MIT’s Festival for Art Science and Technology ‘FAST Light’
MIT’s Festival for Art Science and Technology will culminate this weekend May 7th and 8th with FAST Light, a series of innovative site specific installations around the MIT campus and along the Charles River. Installations by MIT Department of Architecture Head, Nader Tehrani (founder and principal of Office dA and of the newly formed NADAAA), Professor Sheila Kennedy (Principal of Kennedy & Violich Architecture), and Professor Meejin Yoon (Principal of Höweler + Yoon Architecture and MY Studio) are among the final river front projects that will light up the night along the river this Saturday and Sunday in front of Killian Court at MIT.
More information, photographs, and videos following the break
Video: ‘Untitled’ by Ai Weiwei
Running through May 17th at the Northwest Labs, the much anticipated Harvard University Graduate School of Design exhibition, The Divine Comedy, features major works including Ai Weiwei’s ‘Untitled’. The Divine Comedy exhibition is an “exploration of the emerging domain of experimental spatial practice where the concerns of art, design, and activism are powerfully converging today.”
Curator’s Statement from Sanford Kwinter
The work Untitled, presented here, makes public the findings of a year-long “Citizens’ Investigation” of the May 2008 Sichuan Province earthquake initiated by the Ai Weiwei Studio on behalf of the thousands of student victims of the disaster.* The survey covered 150 schools in 74 towns to amass the names of the deceased children, their birth dates, and the name of the schools they attended and in which they were killed. The investigation uncovered the subsequently widely reported fact that the defective “tofu construction” of school buildings played a principal role in the disproportionately high mortality rate of schoolchildren, a fact that was strenuously covered up by government authorities. Five thousand three hundred thirty-five backpacks are arrayed here, each in commemoration of a child documented by the “Citizens’ Investigation.” In a sound piece accompanying the work titled Remembrance, the names of the victims are recited.
‘Regional Design Revolution Ecology Matters’ 2011 AIA National Convention
The 2011 AIA National Convention, Regional Design Revolution Ecology Matters is fast approaching. Next week, May 12th-14th architects will be heading to the Gulf Coast where host city New Orleans, Louisiana will offer over 200+ programs, including pre-convention workshops, theme presentations, continuing education learning units and expo education. Thomas Friedman and Jeb Brugmann will provide the keynotes, and Fumihiko Maki, Hon FAIA, will be in attendance as he is the 2011 AIA Gold Medal recipient.
The AIA New Orleans chapter will also be providing a variety of educational tours that explore the soulful flavor of the city’s architecture. There is still time to register for the convention, more information can be found here.
ArchDaily won’t be missing out on this exciting annual event. We will be in attendance interviewing some of your (and our) favorite architects and reporting on the Convention happenings. Be sure to stay tuned to ArchDaily.com next week!
‘Elemental’ and ‘New Orleans Architecture Now’ Exhibitions
Thursday, May 5th the Ogden Museum of Southern Art will host the AIA New Orleans Member Preview Event for two architecture exhibitions, Elemental and New Orleans Architecture Now. Both exhibitions will open to the public on Saturday, May 7, and remain on display through Friday, May 13 during the 2011 AIA National Convention. To register and for more details of the event can be found here.
Elemental: This exhibition aims to illustrate how digital fabrication tools are indeed revolutionizing the way we think, fabricate and distribute 3D designs, and how it all together affects the practices of designers and architects. On focus in the exhibition is how digital fabrication goes from the digital world to physical reality at multiple scales. Participants will include Greg Lynn, Elena Manferdini, IwamotoScott and Florencia Pita.
New Orleans Architecture Now: This exhibition will present the work of 35 different local architects and firms in the New Orleans region. Featuring 20 physical models, and arranged by neighborhood and type, a diverse selection of projects will be presented that reflect the great variety of work, from urban farm to master planning, that is happening in New Orleans now.
Cascadia Center for Sustainable Design and Construction / Miller Hull Partnership
Slated to be one of the most ambitious green buildings in North America, the Cascadia Center for Sustainable Design and Construction will be the world’s most energy-efficient commercial building reinforcing the city of Seattle’s commitment to be at the forefront the green building movement. This exciting new building is planning to achieve the Living Building Challenge (version 2.0), as described by the International Living Building Institute.
The mixed-use building will serve as the future headquarters of the Bullitt Foundation as well as provide office and commercial space for leaders in the green building industry. Thursday, May 4th, at the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall, a free community event will present the Cascadia Center. Further details can be found here.
