Events

Lecture by Mathias Brockdorff (PAX architects).

 819 1024 Kent State University, Florence Program | College of Architecture & Environmental Design
0
0

Mathias Brockdorff, architect and partner at PAX Architects, based in Aarhus, Denmark, will be joining us as a guest speaker on Tuesday 2 April at 5:00 pm. His lecture, titled “Meaningful Spaces: Culture as Catalyst for Informal Dialogue,” will be introduced by prof. Paola Giaconia.

PAX Architects with Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects – Royal Polish Opera in Warsaw (ongoing)- Rendering by KVANT-1
PAX Architects with Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects – Royal Polish Opera in Warsaw (ongoing)- Rendering by KVANT-1
PAX Architects with Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects – Royal Polish Opera in Warsaw (ongoing)- Rendering by KVANT-1
PAX Architects with Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects – Royal Polish Opera in Warsaw (ongoing)- Rendering by KVANT-1
PAX Architects with Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects – Royal Polish Opera in Warsaw (ongoing)- Rendering by KVANT-1

Mathias’s lecture will showcase recent projects undertaken by PAX Architects, focusing particularly on public institutions, especially cultural ones. These projects are founded on the belief that architecture holds the transformative power to positively influence people’s lives.

PAX Architects – Museum Skanderborg (ongoing) – Model
PAX Architects – Museum Skanderborg (ongoing) – Rendering by KVANT-1
PAX Architects – Museum Skanderborg (ongoing) – Rendering by KVANT-1
PAX Architects – Museum Skanderborg (ongoing) – Rendering by KVANT-1
PAX Architects – Museum Skanderborg (ongoing) – Rendering by KVANT-1

Mathias Brockdorff (born in 1989) graduated from the School of Architecture in Aarhus, Denmark, in 2015. Since then, he has actively contributed to numerous national and international projects, specializing in cultural and residential construction, urban development, and transformation. With a deep involvement in the design process, Mathias assumes a central role in project development and narrative shaping.
In 2021, Mathias became a Partner at PAX architects, joining forces with Co-Partners Mads Lassen and Thomas Bossel. Prior to this, he collaborated with them at Schmidt/Hammer/Lassen architects, working in both Shanghai and Aarhus.
Each project undertaken reflects a commitment to crafting visionary, site-specific, and immersive architecture, aiming to enhance the quality of people’s lives and contribute to the broader community.
Grounded in the Nordic architectural tradition, Mathias adopts an approach centered on humanism, simplification, and craftsmanship. His overarching ambition is to consistently create extraordinary spaces that elevate the ordinary aspects of everyday life.

www.pax.dk

 

Lecture by Marianna Rentzou (Point Supreme).

 1024 697 Kent State University, Florence Program | College of Architecture & Environmental Design
0
0

Marianna Rentzou, architect and founding partner at Point Supreme, based in Athens, will lecture on Tuesday 12 March at 5 pm. Her lecture, titled “The Way We Live,” , will be introduced by prof. Paola Giaconia.

Point Supreme, Mediterranean Institute of Cities and Territories, Marseille
Point Supreme, Mediterranean Institute of Cities and Territories, Marseille
Point Supreme, Mediterranean Institute of Cities and Territories, Marseille, photo by Maxime Delvaux
Point Supreme, Mediterranean Institute of Cities and Territories, Marseille, photo by Maxime Delvaux
Point Supreme, Mediterranean Institute of Cities and Territories, Marseille, photo by Maxime Delvaux

Marianna will showcase a selection of their projects, encompassing both built structures and conceptual designs. In these endeavors, Point Supreme fearlessly blends elements of low and high culture, merges industrial and vernacular components, and juxtaposes iconic architectural tropes with everyday features. 

