Founded in 2004 by its CEO and Founding
Director, Përparim Rama, 4M Group
(pronounced ‘form group’) is an
award-winning London-based design+build
practice, with a second studio in Prishtina,
Kosovo. 4M’s portfolio includes
residential, retail, hospitality and urban
mixed-use designs. Rama (as he is known) is a
five-time former WIN Awards judge, and we are
privileged to have him on-board for the sixth
time this year.
|
A popular and magnetic practice leader, he
describes himself as ‘acutely aware of
the impact of space on human emotion and
well-being’. Rama’s pavilion at
the 13th Venice Biennial (the first ever for
Kosovo) explored this theme in a
characteristically unique way, described by
the Biennial’s President as
‘architectural democracy’. Rama
tells us more about it.
|
He first came to the UK from the former
Yugoslavia in 1992 as a 16-year old. War broke
out back home and it was unsafe for him to
return. Instead, he settled in the UK, which
he says adopted him ‘literally’,
providing him with the ‘opportunity to
get educated and work’. He chose to
study architecture. Today, he runs marathons
to raise money for children fleeing war zones.
|
Rama’s approach to design goes far
beyond the physical into the realms of the
deep and mystic. When you hear the beautiful
and touching account of his early years in
this interview, it’s easy to see why. A
famous artist for a father, a gentle guru-like
figure in his beloved grandfather, and the
ever-present love of his mother have helped
shape the man who used to dive to the bottom
of the sea for starfish as a child. But
first…
|
|
As well as being a WIN Awards winner (2013
Bars category), you’ve sat on five
judging panels for us since 2014, and now
we’re lucky enough to have you again
for the 2018 Awards. That suggests that you
enjoy the experience (hopefully!), so what
is it that you find rewarding?
|
Design is my passion. Being confronted with
so much passion from people passionate about
design from all around the world makes this
experience highly elevating and fulfilling.
Apart from the pure joy of going through
some of the best projects in the world, I
feel I learn a lot, it is educational,
enlightens me, excites me, and fulfils me.
Every time I receive an invite to join the
celebrated jurors I feel like a kid in a
candy shop all over again. Yes, it is
extremely enjoyable.
|
And, regardless of the category, what
qualities do you think make the difference
between a good WIN Awards submission and a
great one?
|
The way studios present their work can
sometimes be that fine line between the
winning concept and the one that gets put to
one side. One’s ability to tell the
story through the fusion of written,
graphical and photographic form is very
often underestimated. This of course only
makes sense when the design itself is well
thought out and holistic - from the tiny
details to the overall feel.
|
A good design is a good story told well. A
great design is the same story but told
beautifully, one that creates that
surprising WOW factor that manages to
capture multiple senses as a consequence,
even though it is being observed through a
2D graphical representation.
|
4M not only provides design and
architecture services, but also in-house
construction and master craftsmen teams. Why
do you favour this very integrated
approach?
|
I feel designing within the studio premises
only provides us with limited exposure, and
therefore limited opportunities, to create
truly outstanding places and spaces that
captivate or initiate people’s
emotions in a positive way.
|
One’s ability to shift from the
design studio into the construction site or
the joinery workshop - to surround oneself
with the master craftsmen and brainstorm
ideas - I find is a necessary process for
finding new and exciting ways to create
space and place and new ways to play with
emotions, with the human subconscious mind.
The teams on site become extended bodies
that allow the designer to capture and
create feelings through space and material,
which otherwise would have been lost. One
becomes an artist with multiple hands and
brains that put it all together on a
multidimensional spatial canvas.
|
There is this continuous discussion that
happens between body and space, and to have
a chance to utilise these opportunities on
the spot becomes magical and miraculous. We
need to place ourselves right in the midst
of everything we are creating; we need to be
able to capture the magic of the
subconscious mind and its intelligence to
then use it to push and pull, so that the
space becomes this funnel for always
channelling positive energy on the bodies
that will inhabit it.
|
|
What’s in the pipeline for 4M?