Architects: Miller Hull Partnership
Location: Seattle, Washington, USA
Project Team: PAE Consulting Engineers, Point32, Schuchart Construction
WhichCRAFT: Dialogues | 2011 AIA Seattle Design Forum
The Pacific Northwest is renowned for its integration of craft into all things built: from the finest home to the fuselage of the Dreamliner. How does this resource influence our design process? Is our romance with craft constraining our approach to design, or is it a unique platform for innovation that will help us respond to new demands on the built environment? How can we position our command of craft to transform the design and building process? Can we drive design expertise more deeply into the process of making buildings?
Join a day of lively dialog with architects, economists, fabricators, business innovators, technology leaders and more as we explore the role of craft in 21st century architecture. Through panel discussions, a “town hall” discussion, and a curated idea slam asking “what is craft,” this one-day event will consider: Localtecture, Digital Production, High Performance Craft, and Craft and the Economy.
The event will take place on June 23. WhichCRAFT? is part of a year-long investigation of the role of craft in 21st century design. For more information and some related events, please click here.
Jacques Herzog Lecture at Harvard University Graduate School of Design
This coming Thursday, May 5th Harvard University Graduate School of Design will host Jacques Herzog, of Pritzker Prize winning Herzog de Meuron. The lecture, from 4pm-5pm, will be held at the Piper Auditorium and is free and open to the public. It will also be streaming live on the GSD webcast page. Further information about this upcoming lecture can be found here.
2011 Festival of Architecture
Presented by the Architectural Institute of British Columbia and Architecture Canada | RAIC the 2011 Festival of Architecture will take place May 24 to 27th in Vancouver, Canada.
The 2011 Festival of Architecture, will take a sharp look at the cutting edge of change and the ways in which the profession continues to push envelopes. Over four days, this event will bring together architects and allied professionals from around the province and across the country to explore best practices, new challenges, and innovative ways in which architects are leaving their indelible mark on our built and natural environments.
Participants will also explore West Coast approaches to place- and space-making: how the perspective from the Western edge of Canada lends itself to a global view for positive change.
Roots Architecture Workshop WOMAD 2011
Last year, we told you about the 1st Roots Architecture Workshop. Now, they are doing a second run. Just as WOMAD brings together many forms of music, arts and dance from around the world, so Roots Architecture at WOMAD Charlton Park 2011 aims to celebrate the work of architects, builders and makers working on humanitarian and emergency shelter projects across the world. Roots Architecture will feature talks and an exhibition highlighting the growing worldwide humanitarian architecture and building community, against the lively backdrop of a practical building challenge.
Workshop participants will team together over 4 days to design and make 4 stages. Materials will be reclaimed, re-useable or sourced from Charlton Park itself. The finished structures will become part of the festival, hosting live performances during WOMAD’s Sunday evening finale. Whether you’re an experienced self-builder, or a practical newcomer, come and join our convivial workshop led and guided by experienced specialists. Learn about low-tech and no-tech building techniques and traditions from Britain and around the world. Sessions generally run from 10am – 4:30pm, so you’ll still have plenty of time to enjoy the music.
For more information on this event, and to purchase tickets, please click here.
BIArch Book Presentation: Landform Building, presented by Stan Allen
Green roofs, artificial mountains and geological forms; buildings you can walk on or over; networks of ramps and warped surfaces; buildings that carve into the ground or landscapes lifted high into the air: all these are commonplace in architecture today. New technologies, new design techniques and a demand for enhanced environmental performance have provoked a re-consideration of architecture’s traditional relationship to the ground. Some of today’s most innovative buildings no longer occupy a given site but instead, construct the site itself.
The book Landform Building sets out to examine the many manifestations of landscape and ecology in contemporary architectural practice: not as a cross-disciplinary phenomenon (architects working in the landscape) but as a study of the new design techniques, formal strategies, and technical problems that are emerging in the discipline.
Stan Allen will present his new book Landform Building along with the participation of Iñaki Ábalos, Michael Jakob, Josep Lluís Mateo, and Lars Müller, on Saturday April 30th at 12:30 pm in the Auditorium of La Pedrera. The event, organized by the Barcelona Institute of Architecture – BIArch, offers a unique opportunity for participants to analyze and discuss the relationship between landscape and architecture.
Admittance is free, but seating capacity is limited. Please RSVP through our website or our Facebook Page. For more information contact info@biarch.eu.
