Who are you?
John Liu
I am the director of Inbetween Architecture.
I am the ‘flexi-parent’ of our family.
I am a Jazz fan and a weekend drummer.
What do you do?
Apart from running InBetween, practising architecture and kids errands, I enjoy cooking, making scale model kits, playing tennis and reading manga.
What has been the scariest/courageous thing you’ve ever done?
The most courageous thing I have done was hosting ArchiTeam CPD sessions. Growing up I was too shy to say hi to people. Public speaking was always a dread until recently I realised maybe it isn’t as bad as I feared. What would be the worst thing that could happen if I mispronounce a word in front of a crowd? Probably get laughed at? With such a breakthrough, I put my hand up for ArchiTeam director nomination.
Who do you admire and why?
During my study and early career, my architect hero was Renzo Piano. I loved how he composes a building using one key detail. For me it’s very musical, like a guitar riff. My current architect hero is Timothy Hill, Partners Hill. I could never fully comprehend his work, but I just love the richness, warmth, whimsy and the details that reference other great architects. For me it’s also very musical, like jazz. I had the opportunity to join Tim’s guided tour to the Daylesford Longhouse couple of years ago. Thoroughly enjoyed it. But I was too shy to say hi.
What is it about ArchiTeam that made you want to get involved?
‘Go join ArchiTeam!’ was one of tips given to I when I decided to start my own practice. Over the years I have come to realise that ArchiTeam is more than just affordable group insurance. I have enjoyed attending CPD, conferences, award nights and meeting other members. In recent years, the ArchiTeam Facebook forum has been a community of support and knowledge sharing platform during lockdowns.
I look forward to meeting every ArchiTeam member and getting to know you!