|
We are very busy with several projects in
London and internationally: two boutique
hotels in St-Pauley in Hamburg; a funky
restaurant in Helsinki; a Grade II listed
hotel in Weybridge near London; a landmark
building/landscape in Prishtina city centre
called ‘City Gardens’; the first
4* BREEAM Eco Village on the outskirts of
Prishtina called ‘Lakeside
Gardens’; six bar/restaurant designs
in London, and several high-end residential
houses in London and Prishtina to name just
a few.
|
We are also very excited to be expanding
our Soho offices by an additional two
floors. We will now have spaces where our
team members can relax, socialise and
brainstorm more easily. We are also looking
to acquire new premises in Prishtina to
expand our studio there, as the current
location is shrinking fast as we grow!
|
|
You seem to place a high value on
transcending the usual conformities of work
relationships with colleagues and clients,
often forming enduring friendships. Can that
sometimes have its drawbacks, or do you feel
it has been fundamental to the success of
the practice?
|
I see architecture as a tool for forging
new friendships, new relationships. It is
therefore fundamentally important that one
does not get lost in the many various
pitfalls and drawbacks throughout the
process of engaging with and creating
architecture.
|
On several occasions I have advised my
clients not to proceed with their projects,
purely because I felt their depleted and
drained energy, and the need for them to
recover prior to engaging in creating
architecture. For many people it will most
probably be the most stressful experience of
their lives. Many are investing their life
savings into creating homes for themselves
and their families, or establishing new
businesses for their and their
family’s futures.
|
|
Entrusting us with the process of
transforming their dreams into reality is a
major responsibility, which we never take
lightly. We ensure we use everyone’s
brain to engage in the initial stages and
establish a scope which ensures as smooth a
process as possible, so that at the end we
always celebrate together with our clients
and establish lasting, lifelong
relationships.
|
|
Most practices are mindful of
sustainability, but for you it seems to be
an absolute passion. What has influenced you
to be this way?
|
Sustainability has become a buzzword. I am
a strong believer that us designers should
always be surrounded by sustainable,
ecological, natural processes and materials
by default. Various construction industry
bodies and organisations should ensure that
all that is at hand and available is truly
sustainable, and circular, by default.
|
|
We have disturbed the divine frequencies by
mining, extracting - polluting resources that
are shifting our Mother Earth to dangerous
levels of unsustainable life that threaten our
very existence. We need to wake up, we need to
listen to our inner self and engage with what
we feel, hear, see, taste. Human wellbeing is
at the centre of what we do, and there cannot
be any human wellbeing without a truly
well-balanced living ecosystem, which takes
into account all life forms.
|
We are at peace and most innovative and
creative when we are as close to
nature’s frequency and vibrations as
possible. And – if we are smart - we
surround ourselves with them to maximise our
potential as conscious beings.
|
You’ve contributed a lot to the wider
discourse about design and architecture,
appearing on the BBC, CNN and Bloomberg to
name but a few media platforms. Of them all,
what’s the most interesting discussion
you’ve been involved with so far?
|
The human aspect [of architecture] on both
CNN and Bloomberg. The necessity of treating
every single human person on earth as
important and equal no matter where they are
from, or where they are going. How we think
about other people very much impacts on how
we think about design, architecture and how
we treat and evolve our cities in general,
as they are all products of our minds.
|
Can you tell us a little bit about being
invited to take part in the 13th Venice
Biennial in 2012 as the first ever
representative of Kosovo? Can you briefly
describe your Pavilion? And what were
people’s reactions to it?
|
It was a great honour to be the first ever
curator of the Kosovan Pavilion in the
Venice Biennale. ‘Common Ground’
was the theme. I was interested to explore
how society, culture, tradition and overall
beliefs impact the creation of the places we
live in. Our cities are a social
representation of where we stand as a
society. Cities represent our social
consciousness; our common ground.
|
|
The Kosovan Pavilion in 2012 was a dynamic
platform that captured the emotional
reaction of the people and countries in
relation to its building fabric. We created
an emotional barometer, whereby we requested
for people to upload images of buildings,
places and spaces that impacted them through
one of the six emotions: happy, sad,
excited, angry, trapped and free. Each
emotion was represented with its own colour.
