Architecture lectures bring unconventional expertise to campus

Jeannette Kuo

The Rice Architecture and Rice Design Alliance Fall 2019 Lecture Series, an even-dozen evening lectures and noon talks from a diverse group of thinkers, practitioners, curators and researchers, will look at several threads in architectural and design thinking this semester.

Jeannette Kuo, founding partner at Zurich-based Karamuk Kuo Architects and architect for the university’s William T. Cannady Hall for Architecture, will kick off the series on Sept. 19 at 6 p.m. at Anderson Hall’s Farish Gallery, to talk about her recent projects and plans for the Rice Architecture extension.

Following up on the thematic thread of architectural obsolescence discussed during the Rice Design Alliance Civic Forum 2019, national and international practitioners will discuss creative adaptive reuse as a critical tactic in their practices.

Oct. 3:  Kristian Koreman, principal at ZUS [Zones Urbaines Sensibles] in Rotterdam, will discuss the past, present and future of the construct of urban fabric and the ways in which unconventional temporal strategies – for instance, obtaining longterm “temporary” permits — can lead to permanence. The lecture will be held at 6 p.m. at The MATCH, 3400 Main St., Houston.

Oct. 10: Alan Maskin and Blair Payson, principals at Olson Kundig in Seattle, will talk about their recent restoration of the Seattle Needle in the context of notions of usefulness in the life cycle of cities’ buildings. The lecture will be held at 6 p.m. at The MATCH, 3400 Main St., Houston.

Oct. 17: Maria Lisogorskaya, founding director at Assemble, London, will discuss the firm’s past adaptive projects, including Granby Four Street and Goldsmith’s CCA, as well as current urban strategies in New Orleans. The lecture will be held at 6 p.m. at Rice’s Moody Center for the Arts.

Kristian Koreman

Oct. 24: Frank Escher and Ravi GuneWardena, principals at Escher GuneWardena Architecture, have worked on some of the most iconic examples of 20th century architecture, including the Eames House restoration in Los Angeles. They will discuss their projects in the context of the 2017 publication of a monograph of the firm’s work, Clocks and Clouds. The lecture will be held at 6 p.m. at Anderson Hall’s Farish Gallery.

Nov. 7: Neeraj Bhatia, associate professor at the California College of the Arts and founding principal of The Open Workshop, will discuss his recently published book, “New Investigations in Collective Form,” which presents a group of design experiments by his firm that test how architecture can empower the diverse voices that make up the public realm and the environments in which they exist.

Nov. 14: Barry Bergdoll, the Meyer Shapiro Professor of Art History and Archaeology and director of Undergraduate Studies at Columbia University, will discuss the upcoming exhibition “Jean-Jacques Lequeu: Visionary Architect, Drawings from the Bibliothèque nationale de France, “to open at the Menil Drawing Institute on Oct. 4, 2019. The lecture will be held at 7 p.m. at the Menil Drawing Institute, 1412 W. Main St., Houston.

Barry Bergdoll

Co-organized by the Petit Palais, Paris, and the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the exhibition is co-curated by the Menil Drawing Institute’s Edouard Kopp, chief curator, and Kelly Montana, assistant curator. The lecture is organized by the Menil Collection in partnership with Rice University’s Humanities Research center, Rice Architecture and Rice Design Alliance.

In addition, Rice Architecture faculty will deliver Noon Talks to provide insight into the ways they weave their academic thinking into their professional projects. Professor Carlos Jiménez will speak on Sept. 25, Associate Professor Reto Geiser on Oct. 23 and Associate Professor Dawn Finley on Oct. 30. All will be at noon at Farish Gallery.

Guests scheduled to give Noon Talks are Brett Schneider, senior associate, Guy Nordenson and Associates, on Oct. 1; and Farès el-Dahdah, professor of the humanities and director of the Humanities Research Center at Rice, on Nov. 6.

All lectures are free and open to the public, and registration (via the lecturer links above) is encouraged.

The series is supported by the Betty R. and George F. Pierce Jr., FAIA, Fund, and by the City of Houston through the Texas Commission for the Arts.

Rice Design Alliance is an AIA/CES Registered Provider of quality educational programs. For each lecture, attendees earn one Learning Unit.