Point Supreme – Petralona House – PH 01 – photo by Filip Dujardin
Point Supreme, Ignatiou Apartment – Veranda, photo by Filip Dujardin
Point Supreme, Ignatiou Apartment – Veranda, photo by Filip Dujardin
Point Supreme, Ignatiou Apartment – Veranda, photo by Filip Dujardin
Point Supreme, Ignatiou Apartment – Veranda, photo by Filip Dujardin
Point Supreme, Ignatiou Apartment – Veranda, photo by Filip Dujardin
Point Supreme, Artemida House, photo by Filip Dujardin
Point Supreme, Artemida House, photo by Filip Dujardin

Marianna Rentzou and Konstantinos Pantazis established Point Supreme in Rotterdam in 2008 after living and working in Athens, London, Brussels, Tokyo and Rotterdam. The essence of their work lies in seamlessly integrating research, architecture, and urban design. Their accolades include 1st prizes in various international competitions such as for a Social Housing in Trondheim, a Pier on the coast of Athens, a sheltered public space in Tel Aviv (built), a Firestation in Belgium (built), the New Architecture school in Marseille (built) and an Artists Centre in Genk (C-mine Atelier, built).
Point Supreme consistently contributes to architectural discourse by publishing self-initiated projects for Athens. Their portfolio has been showcased at esteemed events such as the Venice and Chicago Biennale and the Lisbon Triennale. Notably, their work has been documented in three books: ‘Athens Projects’ (Graham Foundation, 2015), ‘Radical Realities’ (Divisare, 2017), and a dedicated issue of a+u magazine (May 2023).
Beyond their design practice, Marianna and Konstantinos have shared their expertise as educators at institutions like Columbia University in New York and EPFL in Lausanne. Recognized among the 20 most influential personalities in Greece by a leading Greek newspaper, they are actively engaged in building projects both within Greece and abroad.

http://www.pointsupreme.com

 

Point Supreme, Petralona House, photo by James Mollison
Point Supreme, Petralona House, photo by James Mollison
Point Supreme, Petralona House, photo by Filip Dujardin
Point Supreme, Petralona House, photo by Filip Dujardin
Point Supreme, Petralona House, photo by Filip Dujardin

Lecture by Arto Ollila (AOR Architects).

 1024 683 Kent State University, Florence Program | College of Architecture & Environmental Design
0
0

Arto Ollila (architect and founding partner at AOR Architects in Helsinki, Finland) will offer us a lecture on Tuesday 5 March at 5:00 pm. His lecture is titled “Crafting the Odds: Public Buildings by AOR Architects” and will be introduced by prof. Marco Brizzi. 

AOR Architects, Tuusula High School and Cultural Centre (2023). Model by AOR
AOR Architects, Tuusula High School and Cultural Centre (2023). Aerial photo by Kuvio
AOR Architects, Tuusula High School and Cultural Centre (2023). Photo by Kuvio
AOR Architects, Tuusula High School and Cultural Centre (2023). Photo by Kuvio
AOR Architects, Tuusula High School and Cultural Centre (2023). Photo by Kuvio

Arto’s presentation will delve into AOR’s expertise in designing public buildings, particularly schools, and will take us through the studio’s design process, showcasing in-progress materials – like models, sketches, and construction photos – in addition to the final, completed works.

AOR Architects, XAMK University of Applied Sciences (ongoing). Construction photo by AOR
AOR Architects, XAMK University of Applied Sciences (ongoing). Construction photo by AOR
AOR Architects, XAMK University of Applied Sciences (ongoing). Model by AOR
AOR Architects, Extension to Tampere Art Museum. Rendering by Mir
AOR Architects, Extension to Tampere Art Museum. Model by AOR

AOR combines aesthetic, ecological, social, practical and economic demands into memorable architecture that is in harmony with its context. Their work has been awarded with Finnish State Prize for Architecture in 2021 and Pietilä Prize in 2018.

Based in Helsinki, they work with building design consisting of public buildings, housing and business premises. In addition, they are experienced in urban design and city planning with projects ranging from small urban interventions to large city plans. AOR has particular expertise in designing future learning environments, museums and other complex public buildings in demanding urban settings, as well as additions in delicate historical contexts and natural surroundings.

www.aor.fi

 

Lecture by Mario Carpo.

