Architectural Therapy

When I left Studio Mcleod after my ‘Architectural Therapy’ session I felt elated. This truly was a delight and the philosophy of the studio reflects the community theme of the festival in a way I hadn’t anticipated.

Before we began Duncan and Sarah explained that the origins of their ‘therapy’ sessions are distilled from their approach to working with their clients. They’ve often found, they told me, that their clients have a recipe list of what they want in their dream home or project. However, when they get to knew their clients they find that this list doesn’t necessarily reflect their needs, values or personality. Therefore, to create something that more closely represents the person they are working with, they start not with their tastes, but their values, not their plot of land, their ideals.

For the session I was told to relax, say whatever felt right to me as it came into my head and not feel restricted by time, money, or what makes sense. (You can answer the questions yourself online!) I think I took the spirit of that on board and I came away with two things. On the surface, a beautiful framed page, as if torn from a book about the kind of day I need. More personally, I recieved the overt understanding that I want more alone time, seclusion to be myself and to get along with creative projects. The ability of Studio Mcleod to listen, and allow their collaborators (or clients) to discover their needs undisturbed by trends and status, really touched me. I smiled without a hint of surprise when I heard their sessions had made other participants cry.

Studio Mcleod have been sharing their experiences on Facebook and Twitter @StudioMcLeod  #ArchitecturalTherapy & #PerfectDay