Category Archives: Lecture Series

Tuesday 25th of November // Built by Associative Data // BAD Bits

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IAAC Fall Lecture Series 2014

Tuesday 25th of November 2014

Built by Assoiciative Data – Ali Basbous + Luis Fraguada

Lecture: BAD Bits

 

@ 19.30, IAAC Auditorium

Open to the Public

 

ALI BASBOUS - IAAC Alumni

Ali Basbous (Beirut, 1973) is the Founder and Director of BAD; A Canadian, Lebanese Architect living between Barcelona and Beirut. Ali holds a Masters degree in Advanced Architectural Design from IAAC. Ali’s global experience in creating pioneering ideas have been prized and granted many internationally notable awards. Ali has been performing major roles and renowned design practices like JDS Architects (Brussels, Copenhagen), NBBJ (Shanghai, Seattle) and Raphael Vinoly Architects (New York). Ali’s work has been strongly influenced by questions concerning the evolution of social interaction and new technologies. Ali pursues an expertise in the use of powerful modeling and design software (as Rhino 3D, Grasshopper and VB scripting) to discover new Architectural forms that can respond to contemporary culture, economics and industry. His deep understanding for the complex systems of nature and the massive Data accumulation varying between sustainable issues to practical diagrammatic programming enable him a to generate precise definitions to acquire pioneering designs. During his professional practice the firms he collaborated with have won several competitions and awards on major landmark projects.

LUIS FRAGUADA – IAAC Alumni

Luis Fraguada is the Research Director of Bad Research, he investigates critical issues in architecture, design and urbanism through various modes, including parametric design, scripting, and fabrication. Luis’ architectural studies began at the University of Colorado, Boulder where he was able to begin exploring computational tools and theories that would lead him to choose this field as a specialty. Luis pursued his master’s degree in architecture and urbanism (M.Arch) from the AA Design Research Laboratory (DRL) in London where he studied with Theodore Spyropoulos. Luis chose this program for it intense use of computational tools and extensive physical prototyping of dynamic structures.

A post-graduate degree in Digital Architectural Production at IAAC brought Luis to Barcelona, where he is currently based. Luis is currently member of the Faculty of Architecture at IaaC in Barcelona, Spain as the principle computation instructor, focusing on the interface between computational processes and fabrication. Luis joined BAD as an associate and the Director of the Barcelona office. His expertise allows BAD to implement diverse data sets and analysis in each project, leading to novel design solutions which exploit the boundaries set by budget, material, political, and societal constraints.

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Jan Knippers // Biological Design Strategies for Integrative Structures

Tonight we had the pleasure of having Jan Knippers lecturing as part of the IAAC Fall Lecture series 2014. Mr Knippers discussed Biological Design Strategies for Integrative Structures, presenting various examples of bottom-up design processes based on the transfer of biomimetic design principles and digital fabrication strategies. Following the analysis of the structural principles of biological role models, the material differentiation and the global morphogenetic arrangement are transferred into an architectural system. During the lecture Mr Knippers explained how this might lead to structural systems far beyond existing typologies of building construction.

An important characteristic of natural structures is their multi-layered, hierarchically structured, finely tuned and highly differentiated combination of a few basic molecular components leading to structures that feature multiple networked functions. Recent developments in computational design, simulation and fabrication offer new options for transfer of these principles to the macro-scale of building construction. Aim is not only to increase performance, but also to transfer the inherent ecological properties of natural constructions, i.e. mainly the efficient usage of limited resources and the closed material cycles, and thereby to contribute to sustainability in architecture and technology.

Watch the lecture here!

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Wednesday 19th of November // Kengo Kuma // “Smallness” — The world is moving toward small things

KENGO KUMA IMAGE

IAAC Fall Lecture Series 2014

Wednesday 19th of November 2014

Kengo Kuma

Lecture: “Smallness” — The world is moving toward small things

@ 12.00, IAAC Auditorium

Open to the Public

 

KENGO KUMA

Kengo Kuma completed his master’s degree at the University of Tokyo in 1979. After studying at Columbia University as Visiting Scholar, he established Kengo Kuma & Associates 1990. In 2009, he was installed as Professor at the Graduate School of Architecture, University of Tokyo.

Among his major works are Kirosan Observatory (1995), Water/Glass (1995, received AIA Benedictus Award), Stage in Forest, Toyoma Center for Performance Arts (received 1997 Architectural Institute of Japan Annual Award), Bato-machi Hiroshige Museum (received The Murano Prize). Recent works include Nezu Museum (2009, Tokyo), Yusuhara Marche and Wooden Bridge Museum (2010), Asakusa Culture and Tourism Center (2012) , Nagaoka City Hall Aore. (2012), and Kabukiza (2013). Outside Japan, Besancon Music Center and FRAC Marseilles have been recently completed.

Kuma is also a prolific writer and his books have been published in English, Chinese and Korean, gaining wide readership from around the world.

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Tuesday 18th of November // Jan Knippers // Biological Design Strategies for Integrative Structures

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IAAC Fall Lecture Series 2014

Tuesday 18th of November 2014

Jan Knippers

Lecture: Biological Design Strategies for Integrative Structures

@ 19.30, IAAC Auditorium

Open to the Public

 

JAN KNIPPERS

Jan Knippers specialises in complex parametrical generated structures for roofs and façades, as well as the use of innovative materials such as glass-fibre reinforced polymers. Since 2000 Jan Knippers is head of the Institute for Building Structures and Structural Design (itke) at the faculty for architecture and urban design at the University of Stuttgart and involved in many research projects on fiber based materials and biomimetics in architecture. Since 2014 he is coordinator of the collaborative research center ‘Biological Design and Integrative Structures’ that aims to contribute to the conceptualization of biomimetics as a scientific discipline in the context of architecture.

