]]> http://blog.biarch.eu/academic/mbiarch-overview/feed/ 0 http://blog.biarch.eu/community/faculty-adjaye/ http://blog.biarch.eu/community/faculty-adjaye/#comments Mon, 26 Apr 2010 07:59:24 +0000 BIArch http://blog.biarch.eu/?p=256

David Adjaye was born in Tanzania in 1966. He pursued his studies in London, and obtained an architecture degree from the Royal College of Art in 1993. Adjaye worked for David Chipperfield Architects and Eduardo Souto de Moura in the 1990s, and then partnered with William Russell until he founded Adjaye Associates in 2000.

David Adjaye in the first meeting of the BIArch Advisory Council

In the office’s early years, Adjaye made a name for himself with his relatively small, elegant residential and bar/café projects in London’s still-gritty East End. Today, Adjaye Associates has offices in London, Berlin and New York and large commissions like the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, in Washington, D.C.

Regardless of scale, Adjaye’s approach to design is usually austere and balanced, more focused on plays of material textures and light than formal or structural acrobatics. Adjaye has demonstrated a particular passion for projects with a social bent, such as the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, the Whitechapel Idea Store, or the Stephen Lawrence Center. These projects run along the fine line between private and public, between openness and intimacy, and they push the definition of public space in a way that feels closer and more contemporary, even though these distinctions remain tense or uncertain at times. Adjaye is convinced that architecture is most relevant when it has a social purpose.

The Dirty House, London

Nobel Peace Center, Oslo

The Idea Store, Whitechapel

Most recently, David Adjaye is building the new Moscow School of Management, developing the African American History and Culture Museum project and has been shortlisted for the SFMOMA extension. He has also put together an intriguing exhibition at the Design Museum in London, with photos from his travels and views on “Urban Africa“.

“Sclera” Pavilion, London Design Festival, 2008

Skolkovo School of Management, Moscow

Design concept for the  National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington DC

Photo from Adjaye’s “Urban Africa” Show, currently at the Design Museum London

In the frame of BIArch and the MBIArch program, Adjaye will deliver a second-semester Architectural Design Seminar, most likely delving into the themes that he considers important: redefining architectural typologies in a way that projects might engage with the public, become socially relevant and respond adequately to the challenges of urban change.

*Photos by David Farran, Adjaye Associates and Flickr users Dave Gorman, Arnout Fonck, suburbanslice, Dan’s Photos.

Josep Acebillo participating in the “Energy” BIArch Seminar

Josep Anton Acebillo was born in Huesca, in north-eastern Spain, and received a degree in architecture from the ETSAB the School of Architecture in 1974. He currently teaches at the Architecture Academy at the Università della Svizzera italiana and is a partner at AuS Architecture and Urban Systems in Mendrisio, Switzerland. Acebillo is one of the key figures in the recent history of urban planning in Barcelona: he was director of Urban Projects for the city between 1981 and 1987, a period that marks the begging of the deep urban transformation experienced by the city in the last decades of the twentieth century. Acebillo led the Urban Development Insititute of the City of Barcelona between 1988 and 1994 and was responsible for the large-scale urban development projects carried out in the frame of the 1992 Summer Olympics.

Port Olimpic, Barcelona

His contribution to urban change in Barcelona earned him the Honorific Medal awarded by the city in 1992, as well as a Prince of Wales in urban design prize, awarded to him in 1990 by Harvard University. In 1994 he became CEO of Barcelona Regional, a think tank dedicated to the development of strategic urban projects and infrastructures for the city. In 1998 Acebillo was appointed “Commissioner of Infrastructures and Urban Planning” of Barcelona, and he became the city’s Chief Architect briefly after that. In 1999 he was named honorary member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

Barcelona in Progress exhibition, organized by Barcelona Regional

Josep Acebillo is a member of the BIArch Board of Directors, and will be teaching Territorial & Urban Studies in the first edition of the MBIArch program. Focusing on a “post-crisis” context of accute socio-economic and environmental tensions associated with rapid urbanization, Acebillo will lead students to concentrate on the observation and analysis of the increasingly socio-technical nature of cities, exploring the impact of networks on territorial phenomena.

Members of the BIArch Board of Directors, the Institute’s Advisory Council and invited professors from some of the most prestigious institutions and innovative companies around the world will join us in Barcelona to share their expertise, knowledge and experience. The program achieves a healthy balance between figures with strong local ties to the city and truly global practices, as well as between professional and academic personalities.

Over the course of the next few weeks we will be sharing more information and details on our faculty’s biographies, recent work and their particular contributions to the field of architecture.

For now we leave you with the list:

Iñaki Ábalos: Architect. BIArch Board of Directors, Kenzo Tange Professor at Harvard University, Boston, Professor at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, and Principal of Ábalos+Sentkiewicz Arquitectos, Madrid.

Josep Anton Acebillo: Architect. BIArch Board of Directors, Professor at the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio, Director of Architecture Urban Systems, Mendrisio, and Chief Executive Officer of Barcelona Regional, Barcelona.

David Adjaye: Architect. BIArch Advisory Council, Principal of Adjaye Associates, London.

Stan Allen: Architect. BIArch Advisory Council, Dean and Professor at Princeton University School of Architecture, New Jersey, and Principal of SAA/Stan Allen Architect, New York.

