The 2015 National Architecture Conference will be held at Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre, 14–16 May.
Curated by Hamish Lyon, Andrew MacKenzie and Donald Bates, the 2015 Conference will explore the theme of risk in architecture. In light of the rapidly evolving environment in which architects are working in, the conference asks the key question, what is the changing role of risk in architecture. In particular, it will look in to the tension between the natural tendency for risk taking in architecture and a practice of risk avoidance in procuring, developing and constructing architecture.
The conference will not only bring together a range of keynote speakers from across Europe America and Asia, but, in an effort to expand the conversation outside of the profession, the creative directors have invited speakers from across the built environment professions. The first round of speakers confirmed are:
Deborah Saunt, DSDHA (UK)
Deborah Saunt, DSDHA.
Deborah Saunt founded the award-winning architectural studio DSDHA in 1998. Her work blurs the boundaries between landscape and architecture, art and urbanism, and questions our preconceptions of the city. Deborah has led the studio in delivering a range of high profile buildings including a gateway building for the London 2012 Athletes Village, several large residential projects in Westminster, public realm improvements around the Royal Albert Hall, as well as the redesign of the public realm in the West End along Tottenham Court Road. In addition to her practice, Deborah has just completed her PhD thesis as part of the RMIT Practice Research programme. She is a member of various prestigious panels, including the RIBA Awards Group. Deborah also writes and broadcasts on architecture.
Minsuk Cho, Mass Studies (South Korea)
Minsuk Cho, Mass Studies.
Minsuk Cho was born in Seoul and graduated from the Architectural Engineering Department of Yonsei University (Seoul, Korea) and the Graduate School of Architecture at Columbia University (New York, USA). After working in various firms, including OMA Rotterdam, he established Cho Slade Architecture in 1998 in New York City with partner James Slade. In 2003, he returned to Korea to open his own firm, Mass Studies, a practice that critically investigates architecture in the context of mass production, intensely over-populated urban conditions, and other emergent cultural niches that define contemporary society.
Gregg Pasquarelli, SHoP Architects (USA)
Gregg Pasquarelli, SHoP Architects.
Since 1996, founding partner of New York based SHoP Architects Gregg Pasquarelli has been at the centre a practice that frequently pushes the boundaries with unconventional approaches and expanding the traditional roles of architects. In 2009, SHoP received the Smithsonian/Cooper-Hewitt’s National Design Award and in 2014, Fast Company named SHoP “Most Innovative Architecture Firm in the World.” Outside of the practice, Gregg holds a number of teaching roles schools such as Yale, Columbia, Syracuse, and the University of Virginia.
Caroline Bos, UNStudio (The Netherlands)
Caroline Bos, UNStudio (The Netherlands)
Caroline Bos studied History of Art at Birkbeck College of the University of London and Urban and Regional Planning at the Faculty of Geosciences, University of Utrecht. In 1988 she co- founded UNStudio with the architect Ben van Berkel. UNStudio presents itself as a network of specialists in architecture, urban development and infrastructure. Caroline Bos has taught as a guest lecturer at Princeton University, the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam, The Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and the Academy of Architecture in Arnhem. In 2012 she was awarded an Honorary Professorship at the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning.
Read Anna Tweedledale’s interview with Caroline Bos.
Kasper Jensen, 3XN (Denmark)
Kasper Jensen, 3XN
Kasper Guldager Jensen is an innovator and developer at 3XN. He is partner and Director of GXN, an internal Innovation Unit established in 2007 to exploit the possibilities that arise applying the latest knowledge and technology to design and architecture. In the space of a few years, he has become a spokesperson for the shape of future architecture, focusing on new business areas and integration of new materials and green technologies. He is an Architect MAA, graduating from the Aarhus School of Architecture in Denmark. In addition, he earned a Masters in Architecture from the Southern California Institute of Architecture.
David Gianotten OMA (Hong Kong)
David Gianotten, OMA.
David Gianotten is the Managing Partner – Architect of OMA. In his previous role as partner-in-charge of OMA’s Hong Kong and Beijing offices and director of OMA Asia, David Gianotten led the firm’s large portfolio in the Asia Pacific region and was responsible for the recently completed Shenzhen Stock Exchange headquarters, the end stages of the CCTV headquarters in Beijing, and OMA’s conceptual masterplan for the West Kowloon Cultural District in Hong Kong. He studied architecture and construction technology at Eindhoven University of Technology, and before joining OMA was Principal Architect at SeARCH in the Netherlands.
Read Andrew Mackenzie’s interivew with David Gianotten.
More speakers will be announced in the coming months. Read more here.