 701 1024 Kent State University, Florence Program | College of Architecture & Environmental Design
0
0

Mario Carpo, architectural historian and critic, will lecture on Tuesday 27 February at 5 pm.

The lecture is part of the University by Design event series — coproduced by the Architecture Programs of the Daniel and Gayle D’Aniello Syracuse University in Florence, California State University International Programs Italy and Kent State University Florence — which focuses on the topic of studying architecture abroad. This collaborative forum will consist of two public lectures aimed at reimagining the collective educational space and proposing innovative models for contemporary practice.

Mario Carpo’s lecture is titled Generative AI, the Canon, and the Automated Transfiguration of Architectural Precedent. It examines how generative AI is bringing the practice of imitation back to design schools and the design professions. Computer scientists call such models a “dataset,” but in architecture we used to call them a tradition, convention, or “canon.” And designers know full well every canonized precedent is based on preference, and that preference often stands for prejudice.

Mario Carpo is an architectural historian and critic. His research focuses on the history of early modern architecture and on the theory and criticism of contemporary design and technology. Currently he is the Reyner Banham Professor of Architectural History and Theory at the Bartlett, University College London and the Professor of Architectural Theory at the Institute of Architecture of the University of Applied Arts (die Angewandte) in Vienna (emeritus since end 2023). His research and publications focus on history of early modern architecture and on the theory and criticism of contemporary design and technology. His award-winning Architecture in the Age of Printing (MIT Press, 2001) has been translated into several languages.  His most recent books are The Alphabet and the Algorithm (2011); The Second Digital Turn: Design Beyond Intelligence (2017); and Beyond Digital. Design and Automation at the End of Modernity (2023), all published by the MIT Press.

Lecture by Federica Vannucchi.

 779 501 Kent State University, Florence Program | College of Architecture & Environmental Design
0
0

Federica Vannucchi, Academic Director of the Pratt Rome Program, will lecture on Tuesday 20 February at 5 pm.

The lecture is part of the University by Design event series — coproduced by the Architecture Programs of the Daniel and Gayle D’Aniello Syracuse University in Florence, California State University International Programs Italy and Kent State University Florence — which focuses on the topic of studying architecture abroad. This collaborative forum will consist of two public lectures aimed at reimagining the collective educational space and proposing innovative models for contemporary practice.

Federica Vannucchi’s lecture is titled Rome as a Pedagogical Project. It evaluates the multiple dimensions of contemporary Italy as a space of enquiry for architecture students today. It will trace the origins of North American university programs in Italy, which continue the tradition of the Grand Tour as established in the 17th century for architecture students to visit the southern regions of Europe. In them, Italy is an open air museum. While the understanding of Italy as an extensive archeological living site should be both acknowledged and preserved, the present life of the country cannot be overlooked.

Dr. Federica Vannucchi is the Academic Director of the Pratt Rome Program. A licensed architect and an architectural historian, her research explores Italian modern architecture, architectural pedagogy, and exhibitions as platforms for cultural, political, and diplomatic exchange. Her work is widely published and includes Architecture’s Afterlife: The Multisector Impact of an Architecture Degree (Routledge, 2023), “The Human Body as Space of Diplomacy: Studi sulle Proporzioni at the 1951 IX Milan Triennale” in Italian Imprints on Twentieth Century Architecture (Bloomsbury, 2022); “In Search of A New Visual Vocabulary: The University of Architecture of Florence (1964-69)” in Radical Pedagogies (MIT, 2022); “The 1968 XIV Triennale of Milan” in Exhibit A: Exhibitions That Transformed Architecture (Phaidon, 2018); “The Contested Subject: The Greater Number at the 1968 XIV Triennale of Milan” in Exhibiting Architecture: A Paradox? (Actar, 2015). Her upcoming book, titled A Disciplinary Mechanism: The Milan Triennale, 1964–1973, focuses on the Triennale di Milano as a space for discussing design with respect to changing political administrations and international policy. She has co-curated a number of design exhibitions, including Radical Pedagogies (2014) which was awarded a Special Mention at the 14th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale. She has worked in architecture firms, including Peter Eisenman Architects where she co-designed, among other projects, the City of Culture of Santiago de Compostela. She has taught architectural and urban history and theory as well as design studios at Pratt, Yale, Parsons, Princeton, and Columbia GSAPP.
She is a graduate of the University of Florence (MArch summa cum laude), and Yale University where she was granted an outstanding academic performance award, going on to receive her PhD in History, Theory and Criticism from Princeton University.

