op.AL is an award winning, cross-disciplinary design practice located in New York City, formed between an Architect, and a Landscape Architect. The office approaches design problems by exploring the opposing vantage points conventionally established in the two constructed arts. Our work seeks to recalibrate the subject - object relationships between Landscape + Building. Frequent conversations surround the following oppositions:
TEMPORAL : ADAPTABILITY + STASIS
Equilibrium as rooted in time, place and culture - adapting, growing.
MATERIAL : NATURAL SURREALISM + SYNTHETIC REALISM
Establishing a Playful awareness of our Anthropentric Domain
PLACE : CONTINGENCY + AUTONOMY
Objects as placed + placeless, situated + siteless, integrated + discrete.
VANTAGE : INDIVIDUAL + COLLECTIVE
Affect oriented Immersion and Effect Oriented Observation.