Tonight we had the pleasure of hosting Giovanna Carnevali, Director of the Fundació Mies van der Rohe, as the first of the Spring Lecture Series for 2015. Giovanna discussed contemporary architecture through the experience accumulated thanks to the Mies van der Rohe Award since 1988.
Europe is made up of cities, and architecture is what makes cities. Today we find ourselves in a moment of historical change, and it becomes necessary to understand the role of architecture in this transitioning Europe, and become aware of the evolution over the previous decades.
During a time when a great variety of media bombards daily with an overconsumption of information, there is, albeit paradoxically, a need for a cross interpretation that will allow us to see past the cacophony of information.
The Mies van der Rohe Award has been a catalyst for the interpretation of the state of architecture for 26 years already, fostering the biannual compilation of the contemporary European architectural production. Conscious of the current historical change, the Fundació is changing in scale, acting from Barcelona towards Europe as an element capable of processing all of the knowledge that the Prize offers. The Fundació generates data, connects key players and encourages the debate on what role architecture should have in relation with the contemporary social European necessities.