16 Febbraio 2023
Sala degli Affreschi di San Pietro in Vincoli
Facoltà di Ingegneria Civile e Industriale
Via Eudossiana 18, Roma
Guest lecturers:
BRANKO KOLAREVIC & VERA PARLAC
This lecture surveys essential concepts and significant past and current projects that deal with interactive, responsive environments, i.e. buildings that can change their configuration, appearance, and environmental conditions in response to patterns of occupation and context (and in return can shape those too). The principal argument is that change in architecture is far from being adequately addressed or explored theoretically, experimentally, or phenomenologically.
Branko Kolarevic is a professor and former dean of the Hillier College of Architecture and Design at NJIT in Newark. He has taught architecture at several universities in North America and Asia and has lectured worldwide on the use of digital technologies in design and production. He has authored, edited or co-edited several books, including “Mass Customization and Design Democratization” (with Jose Duarte), “Building Dynamics: Exploring Architecture of Change” (with Vera Parlac), “Manufacturing Material Effects” (with Kevin Klinger), “Performative Architecture” (with Ali Malkawi) and “Architecture in the Digital Age.” He was elected and served as president of several organizations: Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), Canadian Architectural Certification Board (CACB), and Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA). He is a recipient of the ACADIA Award for Innovative Research in 2007 and ACADIA Society Award of Excellence in 2015. He holds doctoral and master’s degrees in design from Harvard University and a diploma engineer in architecture degree from the University of Belgrade.
Vera Parlac is an associate professor of architecture at the Hillier College of Architecture and Design, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), where she founded the Building Dynamics Laboratory. Her research is focused on responsive material systems that adapt to external and internal influences and is informed by contemporary models in biology, material science research, and mechatronic systems. Her work is featured in the "Building Dynamics: Exploring Architecture of Change" book published by Routledge, which she co-edited with Branko Kolarevic. Prior to her appointment at NJIT, she taught at several universities in North America and Asia, most recently at the University of Calgary in Canada. Vera is a licensed architect and has worked in architectural firms in Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, Toronto and Philadelphia, including Carlos Zapata Design Studio and Kieran Timberlake Associates. She received a diploma engineer in architecture degree from the University of Belgrade and a master’s degree in architecture from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
organized by Fabio Cutroni, Maura Percoco