Pete Silver & Will McLean
Encyclopedia
Pete Silver & Will McLean are two British architectural practitioners, educators, writers, and technical theorists who work together as a duo. They have taught at the Architectural Association, The Bartlett
(University College London
), The University of Westminster
’s School of Architecture and the Built environment, and The School of Architecture and Construction at The University of Greenwich
, thus gaining a privileged position in the contemporary London architectural scene.
's son. He trained at the Architectural Association under John Frazer
.
Silver worked for the South London Solon Housing Association
, collaborating with architects such as Patrick Keiller
, Edward Cullinan
and Walter Segal
. He trained at the Architectural Association under Professors John Frazer
and Gordon Pask
, and became a researcher in the Land Use Research Unit at King's College London
, gaining a unique insight into Professor Alice Coleman
’s groundbreaking, if controversial work, on post-war housing regeneration.
Silver then worked at the Architectural Association - where he established pioneering courses in media and communication - and the Bartlett School of Architecture where he introduced specialist courses on real-time
environmentally-responsive systems.
where they jointly head the Technical Studies Department.
They have recently co-authored two architecture books: Fabrication: the designer's guide (Architectural Press) and Introduction to Architectural Technology (Laurence King Publishing). Silver is also a director in private practice and McLean works on a series of projects with Bruce McLean (ft: most notably Dalry Primary School in North Ayrshire, Scotland. The project was completed in 2007, www.primaryspace.net) and with US architect and artist Adam Kalkin
Periodicals
The Bartlett
The Bartlett is the Faculty of the Built Environment at University College London. University College London created the first chair of architecture in 1841, and the school is named after the original benefactor, Sir Herbert Bartlett.-External links:*...
(University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
), The University of Westminster
University of Westminster
The University of Westminster is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom. Its origins go back to the foundation of the Royal Polytechnic Institution in 1838, and it was awarded university status in 1992.The university's headquarters and original campus are based on Regent...
’s School of Architecture and the Built environment, and The School of Architecture and Construction at The University of Greenwich
University of Greenwich
The University of Greenwich is a British university located in the London Borough of Greenwich, London, England. The main campus is located on the grounds of the Old Royal Naval College, a central location within the Maritime Greenwich UNESCO World Heritage Site.-History:The history of the...
, thus gaining a privileged position in the contemporary London architectural scene.
Early life
Mclean is artist Bruce McLeanBruce McLean
Bruce McLean is a Scottish performance artist and painter.McLean was born in Glasgow and studied at Glasgow School of Art from 1961 to 1963, and at St Martin's School of Art, London,from 1963 to 1966...
's son. He trained at the Architectural Association under John Frazer
John Frazer
Pioneering computer technologies in architecture, urbanism and design, his early research was developed at the Architectural Association in London, Cambridge University, the University of Ulster, and at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University where he was Swire Chair Professor, Head of the School of...
.
Silver worked for the South London Solon Housing Association
Housing association
Housing associations in the United Kingdom are independent not-for-profit bodies that provide low-cost "social housing" for people in housing need. Any trading surplus is used to maintain existing homes and to help finance new ones...
, collaborating with architects such as Patrick Keiller
Patrick Keiller
Patrick Keiller is a British film-maker, writer and lecturer.-Biography:Keiller was born in 1950, in Blackpool and studied at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London. In 1979 he joined the Royal College of Art's Department of Environmental Media as a postgraduate student...
, Edward Cullinan
Edward Cullinan
Edward Cullinan, CBE, is a British architect.Cullinan was educated at Cambridge University, the Architectural Association, and the University of California, Berkeley before working for Denys Lasdun where he designed the student residences for the University of East Anglia.Cullinan's practice,...
and Walter Segal
Walter Segal
Walter Segal was an architect who developed a system of self-build housing.The Segal method is based on traditional timber frame methods modified to use standard materials available today. It eliminates the need for wet trades such as bricklaying and plastering resulting in a light-weight methods...
. He trained at the Architectural Association under Professors John Frazer
John Frazer
Pioneering computer technologies in architecture, urbanism and design, his early research was developed at the Architectural Association in London, Cambridge University, the University of Ulster, and at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University where he was Swire Chair Professor, Head of the School of...
and Gordon Pask
Gordon Pask
Andrew Gordon Speedie Pask was an English cybernetician and psychologist who made significant contributions to cybernetics, instructional psychology, experimental epistemology and educational technology....
