Pratt Institute's School of Architecture presents its fall lecture series, with talks by noted architects, artists, designers, and scholars, at the Institute's Brooklyn and Manhattan campuses. Speakers include James Carpenter (October 15), Kevin Daly (November 5), Charles Renfro (November 15), Eduardo Souto de Moura (November 27), among others.
Monday, September 24: Alex Schweder, Pratt alumnus, professor, architect, and artist, will speak about his work and career. In addition to his lecture, Schweder currently has an installation, titled Roomograph, on view at the School of Architecture at the Hazel and Robert H. Siegel Gallery. The installation, which is constructed out of light-sensitive material and acts as a room-sized photogram, photographs itself and its inhabitants. Roomograph will be on view through September 24 and will exhibit Schweder's "performance architecture" theory that is based on the notion that relationships between occupied spaces and occupying subjects are permeable.
Thursday, September 27: Arash Yaghoubi, Building Information Modeling (BIM) manager, Pavarini McGovern Construction Company, will speak about his work and career. BIM serves the construction industry in both planning and execution phases of a project. The benefits of BIM include various trade coordination and specific construction applications, particularly during on-site operations.
Monday, October 15: James Carpenter, sculptor, designer, and founder of James Carpenter Design Associates, Inc., will speak about his work and career. Since 1978 he has been working to develop independent and integrated building structures that have progressively synthesized art and architecture. Carpenter has also worked on the development of new glass materials including photo responsive glasses and various glass ceramics. Current and recent projects include the redevelopment of McKim Mead & White's Farley Post Office as the new Pennsylvania Station in New York; the planning and design of five new buildings of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem; and the completion of the exterior and lobby of Seven World Trade Center in New York. This lecture is sponsored by the Ornamental Metal Institute of New York.
Thursday, October 18 (Hazel and Robert H. Siegel Gallery at Higgins Hall): Pratt Institute will present an exhibition, titled "Design for North American Cities Now," in association with the Culture Now project with work by architecture students from Columbia University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Pratt Institute, Princeton University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Polytechnic Institute, Rice University, Syracuse University, University of California Los Angeles, University of Kentucky, and University of Pennsylvania.
Wednesday, October 24: Joe Mizzi, who received a Pratt construction management degree in 1991, is president of Sciame Construction. He began his career in the New York City construction industry more than 20 years ago and in 1995 joined Sciame, where he has overseen important projects such as the expansion of The Morgan Library & Museum and the exterior restoration of the Guggenheim Museum.
Monday, November 5: Kevin Daly, principal, Daly Genik Architects, Los Angeles, will speak about his work and career. Daly is the design principal-in-charge for all of the office's projects including the award-winning Valley Center House, the Camino Nuevo Charter Academy, the Slot Box House, and the new Art Center College of Design South Campus Building. Current projects include new offices for BMW/DesignworksUSA, the UCLA Music Facilities Study, and the Harvard University Art Museums Art Center.
Thursday, November 8: Pratt Institute will present a symposium titled "Architecture and Contemporary Urbanism Now," a panel discussion for the exhibition "Designs for North American Cities Now" (on view at the Hazel and Robert H. Siegel Gallery). The panel discussion will be moderated by Dagmar Richter, coordinator of global urbanism, Pratt Institute, and will feature Michael Chen, Pratt Institute; Winka Dubbeldam, University of Pennsylvania; Toni Griffin, Columbia University; Jason Lee, Pratt Institute; Thom Mayne, University of California Los Angeles; and Chris Perry, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Thursday, November 15: Charles Renfro, co-founder of Diller Scofidio and Renfro Architects, will speak about his work and career. Renfro was made a partner at Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) in 2004 and has been working with the firm since 1997. He served as project leader on Brasserie, Eyebeam, the BAM master plan (with Rem Koolhaas/OMA), Blur, and the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art. DS+R has been awarded the AIA Presidents Award, the AIA Medal of Honor, and the National Design Award in Architecture from the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. Renfro's writings and interviews have been published in journals and books worldwide and he lectures frequently both in the U.S. and abroad.
Tuesday, November 27: Eduardo Souto de Moura, 2011 Pritzker Prize-winning architect based in Porto, Portugal, will speak about his work and career. Since forming his own office in 1980, Souto do Moura has completed well over 60 projects in his native Portugal and in Spain, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland. Often described as a neo-Miesian, but one who constantly strives for originality, Souto de Moura has achieved much praise for his exquisite use of materials--granite, wood, marble, brick, steel, concrete--as well as his unexpected use of color. Career highlights include a dramatically-situated stadium in Braga, Portugal; the 20-story Burgo Tower in Porto, Portugal; and House Number Two, a residence in the town of Bom Jesus that was constructed on five terraces with concrete exterior walls. This lecture is sponsored by Latin Pratt, a student research organization.
