Koolhaas Lecture: OMA - Three in One!

About Formalism - Thomas Fisher in mark-magazine nr. 32

"Generally, I am not a formalist. I find formalism too conservative politically. It's not radical; it is not engaging with politics, with equity or economics. A  lot of it doesn't seem to be engaged with sustainability. And when an architect takes those things off the table, it means that he or she - as a public intellectual - is accepting the status quo. I think that if we become formalists - just manipulators of form - we will become completely irrelevant. [..] Therefore, this so-called radical architecture we're discussing is extremely conservative in almost every way, except maybe in form."

(interview with Thomas Fisher in mark-magazine nr. 32 - page 198)

Potential Futures for Design Practice - Rory Hyde's Lecture.

Yes – buildings got bigger, higher and more complex – and yes, more technology and more people are involved in the building process – the profession, however, hardly changed. Architects see themselves still as master builders, creators of the built environment, where a quick sketch on a napkin can lead you anywhere.

But we are now in "a design landscape of unprecedented complexity, one that cannot be adequately addressed by the traditional tools of the design professions", as Rory Hyde wrote on his highly commented blog post on roryhyde.com/blog/, December 30th , "the 21st century has ushered in a radically different world than that faced by our predecessors."

Take some time to watch Rory Hyde’s lecture and get an idea on the “Potential Futures for Design Practice”. Rory gave the lecture at the University of Sydney Faculty of Architecture.

Eliassion Rainbow.

image courtesy of studio olafur eliasson

Circular rainbow installation by Olafur Eliasson - a gangway over the roofs of århus, Denmark [via swissmiss]. See more images at designboom.