2016 NMMU SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOPS

INVITED ARCHITECTS

 

Prof. Armando Dal Fabbro, University Iuav of Venice, Italy

Graduated in architecture at IUAV (University Institute of Architecture of Venice), Italy.

Director of the Master Degree Course of Architecture for the New and the Old, IUAV.

Professor in Architecture and Urban Design at the Department of Architecture, Building and Conservation, IUAV. Since 2001 forms part of the School Committee of the PhD in Architectural Composition, IUAV.

Since 2007 delegate of the Rector for Academic Activities relating to Orientation, Tutoring, Internship and entrance examinations to IUAV.

2010-2012 member of the Academic Senate as a representative of the Faculty of architecture at IUAV.

Editor of the series TECA "Theory of Architectural Composition" published by Clean Naples and member of the scientific committee of the International Journal of the University of Sivillia: "Proyecto, Progreso, Arquitctura.".

2001-2006 taught at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Trieste.

2007-2010 taught at the Faculty of Architecture of Cesena, University of Bologna.

Currently Visiting Professor at the Institute of Architectural Design at the Polytechnic of Cracow (Poland) and at the Fachhochschule MSE University of Münster (Germany).

AWARDS

1985 Special prize of the jury for the competition project for a tourist center at Bakuriani in Georgia (Russia);

1996    First Prize, the Grand Prix of the VI International Biennial of Architecture in Cracow and Honorable Mention of the Cracow University of Technology.

2000    Awarded the Medal of Honor of the Cracow University of Technology.

2012    Medal of Honor of the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Cracow.

EXHIBITIONS

Invited to participate in group exhibitions of architecture, including:

1995 La Triennale di Milano "The center elsewhere. Suburbs and new centers in metropolitan areas", Milan 

1996, 1998, 2000, 6th,7th,8th International Biennale of Architecture in Cracow

2002, 8th La Biennale di Venezia International Architecture Exhibition, “Next School New Entrances”,Venice

2006, 3rd Festival of Architecture in Parma, "Architecture of rare beauty", Parma

2006, 10th La Biennale di Venezia International Architecture Exhibition, "City of Stone", Venice

2010, 5th Festival of Architecture in Parma, "Community / Architecture", Parma

2012,13th La Biennale di Venezia International Architecture Exhibition, "Made in Italy", Venice

My work involves architectural and urban planning, design competitions and scientific research projects in the field of architecture and urban architecture, with particular reference to sustainable building and environmental research for territorial development of the urban landscape and great architectural structures.

Projects and articles have been published in International and National journals of architecture.

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Prof. Matias Imbern, National University of Rosario, Argentina

Matias Imbern is a Professor of Architectural Design at the National University of Rosario, where he previously obtained his degree in Architecture, receiving a gold medal in recognition of being top of his class. He is also a Professor Fellow at the School of Architecture and Urban Studies at the Torcuato Di Tella University, in the undergraduate and graduate levels.

In 2013 he finished his Master in Design and Technology with honors from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University (GSD). His research is focused on the strategic interaction between digital technologies and material systems applied to architecture.

He has lectured and participated as a visiting professor at several universities and schools: Harvard Graduate School of Design, School of Architecture + Planning - Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), School of Architecture and Urban Studies - Torcuato Di Tella University.

His practice is based in Rosario, Argentina, through his office I+GC [ar] and in parallel with his research group Lab.Id. His production, focusing on housing, competitions and research projects, has been published by numerous specialized media at local and international levels; and he has won numerous prizes.

Matias has presented and published his work in the United States, Singapore, Poland, Canada and Japan; and he has received numerous awards, including Fulbright and Fortabat scholarships, Peter Rice Prize (Harvard) and Aroztegui Award (Arquisur).

Professor Imbern is interested in the interaction between academia and professional practice, blending design with architectural research. His investigation is framed by the strategic relationship between digital technologies and material systems. Thus, architectural design is understood as a hybrid that combines intuition, systemic thinking and the use of digital tools, focusing on processes rather than forms. He is currently working on the fabrication of contemporary housing using mass-customization methods.

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Prof. Stephen Read, Tu Delft, Netherlands

Stephen Read is associate professor in the chair of Spatial Planning and Strategy in the Faculty of Architecture, TU Delft. He trained at UCT and worked as an architect in Cape Town and London, did his PhD in urban modelling at the TU Delft and a post-doc fellowship at University College London before starting teaching at Delft. He has run teaching studios in Delft as well as specialising in urban theory of various sorts. He has supervised numerous MSc graduates, a number of PhDs and worked on a number of research projects. He is at the moment concluding his contribution to a project on energy in small European cities. He is trying to extend another project coming to completion looking at local models of urban development in Shenzhen in China. This project looks at the effects specific development models and practices have on city form and structure alongside their effects on the viabilities of local community and livelihood. He hopes to be working on local development related work at neighbourhood and regional scales for the next years and is looking for funding opportunities to carry forward similar research in South Africa.

https://tudelft.academia.edu/StephenRead

My PhD was in urban modelling but this was just the start of a long-standing interest in the physical and relational structures of cities and in the ways cities support different forms of society and economy. Relationality and phenomenology both inform the approach, as does the history and philosophy of technology. My main line of research now looks at urban development in challenging situations, with an emphasis on finding strategies to support communities and everyday ‘informal’ livelihoods.

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Arch. Carin Smuts, CS Studio Architects, Cape Town, South Africa

Human energy is what the architecture of Carin Smuts (CS Studio Architects) draws inspiration from. CS Studio Architects first projects were initiated in Lingelihle, Cradock Eastern Cape, South Africa in 1982 when Carin Smuts was still an architectural student at the University Of Cape Town School Of Architecture. In 1985 both Urs Schmid, from Aarau, Switzerland and Carin Smuts worked for a Cape Town based firm Prinsloo Parker Flint Elliot and van den Heever for 5 years. In 1989 they decided to formally start CS Studio Architects.

The design and building process focuses on engagement of local stakeholders where possible. Carin Smuts collaborates with many international tertiary institutions. One current example is the building of a children’s theatre as part of the Langa Guga Sthebe Cultural Village. The first phase was done in 1999 by CS Studio Architects with AIT magazine’s Kristina Bach funds were raised over a 10 year period to build the second phase, a children’s theatre. Carin Smuts runs workshops with numerous institutions and the main focus is on challenging conventional architectural teaching and exploring alternative models. She works with different topics, but with a focus on Global Issues, natural and manmade disasters, migration, recycling, passive design, etc. The challenges facing practising architects are seldom related to the conventional teaching in Schools of Architecture worldwide. Currently she is collaborating with Odile Decq and the New Institution Confluence Institute for Innovation and Creative Strategies in Architecture.

Carin says “a sense of economy, an intelligent use of materials are the very ethics of architecture! To build in the townships, people must first be able to express a need, formulate a program and know how to put it into practice. Experience has taught me that this is impossible if people have not regained their own freedom. For me, architecture is simply the means for people to regain charge of their own lives. Our work is about people.”

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