Design
ADAC Keynote Presentation
Architect
Bobby McAlpine & Interior Designer Susan Ferrier of McAlpine, Booth &
Ferrier 
I could
have sat in the ADAC Presentation Room all day, lowly lit with a slide show of gorgeous,
calming photography of a delicious body of work, accompanied by a poetic, yet
humorous banter between Bobby McAlpine and Susan Ferrier. Speaking during this busy week of Design ADAC,
the work projected on the four large screens was of the pair’s latest book: Art of the House: Reflections on Design.
Bobby &
Susan didn’t plainly talk about their projects rather the talk began with a
poem that Bobby read, saying that it reminded him of Susan… And that is how the
conversation unfolded. Susan asking
questions to Bobby. Bobby reading
passages from the poem in question form to Susan.
Here is a
bit of their “conversation”:
Susan: “I
hope to discover myself… always fun, dynamic, and propelled forward… to look at
things with a sense of humor.”
Bobby (on
shopping with Susan): “It is a sport; we’re practically athletes… We’re like a
two-headed dragon… We are a great pairing.”
Susan (on
her partnership w/ Bobby): “You are the sky; I am the Earth and the water is in
between.”
Bobby (on
discovering the world through driving with his mother): “I could read the world
in the size of [my mother’s] eyes.”
Bobby (on
designing furniture): “How does someone look in it?”
Susan: “What
piece of furniture would you be?” Bobby:
“A chair.”
