LAUFEN symposium presents ‘release architecture’ - a thought provoking conversation at art basel

LAUFEN presents ‘architecture during art’ – a thought provoking conversation at art basel
(above) ‘pantanal aquarium’ by ruy ohtake, campo grande, brazil

‘architecture during art’ is a recurring night of thought provoking conversation established by LAUFEN bathrooms AG. the annual symposium held at LAUFEN forum, coincides with art basel bringing forth discussion about the discipline of architecture in the context of a heavily art focused occasion—encouraging interaction and reflection across creative disciplines.

developed in cooperation with pro helvetia, the swiss arts council; sandra oehy, curator of the swiss pavilion at the biennale architettura 2016; and anh-linh ngo, editor in chief of ARCH+, this year’s program focuses on ‘release architecture’. in particular, it will address the demanding exchange between research and architectural practice in relation to interdisciplinary collaboration among architects, engineers, art experts and specialists exploring the possibilities that digital production can offer to their work. time and time again, it is the architect’s responsibility to provide food for thought, and set out new frontiers to change people’s perspective about the discipline and the resulting structures. in particular, questions such as: ‘how do architects navigate in their field of knowledge?’, ‘how can we understand design as a process that overcomes the notion of artistic authorship that takes the unknown as the starting point for exploring unchartered territories?‘

‘RELEASE ARCHITECTURE’ KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

‘release architecture’ keynote speaker: ruy ohtake

ruy ohtake is one of brazil’s most prolific architects. designing structures across the country over the course of five decades, he has realized more than 420 built projects. ohtake’s conceptual ideas can be recognized for their extreme sculptural forms, and bold use of colour, creating a sense of surprise. one of the most meaningful projects of the architect’s career is the heart of heliópolis, são paulos’ largest favela, with more than 120,000 inhabitants. additionally, the ‘redondinhos’ government-funded residential buildings in brazil’s second largest favela, were designed by ohtake after he had worked with the community for several years. these demonstrate ohtake’s particular sensitivity, community-oriented approach to new architecture in low-income neighbourhoods.

‘jacareí cultural center’ by ruy ohtake, jacareí, brazil

‘unique’ hotel by ruy ohtake, são paulo, brazil

‘release architecture’ keynote speaker: benjamin dillenburger

benjamin dillenburger is a practicing architect and assistant professor for digital building technologies at ETH zürich. his work focuses on how material can be synthesized and customized through advanced digital production methods, including CNC machining and laser printing, and rendered into complex, full-scale high resolution environments. rather than looking at these technologies as a means of mimicking details and concepts, dillenburger proposes ways in which these can push the field architecture into a new paradigm, in a most radical and open manner. a finalist of the MoMA PS1 young architects program in 2015, dillenburger is well known for his project ‘digital grotesque’—a fully immersive, human-scale architectural object made out of 3D printed sandstone—conceived in collaboration with michael hansmeyer. dillenburger believes that ‘architecture has to explore digital technologies and fabrication in a most radical and open way, in order to shape richer, more expressive and stimulating environments in a totally new manner‘.

‘digital grotesque’ by michael hansmeyer & benjamin dillenburger
image courtesy of hansmeyer / dillenburger
see more about ‘digital grotesque’ on designboom here

‘digital grotesque’ by michael hansmeyer & benjamin dillenburger
image courtesy of hansmeyer / dillenburger

‘digital grotesque’ by michael hansmeyer & benjamin dillenburger
image courtes of hansmeyer / dillenburger

‘release architecture’ keynote speaker: christian kerez

christian kerez has been a professor of architecture and design at ETH zürich since 2009. through his practice, he seeks to enable a new spatial experience that can only be brought about by architecture. the conceptual stringency of kerez’s designs are apparent in his ‘house with one wall’—a two-family home in zürich-witikon—formed from a single slab of concrete. this is further explored in his ‘incidental space’ installation for the swiss pavilion at the 2016 venice architecture biennale. technologically speaking,  architectural freedom is greatly restricted by a monumental level of regulation, and ‘incidental space’ is intended as a fundamental research that aims to investigate the possibilities—technically, as much as in our imagination—of how to think, build and experience space differently to challenge frontiers and change received notions of and about architecture.

christian kerez, incidental space, installation view, swiss pavilion at the 15th architecture exhibition
photo by oliver dubuis 
see more about the ‘incidental space’ on designboom here
christian kerez, incidental space, installation view, swiss pavilion at the 15th architecture exhibition
photo by oliver dubuis 

christian kerez, incidental space, installation view, swiss pavilion at the 15th architecture exhibition
photo by oliver dubuis

‘release architecture’ is co-moderated by sandra oehy, curator of the swiss biennale at the 2016 venice architecture biennale; and anh-linh ngo, author and editor of ARCH+, journal for architecture and urbanism.

‘release architecture’ co-moderator: sandra oehy
photo by marcella gschliesser

sandra oehy is an art historian who curated ‘incidental space’, an exhibition by christian kerez at the 15th international architecture exhibition, and co-curated the german contribution for the 14th international architecture exhibition in 2014. from 2010 to 2013 she was co-director of van horbourg, an artspace for contemporary art in basel in zürich. oehy has realized group and solo exhibitions with artists including armin linke, william forsythe, stan douglas and HR giger.

‘release architecture’ co-moderator: ahn-ling ngo

anh-linh ngo is an author and editor of ARCH+, who is also extensively involved in curating and organizing external events. in 2015 he was the co-founder of the international initiative ‘projekt bauhaus’, and curator of the ‘landscapes of surprise’ symposium in hyperabad, india. ngo was also the curator of the travelling exhibition ‘post-oil city’ in co-operation with the german institute for foreign relations, initiator and curator for ‘the making your magazines’—part of ARCH+’s contribution to the magazine project of documenta 12 (2007). since 2012, he has been the curator of the event and publication series ARCH+ features.

‘release architecture’ opening remarks by marianne burki

marianne burki, head of visual arts, swiss arts council, pro helvetia, who has been responsible for the swiss pavilion at the venice art and architecture biennales since 2012, alongside marc viardot, director of marketing & products LAUFEN bathrooms AG will deliver opening remarks.

‘release architecture’ opening remarks by marc viardot, director of marketing and products LAUFEN bathrooms AG
photo by francois halard

the ‘architecture during art’ LAUFEN symposium ‘release architecture’ is on thursday, june 16th at 6:30PM. please be sure to RSVP by june 10th. held at the LAUFEN forum (wahlenstrasse 46, CH – 4242 laufen), there will a free shuttle transfer from basel SBB at 5:30PM, returning at 9PM. for more details, see the full programme and invitation here.