I. M. Pei: A Centennial Celebration

The GSD is proud to celebrate the 100th birthday of Ieoh Ming Pei, MArch ’46. Both I. M. and his wife Eileen Pei GSD ’44 studied at the GSD, as did their sons Chien Chung (Didi) Pei, MArch ’72, and Li Chung (Sandi) Pei, MArch ’76. Pei was also an assistant professor of architecture at the GSD. This event, with guests including Harry Cobb AB ’47 MArch ’49, moderated by Mohsen Mostafavi, dean of Harvard GSD and Alexander and Victoria Wiley Professor of Design, will focus on the formative years of I. M. Pei’s career as well as some of his special friendships, influences, and projects. The GSD, together with M+ Museum in Hong Kong, is also planning a symposium on the work of I. M. Pei for Fall 2017.

Okwui Enwezor, “All the World’s Futures: Curating in a Time of Crisis”

Okwui Enwezor is director of Haus der Kunst, Munich. In 2015 he was director of the visual arts for the 56th Venice Biennale. He has also served as artistic director of several other international exhibitions, including Documenta 11 in Kassel, the Paris Triennale 2012, the 7th Gwangju Biennale, the 2nd Seville Biennial, and the 2nd Johannesburg Biennial. He is the former dean of academic affairs and senior vice president of the San Francisco Art Institute, and he has also served as visiting professor at Columbia University, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Enwezor was Kirk Varnedoe Visiting Professor at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University in 2012 and Global Distinguished Professor at the Department of Art History at New York University in 2013.

The New Allure of the American City

American cities are experiencing a revival. There is a partial return of former city dwellers from places formerly seen as more hospitable to everyday life. The city as spectacle is appealing to younger generations, for whom the suburban experience appears commonplace and dull. Older generations seem more willing to substitute suburban backyards for having immediate access to a bit of culture, culinary pleasures, and conviviality. An appreciation for something called “pedestrian urbanism”—a walk around town—has gained favor, a welcome turn from the dominant reign of the car. However, this kind of urban allure comes with some negative consequences, attracting new investment and consumers in some areas but not in others, enabling only certain segments of society to prosper. This conversation with leaders who help plan America’s cities will explore the new urban allure and ways to address the consequences. Moderated by Alex Krieger (MCPUD ’77), professor in practice of urban design, with Sara Myerson (MUP ’11), director of planning at Boston Planning and Development Agency; Edith Hsu-Chen (MUP ’97), Manhattan Borough Director, New York City Department of City Planning; Frank Ruchala, Jr. (MArch ’05, MUP ’05), deputy director for zoning, New York City Department of City Planning, and Eric D. Shaw (MUP ’00), director of the DC Office of Planning.

Supported by the Rachel Dorothy Tanur Memorial Lectureship Fund.

Marina Tabassum

In projects that range from the scale of the residential block to the master plan, Marina Tabassum prioritizes climate, materials, site, culture, and local history in order to counteract what she finds impersonal and confused in architecture globally. Her Bait Ur Rouf Mosque is a case in point: built over the course of twelve years with a minuscule budget, it is distinguished by its lack of popular mosque iconography, its emphasis on materials, space, and light, and its capacity to function not only as a place of worship but also as a meeting room, school, and playground for an underserved community on Dhaka’s periphery. Tabassum, a graduate of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, founded Dhaka-based Marina Tabassum Architects in 2005 after ten years as a partner and cofounder of URBANA in Dhaka. She has taught and lectured widely and is currently academic director of Bengal Institute for Architecture, Landscapes, and Settlements. In 2016 she was one of six architects to receive the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.

Bait ur Rouf Mosque. Photos by Rajesh Vora.

Sponsored by the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture.

Kunlé Adeyemi, “Seven Desimer Factors”

 

Kunlé Adeyemi is an architect, designer, and urban researcher, and founder of NLÉ, an architecture, design, and urbanism practice founded by Adeyemi in 2010, focusing on developing cities and communities. His work includes Makoko Floating School (MFS), a prototype structure on the lagoon at the heart of Lagos, Nigeria and part of African Water Cities, an extensive research project by NLÉ. MFS II, a new, improved iteration of Makoko Floating School, was in the exhibition Waterfront Atlas at this year’s Venice Biennale, where it was awarded the Silver Lion. Other projects include an amphibious community building in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, a pop-up pavilion/public sculpture in Chicago; CDL Microfinance Bank in Lagos, Nigeria; and Serpentine Summer House at the Royal Kensington Gardens in London. Before founding NLÉ, Adeyemi worked for OMA/Rem Koolhaas, where he led the design, development, and execution of high-profile projects such as the Shenzhen Stock Exchange tower in China, the Qatar National Library, and Prada Transformer in Seoul. He has won multiple awards and served as a juror for the 2014 AIA awards and 2016 RIBA international Prize. He holds an honorary doctorate in architecture from Hasselt University, Belgium, and has taught at several institutions, including Cornell University (visiting critic, 2015) and Columbia University’s GSAPP (adjunct associate professor, 2016). He is currently a design critic in architecture at Harvard GSD.

