peter rice

facades of the Cite des Sciences at La
Villette, Peter took steel and glass
material technologies to their limits,
just as the great cathedral builders
did with their contemporary materials.
Peter not only masters and advances
architectural technology, he is a creator.
Adrien Fainsilber, Architect
Nanterre, France
Working with Peter Rice is for me
searching together for the reason of a
project, following together paths,
sometimes close, sometimes distant,
into a world of ideas, forms,
materials until we discover the place
where ideas, forms, materials
become inseparably the project that
we will then develop, understand,
define and finally build.
He has no fear of returning back
again to old problems, nor of
adopting new directions, but only of
repeating things already done.
We speak in French. Sometimes, in
finding his words, he alters them.
And their imperfections give them a
new, important meaning. He speaks
of 'legerite' and, in a flash, it is no
longer a question of kilos or tonnes,
nor of practicality, but of grace and
of suspended movement.
At work, he is a companion, a brother.
Paul Andreu, Architect,
Paris, France
Working on a project with Peter Rice
is a permanent source of astonishment
all along the process of realisation. In
the most unexpected moments he
comes with those simple sparkling
ideas that make you think differently
about the way you think. Not only
does he come to the next meeting
with a completely new concept and
approach to the subject, but he helps
you anchor your own perspective
from a slightly different angle and a
deeper point of view without drying
or weakening your own idea,
however baroque it might be.
What makes me think of Peter as a
true creative artist, besides his
numerous and recognised talents, is
that he is able to preserve in the most
complex operations an explosive
quality that is simplicity! Like a
composer he moulds the matter he is
working on to its destination,
inventing a new structural
organisation that even changes our
perception of that matter itself.
In that relation between the shape
and the structure - 'between the
bones, the flesh and the skin' as the
masters of the Japanese No Theatre
would put it - the subtle art of Peter
Rice will surprise us with that
unpredictable way of expressing a
unique and simple inspiration that
organises it all.
Even though it is his field of
predilection.' Peter Rice does not
belong exclusively to the world of
engineering and architecture, and we
are longing to read his books, see his
theatre sets and view his films, so
more people can have access to the
art of this magician of our time.
Humbert Camerlo,
Theatre Director,
Saint Andre de Suegos, France
It turns out that con artists aren't much
different from just plain artists. Like
them they come in all sizes and
shapes. Some are good at their job,
other ineffectual, while some, like the
fellow who introduced me to Peter
Rice, operate in such a zany way that
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