Boa Tarde Pessoal / Good Afternoon fellas.

As promised I will make the report-ish of the lecture, posting some comments, saying or description of the lecture while going.

Will later on publish some pictures too.

Concerning a more complex media, I am still figuring out the possibility to get the video of the lecture. Will let you know asap.

Now are coming the welcoming drinks...then the lecture ;)



drinks = wine... perfect




"the bar" + "the bookshop"

"Working in the Dark" - WILL ALSOP 6PM @ CSA:

- First intro about a small ideas competition at uni, sorry W. Alsop is busy with the pre-lecture event yet..

- Allan Atlee (director of the architecture faculty) makes a brief intro about W. Alsop

- "art and architecture is the same, the only thing I want to say about this" W. Alsop

- "I tell my students, I am not here to teach anything, I can only talk to you about my work, my aims and some notes"
If you want to stand out, "you have to be naughty"

- He runs a set of images regarding some projects he is doing and some others which his office didn't win or didn't move forward

- Some references about his life, his childhood and his parent's house, his town.

- He is doing a short comment about the creative process, the way the project (in any ways, say arts or architecture, for instance) leads to. It is important to stop and stand back, make a break and look for what was done (smoking and drinking, for example ^^)
How paintings help and develop the creative process and help the mind flowing better (in context, how arts mixing up with some "augmenting tools" help on that creative process)
Social instigators as pubs/bars (at the evening) help to rest mind, improve social skills, social interaction, and prepare mind and body to comeback to the creative production.

- A competition for a complex of two campus of a college in Glasgow where, through some images, sketches, animations and videos, art was re-intrepretated and arranged into an architecture composition.

- From a small set of animations, W. Alsop introduces the importance of technology and current virtual tools to help to explain and promote the idea and the project itself.

- A project of social housing, where he argues about the relevance of mixing up rich and poor people in one block, rather than separating into social/wealthy areas

- He shows a few projects where he mentions the relevance of now-a-days using the resources are provided this century, the sketches, paintings, computer softwares and animations. Is a sort of "procedure" his office has been taking currently, to create and develop the projects they have in hands. The creative process as a constant mutant creative process for itself, an investigation that helps and instigates the architectural creative process.

- Explaining the library in Canada, he explains how the brief of a competition can be tricky and can actually be discussed with the organizers, where they realize the brief may, instead instigating, limiting the creation, acting like a boundary, an obstacle to produce the most accurate solution for the urban problem. Regarding this specific case, the site for the project (the library in CanadA) was previously the access by people from the surroundings to a park at the back of the plot. Keeping the access to the park from the intervention site was paramount according to the locals. So elevating the building 26m from the ground floor would allow to keep that crossing. The building is now "on the roof" as he states.

-From the master-planning at Beijing, to the hotel, housing and the twin towers, the use of complex animations to translate the artistic sketches and models that the office generates, elaborated a repertoire of projects that are now being developed, exposing the dynamic of the office.

- Finishing with some tempting images regarding food and drink, the conversation will continue at the pub, after the break ..




the 'cliché' picture, as a proper report

PS. 1: I am just uploading now as the auditorium didn't have internet signal to do it "live"
PS. 2: No pictures inside the lecture, sorry guys, hopefully next time!
PS. 3: Apologies for the writings, English is (still) not my first language :)