Hearst Lecture Series Brings High Tech Architects to Cal Poly 2007 Fall Lectures Begin Oct. 5

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Renowned for his technology inspired designs in completed buildings and theoretical projects, award-winning architect Wes Jones will launch the Hearst Lecture Fall Series on Oct. 5 at Cal Poly.

Jones, principal of California-based Jones, Partners: Architecture, will speak on “Technology as Medium” at 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 5, in the Business Rotunda, Room 213. Jones, Partners: Architecture has received critical acclaim for engaging contemporary culture with sophisticated design detail.

Their work has received eight Progressive Architecture Design Awards, which include recognition for the Astronauts’ Memorial at Kennedy Space Center and the $180M South Campus Chiller Plant for UCLA.

Hosted by Cal Poly's College of Architecture and Environmental Design, the Hearst Lecture Series highlights the work of designers and architects from all over the world. The fall lectures initiate the 2007-2008 series titled “Media and Technology,” which will focus on voices not reticent to employ advanced media and technology to improve the built environment, according to new series director Stephen Phillips, assistant professor of design at Cal Poly and principal of Stephen Phillips Architects.

The free public lectures are made possible through a grant from the Hearst Foundation. For more information, contact the college at 805-756-1311.

Additional lectures in the fall series are:

Friday, Oct. 12, 4 p.m., Business Rotunda, Room 213 – Jeffrey Kipnis, professor of architectural design and theory at the Knowlton School of Architecture of The Ohio State University, and founding former director of the Graduate Design Program at the Architectural Association of London, will give a lecture titled “Discrimination” on current trends in architecture technology and design. Considered one of the most prolific critics and writers on contemporary architecture, Kipnis’ articles have appeared in such publications as Log, Hunch, Harvard Design Magazine, Art Forum, and Assemblage. His books include Choral Works: The Eisenman-Derrida collaboration, Perfect Acts of Architecture, and The Glass House.

Friday, Oct. 19, 4 p.m., Business Rotunda, Room 213 – Nezar AlSayyad, professor of Architecture, City Planning, Urban Design and Urban History at the University of California, Berkeley, will present “Consuming Heritage or the End of Tradition,” a lecture on his three latest books, Cinematic Urbanism, Making Cairo Medieval, and The End of Tradition. AlSayyad is associate dean for International Programs in the College of Environmental Design, chair of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, director of the International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments, and editor of Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review. He has also produced and directed two public television video documentaries: “Virtual Cairo” and “At Home with Mother Earth.”

Wednesday, Oct. 24, 4 p.m., Berg Gallery, Room 105 – Paffard Keatinge-Clay, architect of the landmark addition to San Francisco Art Institute's historic campus, will present a lecture titled “Evolution and the Prototype.” Keatinge-Clay’s work resonates with a unique synthesis of the late designs of his former employers and associates Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Mies van der Rohe. Keatinge-Clay’s work fosters an investigation into the social, political, and artistic trends impacting architecture created during the heart of the activist movements of the 1960s. His work has recently been honored in the form of a book, Modern Architecture/Modern Masters and a traveling exhibition that originated at SCI-Arc. Keatinge-Clay is a former Cal Poly instructor.

Friday, Oct. 26, 3:30 p.m., Business Rotunda, Room 213 – Larissa Sand will lecture on her work as principal of Sand Studios, along with her collaboration with industrial designer Jeff Sand. With hands-on experience in metal fabrication and close work with specialty trades, Sand Studios has a fluid relationship between design process, building and production. Sand Studios has designed detailed projects such as restaurants, architectural facades, interiors, and furniture and lighting, including product design such as cycles, ceramics and snowboard bindings. They have received distinguished recognition from the AIA, I.D. Magazine, ADEX Platinum Award, ICFF Best Body of Work Award and the Good Design Award. Immediately following her lecture, Sands will participate on the jury for the 4th annual Vellum/CAED furniture competition.

Friday, Nov. 2, 4 p.m., Business Rotunda, Room 213 – Yusuke Obuchi, co-director of the London Architecture Association’s Design Research Laboratory and unit master of Intermediate Unit 8, will be presenting work from his Parametric Urbanism design studio, which includes student projects and his own innovative work. Obuchi is renowned for his “Wave Garden” scheme—a environmentally sensitive utopian architectural proposition for rethinking clean energy on the West Coast.

Friday, Nov. 16, 4 p.m., Business Rotunda, Room 213 – Pritzker Architecture Prize winner Thom Mayne of mOrphosis is sending two of his top design and technology associates, Pavel Getov and Marty Doscher, to lecture on the firm’s latest design work. They will be providing extensive insight into the innovative technological practices of their award-winning firm.

For more information about the Hearst Lecture series, contact Ray Ladd, College of Architecture and Environmental Design, at rladd@calpoly.edu or 756-7432.