, and became a researcher in the Land Use Research Unit at King's College London
King's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
, gaining a unique insight into Professor Alice Coleman
Alice Coleman
Alice Mary Coleman is emeritus professor of geography at King's College London. She is noted for directing the 1960s Second Land Use Survey of Britain and for analyses of land use planning and urban design taken up by the political right....
’s groundbreaking, if controversial work, on post-war housing regeneration.
Silver then worked at the Architectural Association - where he established pioneering courses in media and communication - and the Bartlett School of Architecture where he introduced specialist courses on real-time
Real-time computing
In computer science, real-time computing , or reactive computing, is the study of hardware and software systems that are subject to a "real-time constraint"— e.g. operational deadlines from event to system response. Real-time programs must guarantee response within strict time constraints...
environmentally-responsive systems.
Collaborative career
In 2001, Silver and McLean joined School of Architecture and the Built environment, at the University of WestminsterUniversity of Westminster
The University of Westminster is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom. Its origins go back to the foundation of the Royal Polytechnic Institution in 1838, and it was awarded university status in 1992.The university's headquarters and original campus are based on Regent...
where they jointly head the Technical Studies Department.
They have recently co-authored two architecture books: Fabrication: the designer's guide (Architectural Press) and Introduction to Architectural Technology (Laurence King Publishing). Silver is also a director in private practice and McLean works on a series of projects with Bruce McLean (ft: most notably Dalry Primary School in North Ayrshire, Scotland. The project was completed in 2007, www.primaryspace.net) and with US architect and artist Adam Kalkin
Lecture Series
They co-curate a highly successful public lecture series, The Technical Studies Lectures, hosted by the University of Westminster, which offers a platform for the dissemination of such speakers’ ideas as those in the following non-exhaustive list:- Allford, Simon
- Will AlsopWill AlsopWill Allen Alsop, OBE RA is a British architect based in London. He is responsible for several distinctive and controversial modernist buildings, most in the United Kingdom. Alsop's buildings are usually distinguished by their use of bright colour and unusual forms...
- Michael F. AshbyMichael F. AshbyMichael Farries Ashby is a British materials engineer. He is a Royal Society Research Professor, and a Principal Investigator at the Engineering Design Centre at Cambridge University...
- Philip BallPhilip BallPhilip Ball is an English science writer. He holds a degree in chemistry from Oxford and a doctorate in physics from Bristol University. He was an editor for the journal Nature for over 10 years. He now writes a regular column in Chemistry World...
- Botsford, Gianni
- Carr-Smith, Dave
- Clear, Nic
- Cripps, Andrew
- DRMM's De Rijke, Alex
- John FrazerJohn FrazerPioneering computer technologies in architecture, urbanism and design, his early research was developed at the Architectural Association in London, Cambridge University, the University of Ulster, and at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University where he was Swire Chair Professor, Head of the School of...
- Ghahremani, Katy Make ArchitectsMAKE ArchitectsMake Architects is an architectural practice based in the United Kingdom founded by Ken Shuttleworth after he left Foster and Partners in 2003. They have offices in London, Birmingham, Beijing, Abu Dhabi and Dubai and the practice is currently engaged in projects worldwide ranging from high rise...
- Thomas HeatherwickThomas HeatherwickThomas Heatherwick is an English designer known for innovative use of engineering and materials in public monuments and sculptures...
- Richard Horden
- Eva JiricnaEva JiricnáEva Jiřičná CBE is a renowned Czech architect, and designer, active in London and Prague. She is known for her attention to detail and work of a distinctly modern style...
- Hanif KaraHanif KaraHanif Kara is design director and co-founder of London-based structural engineering practice Adams Kara Taylor . He has taught design internationally, is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Architecture Foundation and was a commissioner for CABE from 2008-2011...
of Adams Kara Taylor - Patrick KeillerPatrick KeillerPatrick Keiller is a British film-maker, writer and lecturer.-Biography:Keiller was born in 1950, in Blackpool and studied at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London. In 1979 he joined the Royal College of Art's Department of Environmental Media as a postgraduate student...
