Close Up

The last two decades have brought with them unprecedented technological changes that have had a far-reaching impact on design ethos and culture. Hernan Diaz Alonso , Principal of Xefirotarch and Professor of Architecture at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), reflects on the nature of these changes: observing that as ‘criticality in architecture’ is ‘replaced by talent’ or ‘virtuosity’, there is a greater ‘focus on specific architectural or design problems’. This brings with it a shift from the design detail, reliant on technical expertise and precision, to ‘the close-up’ that is more concerned with resolution and the conceptual, bridging the gap between the intellectual and the physical.