Architecture as Material Culture

Francis-jones morehen thorp (fjmt) is a multi-award winning Australian based practice dedicated to design excellence and the enhancement of the public domain. They are a multi-disciplinary design studio that explores the evolution of architectural form, synthesising the site and programme through elaboration of the tectonic. Their work is centred on the spatial and organic interconnection of built form and site to embody values and aspiration A place acquires meaning through human intervention and transformation. Raised to the level of architecture these transformations interpret and represent society's values and aspirations. FJMT has a reputation as an ideas-driven practice with an agenda for strong public engagement and resolution of tectonics. 'Form Material Assembly' documents this ability to uncover the real and often contradictory issues and potentials of a project through a very careful analysis of purpose and place. FJMT's work varies considerably in scale yet it is all unified by an intuitive sense of place and an elaboration of the tectonic. 'Form Material Assembly' explores and presents FJMT's work in detail and places it within the strongly emerging culture of Australian Architecture. It documents the assembly and resolution of works and studies that epitomise FJMT's contribution to the culture of place and the wider culture of architecture.

About the Author

Kenneth Frampton is a British architect, critic, historian and the Ware Professor of Architecture at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University, New York. Richard Francis-Jones is fjmt's design director and is responsible for the design of some of Australia's most acclaimed buildings. Recent fjmt projects designed by Richard have received Australia's highest architectural awards including the Sir Zelman Cowan, Sulman, Lloyd Rees and Greenway Awards. 300 photographs and 40 illustrations