Design is a process requiring both rigor and freedom, focus and expansion. Yet how does one transform a vision into a built project? In this Cover to Cover session, Anna Lui and Mike Tonkin will introduce their toolkit for approaching design: Asking, Looking, Playing, Making (ALPM), a fluid yet structured design process, aiming to create projects that are relevant and responsive based on their book of the same name. Developed by Tonkin Liu and rooted in over two decades of practice and teaching, ALPM integrates nature, people, and place to generate beautiful buildings which are embedded in their context. In this session, participants will explore how to question and redefine briefs (asking), seek inspiration and uncover design quests (looking), develop and test archetypal forms (playing), and craft cohesive design systems (making). This process bridges the gap between human and natural systems, fostering designs that are responsive, sustainable, and enriched by their surroundings. Real-world examples, spanning various scales and contexts, will illustrate the versatility of this approach and inspire participants to create designs rooted in a unique sense of place. Learning outcomes Understand the ALPM design process and its application to create nature-focused, site-specific architectural solutions. Develop skills to use storytelling as a design tool, using riddles, quests, archetypes, and scripts to deliver innovative and meaningful designs. Explore how advanced digital technologies can enhance design evolution and fabrication, embedding ecological responsiveness within architectural projects. SpeakersMike Tonkin Mike qualified as an architect in 1989, graduating from the Royal College of Art in 1986 after receiving first-class honours at Leeds Polytechnic and completing an apprenticeship as an architectural technician with training at Bath Technical College. His interest in nature led to his qualification as a landscape architect in 2014. He has taught at the University of Bath, been a unit master at the AA School of Architecture, the University of Westminster, London Metropolitan, and an external examiner and a longstanding visiting critic at UCL Bartlett. He completed his PhD at the University of Bath and is currently a visiting professor of architecture at the Manchester School of Architecture. Anna Liu Anna qualified as an architect in 2002, after completing her Master of Architecture at Columbia University in 1994 and a liberal arts education encompassing chemistry and comparative literature at Smith College in 1987. Her experience has drawn from working in the UK, China, Japan where she discovered architecture, the US where she grew up, and Taiwan where she was born. Anna has been a quality review panellist, taught as a unit master at the AA School of Architecture, University of Westminster, London Metropolitan, and as an external examiner at UCL Bartlett and Dundee. She is a trustee of Open City, and a visiting practice professor at Sheffield School of Architecture. Please note Each recording will expire 12 months after enrolling onto the module. This session was recorded from the live webinar on 11 June 2025. For more information on this course, or if there are no places available, please email us, or call +44 (0)20 7307 5355 to talk to a member of the team. Please view the Terms and Conditions for more information.
