This evening we had the pleasure of hosting Greg Lynn, principal of Greg Lynn Form, for the Opening Lecture of this year’s 2015/16 IAAC Lecture Series.
Opening the lecture Silvia Brandi, IAAC Academic Coordinator, gave some words of welcome to all then inviting the UPC Vice-Rector of Architecture Josep Parcerisa to do the same. Silvia then invited Areti Markopoulou, Academic Director of IAAC, whom officially kicked of the Opening Ceremony, welcoming the 250 people present in the audience, among which the 130 new students from over 45 different countries, representatives of the local architecture community, both professional and academic, and the IAAC faculty and staff. She then gave some words of welcome to our guest Greg Lynn, whom returned to IAAC after 10 years, appreciating the rapid evolution of the Institute.
Greg then took the word, giving us a panoramic of advanced architecture, from his point of view, showing us projects that ranged from cutlery, to chairs, to boats, to apartments, and more, all developed through a wide variety of techniques.
GREG LYNN was an innovator in redefining the medium of design with digital technology as well as pioneering the fabrication and manufacture of complex functional and ergonomic forms using CNC (Computer Numerically Controlled) machinery. The buildings, projects, publications, teachings and writings associated with his office have been influential in the acceptance and use of advanced materials and technologies for design and fabrication. As design opportunities today extend across multiple scales and media, his studio Greg Lynn FORM continues to define the cutting edge of design in a variety of fields. His work is in the permanent collections of the most important design and architecture museums in the world including the CCA, SFMoMA, ICA Chicago and MoMA. Because of his early studies in philosophy and architecture he has been involved in combining the realities of design and construction with the speculative, theoretical and experimental potentials of writing and teaching. This unique and innovative approach to design has also established him as an influential figure across many disciplines and led to consultations and collaborations with companies like BMW, Swarovski, Alessi, Vitra, Disney and Imaginary Forces. In 2002, he left his position as the Professor of Spatial Conception and Exploration at the ETHZ (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich) and became an Ordentlicher University Professor at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. He is a Studio Professor at UCLA’s school of Architecture and Urban Design where he is currently spearheading the development of an experimental research robotics lab. Since the turn of the century he has been the Davenport Visiting Professor at Yale University.
Greg Lynn was born in 1964 in Ohio. He graduated from Miami University of Ohio with degrees in both architecture (Bachelor of Environmental Design) and philosophy (Bachelor of Philosophy) and later from Princeton University where he received a graduate degree in architecture (Master of Architecture). He received an Honorary Doctorate degree from the Academy of Fine Arts & Design in Bratislava. He received the American Academy of Arts & Letters Architecture Award in 2003. In 2001, Time Magazine named Greg Lynn one of 100 of the most innovative people in the world for the 21st century. In 2005, Forbes Magazine named him one of the ten most influential living architects. In 2008, he won the Golden Lion at the 11th International Venice Biennale of Architecture. In 2010, he was awarded a fellowship from United States Artists.