Tonight was the IaaC Opening Ceremony, welcoming all, and in particular the MAA 2013-14 students, to the academic year.
After a warm Welcome, to the new students and Eric Owen Moss, on behalf of the academic coordinator Silvia Brandi, the night was kicked off with some kind and interesting words on behalf of Mr Antoni Vives, the Deputy Mayor for the Urban Habitat of the Barcelona City Council.
Manuel Gausa, IaaC Dean, was then invited to share some words of welcoming, then recounting the very interesting story, and history, of IaaC, its founding, , its achievements, and its future goals.
Areti Markopoulou, Masters Program Director, then extended her official welcoming, as well as some inspiring words, going deeper into IaaC, its community, and also the stimulating context that Barcelona offers IaaC.
The Inauguration Lecture with Eric Owen Moss (Eric Owen Moss Architects, SCI-arc Director) then officially commenced.
Make it New
The Chinese Emperor Cheng, perhaps 4,000 years ago, made a comment that continues to be useful to us today. According to the story, each morning the Emperor arose and went to his washbasin, and repeated the inscription he had written there: Make it New. Each day his job was to Make it New.
That admonition is of special interest to those who argue that making it new in architecture is not an enduring premise. After all, how long can one continue to re-new the new? But that’s not the point. The inscription suggests that the world isn’t a redundancy, and that it’s essential to continue to consider the possibility that we haven’t reached the end, or the conclusion, or the solution. Never, ever.
It’s our job, in perpetuity, to re-think the possibility that the world ought to be other than it is, and to suggest how we might make it so. Every morning.
After a question and answer session, a final “thank you” to all was given by Silvia Brandi, then inviting us all to a toast, thanks to Moritz Barcelona, to celebrate the begining of the new academic year.
