Archinect - News

The Solipsism of Architecture by Ole Bouman

2021-01-04T20:49:00-05:00

Over 20 years since the Kyoto Protocol, over 10 years since the Global Financial Crisis, and in the first year of the global Coronavirus pandemic, there has been no real change in the architecture of architecture itself. That will only happen when it stops connecting everything with itself, stops beginning with itself. When it admits the revolution into its own citadel.

Ole Bouman writes a Volume piece on 'Solipsism of Architecture' where he discusses a revolution will not happen in architecture until...
...Until then, in an inversion of Le Corbusier’s most notorious epigram: Architecture or Revolution. Architecture can be avoided.

Previously on Archinect 1, 2

Ole Bouman reviews Biennales, in general, via the Venice Biennale

2018-11-15T15:13:00-05:00

..And that’s why every two years the global professional community gathers again to not just see the show, but meet each other against the backdrop of the ultimate protagonist: Venice itself.

Director of Design Society Ole Bouman reviews Biennales in general via the Venice Biennale.

"Social respect and admiration for architecture are often derived from this magnetism, and are manifested by the intensity of experiencing it. Respect for the discipline is eventually not founded on intention or on an agenda. This simple insight invokes the awkwardness of so many architectural exhibitions and publications, which cannot but represent an intention or interpretation over the real thing. And it explains why more or less all architectural exhibitions fail to prove their point to anyone outside the discourse of architecture, or to a large group of people who would rather love or hate architecture than make a lengthy effort to understand it."

China's new Design Society launches with V&A collaboration

2017-12-04T14:42:00-05:00

The Design Society, China’s first dedicated cultural design hub, opened its doors this weekend in Shenzhen. Established by China Merchants Shekou (CMSK), the group aims to create a platform for global collaboration and creativity giving China a center point for design and innovation. The opening also launched The Sea World Culture and Arts Center (SWCAC) working in tandem with the Design Society. China's new center is designed by Fumihiko Maki and features a roof park, several public plazas, and a range of horizon views.

Design Society, Shenzhen, China. Photo: Design Society.

This opening is the result of a collaboration with the Victoria & Albert Museum, a partnership consisting of professional training, concept design, and the center's site-specific inaugural exhibition, Values of Design, along with two major touring V&A exhibitions. In sync with this initiation, The Design Society has an open invitation for future collaborations and partnerships as part of a larger effort to pr...

Ole Bouman appointed as Director of Shekou Design Museum

2015-01-10T20:18:00-05:00

China Merchants Group (CMG) has appointed Ole Bouman as Director of the Shekou Design Museum in Shenzhen, a project being developed in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) to become a major design hub for China. Bouman will take up his new role from the beginning of January 2015.

Bouman is a cultural historian, editor and critic, and cross-disciplinary curator who was formerly the Director of the Netherlands Architecture Institute (2007-2013), and the Creative Director of the fifth Shenzhen Architecture and Urbanism Biennale in 2013/14. Bouman will head up a small founding team in Shenzhen comprising Zhao Rong as Project Manager and Yuan Man and Wu Sichao as Project Assistants.

Zhang Lin, Vice General Manager of China Merchants Property Development, said: “I am delighted to welcome Ole Bouman as the Director of the Shekou Design Museum. He has a strong track record of finding innovative formats to produce, present, explore and discuss design, which we believe will b...