The Pavilion was glowing in six different
colours every three minutes, depending on
what emotionally representative buildings
were being shown: it was alive.
|
Everyone could cast a vote. Visitors left
us with their names, country where they came
from, their emotional reaction to buildings
they were seeing and so on. We could slice
through data in many different ways to find
out how these buildings were impacting not
only the people, but groups from, say, a
particular country, gender, age group, and
how they related to particular a building,
be it religious, historic, modern, and so
on. Paulo Barrata, the Venice Biennale
President called it ‘architectural
democracy’. People loved it. It was
fun and insightful.
|
At the end we discovered interesting
outcomes: the common ground. The Kosovan
National Library, which according to the
British newspaper, ‘The
Guardian’, was one of the top 10
ugliest buildings in the world, was voted
through our platform as the most exciting
building in Kosovo and internationally.
|
|
We understand your father was a famous
artist, and your grandfather taught you how
to make mud bricks and form enclosures by
twisting branches. How do you feel that
these powerful early influences have shaped
your life?
|
I was so proud of my father and everything
he did. I spent hours and days in his
atelier, watching him and trying to draw and
paint the way he did. He was ultra-busy with
his activities and exhibitions at home and
abroad, and his academic schedule. He was
exhibiting together with Picasso and Chagall
- amongst others - in the late 70s, but we
always struggled financially. He did push me
towards science, as he always complained
that the artist’s life is a poor life,
financially that is, and since I was
excelling in science he was pushing me more
towards the scientific realm of maths and
physics. Both my mother and father were
surprised when I told them I was pursuing
architecture, having initially enrolled into
computer science.
|
|
My grandfather was a great and wise man,
extremely patient and knowledgeable. It felt
as if he had all the answers of the
Universe. I enjoyed reading and looking at
the pictures in the books he had on his
shelves - predominantly about the stars and
planets, the solar system and the Universe.
We would then go out and play with mud and
straw, with branches, learning about how mud
bricks are made, how structures stand, how
you can fuse materials together for a
greater use.
|
My mind was focused on the tiny, small
details of how things come about, while at
the same time expanded to discussion about
the Universe and the question of higher
intelligence. I remember before going to
sleep I would ask for stories, of which my
grandfather had many to tell, and then ask
for another one until I would fall asleep,
and sometimes grandpa, or Babi Li as I would
call him, fell asleep too.
|
And then there is love, a mother’s
love. No matter what, she was there, and
made the place feel like home and secure.
All the above are very powerful and defining
influences that have for sure helped shape
me, what I do, and what I stand for.
|
If you hadn’t become an architect,
what other career might you have pursued?
|
I love travelling, exploring, learning,
meeting people. I am also fascinated with
the human mind, and subconscious behaviour.
It may have well been something related to
any or all of the above. Academia, teaching
maybe?
|
And lastly, we’re curious to know how
you came to be a very good underwater
swimmer?
|
This brings back very happy memories from
my childhood. We used to spend summer months
in Montenegro in a little village called
Shtoj, on the outskirts of Ulqin, a small
town by the Adriatic coast. We would get
bored going to the beach every day, so we
would engage in other activities such as
fishing, diving, water polo, and so on. We
would then start competing as to who could
dive the deepest and bring back a starfish
from the rocks submerged in the deep waters,
or simply a fist of sand to show that we
made it to the bottom. Fun times!
|
www.4mgroup.co.uk
|
Gail Taylor
|
Img 01: © WIN Awards 2017 Hotels
and Bars Jury
Img 02: © First 4 star BREEAM Eco
Village, Lakeside Gardens
Img 03: © First 4 star BREEAM Eco
Village, Lakeside Gardens
Img 04: © First 4 star BREEAM Eco
Village, Lakeside Gardens
Img 05: © City Gardens,
Prishtina
Img 06: © 13th Venice Biennial
2012 - Kosovan Pavilion
Img 07: © 13th Venice Biennial
2012 - Kosovan Pavilion
Img 08: © 13th Venice Biennial
2012 - Kosovan Pavilion
|
|