Annabelle Selldorf
Annabelle Selldorf
Annabelle Selldorf is a German-born architect and founding principal of Selldorf Architects, a New York City-based architecture practice. She is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. Her projects include the Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility, Neue Galerie New York, renovation of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute and two high-rise residential buildings along New York's High Line. She is currently designing an expansion of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego and several buildings for the LUMA...
NationalityGerman
ProfessionArchitect
CountryGermany
I never like things that don't look nice. It's really that simple.
I know I'm old-fashioned, but there's just something about the act of looking at books versus taking in information on a screen, which is so one-dimensional. There's a sense of ownership that you have with books, a physical connection.
What I do isn't radical. It's just distinct in small ways.
I remember, as a young architect, people always talked about I. M. Pei's concrete. He had a particular specification no one else knew.
When you have rules to abide by, does that curtail you as a designer, or set you free? People think of classical architecture visually, but I think the brilliant part of it is actually spatial.
There isn't any one material that's mine. It all depends on the context. For example, I did a house that had the most exquisite marble applications. That sounds ostentatious, but it wasn't, given the context. The color white I subscribe to extensively. I love thinking about color, but I often go with white.
I always tend to think, even in residential projects, about what a space is being asked to do - where is it located, what are the circumstances, where can I attack the problem, so to speak. How can you create a narrative for people moving through it? How can you convey its character?
Everything is complicated about using concrete - the discipline and dedication necessary to make consistent batches, understanding exactly how the formwork will be laid, what the timing is for the pours, how you keep it clean and neat to achieve a fine quality.