'When the peaks of our sky come together, my house will have a roof.' Paul Eluard.
Last Nov. 7, 8 and 9th. in Namur /Belgium, the KIKK-festival was held, subtitled the Next Utopia. On the 7th. lectures/presentations by e.g. Paolo Cirio, Evan Roth, Usman Haque. Some others to my taste a bit off course regarding the theme; nevertheless again fine examples of ‘what will be the dreams of tomorrow?’
On Sunday, Nov. 24th,, Matthew Stadler gives the Benno Premsela-lecture in Amsterdam’s Portugese Synagoge on ‘What is the interior’. Technological and political change – particularly the reach of digital technologies and state and market involvement in them – has made conventional notions of “the interior” obsolete. Stadler proposes a broader concept – the interior as the space of composition – and argues for the urgency of design work and research into this broader concept.
See: the New Institute, Rotterdam.
Friday 25th.October, the New Institute Rotterdam; a 3-hour seminar by artist Stelarc and philosopher Henk Oosterling as part of the exhibition Biodesign. Despite several attemps by Oosterling to try to get past the issues of art as such the whole afternoon remained somewhat one-sided. Connecting technological developments to art while some of them have possibilities in society is declaring art as individual statement – no problem there – while disregarding its enhancive options in society. But fascinating it was: growing an ear on one’s arm.
Saturday, May 18th. at Korzo Theatre the Hague: two ‘disturbing’ fine lectures by Warren Neidich and Joe Davis, both moderated by filmmaker/visual artist/witer Frank Theys. Both focused on the hybrid forms between art, technology and science, providing disruptive examples of the boundary between the known and the uncharted, Organisation: Artscience
Next Sunday; January 13th. a new film is shown in NAI’s Auditorium on the works of John Habraken: de Drager‘. John Habraken introduced a totally new vision for residential construction by separating the ‘support’ – the base building – and the ‘infill’, its fitting-out. The architect’s only responsibility was the design of the support, of ‘open buildings’ that users could then fit out for themselves. Sonja Lüthi and Marc Schwarz have made a film about Habraken’s body of thought.
On December 6th. 2012, Pedro Gadanho, MOMA’s curator for contemporary architecture, was present at Stroom the Hague for an illustrative lecture on Performance Architecture. Using images from the works of e,g. Gordon Matta-Clark, Haus Ruecker, Raumlabor, Exyzt and many others he discussed the links between architecture and art, between function and influence; adding social space by means of ‘city-performance’.
dinsdag 24-4, Stroom Den Haag; in de reeks ’the Knigt’s Move’ de lezing ‘Biophilic Future’ van de Finse artist/architect Juhani Pallasmaa. Auteur van o.a. ‘Eyes of the Skin’ en ’the Thinking Hand’. Ik heb nog altijd waardevolle herinneringen aan de eerdere lezing van Anthony Vidler vorig jaar juni.
Donderdagavond, 17 juni, de Doelen Rotterdam. In de Grote Zaal presenteert Peter Zumthor zijn project voor de renovatie van de Meelfabriek in Leiden.
(http://www.demeelfabriek.nl/nl/architect/)
Met de nodige humor, gevoel voor understatement en tussen de regels door een kritische noot toonde hij op groot scherm zijn fascinerende plan voor dit industrieel monument; met na afloop een af en toe hilarisch interview door NAI-directeur Ole Bouman en soms niet geheel heldere vragen uit de zaal.