After an introduction by Marcelo Spina, Margaret Griffin explains the methodology of Griffin Enright Architects. She describes her resistance to the reduction of architecture to idealized forms. She strives to negotiate between form, structure and performance. Griffin presents the Schindler House Vertical Garden and “Keep off the grass!” an undulating turf surface installed in the SCI-Arc gallery.

Griffin continues her lecture with a presentation of several residential projects. She describes her goal as invigorating the residential context. She discusses site constraints and strategies to expand the impression of volume within a small plot and minimal footprint. She discusses exploiting the interface between view and programmatic organization to intensify movement through the architecture. She illustrates this with projects that frame different views, draw visitors through the space, and connect the interior and exterior.

Griffin concludes with a discussion of several institutional projects. A proposal for a SCI-Arc Cafe employs a mobile element external to the existing building which would traverse the length of the campus on railroad tracks. She characterizes it as a recognition of the multiple centers of the school, and an indicator for campus activities throughout the day. A project for a church sanctuary integrated the existing space with new ducting and lighting. Griffin finishes with a school renovation, the limited budget of which required each architectural move to accomplish many goals at once.