Niall McLaughlin discusses several of his firm’s projects, including the Bishop Edward King Chapel and the Auckland Castle Faith Museum. He often designs buildings for faith-based institutions on sites with deeply established history and context. He describes how his process of capturing light and creating counterpoints for the light is central to his designs. And he explains what it means to create a “prayerful” space that embraces contemporary and historic elements, and that is built in a way that captures the pleasure of its construction.

Learning objectives:  

• List some examples of how Niall McLaughlin harnessed light for different projects.
• Describe how McLaughlin sees the role of architects vs. occupants in creating meaning in the built environment.
• Explain McLaughlin’s interest in the tectonic aspect of design.
• Discuss what McLaughlin means when he talks about ordinary buildings that, later, become monumental.

Credits: 0.5 AIA LU/HSW

Speaker: Aaron Prinz