better than make-do and mend
a symposium Friday May 15 & Saturday May 16
This symposium responds to Rachel MacIntyre’s essay The Architect as repairer: the retrofit imperative. Focusing on her suggestion that “a cultural shift among architects” is required, “embracing imperfection, revealing the junctions between old and new, and prioritising reused or low-impact materials.”
Our symposium asks: When does adaptive reuse produce better architecture than new building? Countering assumptions that ‘mending’ buildings is just making-do with what we already have, and that retrofit is merely a concession to energy, carbon &/or economic austerity.
We are leaving the definition of ‘better architecture’ deliberately broad, because this is where we hope discussion will emerge. Implicitly we are suggesting that reuse and retrofit provides greater potential for things like:
- continuity in urban space, and enrichment of the urban experience
- spatial and material diversity in the mixing of exisiting and new building elements
- inventiveness because the complexity of retrofit presents challenges to the design response.
The symposium will combine recent research, theoretical case studies and built examples to facilitate critical and open-ended discussion.
Schedule
Friday May 15
3:30 to 5:30pm _ Opening Panel
- Rachel MacIntyre
- Athfield Architects
- Rachel Paschaolin
Saturday May 16
9:30 to 11:00am _ The Case for Gordon Wilson Flats
- Rob Tse (on line)
- Francisco Carbajal (on line)
- Ken Davis
11:30 to 1:00pm _ Collage City
- Cansu Inal Kaynar
- Lis Cowey
- tbc
1:30 to 3:00pm _ The Case of 84 Taranaki Street
- Frank Stark – ‘the client’
- Ken Davis – ‘the architect’
3:30 – 5:00pm _ debate and propose
There is just one EventBrite booking for this event – please send an email after booking if you plan to also, or only, attend on Saturday. This is for catering purposes.
The event is being run as koha only. If you are in a position to financially support the event (eg. $10 per day for catering) please help us out by making a direct debit to AC accounts, or consider joining/renewing you membership.
Account details:
06-0501-0160299-00
THE ARCHITECTURAL CENTRE INC
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