Parametric smackdown: Patrik Schumacher and Reinhold Martin debate at CalArts conference

2013-11-19T16:05:00-05:00

CalArts two-day symposium on “The Politics of Parametricism” opened last Friday with a conversation between Reinhold Martin, associate professor at Columbia University’s GSAPP, and Patrik Schumacher, partner at Zaha Hadid Architects. Their debate, while at times tending more towards dysfunctional improv theater than academic discussion, revolved around the relationship between architecture and politics -- generally speaking, Martin sees the two as indelibly linked, while Schumacher idealizes their explicit separation. Their debate didn’t concern the visual aesthetics of parametric design, so much as argue about its utility in political systems.

Patrik Schumacher

As an event presented by CalArts’ MA Aesthetics & Politics program, the Martin-Schumacher debate did not explicitly discuss individual architecture projects, but tended more on the side of critical architectural theory. To introduce their debate, both Martin and Schumacher presented papers on their approach to parametr...

Michael Asher (1943 - 2012)

2012-10-16T13:16:00-04:00

His own artwork is often described as institutional critique or engagement -- work that grows out of the particular conditions of a museum or gallery environment. But unlike other artists grouped under that umbrella, his work was not fueled by political dogma as much as intelligence and curiosity: How will your art experience change if you alter a choice operating assumption, often in the form of a key architectural element? LA Times

Also few words from Tom Lawson @ East of Borneo including a link to a radio interview of Chris Williams, a well known artist and Michael Asher student in late 70's at Cal Arts.

From my own collection, here is a work by Michael Asher, "Michael Asher Lobby", for the inaugural Exhibition of MoCA, then called Temporary Contemporary:

Photos by the courtesy of Orhan Ayyuce

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Parametric smackdown: Patrik Schumacher and Reinhold Martin debate at CalArts conference

Michael Asher (1943 - 2012)