The realistic depiction of a project and its surrounding landscape starts with the careful observation of a site. As SAOTA senior associate Philip Bartman explains, 'We have developed an understanding of how the most interesting and important aspects of local context, from the site itself to the unique culture, heritage, materials, and craft of a place at a particular time, have the seeds of principles that would resonate anywhere in the world.' Approaching sites with discretion, the South African practice believes in the idea of opening its designs to the beauty and mystery around them, letting their presence in without artifice and responding at a visceral level to the context - whether the project is situated on a cliff edge in South Africa, along the shoreline of a Swiss lake, on the west coast of the United States overlooking the Pacific, in a desertic landscape in the UAE, or in the vibrant city of Abidjan.
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