Spring 2024 public lecture series: The Good Life

We live at a pivotal time. Geopolitical shifts, global volatility, unprecedented migrations, diasporas, climate crises, health crises, and looming recessions are colliding.

Increasingly scarce resources—from the biosphere to the economy—and extreme unbalances in their distribution, call for action. The global model as we knew it requires some reconsideration if we are to prevent continuous meltdowns. If crises are opportunities to discern, and, examine, what is The Good Life? Under the current fast-changing conditions, one question is how architecture and territorial strategies may be able to evolve and gain relevance in a global arena to provide better housing and more livable and inclusive cities.

We consider Future Cities and Tech. Throughout recent history, cities have always been the places where the action is. They are relentless engines of innovation and zones for radical experimentation. Half of the world’s population is living in increasingly dense cities and close to two-thirds of it is projected to live in urbanized areas by 2050. Over the last decades, cities across continents have been strategizing how to make the best use of new communication and information technologies: every new planning and policy document envision “smart” systems, blueprints for future cities. Such systems incorporate elements of technological innovation as a key infrastructure to alleviate urban complexities and to resolve a crucial problem: if cities are a laboratory to test future lifestyles, they are also, to a great extent, unsustainable places.

The provocative question is, as “smart cities” are being conceived and designed, how can they be designed as the places where people are “happier”, healthier and more creative?

These issues will be discussed and teased out from our speakers which include Paolo Tombesi (Italy/Switzerland), Bas Smets (Belgium), Mark Lee (United States/Hong Kong), Christopher Roth (Germany), Anna Gasco (Italy/The Netherlands), Sumayya Vally (South Africa/UK), Mandana Bafghinia (Canada/France), J. Meejin Yoon (Korea/United States) and, Doryun Chong (Korea/HK).

The series has been conceived and organized by Alessandra Cianchetta, Associate Professor, Department of Architecture, HKU.

Schedule
January 23, 6:30–8pm
“Sails, octopuses, beds and needles: The Sydney Opera House turns 50”, by Paolo Tombesi, Professor of Construction and Architecture, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). Room 419, 4/F, Knowles Building.

February 27, 6:30–8pm
“Cooling Cities, a Microclimatic Approach”, by Bas Smets, Founder, Bureau Bas Smets. KB419, 4/F, Knowles Building.

February 29, 6:30–8pm
Untitled, by Mark Lee, Professor in Practice of Architecture, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University. KB419, 4/F, Knowles Building.

March 14, 6:30–8pm
“2038, not everything is perfect”, by Christopher Roth, Film Director, Artist and TV Producer. KB730, 7/F, Knowles Building

March 19, 6:30–8pm
“Cities as Sites of a Degrowth Transition”, by Anna Gasco, Founder, Studio UPLA. KB419, 4/F, Knowles Building.

March 26, 6:30–8pm
“Finding architecture in the cracks”, by Sumayya Vally, Founder and Principal, Counterspace. KB419, 4/F, Knowles Building.

March 28, 6:30–8pm
“Skyscraper’s Summit, an anthology between Shanghai and New York”, by Mandana Bafghinia, Architect, Designer and Artist. KB730, 7/F, Knowles Building.

April 9, 6:30–8pm
Going Public, by J. Meejin Yoon, Gale and Ira Drukier Dean of the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP), Cornell University. KB419, 4/F, Knowles Building.

April 11, 6:30–8pm
Untitled, by Doryun Chong, Deputy Director, Curatorial, and Chief Curator, M+. KB419, 4/F, Knowles Building.

Enquiry: architecture@hku.hk.

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