Michael Hopkins

Schlumberger Centre

The Mound Stand

Bracken House

Glyndebourne Opera House

(b. 1935) Michael Hopkins of Michael Hopkins and Partners designs his projects to respond to specific opportunities and constraints within each site. He claims he cannot proceed 'without a client, a brief and a site'. Although a functionalist, Hopkins rarely creates purely functional architecture. Instead, he blends practical considerations with a series of High Tech rules and aesthetic priorities to create an innovative architecture.

Hopkins thinks of buildings as industrial products. He wants his buildings to express the idea if not the reality of pre-fabrication and repetition. He uses High-Tech materials as much for the image they project as for their inherent cheapness, lightness, and durability.

Hopkin's enthusiasm for technology occurred relatively late in his career, after his wife, Patty, explored the architectural possibilities of a systematic building technology. Although this initially generated a severe form of architecture, he gradually integrated more expression into his designs. His later use of tensile structures added an unexpectedly flamboyant element to his designs.

Although Hopkins sees architecture as an abstract discipline based more in intellect than sensibility, he feels that architecture should serve society.

Davies, Colin. Hopkins' rules. The Architectural Review v175 p 54-7. May 1984.

Michael Hopkins & Partners
27 Broadley Terrace
London NW1 6LG
England
vox +44 020 7724 1751
fax +44 020 7723 0932
email: hopkins@dial.pipex.com

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