(LOOK) CLOSELY.

directs a practice in Berlin called constructconcept or COCO, committed to the fusion of design, construction and the environment. The interdependency of these elements is constantly reasserted. She believes that sustainability should be pursued through fundamental architectural principles, the empowerment of the individual and the use of far less materials. To this end Michelle initiated the Atmoseer Project, which seeks to render spatial climates visible through immersive architectural installations which raise awareness of its many complex interactivities, and in so doing, empower people to actively adjust their spatial climate and their behaviour therein.

Her Stacked House, in Berlin Weissensee, a showcase for affordable sustainability, won the KFW award for sustainable building in 2014.  Rather than searching for solutions to ill posed problems we stand back and look closely, finding inspiration in what is already there.

MICHELLE HOWARD

CONSTRUCTCONCEPT

Coaching is first and foremost learning, and mine is seated in the conviction that greater perception of and interaction with the world around us can provide untold levels of inspiration, and indeed propose solutions, if we only looked closely enough. When we create something, it is added to an existing framework, it is an intervention in an existing situation with its own unique qualities. Developing methods of research and observation to discover and integrate these qualities is paramount. In 2015 Michelle published,Research-Observe-Make, An Alternative Manual for Architectural Education”, with Birkhäuser Verlag →research →observe →make: Acting, not just problem solving, using research and observation to propose new futures for others and our profession, seeking more than representation.

PROFESSORSHIPS

SINCE 2008 - INSTITUTE FOR ART & ARCHITECTURE, ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS, VIENNA

2006-2008 - LIMERICK / 2006 - CORNELL / 2004-2006 - TRIER

COACH

TEACHING AND LEARNING

Good Architecture is the result of great teamwork. Michelle Howard has spent the better half of her career collaborating with some of the most important Art and Architecture practices in the world. Notably 6 years collaborating with the Renzo Piano Building Workshop in Genoa and Paris on the Auditorium Santa Cecilia in Rome and the Cite International in Lyon. She led the IMAX Cinema complex, part of the Potsdamer Platz urban ensemble in Berlin. In the next 6 years she led two seminal projects for the Office for Metropolitan Architecture, the Dutch embassy in Berlin and the Casa da Musica in Porto. With Monica Bonvicini on the only publicly commissioned sculpture for the London Olympics of 2012. Collaboration is a social and political act, Michelle is an active member of wirmachendas, originally 100 women from the worlds of art, academia and public life united by the common goal of facing up to the challenge of worldwide migration with humanity and expertise.

COLLABORATE

TEAMWORK