have to be clear and convincing and be communicated in simple terms.
One of the most important take-aways were to be extremely fast in our designs and in our thinking. In these projects, producing surprising results and findings are more important than fulfilling a mere task.
The communication of one’s concepts have to be clear and convincing and be communicated in simple terms [...] Responsibility is not given—it’s taken.
One should not be scared away from larger-scale projects, like those being planned in China. We had a great experience with students to work on large and extremely large scales, which the students had no prior exposure to. In contrary, the scale and cultural difference energized the students to develop innovative and high-quality work—certainly some of the best we have seen at the university level.
What is the best advice you’ve been given during your career?
Lastly, if you could describe your work/practice in three words, what would they be?
Unique. Adaptive. Forward-looking
Katherine is an LA-based writer and editor. She was Archinect's former Editorial Manager and Advertising Manager from 2018 – January 2024. During her time at Archinect, she's conducted and written 100+ interviews and specialty features with architects, designers, academics, and industry ...
1 Comment
Great work.
How many public schools in the US can compete with what is being built in China?
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