RMJM Inside Out Outside in: More Than Architecture

Outside in Inside Out , Black Dog Publishing, 2006

176pp £19.95

Celebrating 50 years of RMJM

When Catalan architect Enric Miralles and Edinburgh-based architecture and design practice RMJM won the design competition for the new Scottish Parliament in 1998 it was because they emphasised the building’s connectedness to “the land” rather than to the capital.

The Scottish Parliament is arguably one of the most interesting buildings to have been built in this country in recent years, due in no little way to RMJM’s input. The inspiration behind this, and dozens of other examples of their design work, encompassing architecture, masterplanning and landscape design, is outlined in a new book Inside Out Outside In, published to celebrate the practice’s 50th anniversary last year.

This publication is far more than a mere PR stunt, however, and instead is a thoughtful and richly illustrated book that gives a real insight into the design process that drives one of the UK’s most successful practices.

Published by Black Dog Publishing, the book sets out to explain the RMJM’s approach to design, and promises to offer ‘a new way of looking at architecture, design, space and visual culture’.

Obviously, no one book can really do this, but RMJM does succeed in setting out a bold mission statement. The practice has a long tradition of designing what they term ‘landscape buildings’, buildings that are fundamentally conceived as having a direct relationship with the landscape. This is exemplified by the Scottish Parliament, with its grass slopes that become grass roofs, the contrast between granite of the new build and its landscaping echoing the way Edinburgh itself sits among the craggy hills around.

Other exemplars of their style include the Stirling and York university campuses and the dramatic Falkirk Wheel Visitor Centre.

The book makes a plea for ‘process over product’, aiming to show that large architectural firms can demonstrate that they care for the people and places they work in, whether it be a new tower block in Moscow or Singapore, or a campus extension in Cambridge. One section is even devoted to ‘simple buildings’, including a proposal for new uses, including coffee shop and darkroom, for an estimated 30 unused ‘public utility’ (toilet) buildings around Glasgow.

In contrast, another section looks at the inspiration its hi-tech City Palace Tower in Moscow, based on the sinuous forms of Rodin’s sculpture The Kiss.

Outside In Inside Out oozes style in all respects, right down to its cover – an eyecatching patchwork of colours on a black background. Each colour was chosen by the practice’s 600 members of staff, based in ten offices worldwide, to symbolise the way that RMJM aims to highlight the contribution that individual staff make to its practice.

The book design, by Third Eye Design, is outstanding, and the same company is also responsible for the recently launched RMJM website. (http://www.rmjm.com)

Inside Out Outside In includes plans, drawings, photographs, paintings and illustrations to highlight RMJM’s working methods. It also gives an insight into how architectural design has evolved over the last 50 years.

Although RMJM is an international firm, involved in architectural projects as diverse as Glasgow Harbour and the Beijing Olympic Convention Centre, it shows through this book how it has striven to preserve individuality even as they have expanded into a multinational organisation.

The book touches on landscape and urban design in many areas, and devotes one chapter to a personal viewpoint from one of their senior urban designer, Nathan Ward. You can read this chapter on the Rudi website. (LINK).

Lucy Tennyson