Projection by David McDiarmid

I do consciously work in a
DMc: similar way to an architect.
I’m always trying to be as accurate as
possible, but there are clear differences.
An easy way to do it would be to do
digital drawings and get the models 3D
printed and it would all be perfect. I think
something is lost in that though. I like
revealing the imperfections of things, and
the hand-made is good for that. It shows
the time taken to make something. I
suppose it all ties into the whole concept
behind megalomania – that agonising
ambition to make something perfect
and monumental and invincible but
never quite managing it. History is full
of examples of these kinds of frustrated
ambitions. A good example of that would
be Albert Speer’s plans for Germany and
the thousand year reich, which barely
lasted a decade.
Was that round the 30s then?
AB: The Nazis?
Yes, the early 40s, too.
DMc: There were plans to
redevelop the whole of Berlin into a
super city called Germania. In the heart
of the city there was going to be a
massive Arch of Triumph. The Nazis
also saw the Champs Elysee in Paris
and planned to mimic this by building
an even larger and wider boulevard
leading up to the Arch. Only a handful
of Speer’s buildings remain now. I find
it so interesting yet alien, this mindset
of setting out to make these massive
buildings that will last forever but which
can never succeed. It’s always bound to
fail.
When you talk about
AB: Albert Speer and when his
designs or plans ran adrift, there’s
this relationship between having
“designs” like plotting, and the actual
design of a building.
Indeed, design in terms
DMc: of becoming a scheme,
or a total plan. It can get quite scary.
Speer’s Chancellery Building had these
deliberately highly polished marble
floors which all the guards were
trained to walk on so that they didn’t
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