Continuity in Architecture is a studio for the design of new buildings and public spaces in the urban environment, and interventions in existing structures. We reflect upon the persistence, usefulness and emotional resonance of particular places and structures. Historical and contemporary solutions to architectural problems - cases that have emerged in real situations – offer a rich context for teaching, learning and research. Historic examples of city pattern, use of materials and architectural form provide a starting point for our studies.

We are interested in the qualities of places that have persisted and we prefer a reading of history that stresses the permanence of tradition as the subject of architecture. Tradition in architecture in this context is the embodied meaning of buildings and cities produced by centuries of lived experience. Embodied meaning can be interpreted through building. Discovery and recognition are a vital part of the design process - we presume that we have a duty to carefully analyze and describe a place before we can alter it. Can the legibility of architecture be increased through the establishment of continuity with history?

The architect brings order to the world through building. The artistic and scientific tools of the architect are brought into contact with the site and architecture emerges through a process of negotiation with physical context and lived experience. In this context typology (defined as a system of typical solutions to architectural problems) is enriched by coexistence and accommodation with the existing urban fabric. The importance of the retention of existing structures leads us to study building conservation, repair, and the detail of connections between new and old.

Building during any period of history represents a significant commitment of human, material and financial resources. The most successful cities have adapted urban patterns and buildings to uses never imagined by their original creators. We are inspired by the efforts of architects working within existing structures and urban fabric to produce a responsive architecture of narrative, space, intervention, and detail. We aim to show, through the example of architects engaged in critical practice, that the ideas and methods we examine in the studio have real applications.

During a time of transition, do not lose faith in architecture