ENAC Seminar Series by Prof. P. Tombesi
Event details
| Date | 03.06.2019 |
| Hour | 09:00 › 10:00 |
| Speaker | Prof. P. Tombesi |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
09:00 – 10:00 – Prof. Paolo Tombesi
Head of Laboratory of Construction and Architecture, EPFL
Architect as a verb
Architecture is normally associated with specific types of design activity, realization processes, and concrete, by-and-large inhabitable, artifacts. As such, it is considered the province of a specific profession, separate from engineering, urban planning, material science, environmental design, regional development.
What would happen if we interpreted the word architect as a verb – to architect, that is? Would it be equivalent to designing or engineering? Would it change the conceptual dimension of the work and the position of those who practice it? Would it require different analytical approaches to building as an intellectual problem? Most importantly, what sort of deliberative actions would define ‘architecture’ in this context?
Trying to answer these questions within a university is both unsettling and exhilarating. Unsettling because it implies disturbance of language conventions and, most importantly, disciplinary foundations; exhilarating because it opens up possibilities for intellectual exchanges and social impact hitherto unknown.
Does technology have a specific role to play in bringing architecture-as-a-verb to fruition? If so, what kind of technology?
Head of Laboratory of Construction and Architecture, EPFL
Architect as a verb
Architecture is normally associated with specific types of design activity, realization processes, and concrete, by-and-large inhabitable, artifacts. As such, it is considered the province of a specific profession, separate from engineering, urban planning, material science, environmental design, regional development.
What would happen if we interpreted the word architect as a verb – to architect, that is? Would it be equivalent to designing or engineering? Would it change the conceptual dimension of the work and the position of those who practice it? Would it require different analytical approaches to building as an intellectual problem? Most importantly, what sort of deliberative actions would define ‘architecture’ in this context?
Trying to answer these questions within a university is both unsettling and exhilarating. Unsettling because it implies disturbance of language conventions and, most importantly, disciplinary foundations; exhilarating because it opens up possibilities for intellectual exchanges and social impact hitherto unknown.
Does technology have a specific role to play in bringing architecture-as-a-verb to fruition? If so, what kind of technology?
Practical information
- General public
- Free
Organizer
- ENAC
Contact
- Cristina Perez