Lecture by Marcello Galiotto (AMAA).

 819 1024 Kent State University, Florence Program | College of Architecture & Environmental Design
0
0

Marcello Galiotto, architect and founding partner at AMAA, will lecture on Tuesday 13 February at 5 pm at Kent State University Florence CAED. His lecture, titled “Seemingly Simple”, will be introduced by prof. Paola Giaconia.

AMAA – Threshold and Treasure in Arzignano (2022) – model – photo by Elena Pellizzer
AMAA – Threshold and Treasure in Arzignano (2022) – photo by Simone Bossi (2)
AMAA – Threshold and Treasure in Arzignano (2022) – photo by Simone Bossi (3)
AMAA, Final Outcome – AMAA workshop in Arzignano (2019) – photo by Simone Bossi (1)
AMAA, Final Outcome – AMAA workshop in Arzignano (2019) – photo by Simone Bossi (2)
AMAA, Final Outcome – AMAA workshop in Arzignano (2019) – photo by Simone Bossi (3)
AMAA, Final Outcome – AMAA workshop in Arzignano (2019) – photo by Simone Bossi (4)
AMAA, Lost in Translation in Arzignano (2020) – photo by Simone Bossi (1)
AMAA, Lost in Translation in Arzignano (2020) – photo by Simone Bossi (2)

Marcello’s lecture will explore the seemingly simple nature of AMAA’s projects, revealing an underlying complexity that may initially deceive the viewer. AMAA’s works exhibit multiple layers of richness, often influenced by their surrounding landscape or urban context, and consistently inspired by texts and images.

AMAA, Città dei modelli – photo by Francesca Vinci (2)
AMAA, Città dei modelli – photo by Francesca Vinci (1)
AMAA, Final Outcome – AMAA workshop in Arzignano (2019) – model – photo by Francesca Vinci (1)
AMAA, Final Outcome – AMAA workshop in Arzignano (2019) – model – photo by Francesca Vinci (2)
AMAA, Space within a Space in Arzignano (2020) – model – photo by Francesca Vinci
AMAA, Una Scala – Pleonastic is Fantastic in Lonigo (2021) – model – photo by Francesca Vinci
AMAA, Lost in Translation in Arzignano (2020) – model – photo by Francesca Vinci

AMAA is Alessandra Rampazzo (b. 1986) and Marcello Galiotto (b. 1986). They established their practice in 2012, after graduating from IUAV University Venice. AMAA is based both in Venice and in the heart of the Venetian plain in Arzignano. Notable publications include “Seemingly Simple,” published in 2022, and “On Time, Memory, Methods and Craft,” published in 2023. Amidst numerous ongoing projects, significant competition wins, and a consistently vibrant design activity deeply rooted in research, the young firm is currently experiencing a phase of international growth and recognition. Following their successful participation in the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, invited by director Lesley Lokko to be featured in the main exhibition housed at the Corderie dell’Arsenale, they recently opened a new branch in New York City.

www.amaa.studio

 

Lecture by Francesco Zuddas.

 655 401 Kent State University, Florence Program | College of Architecture & Environmental Design
0
0

Francesco Zuddas, Unit Master and history and theory of architecture lecturer at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, will lecture on Monday 6 November at 5 pm.

The lecture is part of the University by Design event series — coproduced by the Architecture Programs of the Daniel and Gayle D’Aniello Syracuse University in Florence, California State University International Programs Italy and Kent State University Florence — which focuses on the topic of studying architecture abroad. This collaborative forum will consist of two public lectures aimed at reimagining the collective educational space and proposing innovative models for contemporary practice.

