Terroir: Third Spaces

Large projects often have a significant impact, intended or otherwise, on the public domain. This fact has led TERROIR to develop a strategy for third spaces that are often not in the brief, and at times, actually resist the functional logic of a project, but are designed in the interests of greater urban openness, engagement and generosity. Third Spaces is the second book within a series on the architectural practice TERROIR. Each book starts with a conceptual framework, around which a variety of projects, both recent and past, move in and out of focus. This book features essays by John Hong, professor at Seoul National University and director of the Seoul-based practice Project: Architecture, and an essay by philosopher and architectural writer, Andrew Benjamin, on the intersection of Walter Benjamin and architecture. The Third Space strategy is illuminated and demonstrated with reference to TERROIR’s own projects, as well as key international projects by renowned architects and artists including Bernard Tschumi, Steven Holl, James Stirling and Carmody Groarke. TERROIR was founded in 1999 by three colleagues from Hobart, Gerard Reinmuth, Scott Balmforth and Richard Blythe. The practice now has offices in Sydney, Hobart and Copenhagen. To this day, the landscape of Tasmania and the political tensions of a society divided along environmental lines continue to influence TERROIR’s approach to architecture and public space.