Image Courtesy Christian Richters

When: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM WEDNESDAY, ARCHTOBER 23

Where: At The Center   

More often than not when we refer to culture we associate it with excellence in the arts, with ‘high culture’ and broad cultural knowledge. In terms of architecture we of course also associate culture with a specific typology related to this understanding; with theaters and museums etc. However, for the architect it is not only these definitions which apply. In fact, everyday culture plays an essential role in the design process of projects of all typologies.

For the architect culture is also understood as a broader term that encapsulates commonplace experiences- it is these shared and familiar encounters that can form the inspiration for design. The challenge then, is to translate this everyday culture into spatial and material constructs and integrally embed these concepts into buildings. In this way, buildings can become the containers and communicators of sensory and cognitive experiences that transcend basic functionality and stimulate the imagination.

Speaker: 
Ben van Berkel
Co-Founder/Principal Architect UNStudio

Ben van Berkel studied architecture at the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam and at the Architectural Association in London, receiving the AA Diploma with Honours in 1987.

In 1988 he and Caroline Bos set up an architectural practice in Amsterdam, extending their theoretical and writing projects to the practice of architecture. The Van Berkel & Bos Architectuurbureau has realized, amongst others projects, the Karbouw office building, the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam, Museum Het Valkhof in Nijmegen, the Moebius House and the NMR facilities for the University of Utrecht.

In 1998 Ben van Berkel and Caroline Bos established a new firm: UNStudio (United Net). UNStudio presents itself as a network of specialists in architecture, urban development and infrastructure. Current projects are the restructuring of the station area of Arnhem, the mixed-use Raffles City in Hangzhou, a masterplan for Basauri, a dance theatre for St. Petersburg and the design and restructuring of the Harbor Ponte Parodi in Genoa. With UNStudio he realized amongst others the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, a façade and interior renovation for the Galleria Department store in Seoul and a private villa up-state New York.

Ben van Berkel has lectured and taught at many architectural schools around the world. Currently he is Professor Conceptual Design at the Staedelschule in Frankfurt am Main and was recently awarded the Kenzo Tange Visiting Professor's Chair at Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Central to his teaching is the inclusive approach of architectural works integrating virtual and material organization and engineering constructions.

Cost:
Free for Members
$10 for Non-Members

Organized by the AIANY Cultural Facilities Committee

A program of Archtober, Architecture and Design Month New York City, October 2013. 

> via cfa.aiany.org

> via UNStudio