Symposium: THE CRITICISM OF FORM
11 July 2005: 10:00-18:00.
Staatliche Hochschule fuer Bildende Kuenste-Staedelschule
Duererstrasse 10
D-60596 Frankfurt am Main
Tel 49 (0) 69 60 50 08-0
Fax 49 (0) 69 60 50 08-66
Image: Installation by Ben van Berkel with the Architecture Class, Projection by John Bock, “Frankfurt Positions”, Staedelschule, 2003.
THE POWER OF CRITICISM
The Institute for Art Criticism at Frankfurts Staedelschule, founded in 2003 by Daniel Birnbaum and Isabelle Graw, has regularly been arranging lectures by leading critics and art historians. Now, in collaboration with the Architecture Class led by Ben van Berkel and Johan Bettum, the Staedelschule invites to:
THE CRITICISM OF FORM
a one-day conference offering a critical inquiry into the status of architectural form in the context of cultural production. The conference takes place on Monday, 11.07, between 10:00 and 18:00 in the Halle in the Städelschule.
The conference participants include Beatriz Colomina, Holger Liebs, Greg Lynn, Jeffrey Kipnis, Mark Wigley, Ben van Berkel, Johan Bettum, Daniel Birnbaum, and Niklas Maak.
With the advent of computerised design processes and their assimilation into the various stages of architectural design, the production of form has been liberated from a number of previous constraints. Digital processes allow for forms with double curvature and hybrid geometry to be designed with relative ease; the geometry of such forms can also be handled and to some degree controlled without forbidding logistics or taxing schedules. This new freedom in form production can be witnessed in the professional as well the academic milieus, and it has partly been theorised as a critique of the previous normative representational context for architectural production. The Criticism of Form questions the production of form relative to these and other issues.
The conference, the Criticism of Form, and the series are realized with the generous support from Heinz und Gisela Friederichs Stiftung.
POST-GRADUATE MASTER ACCREDITATION:
THE ARCHITECTURE CLASS OFFICIALLY ACCREDITED AS A POST-GRADUATE MASTER OF ARTS PROGRAMME in ADVANCED ARCHITECURAL DESIGN.
The Staedelschule proudly announces that its Architecture Class has been given official accreditation as a post-graduate Master of Arts programme in Advanced Architectural Design.
The accreditation gives the ambitious research and educational agenda of the Architecture Class the necessary platform to pursue its goal to provide one of the most advanced international training programmes in architectural design. The accreditation fortifies the position of the Staedelschule as one of the most vital and sophisticated academic institutions within its fields of art and architectural education in Europe.
Led by its dean, Ben van Berkel, and Johan Bettum, the Architectural Class provides a potent milieu for the exploration of architectural issues in a small and intense research setting. The programme extends the normal academic agenda of post-graduate programmes in the field and probes the boundaries and contemporary concerns of the architectural profession.
As a post-graduate programme, the Staedelschule Architecture Class is a radically new academic programme whose scope of activities and goals are supported by its intimate atmosphere and unique focus on the capacity of architectural design to contribute to socio-economic and cultural production. The programme probes the status of architectural design as a body of specific intelligence while using various sets of specialised design techniques and methods to explore the horizon of architecture. This horizon penetrates and is imbedded within a larger contemporary socio-economic and cultural context through the frontier of academic and professional concerns.
The academic profile of the programme lends a sharp research approach to all theoretical and practical activities while equipping the candidates with analytic and specific design skills for furthering their professional and/or academic careers. In addition to van Berkel and Bettum, the current teaching staff includes: Mark Wigley (theory), Sigurdur Gunnarsson and Harald Kloft (engineering), Daniel Birnbaum (theory), Niklas Maak (history & theory).
For more info please contact: rektor@staedelschule.de
the Architecture Class
Staatliche Hochschule fuer Bildende Kuenste-Staedelschule
Duererstrasse 10
D-60596 Frankfurt am Main
Tel 49 (0) 69 60 50 08-0
Fax 49 (0) 69 60 50 08-66 www.staedelschule.de/architecture