Francesco’s lecture will discuss the contested tension between concentration and dispersal as a constituent of university space that has marked its history from its origins to this day. It is by looking at such constituent that the role of universities as testing grounds for wider ideas of the city can be more fully appreciated. The lecture will consider some key moments in the development of ideas for the modern university between the 19th and 21st century that have been pivotal for developing responses, often contradictory to one another, to the urbanization of life.

Francesco Zuddas teaches architectural design and history and theory of architecture and urbanism at the Architectural Association in London. He is also an Associate Visiting Lecturer at the University of Greenwich and at Central Saint Martins in London. He previously held academic appointments in the UK at the Leeds School of Architecture and Anglia Ruskin University where he was Course Leader for the undergraduate degree program in Architecture. He started his academic career at Università degli Studi di Cagliari from which he graduated and received his PhD. In 2014 he was visiting research scholar at GSAPP, Columbia University, where he developed part of his research on the architecture and urbanism of universities. He has written widely on topics spanning postwar Italian urbanism and architecture, space and higher education, architectural pedagogy, and the spatial implications of changing production paradigms towards the knowledge economy. His current research is on student housing and the domesticity of student life, with particular focus on self-initiated cooperative experiments for student accommodation. He is the co-author of Territori della Conoscenza: Un Progetto per Cagliari e la sua Università (Quodlibet 2017, with Martino Tattara and Sabrina Puddu) and of Made in Taiwan: Architecture and Urbanism in the Innovation Economy (ListLab 2012, with Sabrina Puddu). His latest book is The University as a Settlement Principle: Territorialising Knowledge in Late 1960s Italy (Routledge, 2020).

Lecture by Sylvia Lavin.

 1024 683 Kent State University, Florence Program | College of Architecture & Environmental Design
0
0

Sylvia Lavin, professor of history and theory of architecture at Princeton University, School of Architecture, will lecture on Tuesday 17 October at 5 pm.

The lecture is part of the University by Design event series — coproduced by the Architecture Programs of the Daniel and Gayle D’Aniello Syracuse University in Florence, California State University International Programs Italy and Kent State University Florence — which focuses on the topic of studying architecture abroad. This collaborative forum will consist of two public lectures aimed at reimagining the collective educational space and proposing innovative models for contemporary practice.

Everything Loose Will Land (cover)
Kissing Architecture (cover)
Architecture Itself and Other Postmodernization Effects (cover)

Sylvia Lavin is a critic, curator, historian and theorist whose work explores the limits of architecture across a wide spectrum of historical periods. She is Professor of Architecture at Princeton University and was Chairperson of the Department of Architecture and Urban Design at UCLA. Her books and catalogs include Architecture Itself and Other Postmodernization Effects, Kissing Architecture, and Everything Loose Will Land: 1970s Art and Architecture in Los Angeles. She received her Ph.D. from the Department of Art and Archaeology at Columbia University, and has received numerous awards and grants including from the Getty Research Institute, the Graham Foundation, the AIA and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She is currently working on a book about trees.

Lecture by Massimo Alvisi (Alvisi Kirimoto).

 1024 683 Kent State University, Florence Program | College of Architecture & Environmental Design
0
0

Massimo Alvisi, architect and founding partner at Rome-based Alvisi Kirimoto, will lecture on Tuesday 3 October at 5 pm at Kent State University Florence CAED. His lecture, titled “Tension and Release”, will be introduced by prof. Paola Giaconia.

Alvisi Kirimoto, Franco Corelli Music Academy Andrea Bocelli Foundation in Camerino, Italy. Photo © Marco Cappelletti
Alvisi Kirimoto, University Pavilion The Dome in Rome, Italy. Photo © Marco Cappelletti
Alvisi Kirimoto, University Pavilion The Dome in Rome, Italy. Photo © Marco Cappelletti
Alvisi Kirimoto, Podernuovo a Palazzone Winery in San Casciano dei Bagni, Italy. Photo © Fernando Guerra
Alvisi Kirimoto, Podernuovo a Palazzone Winery in San Casciano dei Bagni, Italy. Photo © Fernando Guerra (2)

Massimo’s presentation will center on his and Junko Kirimoto’s approach to architectural design. In a recent interview, Philip Jodidio observed how “What speaks in their projects is also the light, the shadows, the openly expressed materials, the avowed desire to be universal combined with an acceptance that everything, even a concrete wall, changes with time and is ultimately ephemeral. But the point is not so much the wall as it is the empty space fashioned by the architects, a space for ‘something to be added’.”