Pier Vittorio Aureli: Architect. Professor at the Berlage Institute, Head of the Capital Cities Research Program and the “The City as a Project” PhD Program, Co-founder of Dogma, Rotterdam.

Pedro Gadanho: Architect, Professor at the Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade do Porto, Editor in Chief of Beyond, Lisbon.

Juan Gallostra: Engineer. General Director of Grupo JG, Barcelona.

Toni Gironès: Architect. BIArch Board of Directors, Director of Architecture Studies at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Reus, and Principal of Toni Gironès Arquitectes, Barcelona.

Hans Ibelings: Art historian, architecture critic, and curator. Editor in chief of A10, Rotterdam.

Aleksandar Ivancic: Engineer, Barcelona Regional, Barcelona.

Gloria Moure: Art historian. BIArch Board of Directors, independent editor, art critic and curator, Barcelona.

Agustí Obiol: Architect. BIArch Board of Directors, Professor at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Co-founder of BOMA, Barcelona.

Joan Roig: Architect. Vice President of the BIArch Board of Directors, partner at Battle i Roig Arquitectes, Barcelona.

Enrique Walker: Architect. Professor at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University, New York.

We hope this encourages further interaction with prospective students and whomever is interested in knowing more about the Institute. We are also planning a series of exciting events for the spring, involving members of the BIArch Advisory Council with the purpose of offering further insights to the program. Details will be posted here shortly, so be sure to check in, or simply subscribe to the blog’s RSS feed.

In the meantime, we’re very happy to be receiving our first round of applications to the program, just in time for our first deadline which is this Friday, March 19th.  Just out of the sheer assortment of applications, from very different corners of the world, we can already say we’re expecting to have  an incredibly diverse, stimulating group of people joining us in September.

Looking forward to our first deadline for applications to the MBIArch Post-Professional Master’s Degree Program this coming Friday, March 19th, we’ve posted an outline of the program contents on the BIArch webpage. We’ve managed to distill a huge amount of work and effort dedicated to drawing up the program and curriculum  into a single DIN A4 page (which you can download here). We’re also offering potential students a  first glimpse into the program’s five areas of interdisciplinary study: Architectural Design, Territorial & Urban Studies, Digital Media; Theory, History & Criticism; and Energy & Building Technologies. We’ve updated the information regarding other program highlights as well, including the Design and Critical Seminars, the Productive Land Program and the Optional Advanced Research phase. Please feel free to browse the contents of the program, and if you’re considering applying to the BIArch, make sure you go over our application requirements.

]]> http://blog.biarch.eu/masters/program-outline/feed/ 0 http://blog.biarch.eu/academic/masters-presentation/ http://blog.biarch.eu/academic/masters-presentation/#comments Thu, 18 Feb 2010 08:49:32 +0000 BIArch http://blog.biarch.eu/?p=151

This year the Barcelona Institute of Architecture launches the first edition of its post-professional master’s degree: the MBIArch. We are very excited and working hard to follow up on the success of the Institute’s Fall 2009  public program, which was a fittingly stimulating preamble to the launch of the master’s program.

Looking forward to receiving our fist class in September 2010, and to the first admissions deadline on March 19th, we want to share some details about the program. The highlights of the MBIArch include:

1) Academic & Professional Vigor – a highly demanding curriculum that encompasses disciplinary and technical knowledge to direct a professional practice.

2) Outstanding International Faculty - including members of the Institute’s Advisory Council and Board of Directors comprised of leading Academics and practitioners from around the world.

3) Cutting-Edge Curriculum – 5 Areas of Interdisciplinary Studies: The MBIArch concentrates on five areas of research that define courses, seminars and design studios:

–  Architectural Design
–  Territorial & Urban Studies
–  Energy & Building Technologies
–  Architectural Theory & Contemporary Thought
–  Digital & Media Studies

4) Worldwide Network – access to  a prestigious network of architectural experts around the world.

5) Envirornment Conducive to Design – set in the city of Barcelona, internationally recognized for it’s level of design, creativity and artistic culture. Program facilities include one of Antonio Gaudí´s masterpiece buildings,  “La Pedrera”.

Program requirements are the following:

–  A Professional Degree in Architecture (or related studies), or current students due to receive their Architecture Degree in 2010.
–  Overall academic excellence. Action-oriented individuals with a strong intellectual drive and potential to excel in the 5 areas of Interdisciplinary Curriculum in research and/or design.
–  Proficiency in English.

More information regarding next steps to applying can be found on the BIArch website. You can also download the structure of the MBIArch masters program here.

The Barcelona Institute of Architecture is now receiving applications for its MBIArch Postprofessional Master’s Degree program, which will begin in September 2010.  As a highly demanding international postprofessional degree program, the MBIArch will combine specialized research with the practical application of new technologies and techniques of design throughout an entire academic year of full-time study. The program will be supported by an outstanding international faculty, including members of the Institute’s Advisory Council and Board of Directors.

The MBIArch will concentrate on five areas of research that define courses, seminars and design studios: Architectural Design, Territorial and Urban Studies, Energy and Building Technologies, Architectural Theory & Contemporary Thought, as well as Digital and Media Studies.

The first deadline for reception of application packages is March 19, 2010.

For details on the structure of the MBIArch program and further information on admissions, please visit the BIArch webpage.