ENAC Seminar Series by M. Allen
Event details
| Date | 27.04.2021 |
| Hour | 15:45 › 16:30 |
| Speaker | Matthew Allen |
| Location | Online |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
15:45 – 16:30 – Dr M. Allen
Visiting Assistant Professor at Pratt Institute, USA
Who’s Afraid of Heaps? Data Overload and the History of Architecture
We face twin crises: climate change and the digitization of our social lives. One factor linking these two is accumulation. Just as consumer objects and cast-off detritus pile up in our homes and in our oceans, so too does data pile up in our archives and on our servers. What should architects do? Digital architecture has not only been about the creation of futuristic buildings – it has also been about learning how to work effectively with heaps of data. In this lecture, Dr. Matthew Allen will outline a history of computation in the field of architecture focusing on the problem of data overload. Allen will present the pioneering work of the Australian architect and educator William J. Mitchell between 1960 and 1990. The questions raised by Mitchell’s work in this early era of computation are still relevant today: How can architecture become both a data-driven art and a data-driven science? Should the large technical systems that structure the modern world become the subjects of design? Will the role of architectural history change with the world’s data at our fingertips? Allen will argue that a new history of the digital turn will help architecture to engage with the crises of the decades to come.
Short bio:
Dr. Matthew Allen is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Pratt Institute in New York who researches the history and theory of architecture, computation, and aesthetics as they pertain to contemporary ecological and social issues. Allen is the author of the forthcoming book, Architecture becomes Programming: Modernism and the Computer, 1960-1990, as well as essays in venues such as Log, e-flux, Domus, and the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. Allen holds a PhD and a Master of Architecture degree from Harvard University. His research has been supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Canadian Centre for Architecture, and other institutions. Allen has worked for MOS, Preston Scott Cohen, and other firms at the leading edge of contemporary architectural practice.
Visiting Assistant Professor at Pratt Institute, USA
Who’s Afraid of Heaps? Data Overload and the History of Architecture
We face twin crises: climate change and the digitization of our social lives. One factor linking these two is accumulation. Just as consumer objects and cast-off detritus pile up in our homes and in our oceans, so too does data pile up in our archives and on our servers. What should architects do? Digital architecture has not only been about the creation of futuristic buildings – it has also been about learning how to work effectively with heaps of data. In this lecture, Dr. Matthew Allen will outline a history of computation in the field of architecture focusing on the problem of data overload. Allen will present the pioneering work of the Australian architect and educator William J. Mitchell between 1960 and 1990. The questions raised by Mitchell’s work in this early era of computation are still relevant today: How can architecture become both a data-driven art and a data-driven science? Should the large technical systems that structure the modern world become the subjects of design? Will the role of architectural history change with the world’s data at our fingertips? Allen will argue that a new history of the digital turn will help architecture to engage with the crises of the decades to come.
Short bio:
Dr. Matthew Allen is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Pratt Institute in New York who researches the history and theory of architecture, computation, and aesthetics as they pertain to contemporary ecological and social issues. Allen is the author of the forthcoming book, Architecture becomes Programming: Modernism and the Computer, 1960-1990, as well as essays in venues such as Log, e-flux, Domus, and the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. Allen holds a PhD and a Master of Architecture degree from Harvard University. His research has been supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Canadian Centre for Architecture, and other institutions. Allen has worked for MOS, Preston Scott Cohen, and other firms at the leading edge of contemporary architectural practice.
Practical information
- General public
- Invitation required
- This event is internal
Organizer
- ENAC
Contact
- Cristina Perez