The Space Between the Notes: Reflections on a Collaborative Student Project on the Work of Irish Engineer Peter Rice

This paper is a reflection on a collaborative pedagogic process at the Dublin School of Architecture (DSA), Technological University Dublin, on aspects of the work of Irish engineer Peter Rice (1935–92) who, in his short life, combined contemporary tools of computer-analysis and mathematics with a careful sensibility for materials, natural light and structure. He collaborated with many famous architectural practices on what have now become iconic works of architecture such as the Sydney Opera House, the Centre Pompidou, Lloyds of London and Kansai Airport. The collaborative project on his work was undertaken at DSA in the fall semester of 2012 involving 3rd and 4th year architectural students who were asked to research and analyze a total of eleven of Rice’s projects and represent their findings through freehand sketches and physical and digital models. In addition six 4th year architectural students collaborated with the architectural technology students and each wrote an analytical text on one of the projects for their History Theory Criticism module. The paper will explore both the process undertaken by the students, some of the results and four critical structural themes that underpin much of Rice’s attitude to an integrated approach to structure and architecture.