Piers Taylor: Making architecture, nature and community

In Episode 13 of Season 2 of A is for Architecture, I speak with architect, writer, teacher and television presenter, Piers Taylor about his journey to architecture, and the development of his practice, Invisible Studio. We speak about the way he works, his approach to design-as-making and making-as-design, the problems of professionalism, and touch on his 2020 doctoral thesis, Developing a Framework for Describing, Planning and Evaluating Empowerment in Architectural Making Projects, which he undertook at the University of Reading, supervised by Flora Samuel. Piers has produced a huge amount - written, spoken and designed - and there’s much online to see of his and Invisible Studio’s work. Some recent highlights include a rammed earth yoga studio, a shelter from ‘timber sourced within the Westonbirt arboretum in Gloucestershire, England’, and a mixed-use performing arts centre in Watchet, England. Invisible Studio was featured in a lovely wee movie, made by Laura Mark and Jim Stephenson, as part of their Practice series, in 2020. Invisible Studio’s website includes a blog, documenting the practice’s thinking and work, as well as other media matters. Piers is on the socials, too, and you can find him on Twitter here (Invisible Studio is here), and on Instagram here. Happy listening! + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Music credits: Bruno Gillick + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + aisforarchitecture.org Apple: podcasts.apple.com Spotify: open.spotify.com Google: podcasts.google.com Amazon: music.amazon.co.uk