Ghost 13 Ideas in Things
‘Ghost 13 Ideas in Things’ will be a three-day International Architecture Conference from June 14th- 17th, 2011. Held at architect Brian MacKay-Lyons farm in Nova Scotia, the theme ‘Ideas in Things’ will address the discipline of architecture as a whole and offer a critique of the current separation of the academy and practice, or the mind and the hand. Keynote Speakers for the conference are Kenneth Frampton and Juhani Pallasmaa. Additional speakers include Deborah Berke, Marlon Blackwell, Wendell Burnette, Ted Flato, Andrew Freear, Vincent James, Rick Joy, Francis Kere, Richard Kroeker, Tod Kundig, Brian MacKay-Lyons, Patricia Patkau, Dan Rockhill, Brigitte Shim, and Peter Stutchbury. A book and a film will document the Conference and participation is limited to 200 registrants.
Additional information about the conference following the break.
Taliesin East Celebrates its 100th Anniversary
Two thousand eleven marks the 100th anniversary year of Taliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright’s personal home and “laboratory” in Spring Green, Wisconsin. Taliesin represents more than just great design—it exemplifies Wright’s philosophy that the true sense of organic architecture is the integrated oneness of the land, the building and spirit of life.
A Centennial Celebration is planned for April 28th at the Milwaukee Art Museum, with keynote remarks by Robert Campbell, Pulitzer Prize winning architectural critic. Frank Lloyd Wright: Organic Architecture for the 21st, an exhibit sponsored by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, runs through May 15th. More information can be found at the Taliesin Preservation, Inc. (TPI).
Architecture & Design Film Festival 2011 in Chicago
What better city to host the next Architecture & Design Film Festival than Chicago? A mecca for architecture in the US, Chicago’s festival will take place over five event filled days.
The largest US film festival celebrating the creative spirit of architecture and design will feature a dynamic selection of feature length films, documentaries and shorts. Plus, there will be lively discussions with filmmakers, architects and designers about the design process, architecture in film, and the brilliant designs we see and use every day.
This year’s spring festival will be held at The Gene Siskel Film Center. The lounge adjacent to the theater will be “festival central”- a place to relax, discuss, imbibe and meet with friends and colleagues. A number of films will also be shown at the SCREEN@theWit: a small, deluxe theater at theWit Hotel and just a short walk from the Film Center.
For more information, complete schedule and tickets, visit the festival’s official website.
Whitney Museum Groundbreaking Celebration
On May 24th the Whitney Museum of American Art will break ground on a 200,000 sqf facility, designed by Pritzker Prize–winning architect Renzo Piano. Located in the Meatpacking District adjacent to the southern entrance to the High Line, the building will provide the Whitney with essential new space for its collection, exhibitions, and education and performing arts programs in one of New York’s most vibrant neighborhoods.
To celebrate this historic moment for the Museum, from May 19 to 27 they will host a series of events, programs, performances, and public art initiatives. A special Community Day on Saturday May 21st will feature a variety of activities free and open to the public.
The invitation only ground breaking event begins at 11 am (doors open at 10:30 am) and will include appearances by Adam D. Weinberg, the Whitney’s Alice Pratt Brown Director, architect Renzo Piano, as well as the Whitney’s Board of Trustees and city officials, friends, artists, and other supporters.
Special performances by Elizabeth Streb and the STREB Extreme Action Company and So Percussion. The Whitney Museum of American Art’s new building is anticipated to open in 2015. More information can be found here.
RAD Workshop: Archibots
The University of Toronto’s Responsive Architecture at Daniels (RAD) will showcase robots that build architecture May 27th thru 30th. The RAD Workshop: Archibots will investigate the potential for robots to build (or destroy) environments.
Beginning by developing a taxonomy of existing robots, this collaborative design workshop will result in interdisciplinary teams experimenting with robots that can build and design environments. Each robot’s capabilities and limitations will determine the structures they can build and vice versa. This workshop will equally challenge approaches in both robotics and architecture. Every team will be part architect, engineer and robot.
Urban Design Forum to Discuss Seattle’s Civic Square Development
This coming Monday, April 25th the Urban Design Forum presents the opportunity to hear discussion about the stalled Civic Square development and other “interim use” sites in downtown Seattle. Sean Canady from GGLO, Robert Smith from Foster + Partners and City of Seattle representatives will be present. The Seattle Civic Square project, which completes the final phase of a ten-year civic masterplan, provides a vital new focus for Seattle’s civic life, reinvigorating the south downtown area for the whole city’s benefit.
