On 26 November 2015, I will deliver a lecture entitled “Álvaro Siza’s Archaeology of the Ordinary. The welfare state and politics of urban renewal in 1980s Europe”, at the CCA- Canadian Centre for Architecture, in Montréal, Canada.
This lecture is presented in conjunction with the exhibition "Corner, Block, Neighbourhood, Cities. Álvaro Siza in Berlin and The Hague". Following an intense period of work in the mid-1970s with Portugal’s post-revolutionary housing initiatives, in the early 1980s Álvaro Siza contributed projects to two of the most important urban renewal programs in Europe: Berlin’s IBA and The Hague’s Stadsvernieuwing als Cultural Aktiviteit (Urban Renewal as a Cultural Activity). This lecture will examine the instrumental role that the assimilation of vernacular social and spatial practices played in Siza’s housing projects for these two cities. Focusing on the projects Bonjour Tristesse in Berlin and Punt en Komma in The Hague, it will propose the notion of an archaeology of the ordinary as a fundamental component in Siza’s work at the point of encounter between populism and dogma, and between the architect’s ambition to design for the people and the Welfare State’s insistence on conformity. More info about the exhibition and event here: http://www.cca.qc.ca/en/exhibitions/2608-corner-block-neighbourhood-cities
Pictures taken at the opening of the exhibition "Dwelling in/on Addis Ababa", held at the Gallery of the National Theatre, Addis Ababa, on 3 November 2015.
From 22 until 28 October 2015, I will participate in the “Wohnungsfrage Academy: The Housing System”, a research workshop organized by the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, in Berlin.
This housing system is at the center of the theoretical and practical approach of the Wohnungsfrage Academy directed byReinhold Martin (Buell Center, Columbia University) in collaboration with Nikolaus Hirsch (co-curator of HKW´s project Wohnungsfrage). Over the course of one week, the Academy will bring together scholars, practitioners, artists and other experts from various fields and disciplines and provide the context for cross-disciplinary inquiry of this system. More information about the event here: https://www.hkw.de/en/programm/projekte/2015/wohnungsfrage/academy/the_housing_system.php On 9 September 2015 I will deliver the paper “Designed Self-Help. Producing Closed Forms for Open Buildings” at The Future of Open Building Conference 2015, held at the ETH Zurich.
The session will be co-chaired by Prof. Kerstin Höger (Norwegian Univ. of Science & Technology) and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Amira Osman (Univ. of Johannesburg). More information about the conference here: http://www.openbuilding2015.arch.ethz.ch/background.html
On Friday, 17 April 2015, I will deliver the paper "The SAAL Spring. Revolution, Housing and Bureaucracy in Portugal" at the 68th SAH Annual Conference held in Chicago. The venue is the Holiday Inn located at the Chicago Mart Plaza River North.
My paper is integrated in the session PS26 The Legacy of Totalitarianism, chaired by Lucy M. Maulsby (Northeastern University). The program of the conference is available here: http://www.sah.org/docs/default-source/conference/sah_2015_12-15-14f_optimized.pdf?sfvrsn=6 On 8 April 2015, I will deliver a paper with the title “From the Kebele to the Condominium. Accommodating Social and Spatial Practices in Ethiopia’s Politics of Affordable Housing” at the International Conference “Housing: A Critical Perspective”, held at the University of Liverpool, UK.
This conference is organised by the Sociology Department of Liverpool University and the Architecture Department of Liverpool John Moores University, and Architecture_MPS. It is a two day interdisciplinary conference on the global theme of affordable housing provision. It formed part of a broader program of international events, Housing – Critical Futures. More information about the conference is available here: http://architecturemps.com/housing-critical-perspective/ |