Archinect - Features

Architect Michael Leckie, of Vancouver-Based Leckie Studio, Discusses his Intention and Craft-Driven Small Studio

2018-06-04T12:41:00-04:00

Architect Michael Leckie began his professional career working at top firms in Canada and Europe. But as the type of person who prefers to create things himself, it was only natural that he established his own practice Leckie Studio Architecture + Design. Since 2015, the interdisciplinary Vancouver firm has designed a fantastic variety of eye-popping interiors and residential projects, plus they have a growing roster of big clients and collaborators. Without a doubt, things are looking up for the young studio, who received the 2018 Emerging Firm Award from the Architectural Institute of British Columbia last month.

In the latest Small Studio Snapshot, Michael Leckie talks about the significance of keeping his practice small, the democratic nature of Canadian design, and some of the exciting plans his firm has in store.

From Bjarke Ingels to Kengo Kuma, Ian Gillespie is a Developer that Appreciates the Value of Architecture

2017-04-26T12:12:00-04:00

Making the leap from paper to brick and mortar (or from the screen to IRL) tends to require a fair amount of financial support. Back in the old days, that would mean a wealthy patron like a Medici or a Guggenheim. And today—well, it also usually means a wealthy patron. For big projects, like a BIG tower, they’re often developers. But, as every architect knows, few developers actually support innovative design. Enter someone like Ian Gillespie, the founder of Westbank and the backer of many significant projects by major architects, from Bjarke Ingels to Kengo Kuma.

The school of helpful knocks: the experiential pedagogy of Design Build Research

2015-10-21T16:05:00-04:00

In some veins of architecture pedagogy, there seems to be a movement towards new technology at the expense of hands-on construction techniques. In the opinion of architect Michael Green and creative entrepreneur Scott Hawthorn, these schools increasingly churn out graduates who are so moored in abstraction that they have very little practical ability. This is problematic in a field where clients and real, physical buildings often refuse to be abstract. Design Build Research (DBR), based in Vancouver, British Columbia, is Green and Hawthorn’s solution to schools that isolate designers from the community for which they design.