College of Architecture Symposium
What Next? Projecting Futures for Architecture
October 16, 2009 - October 17, 2009
A symposium sponsored by the Graham Foundation for the Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts and the Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture.
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Architecture today exists as a stimulating, but chaotic, field shaped by recent developments—rapid global urbanization, looming environmental change, algorithmic form generation, digital modeling, economic upheaval—the full implications of which are far from clear. Given the rapid pace of these changes, and the great importance of their effects, it is a fitting time to ask What Next?
What Next? is a symposium at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s College of Architecture featuring leading designers and scholars describing the way forward in their areas of specialization. What Next? asks its speakers to think projectively, to make judgments about where the profession should be headed as it faces the crucial decisions that will determine its future.
As the symposium title implies, we are not looking for utopian visions, but rather, strategic and tactical recommendations for the near future. What should our goals be for cities, landscapes, history, education? And how can we begin to head toward these goals? In this sense we understand this event as an important link between the academic and professional spheres, between theory and practice.
Fifty years ago, IIT played a central role in the creation of postwar modernism; What Next? will serve as a catalyst toward the definition of the challenging next phase of architectural culture.
Admission is free, but pre-registration is requested. Please send an email indicating your intention to attend to: whatnextiit@gmail.com.
Schedule
Friday, 16 October, 6 pm
Wishnick Hall, IIT, 3255 S. Dearborn Street
Keynote Address
Robert Somol, Director and Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago School of Architecture
Saturday, 17 October, 9 am - 6:30 pm
McCormick Tribune Campus Center, IIT, 3201 S. State Street
What Next for Interface?
Joel Sanders, Associate Professor, Yale University and Principal, Joel Sanders Architect, New York
What Next for Probability?
Luke Ogrydziak and Zoë Prillinger
Friedman Assistant Professors, University of California at Berkeley and Principals, Ogrydziak/Prillinger Architects, San Francisco
What Next for the Avant-Garde?
Michael Meredith
Associate Professor, Harvard University and Principal, MOS, Cambridge, MA and New Haven, CT
What Next for Resources?
Sandy Isenstadt
Associate Professor, University of Delaware and Member, Institute for Advanced Studies
What Next for the Past?
Andrew Herscher
Assistant Professor, University of Michigan
What Next for Futurology?
Felicity Scott
Assistant Professor, Columbia University
Plus a roundtable discussion with:
Joseph Rosa
Chair of Architecture and Design, Art Institute of Chicago
Oct. 16 location: Wishnick Hall, 3255 S. Dearborn Street
Oct. 17 location: McCormick Tribune Campus Center, 3201 S. State Street
Rooms TBA
whatnextiit@gmail.com