The Urban Design Committee Forum serves the AIA Seattle membership and the community by bringing forward critical issues facing Puget Sound neighborhoods and cities, in order to inform, engage, and support advocacy by AIA Seattle Members and others who share concern for the quality of the built environment. More information about the upcoming event can be found here.
The Skyscraper as Citizen: Reflections on the Public Life of Private Buildings
The John Hancock Tower Boston, designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects, will receive the AIA 2011 Twenty-five Year Award at the annual convention next month. To mark the occasion, Henry N. Cobb, FAIA, Founding Partner of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects, will discuss the history of the project and its influence on subsequent tall buildings designed by his firm. Organized by the Center for Architecture the discussion will be this coming Monday, April 25th and is free to AIA members.
An exhibition featuring photographs of the John Hancock Tower by Peter Vanderwarker and Robert Damora will be on display at Pei Cobb Freed & Partners from April 26 through May 6. More details of both events can be found here.
Struggling Cities, Exhibit of Japanese Urban Projects in the 1960s
The internationally touring exhibit ‘Struggling Cities’ focuses on the proposals of urbanization by Japanese architects in the 1960s including:
- Kenzo Tange’s “A Plan for Tokyo-1960;”
- the Metabolist schemes of Kiyonori Kikutake, Kisho Kurokawa, Masato Ohtaka, Fumihiko Maki, and Noboru Kawazoe; and
- Arata Isozaki’s “Cities in the Air”
Currently on display the exhibit runs through Friday, April 29th (excluding Sundays) from 10am to 4pm at MulvannyG2. ‘Struggling Cities’ was also featured at the Shanghai Expo in 2010 and at the Japan Cultural Institute in Cologne, Germany.
Further details can be found here.
The Japan Foundation Exhibit is co-sponsored by Consulate-General of Japan in Seattle and Seattle Cherry Blossom and Japanese Cultural Festival Committee, King County 4Culture, City of Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs.
In collaboration with University of Washington College of Built Environments, American Institute of Architects Seattle, Hamilton International School – Future Cities, MulvannyG2, Japan-America Society of the State of Washington, Seattle Center, Nippon Express, and Yuri Kinoshita.
Living Future 11
The fifth annual unconference, ‘Living Future 11′ is the forum for leading minds in the green building movement seeking solutions to the most daunting global issues of our time. The education program will focus on ”Our Children’s Cities: Visualizing a Restorative Civilization” and the out-of-the-ordinary learning and networking formats will provide innovative design strategies, cutting-edge technical information, and the inspiration needed to achieve significant progress toward a truly living future.
The Cascadia Green Building Council is hosting the conference April 27th – 29th, 2011 at the Sheraton Wall Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia. Focused on providing proven, practical, ambitious and visionary strategies that address whole earth impacts, a diverse collection of inspiring keynote and plenary speakers include: Majoria Carter, Jason McLennan, Sarah Harmer, and Margaret Wheatley.
More information for Living Futre 11 here.
‘Spreading the Light’: Romanian Lighting Convention
Romanian Lighting Convention 2011 is a cultural, scientific, but mostly social meeting of architecture, design and lighting specialists in South Eastern Europe. It was created as a privileged communication area for those who regard light as a source of inspiration and who use light to emphasize and place value on the public space.
Recipient of the Pritzker Prize 2006 – Paulo Mendes da Rocha, the “nonconformist” architect-designer Gaetano Pesce and the most awarded Canadian-Romanian architect, Dan Sergiu Hanganu, are arriving in Bucharest for the 19-20th May event which is going to approach lighting in all its forms of manifestation – architectural, urban, daylight, road, office etc.
Romanian Lighting Convention 2011 comprises several events within its structure, tailored both for the experienced professionals and the new faces in this field: 3 conferences, 3 contests, one of which dedicated to students – LED DESIGN Contest, and 3 exhibitions (flagship products, LED luminaires, contests’ award winning papers).
For registration and more information please contact RLC organizers at office@dkevents.ro or check www.rlc.org.ro.
Netherlands Architecture Institute Spring Lecture Series
The Netherlands Architecture Institute recently shared their spring lecture series with us. The program will focus its events around one of its key themes, Time, and its interrelationship with architecture.
The program will included lectures, debates, and film screenings, beginning next Tuesday, April 26th with a lecture by Martha Rosler discussing Culture Class: Art, Creativity, Urbanism. On Thursday, April 28th Kas Oosterhuis and Tomasz Jaskiewicz will participate in an architects talk discussing Forward to Basics (In)Formed Complexity.
