FACE-OFF

FACE-OFF aims to facilitate a conversation on the relationship between architectural education, technology and practice. In an afternoon of debates and a roundtable discussion, two speakers will be paired in one of three ‘rounds’ to discuss and deliberate on their experience and outlook from their individual points of view. The discussions will evolve from a curated set of visual media (images, drawings, videos, etc.) that each speaker will consider, fostering a rich exchange with each other and the audience. The event is curated and chaired by Elif Erdine and Evan Greenberg and aims to create an opportunity to dynamically engage the audience through its unique format.

Round 1: Robert Aish vs. Theodore Spyropoulos
Year 1: ‘Welcome to the Party’
This round endeavours to explore the beginnings of an architect’s education, focusing on the relationship between learning and practice, as well as the role of technology in architecture education.

Round 2: Guan Lee vs. Martha Tsigkari
Year 5: ‘On the Cusp’
This round focuses on the transition from student to professional, investigating the transferrable skills and knowledge developed in education and the very nature of practice itself.

Round 3: Claudia Pasquero vs. Jelle Feringa
Year 100: ‘Practice Makes Perfect?’
This round questions the role of education within established practice and the benefits and pitfalls that academia provides to a discipline in constant flux.

Robert Aish studied Industrial Design at the Royal College of Art in London and has a Ph.D. in Human Computer Interaction from the University of Essex. In 2005 the UK, ‘Building Design’ Magazine named Robert Aish as one of the top ten innovators in British Architecture. In 2006 he received the ‘Association for Computer-Aided Design in Architecture’ (ACADIA) Society Award. He is a co-founder of the SmartGeometry Group and visiting professor (of Design Computation) at the Bartlett, UCL.

Theodore Spyropoulos is the Director of the Architectural Association’s Design Research Lab (AADRL) in London. He has been a visiting Research Fellow at M.I.T.’s Center for Advanced Visual Studies. In 2002, Theodore co-founded Minimaforms, an experimental architecture design practice.

Guan Lee is a practicing architect, lecturer, and director of Grymsdyke Farm. He carried out his architectural studies at McGill University in Montreal, the Architectural Association in London, and the Bartlett School of Architecture, where he completed his doctoral studies on the relationship between architectural craft, making and site.

Martha Tsigkari joined Foster + Partners in 2006 where she is partner and a member of the Applied Research + Development Team with whom she has worked on hundreds of projects around the world. She teaches post-graduate students at the Bartlett, UCL, and has lectured and published on the subjects of parametric and algorithmic design internationally.

Claudia Pasquero is an architect, urban designer and ecologist; she is the co-founder and director of ecoLogicStudio ltd, Director of the Urban Morphogenesis Lab at The Bartlett UCL, Senior Tutor at the IAAC in Barcelona and Head Curator of the Tallinn Architectural Biennale 2017 titled bioTallinn. Claudia has previously taught at several institutions internationally, including the Architectural Association and Cornell University. 

Jelle Feringa is co-founder of EZCT Architecture & Design research and Odico Formwork Robotics, a pioneering formwork technology developer. The work of EZCT is part of the permanent collection of the Pompidou Centre and the FRAC Orléans collection. His current research is focused on the development of original robotic fabrication processes for architecture, considering materialisation an inherent aspect of architectural design.