Jan Knippers is also partner and co-founder of Knippers Helbig Advanced Engineering with offices in Stuttgart, New York City (since 2009) and Berlin (since 2014). The focus of their work is on efficient structural design for international and architecturally demanding projects, as the Peek and Cloppenburg flagship store in Cologne with Renzo Piano (2006) or the Shenzhen International Airport with Massimilano Fuksas in 2013. Jan Knippers completed his studies of civil engineering at the Technical University of Berlin in 1992 with the award of a PhD.

Image Credits: Research Pavillon 2013-2014. ICD (Prof. Achim Menges) and ITKE (Prof. Jan Knippers), University of Stuttgart (credit: ICD/ITKE)

 

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Yael Reisner + Manuel Jimenez Garcia // Computing, Making, Sensing; A Fresh Take on Beauty

Tonight was the second lecture of the IAAC Fall Lecture Series 2014, and we had the pleasure of hosting a lecture by Yael Reisner and Manuel Jimenez Garcia.

The Lecturers discussed how design is an optimist driver for using life in a better way or living better the used of life, in particular through the implementation of Computing, Making and Sensing, finally generating a fresh take on beauty.

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Tuesday 11th of November // Yael Reisner + Manuel Jimenez Garcia // Computing, Making, Sensing; A Fresh Take on Beauty

image for poster

IAAC Fall Lecture Series 2014

Tuesday 11th of November 2014

Yael Reisner + Manuel Jimenez Garcia

Lecture: Computing, Making, Sensing; A Fresh Take on Beauty

@ 19.30, IAAC Auditorium

Open to the Public

 

YAEL REISNER

Architectural designer, academic, researcher, writer and curator. She has a PhD in architecture from RMIT Melbourne, a Diploma from the AA in London, and a BSc in Biology from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Born in Tel Aviv, she has lived in London since 1990 where she is the director of Yael Reisner Studio. An educator, teaching internationally design workshops, seminars and lecture (Sci Arc, Lund Univ., AA, ESA) after 9 years of teaching at the Bartlett, and 6 years at Greenwich University. Her book with F.Watson ‘Architecture and Beauty, Conversations with Architects about A Troubled Relationship’ was the trigger for 6 symposiums. She wrote articles on curating, about the work of G.Pesce, Z.Hecker, P.Wilson, as well as articles in the magazines AR and AD. She built mostly on a domestic scale in Tel Aviv. Since 2010, her interest shifted towards public installations, as part of her interdisciplinary research projects that focus at human wellbeing.

MANUEL JIMENEZ GARCIA

Manuel Jimenez Garcia is currently Course Master of Research Cluster 4 at the MArch Graduate Architectural Design (GAD) and Unit Master of MArch Unit 19, both at The Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL)(London); he is also curator of the Bartlett Computational Plexus and Programme Director at the Architectural Association’s Visiting School in Madrid (AAVSM). He has taught and run workshops at Architectural Association’s Design Research Laboratory (AADRL) (London), Polytechnic University of Architecture (Madrid), European University Madrid and L’École Spéciale d’Architecture (Paris). He holds a masters in Architecture (AADRL) and has worked at offices such as Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, Minimaforms, Amid(cero9) and Naja & deOstos. He is the co-founder of madMdesign, an architecture practice based in London. His work has been featured in Acadia 2012, Royal Academy Summer Exhibition or X Bienal Española de Arquitectura.

 

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Tuesday 4th of November // OPENING LECTURE // Winy Maas – MVRDV // What’s Next?

Markthal Rotterdam, MVRDV architecten

IAAC Lecture Series 2014/15

Tuesday 4th of November 2014

OPENING LECTURE

Winy Maas – MVRDV

Lecture: What’s Next?

@ 18.30, IAAC Auditorium

Open to the Public

 

18.30 // Opening

18.40 // Welcome – Manuel Gausa, IAAC Dean

18.50 // Welcome – Areti Markopoulou, IAAC Academic Director

19.00 // Lecture – Winy Maas, MVRDV

 

WINY MAAS

Prof. Ir. Ing FRIBA HAIA (1959, Schijndel, The Netherlands) is an architect, urban designer and landscape architect and one of the co-founding directors of the globally operating architecture and urban planning firm MVRDV, based in Rotterdam, Netherlands, known for projects such as the Expo 2000 and the vision for greater Paris, Grand Paris Plus Petit. He is furthermore professor at and director of The Why Factory, a research institute for the future city, he founded in 2008 at TU Delft. He is Professor for Architecture and Urban Design at TU Delft, and has been Visiting Professor at ETH Zurich, Berlage Institute, MIT, Ohio State and Yale University. In addition he designs stage sets, objects and was curator of Indesem 2007. He curates exhibitions, lectures throughout the world and takes part in international juries. In 2013 Winy Maas joined the Economic Development Board of Rotterdam (EDBR). In 2012 he was appointed urban supervisor for the city of Almere and since 2003 he has been supervising the Bjørvika urban development in Oslo. With both MVRDV and The Why Factory he has published a series of research projects.

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