“Past, Present, Future: About being an architect yesterday, today and beyond” is a series of video interviews conducted by Itinerant Office. Eleven internationally renowned architects have been asked to talk about their own past, present and future, exploring the figure of the architect and his or her role in contemporary society. The fourth instalment of this series is a conversation with Nanne de Ru, founder of Powerhouse Company.

“Villa1 was a very personal project. It covered the entire spectrum of architecture, but in one building. It was about detailing, it was about architectural references, it was about designing with nature and daylight, it was about how you convince the builders to build it in the right way.”

“When we study architecture we mainly learn about how the design is conceived and how the architect created the design. But we don’t really learn what kind of clients are there? How did the clients actually come to ask their questions? From which economic reality did they ask these questions? Because when you think about it, almost every exceptional building that you know, is not only designed by an exceptional architect, but is also commissioned by an exceptional client.”