Glacial Erratic is a collection of architecture-related explorations, directed by James Leng. It is a practice for built artifacts, as well as a repository for unbuilt fragments in visual and written form. By invoking a specific geological phenomena, this entity orients the work through landscape, movement, time, and identity.
James is also a co-founder of Figure, an architectural practice focused on public and community oriented projects. Glacial Erratic then—in parallel, or in contrast—is an inward turning project, created by the necessity of respite: a space of making that is slower, softer, and more intimate. It is an identity born out of James’s time at MacDowell, where ideas of entangling with the natural world eventually developed into The House of Four Ecologies.
Glacial Erratic prioritizes a reflective mode of making—towards nuance, mystery, and delight—especially in a reality that often demands pragmatism over enchantment. We seek collaborators and clients—artists, writers, naturalists—interested in creating work that is contemplative and unexpected.