The Naomi Milgrom Foundation has announced the full program for the second annual Living Cities Forum, with esteemed architects and urbanists from the US, UK and Spain named as speakers.
To be held at Deakin Edge at Federation Square on 26 July, the day-long Living Cities Forum will explore how design, planning and architecture influence society.
Among the speakers announced are Barcelona-based architect and educator Carme Pinós of Estudio Carme Pinós and architect of the 2018 MPavilion; Dutch-American sociologist and urban thinker Saskia Sassen; Jane Hall and Audrey Thomas-Hayes of London-based, Turner Prize-winning practice Assemble; Nicholas Lobo Brennan of the London-based Apparata; and Australian architect and film director Liam Young.
“Design changes our built environments and in turn our lives as citizens,” said Naomi Milgrom, founder of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation – the organization that instigated the forum. “The second Living Cities Forum will extend the inaugural forum’s vital conversations about liveability to investigate how design can address the challenges facing Melbourne and cities around the world.”
This year’s forum will investigate the theme “Shaping Society,” with speakers questioning the role design can play in encouraging inclusive communities, fostering good citizens and bettering society.
The speakers are:
Carme Pinós
Announced as the designer of 2018’s MPavilion in February, the Barcelona-based architect Carme Pinós is renowned for her humanist approach to architecture and for advancing the gender equity in the profession. Her works cross a number of sectors including urban refurbishments, social housing, public works and furniture.
Notable projects include the Caixaforum Cultural and Exhibition Centre in Zaragoza (Spain), the Cube Office Towers I and II in Guadalajara (Mexico), the Crematorium in the Igualada Cemetery (Spain) and the Department Building of the Vienna University of Economics and Business (Austria).
Saskia Sassen
Internationally renowned Dutch-American sociologist, writer and academic Saskia Sassen.
Saskia Sassen is an internationally renowned Dutch-American sociologist, writer and academic who has been a key contributor to the evolving discourse around globalization, transnationalism and the idea of the global city.
She is the Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology at Columbia University and a member of its Committee on Global Thought, which she chaired until 2015. A prolific media commentator, Sassen is the author of eight books including the hugely influential 1991 work The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo.
Saskia Sassen will also be appearing at the 2018 Housing Futures forum in Sydney, presented by the Architecture Media, on Friday 27 July.
Ryue Nishizawa
Ryue Nishizawa, Office of Ryue Nishizawa.
Image: courtesy MPavilion
Ryue Nishizawa, who heads the Office of Ryue Nishizawa, became the youngest recipient of the Pritzker Prize in 2010 when he shared the award with practice partner Kazuyo Sejima, which whom he founded SANAA.
Nishizawa’s significant projects include the five-storey Garden and House in Tokyo and the Hiroshi Senjyu Museum in Nagano. Among his current projects is the SANAA-designed expansion of the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
Jane Hall and Audrey Thomas-Hayes
The London-based creative collective Assemble, of which Jane Hall and Audrey Thomas-Hayes are members.
Jane Hall and Audrey Thomas-Hayes are members of the London-based creative collective Assemble. Established in 2010, the group is known for its collaborative working practices, and in particular working with the public as participants in a range of ongoing design projects. They work across the fields of art, architecture and design, and were the unexpected named winners of the prestigious contemporary art award, the Turner Prize, in 2015 for project including the Granby Four Streets housing estate.
The projects include the refurbishment of ten derelict terrace houses in Liverpool following a twenty-year battle by local residents to save the houses from demolition. Its other projects include a redevelopment of the London Bridge-based independent art school The Art Academy.
Nicholas Lobo Brennan
A House for Artists, an affordable housing scheme with integrated studios for artists designed by Apparata in collaboration with British artist Grayson Perry.
Image: Apparata
Along with Astrid Smitham, Nicholas Lobo Brennan is co-founder of London-based architecture and research practice Apparata. He designs and constructs building, furniture and books or “tools for everyday life,” as he describes. Apparata recently completed the design and construction of the reuse of Old Manor Park Library, London as a new form of public building for the local neighbourhood.
Liam Young
Australian film director and architect Liam Young.
Image: Jono Gales
Liam Young is an Australian film director and architect whose work blurs the boundaries between film, design, fiction and architecture. He is cofounder of Tomorrows Thoughts Today, an urban futures think tank that explores the implications of new technologies on the urban fabric. He has taught internationally at the Architectural Association, Princeton University and now runs a Master of Arts program in fiction and entertainment at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) in Los Angles.
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