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Pete Silver & Will McLean are two British architectural practitioners, educators, writers, and technical theorists who work together as a duo. They have taught at the Architectural Association, The Bartlett (University College London), and The University of Westminster's School of Architecture and the Built environment, thus gaining a privileged position in the contemporary London architectural scene.
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Background
Mclean is artist Bruce McLean's son. He trained at the Architectural Association under Will Alsop OBE RA and Professor John Frazer. McLean has worked on a series of projects with Bruce McLean, most notably Dalry Primary School in North Ayrshire completed in 2007 (www.primaryspace.net), and with US architect and artist Adam Kalkin, working on such projects as 'Quik Build' container housing. He has had a regular feature, covering technical innovations, in Architectural Design magazine - McLean's Nuggets.
Silver worked for Solon Housing Association in South London with architects such as Patrick Keiller, Edward Cullinan and Walter Segal. He trained at the Architectural Association under Professors John Frazer and Gordon Pask, and became a researcher in the Land Use Research Unit at King's College London, gaining a unique insight into Professor Alice Coleman's groundbreaking, if controversial work, on post-war housing regeneration. He is a director of the Chartered Practice Architects (CPA) Ltd. Silver's work includes research into prototype, woven lattices that rely upon torsional integrity to create lightweight, helical structures; he proposes the term 'torsegrity' for a new class of structurally stable forms.
Collaborative career
In 2001, Silver and McLean joined the School of Architecture and the Built environment at the University of Westminster where they jointly head the Technical Studies Department. They have co-authored four architecture books: Fabrication: the designer's guide (Architectural Press), Introduction to Architectural Technology (Laurence King Publishing - available in 7 languages), Structural Engineering for Architects: A Handbook (Laurence King Publishing, co-authored with engineer Peter Evans - available in 4 languages) and Air Structures (Laurence King Publishing). They co-curate a highly successful public lecture series,
Hosted Lectures
The Technical Studies Lectures, hosted by the University of Westminster, offers a platform for the dissemination of ideas from such speakers as those in the following, non-exhaustive list: