Gerard Reinmuth TERROIR

Tasmanian Winery under construction.

Gerard Reinmuth
Terrior: Reinmuth Blythe Balmforth

802/32 York Street
Sydney NSW 2000

www.terroir.com.au

Gerard Reinmuth is the Sydney component of the long distance trialogue that is terroir architects. As their name suggests, a sensitivity to locality informed by landscape, culture and timeless principles guides their work. Gerard is actively involved in the architectural community, chairing talks, teaching and writing.

Why did you decide to become an architect?
I don't recall - I was only 6 when I decided!

What keeps you motivated/inspired?
The impossibility of the 'perfect work' and the perverse quest of trying again and again to create it.

What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?
Choosing Scott and Richard as partners, and then surviving in practice for three years.

In your opinion, what personal qualities make a good architect?
Tenacity, tenacity, tenacity ... and humour. Architecture is just not funny enough.

Have you even said no to a client?
Yes, but reluctantly. We have produced a wide range of work for a diverse client base, including the Masonic Club, institutions, commercial property organisations and 'Mum and Dad' residential clients. We are optimistic in our ability to work with a range of people, although the saying that 'the best works are procured for the best clients' holds true for much of the time.

Do you have a favourite architect? Why?
Le Corbusier remains a towering figure and a key source. Locally, Michael Viney and Richard Johnson inspire me the most and have had greatest impact on my career.

What topics concern you regarding Australian architecture?
We are not really concerned with 'Australianness' in our work. For our practice, the idea of terroir suggests a more fundamental and specific idea of relation to a particular place, while this specificity is balanced against a voracious interest in the work of a wide range of architects from across the world. This combination of the parochial and international probably gives away our Tasmanian backgrounds more than anything else.

Which Australian building excites you most?
Utzon's Opera House, by a long, long way. The Rose Seidler House and Michael Viney's Cattell House in Hobart both gave me 'goosebumps' on the first visit.

If you weren't an architect, what would you be?
Given that I was 6 when I decided to be an architect, I think option two was a fireman.

Your idea of perfect contentment?
Anything by Milan Kundera, Herman Hesse or Jeannette Winterson, an enormous cup of coffee and a morning to spare.

What possible future or futures do you see for the built world?
Given the proliferation of "blob" architectures that have accompanied the architect's discovery of the computer (and the few examples of real insight that have emerged from this frenzy), I worry a great deal about the future of the built world. I hope for a future where, regardless of technological advances, the terroir of each place remains primary in the conception of the work. We believe in Gehry's maxim, that "the computer is not a means to discover a curve, but simply a tool to describe it."

What elements/concerns do you deem most important in your work?
The idea of terroir, which lies at the core of what we do. Loosely explained, this means the transformation of a particular philosophical, formal or theoretical construct in a particular way with each work due to the specifics of the landscape/culture/context into which it is placed.