16 Dec Suchi Reddy
Architecture’s ability to uplift the communities it serves, and its power to both generate and amplify emotion have become a focus of my practice
Over the past seventeen years, my practice has evolved from generating responses to design problems, to becoming a call to action in support of an embodied approach to architecture. As a young architect, I began my solo practice organically as a response to a commission.
Without any preconceived notions of the nature of practice, I allowed it to evolve and shape itself around the intellectual lessons afforded through working in real time, in the world, with real people and real projects. The deep impact that architecture and design have on human behaviour and emotion was the original thread that inspired the practice and this has now become the fabric of my work. Architecture’s ability to uplift the communities it serves, and its power to both generate and amplify emotion have become a focus of my practice, and what I strive to achieve in every project.
My interest in this aspect of architecture has also evolved into a research focus on the effect on aesthetics and design on our brains and bodies through the study of the new field of neuroaesthetics that looks at bringing the fields of neuroscience and aesthetics together.
As architects, I feel that we have ceded our agency in our culture, to some degree ,to the forces of technology and capital , and it is my belief that bringing the focus back to the democratic space of the body through an embodied architecture that we can all relate to regardless of our differences can help us remind the public we serve, in a very visceral way, of the importance of architecture. “Form follows feeling“ has become my mantra and the guiding principle of my practice REDDYMADE.
To develop a culturally specific and globally curious eye, and to work towards generating maximal impact with minimal detriment to the planet.
Growing slowly over the better part of two decades from being a solo practitioner to a design studio of sixteen people engaged in all aspects of design and architecture, has generated a diverse practice that encompasses many typologies but maintains an intimate approach to making work.
It has brought me to a place in my career that allows me to assess the impact of architecture at all scales and degrees of intervention ; to develop a culturally specific and globally curious eye, and to work towards generating maximal impact with minimal detriment to the planet. Sustainability becomes a larger focus every day, challenging us to find new creative strategies that can make a difference, both in what we make and how we make it.
Celebrating diversity both in people and projects, my practice has taken on projects that range from research to realization, like designing prototypical exterior textiles that can generate power, to the creative adaptive reuse of historic structures , to large scale commercial interiors , micro and prefabricated housing and single family projects.
Gaining presence as an artistic practice over the years has also afforded me the opportunity to include public installations as part of my studio’s portfolio. From a sculpture that speaks architectonically of the power of love to an installation that covered 2.5 acres of a public park with messages and images, we have been able to reach a wide audience with a human – centric message of engagement and wonder.
Success in design is resultant of the contribution of many minds and many hands as opposed to a single master architect or designer.
As architects, I feel we are uniquely well trained, and especially well suited as master editors and master collaborators to be an integral part of the answers to the complex issues facing our cities and our communities.
The problems of our times and of the future demand a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach for their solutions, and we need to look not just to advances in technology, but also to advances in the sciences to find new and more effective ways of making our places and our cities. Architecture and design affect our wellbeing, and we need to exploit its potential to understand how best to nurture our communities in living, working, creating and healing.
Whether developing a prototypical healing room for children recovering from disorders of consciousness, or creating a project in collaboration with Google and the International Arts & Mind Lab at John Hopkins University demonstrating the effects of design on our biology, we are hard at work in my practice to explore and understand better all the ways in which architecture and design can help us as humans.
Design matters in many more substantive ways than just the subjective, and it is our prerogative as architects to take ownership of the power of the poetics of space and steer our world to a better future.
Suchi Reddy
THEME
Architecture and Practice
DESIGN FIELD
Architecture and Practice
LOCATION
New York, USA
STUDIO NAME
Reddymade
ABOUT
Architect Suchi Reddy, Founding Principal of Reddymade, established her firm in 2002. “Form follows feeling ” is Reddy’s mantra with her primary focus and passion being the study of how the built environment affects us. Reddy’s strong belief that good design, calibrated carefully to the human, influences well-being, and creativity influences all her projects. Specializing in diversity, Reddymade’s portfolio includes commercial and residential work, large scale public installations, exhibit design, adaptive reuse of historic buildings, large-scale commercial interior projects and residential projects that include houses, micro-apartments and prefab architecture.
Suchi Reddy is a member of the Van Alen Institute Leadership Council and is a Member of the Board of the Design Trust for Public Space and the Storefront for Art and Architecture. She was appointed The Plym Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Illinois School of Architecture for the Fall 2019 semester.
