Learning from... Madrid
In the aftermath of the global economic crisis, Spain is now paying for its lack of urban policy, particularly in the construction industry. The credit crunch curbed the frenzy of construction and left behind a vast territory of incomplete urban spaces. Architect, editor, and architectural curator Javier Arpa Fernández presents a lecture reflecting on how alternative(...)
Paul-Desmarais Theatre
4 December 2014 , 6pm
Learning from... Madrid
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In the aftermath of the global economic crisis, Spain is now paying for its lack of urban policy, particularly in the construction industry. The credit crunch curbed the frenzy of construction and left behind a vast territory of incomplete urban spaces. Architect, editor, and architectural curator Javier Arpa Fernández presents a lecture reflecting on how alternative(...)
Paul-Desmarais Theatre
Learning from... Montréal
Lance Blomgren uses his 2009 book Walkups—a novella set entirely within Montréal’s row house apartment buildings—as a springboard for an analysis of the discursive plane of fictional architecture. Looking at works by John Hejduk, Ilya Kabakov, Alice Aycock and others, Blomgren argues that contemporary modes of speculative architecture offer a vital, if ethically fraught,(...)
Paul-Desmarais Theatre
2 May 2013 , 7pm
Learning from... Montréal
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Lance Blomgren uses his 2009 book Walkups—a novella set entirely within Montréal’s row house apartment buildings—as a springboard for an analysis of the discursive plane of fictional architecture. Looking at works by John Hejduk, Ilya Kabakov, Alice Aycock and others, Blomgren argues that contemporary modes of speculative architecture offer a vital, if ethically fraught,(...)
Paul-Desmarais Theatre
Learning from... Caracas
Venezuelan law allows for an entity called the consejo communal (communal council), which empowers citizens to initiate local development projects through neighbourhood-based elected councils. Dario Azzellini and Oliver Ressler’s film, Comuna under construction (2010), begins with the story of a poor hillside community in Caracas as its inhabitants decide whether they(...)
Paul-Desmarais Theatre
8 May 2014 , 6pm
Learning from... Caracas
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Venezuelan law allows for an entity called the consejo communal (communal council), which empowers citizens to initiate local development projects through neighbourhood-based elected councils. Dario Azzellini and Oliver Ressler’s film, Comuna under construction (2010), begins with the story of a poor hillside community in Caracas as its inhabitants decide whether they(...)
Paul-Desmarais Theatre
Learning from... Saadiyat
Saadiyat Island is a “dreamscape” created by Tourism Development Investment Company just half a kilometer from downtown Abu Dhabi. It is an amalgam of luxury residential areas, 5-star resorts and golf courses crowned by a Cultural District containing a hallucinatory collection of museums designed by five Pritzker Prize winners. Is this the future of private(...)
Paul-Desmarais Theatre
21 August 2014 , 6pm
Learning from... Saadiyat
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Saadiyat Island is a “dreamscape” created by Tourism Development Investment Company just half a kilometer from downtown Abu Dhabi. It is an amalgam of luxury residential areas, 5-star resorts and golf courses crowned by a Cultural District containing a hallucinatory collection of museums designed by five Pritzker Prize winners. Is this the future of private(...)
Paul-Desmarais Theatre
Learning from... Israel
Yuval Yasky presents the kibbutz as a radical alternative to familiar types of human settlement. Ever since its early days, the kibbutz was conceived as a hybrid between rural and urban typologies in an attempt to eliminate the disadvantages of both types – the primitive conservatism of village life and the capitalist exploitation of the proletariat in the city – while(...)
Paul Desmarais Theatre
31 March 2011 , 7pm
Learning from... Israel
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Yuval Yasky presents the kibbutz as a radical alternative to familiar types of human settlement. Ever since its early days, the kibbutz was conceived as a hybrid between rural and urban typologies in an attempt to eliminate the disadvantages of both types – the primitive conservatism of village life and the capitalist exploitation of the proletariat in the city – while(...)
Paul Desmarais Theatre
Paul-Desmarais Theatre
Learning from... Brussels
Rotor members Michael Ghyoot and Maarten Gielen investigate the processes and practices of material management in Brussels and its suburbs. The concept of waste played a key role in their research and was informed by hundreds of visits to businesses, work sites, and recycling plants. The examination of discarded, unfinished products or those considered of inferior quality(...)
Paul Desmarais Theatre
19 April 2012 , 7pm
Learning from... Brussels
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Rotor members Michael Ghyoot and Maarten Gielen investigate the processes and practices of material management in Brussels and its suburbs. The concept of waste played a key role in their research and was informed by hundreds of visits to businesses, work sites, and recycling plants. The examination of discarded, unfinished products or those considered of inferior quality(...)
Paul Desmarais Theatre
Learning from... Dubai
Yasser Elsheshtawy presents the second lecture in the series Learning From… the Middle East.Whether presented as a playground for the super-rich, a land of unabashed consumerism, or an exemplary case study for capitalist exploitation – such portrayals ultimately suggest a one-sided dimension of the city of Dubai. The talk will examine the spaces of the everyday, the(...)
Paul-Desmarais Theatre
29 September 2011 , 7PM
Learning from... Dubai
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Yasser Elsheshtawy presents the second lecture in the series Learning From… the Middle East.Whether presented as a playground for the super-rich, a land of unabashed consumerism, or an exemplary case study for capitalist exploitation – such portrayals ultimately suggest a one-sided dimension of the city of Dubai. The talk will examine the spaces of the everyday, the(...)
Paul-Desmarais Theatre
Architectural historian Barbara Penner traces the evolution of Niagara Falls – from its 19th-century honeymoon tourism to its state of post-industrial kitsch to its recent rebirth as a honeymoon destination. The photographer Alec Soth, whose work is the starting point for this lecture, compellingly portrays a ruined post-industrial landscape of love in his series Niagara(...)
Paul Desmarais Theatre
23 April 2009
Learning from... Niagara Falls
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Architectural historian Barbara Penner traces the evolution of Niagara Falls – from its 19th-century honeymoon tourism to its state of post-industrial kitsch to its recent rebirth as a honeymoon destination. The photographer Alec Soth, whose work is the starting point for this lecture, compellingly portrays a ruined post-industrial landscape of love in his series Niagara(...)
Paul Desmarais Theatre
Learning from... Los Angeles
Los Angeles-based historian and tour guide Richard Schave examines developments in Los Angeles in the 35 years since the landmark urban tour film Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles (UK,1972). Schave, a former student of Banham, elaborates on his professor’s research by showing excerpts of the film in comparison with his own documentary photography. In particular, he explores(...)
Paul Desmarais Theatre
28 May 2009
Learning from... Los Angeles
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Los Angeles-based historian and tour guide Richard Schave examines developments in Los Angeles in the 35 years since the landmark urban tour film Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles (UK,1972). Schave, a former student of Banham, elaborates on his professor’s research by showing excerpts of the film in comparison with his own documentary photography. In particular, he explores(...)
Paul Desmarais Theatre