design 2050: beyond disasters, through solidarity, towards sustainability at UIA 2011 tokyo

design 2050: beyond disasters, through solidarity, towards sustainability at the world congress of architecture tokyo international forum, tokyo, japan september 25th through october 1st, 2011

‘design 2050: beyond disasters, through solidarity, towards sustainability’ at the world congress of architecture (front top left to bottom right) SANAA, image © takashi okamoto; christoph ingenhoven, image © ingenhoven architects; david adjaye, image © ed reeve; kengo kuma, image © kengo kuma and associates; christo and jeanne-claude, image by wolfgang volz / © christo and jeanne-claude; fumihiko maki, image © maki and associates; tadao ando, image © keitaku hayashi; vladimír slapeta, image © archive vladimír slapeta

entering into its 24th year is the world congress of architecture, a triennial event hosted by the UIA. taking place for the first time in japan, the self-proclaimed ‘olympics of architecture’ will be focusing on ‘design 2050: beyond disasters, through solidarity, towards sustainability’.

‘new museum of contemporary art’ by SANAA, new york, USA, 2007 image © dean kaufman / courtesy of SANAA

built from a mixed program of lectures, competitions, exhibitions and workshops, this year’s initiative seeks to create a vision for architecture and communities of the future. questioning the role and responsibilities of architects, engineers, and designers, the poignant topic aims to investigate the creation of sustainable societies, attractive cities and the protection of human lifestyles.

‘rolex learning center, EPFL’ by SANAA, Lausanne, Switzerland, 2010 image courtesy of SANAA for more on this project, see here

headlining this year’s international symposium is a collection of prominent and relevant architects and artists,

including: kazuyo sejika and ryue nishizawa of SANAA, tadao ando, david adjaye, vladimír slapeta, fumihiko maki, christoph ingenhoven, kengo kuma, and christo. using recent works to solidify their arguments,

each lecturer will explore the meaning and correlation of architecture, innovation and environment.

‘moscow school of management, skolkovo’ by david adjaye, russia, 2010 image © ed reeve / courtesy of adjaye and associates

for more information on the event – running september 25th through october 1, 2011 – and for specific

program information, see here.

‘yusuhara wooden bridge museum’ by kengo kuma, takaoka, kochi, 2010 image © takumi ota / courtesy kengo kuma and associates for more on this project, see here