Interior, Details and Spaces by Ian Shaw Architects

After an unusual post yesterday, an object inspired by a real world use that had been made in to a smaller form, I thought I’d look for an architect that’s a little closer to home. Some people might say that I get caught up in Japanese culture and often showcase creatives, designers, and makers from this part of the world exclusively. As one can imagine when you live on the opposite site of the world these individuals are very inspiring, and it’s great to uncover makers that haven’t had any spotlight here, or that aren’t explored outside of their own country. Saying that, I’ve got no prejudice against other nationalities who’re making great works, in fact I welcome it and would love to see this more often. Well that’s the general idea of this blog, to promote and inspire others to join a similar path of thought.

One thing I like about Japanese architecture, Scandinavian architecture often falls in this category as well, is the fact that a lot of the architects are independent and own their own studios. They also don’t just work on ‘corporate’ projects, they try to cover a wide variety of projects, such as smaller housing and other architecture of that nature. Unfortunately a lot of the works on this side of the world are a bit too commercial for my liking, and speak too much of the money that was paid to create them. An architect that I did enjoy though, who’s the same nationality as myself, is Ian Shaw and his unique eye and stripped down approach to construction.

Ian Shaw was educated at the University of Liverpool, UK, and the University of Oregon, USA, with his internship spent at the highly respected Swiss practice, arb Architects. Following ten years working in some of Europe’s leading architectural firms, Ian established Ian Shaw Architekten, in Frankfurt am Main, in 1998. The principles of the studio revolve around appreciating and understanding materials, also the use of light as a building element. This becomes quite apparent in the photography above and below, a great use of space, I also like the shadows created in different parts of the build and how they play a part in the overall feeling. Hopefully you’ll enjoy these and take some of these ideas in to your own design drawings or sketches. Plenty more to be seen like this on the studio portfolio below.

shaw-architekten.de

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