Visionary architecture in focus

Visionary architecture in focus

Speculative as well as realised works by renowned contemporary architects is the focus of the upcoming Communiqué 2015 lecture series at the University of Auckland. Hosted by the School of Architecture and Planning, the theme of this year’s popular annual series is ‘Bridging the Utopian and the Pragmatic’.

Architectural visions will be presented by the authors themselves as well as critical historians, tracing the processes of space-making, from ideas to research and invention, to realisation for some.

Communiqué 2015 begins with Gregor Hoheisel of GRAFT, the cutting-edge company known for collaborating with actor Brad Pitt to rebuild a neighbourhood in New Orleans, devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. More recently they invented the world’s first solar kiosks; compact, autonomous, modular business units with solar panels, designed to provide affordable energy, products, tools and services to the approximately 16 per cent of the world’s population living in regions without access to electricity.

Second in the series is Chris Bosse co-founder of the Laboratory for Visionary Architecture (LAVA), a firm that explores the frontiers that merge technology with the patterns of organisation found in nature, in the belief that this will result in a smarter, friendlier, more socially and environmentally responsible future. LAVA designs include pop up installations, urban centres, homes made from bottles, furniture, hotels, and airports.

In the following lecture Senior Lecturer Ross Jenner, from the University of Auckland, will focus on the work of Portuguese architecture firm Aires Mateus, renowned for their sculptural minimalist buildings.

Next Senior Lecturer Alessandro Melis from the University of Auckland and also co-founder of Heliopolis21, will discuss the design process of the firm’s award-winning, multifunctional complex ‘Trentino’. Heliopolis 21 designs environmentally conscious buildings and smart cities which aim to meet today’s needs without compromising the needs of future generations.

The fifth speaker in the series is Severin Soder from Architectus, who will reflect on designs from the firm’s archives which have never been fully realised, existing only as drawings and models.

Later in the lecture series Associate Dean Julia Gatley, from the University of Auckland and author of the bookAthfield Architects, will discuss the extraordinary vision of one of New Zealand’s best known architects, Sir Ian Athfield, who died recently.

Communiqué ends with Jinhee Park and John Hong of Single speed Design (SsD), acclaimed for their inventive designs, particularly for small urban living spaces. They will discuss their projects and how they maximise architecture’s ability to change the way we live, work, and socialise.

All seven lectures target issues relevant to architecture and planning and are intended to foster critical discussion and debate.

The full list of Communique speakers follows:

• 18 March - Gregor Hoheisel, GRAFT: Distinct Ambiguity.
Gregor will introduce the firm’s work with a special focus on "The Make it Right" Project in New Orleans and "The Solar Kiosk”, both exploring the role of architects beyond design. GRAFT, was established in 1998 by Gregor, Lars Krückeberg, Wolfram Putz and Thomas Willemeit in Los Angeles, as a label for architecture, urban planning, design, music and the ‘pursuit of happiness’. Taking its name from the English word and botanical terminology, GRAFT embraces the idea that positive properties of two genetically different cultures can be combined in the new hybrid. With the core of its enterprises gravitating around architecture and the built environment, GRAFT has maintained an interest in crossing the boundaries between disciplines and ‘grafting’ the creative potentials and methodologies of different realities. This is reflected in the firm’s expansion into the fields of exhibition and product design, art installations, academic projects and events as well as in the variety of project locations.

• 25 March - Chris Bosse, LAVA: Digital Cathedrals and the City of the Future.
Chris Bosse is an award-winning architect and Adjunct Professor at University of Technology Sydney, and co-director of LAVA, the Laboratory for Visionary Architecture, founded in 2007 with Tobias Wallisser and Alexander Rieck.
LAVA combines digital workflow, nature’s structural principles and the latest digital fabrication technologies to achieve more with less: more architecture, with less material/energy/time/cost. LAVA won the international competition for the zero carbon city-centre of Masdar, United Arab Emirates and the UN-Zeroprize for ‘reskinning’ an aging icon tower. Chris will share lessons from LAVA’s work.

• 22 April - Dr Ross Jenner, the University of Auckland: Aires Mateus: Airs and Solids.
Dr Ross Jenner is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Architecture and Planning, whose research interests include modern and postmodern architecture.
The work of Aires Mateus is examined from the point of view of Semper's notion of stereotomy, in which space is conceived as something excavated from solids rather than a continuum created tectonically by addition and jointing. Points of connection are found with Minimalism, in sculpture and architecture, along with longstanding notions of void derived from Iberian architecture, sculpture and literature. Space as something cleared emerged in the theories of Oteiza, Chillida and Heidegger, which relate in turn to the Oriental thinking. Ultimately, however, what was at stake in Manuel Aires Mateus’ visit was an encounter between two oceans and two modes of building.

• 29 April - Dr Alessandro Melis, the University of Auckland/Heliopolis21: Get Fired? Not Today!
Heliopolis 21, founded in 1996 by Alessandro, Gian Luigi Melis and Nico Panizzi, is an Italian architectural design studio specialising in architecture and urban design. The name, Heliopolis 21, stands for “the city of the sun”, referring to the utopian Campanella’s book and to the sustainable approach of the practice. In 2012, Heliopolis 21 opened a second studio in Berlin and in 2015 a third one in Auckland. The work of H21 has been exhibited in three different editions of the Biennale di Venezia, published in magazines such as GA document and received numerous international awards. H21 is considered one of the emerging firms within the international post-deconstructivist architecture scenario. Alessandro will discuss the design process of the multifunctional complex ‘Trentino’ (Italy), from the radical project that won an international competition in partnership with Coop Himmelblau, to its more pragmatic recent versions in the detailed design phase.

• 13 May - Severin Soder, Architectus: Imagined.
Severin has selected some 30 projects from the archives of Architectus, all of which share a common trait - they are unrealised, only exist as drawings, digital models or in some cases as maquettes. Every one of these projects has been developed in response to a specific context, client brief and budget, so is pragmatic in the sense of being realistic. However, they have all remained immaterial, did not undergo the process of design development and were not given the opportunity to prove themselves in reality – they were imagined only. Severin was born in Tyrol/Austria, studied at the University of Innsbruck and at the Bartlett, worked at firms in Paris, London and Austria before moving to New Zealand and joining Architectus.

• 20 May – Dr Julia Gatley, the University of Auckland: Reflections on a Provocateur: Sir Ian Athfield (1940-2015).
Sir Ian Athfield – Ath to everyone who knew him – established his reputation in the 1960s as a hippie rebel and provocateur. A big personality, he was also extraordinarily talented, original and creative. He found great success in the public and commercial realms, and earned a string of awards and accolades culminating in a knighthood on the 2015 New Year’s Honours List. This talk reflects on the life and work of one of New Zealand’s greatest architects.

• 27 May - Jinhee Park & John Hong, Single speed Design: Micro-Urbanism.
Micro-Urbanism describes new modes of operating in the city and architecture’s ability to change the way we live, work, and socialise. Beyond just size, the concept foregrounds the relativity between programme and perception, questioning the very elements of architecture and their assumed configuration. The concept will be discussed through a series of design projects that demonstrate how owning/sharing, division/continuity, and expansion/contraction increase the value of space through measures of quality not quantity.

All Communiqué 2015 lectures are on Wednesday evenings at 6.30pm, at the University of Auckland, and run from 18 March until 27 May. They are free and open to the public. For further information visitwww.creative.auckland.ac.nz/communique

ENDS

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