“Planting in the Public Realm: Projects and Projections,” with Steven Handel, Noel Kingsbury, Norbert Kühn, Doug Reed, and Matthew Urbanski

Plant life, long regarded in cities as an amenity, has throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries also become an accepted necessity integral to the urban fabric. Yet, there are multiple challenges facing plants and planting design in urban areas. Pollution, climate change, increasingly restricted space, and insufficient or nonexistent public budgets for plants are only some of the factors that make it difficult for vegetation in our cities to survive. Yet numerous new public urban parks have been created, tree planting programs persist, new plant cultivars are developed, spontaneous plant growth is studied, and new planting design paradigms are proposed. In a series of short presentations and a moderated discussion, landscape architects, planting designers, and ecologists will assess the current state of the art in planting the public realm. The event seeks to draw out ideas for how plants can be used in the future design of urbanizing areas to create healthy, sustainable, inclusive, and appealing environments. What is the importance of planting the public realm today, and what are its biggest challenges? What are the roles of landscape architects, designers, ecologists, and plant scientists in accommodating plant life in cities and in areas that are becoming urbanized, and are we beyond botanical xenophobia? Moderated by Sonja Dümpelmann, associate professor of landscape architecture, with Steven Handel, visiting professor in landscape architecture; Noel Kingsbury, writer and garden designer; Norbert Kühn, TU Berlin; Doug Reed MLA ’81, lecturer in landscape; and Matthew Urbanski MLA ’89, associate professor in practice of landscape architecture.

 

“Emerging Issues in Architectural Representation,” with Jennifer Bonner and Zeina Koreitem, moderated by Michael Hays

By now, most architects have mastered the standard softwares for design conceptualization and representation. However, it is only recently that we have begun to critically rethink the techniques and conventions of representation that have defined the discipline over hundreds of years. This event will focus a discussion around emerging issues in architectural representation that include orthographic and post-orthographic projection, extrusion, massing, material and computational color, movement, automation, and questions about authorship and appropriation. Presentations by Jennifer Bonner MArch ’09, assistant professor of Architecture, and Zeina Koreitem MDes ’16, design critic in architecture; moderated by Michael Hays, Eliot Noyes Professor of Architectural Theory and interim chair of the Department of Architecture.

Objects, Contexts, Canons and Experiments: Four Conversations on Theory and History

Where are we today regarding the way we produce and teach the theory and history of architecture, cities, and landscapes? Should we still give precedence to built realities, or should we focus on the agency that they reveal? What about the changes in the pedagogy to be expected from the development of digital tools? Are there still canons relevant to professional education in the design field? Last, but certainly not least, should we rethink the relationships among lecture courses, seminars, and studio? Four conversations among GSD faculty members and guest participants will deal with these questions and explore new perspectives on theory and history in design schools: (1) History of Objects vs. Study of Agency and Media; (2) Teaching Theory and History in the Digital Age; (3) Global History vs. Canon; and (4) Theory/History and Studio Teaching.

Sponsored by the Theory and History Platform and the PhD Program in Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning. Organized by Antoine Picon, G. Ware Travelstead Professor of the History of Architecture and Technology, and Michael Hays, Eliot Noyes Professor of Architectural Theory.

“Future Retail”

Future Retail explores the rapidly accelerating pace of retailing at the intersection of physical and digital spaces. Emerging practices in omnichannel retailing are redefining the utilities of brick and mortar retail in the advancement of a seamless flow of information, inventory, and consumers. Whether it is the design of packaging or interactive in-store experiences, nearly every facet of the retail supply chain is being reimagined. With the life-cycles of products and stores being compressed in time and space, new retail models are set to challenge the conventions of leisure and necessity consumption. This event seeks to identify critical accelerants of technology and process innovation that are likely to steer the next generation of retail.

Speakers will include Rajiv Lal, Stanley Roth, Sr. Professor of Retailing at Harvard Business School; Eric Symon, Vice President, Global Retail Business Unit, PTC; and Neil Blumenthal, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Warby Parker. Lal, Symon, and Blumenthal will join Craig Robins, CEO and President, DACRA, in a panel discussion moderated by Jesse M. Keenan, Lecturer in Architecture & Real Estate.

Wonne Ickx: “Specific Objects”

Wonne Ickx is a cofounder of PRODUCTORA, formed in 2006 with Abel Perles, Carlos Bedoya, and Victor Jaime. Ickx is also a cofounder of LIGA, Space for Architecture, an independent platform that promotes emerging Latin American architects. In his lecture, he will discuss the cross-contamination between these two practices, focusing on the studio’s first cultural infrastructure projects, a theater space in Cuernavaca and a community center and museum in Oaxaca; and its first project in the U.S., a residential remodel and addition in Los Angeles. Ickx will also discuss the exhibition Spaces Without Drama, curated by LIGA and opening in February, 2017 at the Graham Foundation in Chicago, which addresses the relationship between architecture and theatricality, taking Aldo Rossi’s Little Scientific Theater (1979) as a central reference point to develop new commissions. PRODUCTORA has won many awards for its work, including the Architectural League Prize for Young Architects in 2007, the Emerging Voices Award in 2013, and the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize for Emerging Architects in 2016. He has taught at UCLA and at several universities in Mexico; currently, he is a design critic in architecture at Harvard GSD for the Spring 2017 semester.