Lecture date: 2016-12-09
Assemble, Atelier Mob, Atelier Georges, Markus Miessen, Raumlabor, REAL, studioBASAR, We Made That, Harriet Harriss, Joachim Declerck, Jeremy Till, Kathryn Firth, Melanie Dodd, Peter Swinnen, Olly Wainwright, Pooja Agrawal. Chaired by Flavien Menu
In the midst of ongoing growth, change, doubt, elation, frustration and exaggerated self-worth, all of which are characteristic of the architect’s life, a group of young practitioners from around Europe will come together to share their work and readings of Europe’s shifting paradigms. Accustomed to live in a lifecycle littered by crises, a bench of new protagonists has moved away from the traditional boundary of the practice to self-initiate projects rather than being dependant of the market demand. Led by a strong culture of independence, these offices exploit a void being left by the increasing commodification of the architecture. Driven by an unprecedented need for action, initiatives are fed by everyday concerns to built forms of resistance including temporary structures, opportunistic occupation and the involvement of participants in the project process. From Bedford Square to London and beyond, a concordance of beliefs and hopes shape new attitudes toward the discipline. This is a sign of the need to build alternative commitments to society, clients and territories through architecture.
Flavien Menu is a London-based architect with a postgraduate dual degree in urban policies (London School of Economics/Sciences Po Paris). Alongside his practice – Office for Cities -developing strategic research projects and urban development schemes, his writing aims to fuel the social, political and cultural debate on built environment issues, and has been widely published. Flavien taught at the Architectural Association and his a regular guest critic at the Royal College of Arts, London Metropolitan University and ETH Zurich.
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