Alvisi Kirimoto, Municipal Theater in Corato, Italy. Photo © Anna Galante
Alvisi Kirimoto, Municipal Theater in Corato, Italy. Photo © Anna Galante (2)

Alvisi Kirimoto is an international practice that works in the field of architecture, urban planning and design. Founded by Massimo Alvisi and Junko Kirimoto in 2002, the firm stands out for its sartorial approach to design, “sensitive” use of technology and control of space, starting from the manipulation of “sheets of paper”. Dialogue with nature, urban regeneration and attention to social issues make its projects unique in the international architectural scene.
By merging Italian and Japanese sensibilities, the office has carried out numerous projects in and beyond Italy. These include the Medlac Pharma industrial plant in Hanoi, Vietnam (2011); the Incà complex of small and medium industries in Barletta (2010), the new Molino Casillo headquarters (2012) and the restoration of the Teatro Comunale di Corato (2012) in Puglia; the refurbishment of the Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg (2013); the Podernuovo Winery in Palazzone, Tuscany (2013); the executive offices for a private client on the 32nd floor of a skyscraper in the heart of Chicago (2018); the restoration and expansion of Villa K, a historic farmhouse in the Langhe, Piedmont (2018); and the Great Hall of the LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome (2018). In addition to this, the firm collaborated with OMA as Executive and Local Architect at the Prada Foundation project in Milan (2015).

www.alvisikirimoto.it

 

Lecture by Gilles Delalex (Studio Muoto).

 1024 710 Kent State University, Florence Program | College of Architecture & Environmental Design
0
0

Gilles Delalex, architects and principal at Studio Muoto in Paris, will lecture on Tuesday 7 March at 5 pm at Kent State University Florence CAED. His lecture, titled “Practices of Freedom”, will be introduced by prof. Marco Brizzi.

Muoto, Public condenser at Paris-Saclay University Campus. Photo © Olivier Campagne
Muoto, Public condenser at Paris-Saclay University Campus. Photo © Myriam Tirler
Muoto, Public condenser at Paris-Saclay University Campus. Photo © Myriam Tirler
Muoto, Public condenser at Paris-Saclay University Campus. Photo © Myriam Tirler
Muoto, Public condenser at Paris-Saclay University Campus. Photo © Myriam Tirler

Gilles’s presentation will delve into how, with his architectural practice, they are constantly engaged in public discussions and debates and how concerned they are with the publicness of architecture.

Muoto, Public condenser at Paris-Saclay University Campus. Photo © Myriam Tirler
Muoto, Public condenser at Paris-Saclay University Campus. Photo © Myriam Tirler
Muoto, Public condenser at Paris-Saclay University Campus. Photo © Myriam Tirler

Gilles Delalex is a principal of the French architecture firm Muoto, based in Paris. Muoto was founded by Gilles Delalex and Yves Moreau in 2003. Its activities cover the fields of architecture, urban planning, design, teaching, and scientific research. Its work often features minimal structures that can combine different activities, evolve in time, and merge economical and aesthetic issues. Since its establishment the office has completed various projects ranging from master plans, public buildings, housing, and installations. Muoto was selected to curate the French pavilion at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale.
Gilles studied in Grenoble, Montreal, Brussels, and Manchester. He holds a DA (Doctor of Arts) from the University of Art & Design Helsinki. He is a professor at Paris-Malaquais School of Architecture, head of the THP (Theory, History, Project) Department, and co-director of the research lab LIAT focusing on infrastructures.

www.studiomuoto.com