Suchi Reddy: Design Tangents Episode Ten
Diving into the dance between emotion and logic in the design process with the acclaimed architect, artist, teacher and neuroaesthetics practitioner
Our latest Design Tangents podcast guest, Suchi Reddy has inspired COOL HUNTING writers, editors and readers for years now. The founder of the architecture, art and design firm Reddymade, Reddy is an architect, artist, teacher and a practitioner of the mantra “form follows feeling.” Her roster of perspective-shifting works includes the mesmeric large-scale installation “Look Here” inside Washington DC’s National Building Museum, the immersive “me + you” sculpture for the FUTURES exhibition at the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building, the beloved “X” pavilion for Times Square Arts and a range of residential and commercial architectural projects including Google’s first retail store. Reddy, a passionate thought leader in creating spaces that make us feel, was the ideal guest to discuss the dance between emotion and logic in the design process; her insights inform and inspire.
The breadth and depth of Reddy’s work is unified by her values and distinct perspective. “I do not look at people’s work and say that’s interesting to me because of a style,” she tells us. “It’s interesting to me because of its substance—because of the idea that’s being explored. People ask if I’m a modernist? Yes, I am. But mostly, however, I’m a serenist. I will make whatever you want—but serene. If you’re a maximalist, or a developer that wants a beautifully energizing space, that’s what I’ll do, because I want to try to understand the feeling of the space or project that I need to communicate.” Reddy wants to direct design conversations around style to that of “the democratic space of the body. I want people to be able to understand spaces through their senses, through their feelings.”
I want people to be able to understand spaces through their senses, through their feelings
Suchi Reddy
For Reddy’s practice, art and architecture work in tandem. Her contributions to the public art space also allow her clients access into her brain. “My practice is quite unusual in that it covers architecture, interior design, public art installations and artistic works. We’re also interested in the research that underpins the workings of neuroaesthetics, a study that looks at how spaces and experiences impact our brains and bodies.” Through neuroaesthetics, Reddy designs an agenda of equity, equality, agency and empathy for all that she creates.
“21 years into doing this, what keeps me going is the fact that I feel this incredible satisfaction when something is made,” she says. Whether her work manifests as a private residence, or a collaboration unveiling at Milan Design Week, it is predicated on an understanding that we build our worlds outward from our bodies—and feelings will always influence our intepretation of everything that we see. Listen to the latest episode to learn more about the ways that form follows feeling.
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Design Tangents is presented by Genesis and produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Rob Schulte and Rachel Senatore and to Amber Lin for creating our show art. Discover more design podcasts from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com.
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