The lecture series "New Commons: Between Aesthetics and Engagement" brings together architects and scholars who redefine the capacity of architectural aesthetics in engaging with the world. Recent examples of architectural engagement frequently reduce the architect's role to that of a problem solver.
Offering an alternative to this role, this series will investigate new practices within architecture that showcase the architect as not merely a respondent, but as an active agent capable of building new ideas and languages as they relate to the city, the environment and geography. By focusing on the work of these architects and thinkers, the series will establish a new commons — that is, a ground for forging new and more productive relationships between aesthetics and engagement.
Jan. 16
Pedro Gadanho
Curator of contemporary architecture at the Museum of Modern Art, New York
Jan. 23
Luis Callejas
LCLAOFFICE, Cambridge
Feb. 6
David Gissen
Associate professor, The California College of the Arts, San Francisco
Feb. 19
Xaveer De Geyter
XDGA Architects, Brussels, Belgium