- David George KendallDavid George KendallDavid George Kendall FRS was an English statistician, who spent much of his academic life in the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. He worked with M. S...
- Alastair LansleyAlastair LansleyAlastair Lansley CBE is a British architect.Alastair Lansley was the lead architect for the reconstruction and rebuilding of London's St Pancras Station as terminus of the High Speed 1 line from the Channel Tunnel to London...
- Tim Macfarlane of Dewhurst Macfarlane and Partners http://www.dewmac.com/
- Sugata MitraSugata MitraProf. Sugata Mitra is Professor of Educational Technology at the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences at Newcastle University, UK. He is best known for his Hole in the Wall experiment, and widely cited in works on literacy and education...
- Morris, Ben Vector FoiltecVector FoiltecVector Foiltec is a business using transparent plastic cushions filled with air as an architectural cladding technology. This solution can be better than glass panels in applications such as roofs over aggressive environments where chemicals would attach a metal windows frame, or where the...
- Pawley, Martin
- Pellegrino, Sergio James Watt International MedalJames Watt International MedalThe James Watt Medal is the name of two awards named after Scottish engineer James Watt, both awarded for excellence in engineering:-James Watt International Gold Medal of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers:...
- Cedric PriceCedric PriceCedric Price was an English architect and influential teacher and writer on architecture.The son of an architect, Price was born in Stone, Staffordshire and studied architecture at Cambridge University Cedric Price (11 September 1934 – 10 August 2003) was an English architect and influential...
- Ridsdill-Smith, Roger Ove ArupOve ArupSir Ove Nyquist Arup, CBE, MICE, MIStructE known as Ove Arup, was a leading Anglo-Danish engineer and generally considered to be one of the foremost architectural structural engineers of his time...
- Rupert SheldrakeRupert SheldrakeRupert Sheldrake is an English scientist. He is known for having proposed an unorthodox account of morphogenesis and for his research into parapsychology. His books and papers stem from his theory of morphic resonance, and cover topics such as animal and plant development and behaviour, memory,...
- Adam Somlai Fischer
- Vincent, Julien
- Zerning, John
Former students
- Paul Bavister
- Jason Bruges
- Andrew Whiting (HûT)
- Usman Haque
- Chris Leung (sixteen*(makers))
- Eyal Weizman
Select bibliography
Books- Frazer J.H (1995), An Evolutionary Architecture, Themes VII, Architectural Association, London, UK. (Contributions by Silver) (out of print but free download at http://www.aaschool.ac.uk/publications/ea/intro.html)
- Silver, Pete and McLean, William and Veglio, Simon (2006) Fabrication: the designers guide: the illustrated works of twelve specialist UK fabricators, Architectural Press, Oxford, UK. ISBN 0750665580
- Silver, Pete and McLean, William (2008) An Introduction to Architectural Technology, Laurence King, London, UK ISBN 978 1 85669 566 4
- McLean, William (2008) Quik Build: Adam Kalkin’s ABC of Container Architecture, Bibliotheque McLean, London, UK ISBN 978-0955886805
Periodicals
- Pete Silver and Peter Fluck (2001) Non-Linear dynamical Systems, In: A.D. Magazine, Architectural Design Profile No 123.
- Silver et al., (2001) Prototypical Applications of Cybernetic Systems in Architectural Contexts, In: Kybernetes, Volume 30 Number 7/8.
- McLean, William (2005–2009) McLean's nuggets. In: Architectural design (various). Wiley, hichester, UK.
Further reading
- http://www.wmin.ac.uk/sabe/page-311
- http://www.wmin.ac.uk/sabe/page-287 http://www.gre.ac.uk/schools/arc/departments/architecture_and_urbanism
- http://www.bibliothequemclean.com
- http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/109924136/home
- http://www.architectureandhygiene.com
- http://www.primaryspace.net
- http://www.quik-build.com/
- http://www.pallabs.org/
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2000/jan/26/art.artsfeatures
- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/25/garden/25books.html?fta=y
- http://www.presidentsmedals.com/Project_Details.aspx?id=2187
- http://www.aaschool.ac.uk/publications/ea/intro.html