Pressing Matters VII, an annual publication of the Department of Architecture at PennDesign, is now available.

We Exhibit

We participated in the Architecture Biennale in Venice again this year; Associate Professor of Practice Ferda Kolatan curated the exhibition "12 Objects & 12 Images" that featured work from the design studios of faculty members Kutan Ayata, Hina Jamelle, Simon Kim, Ferda Kolatan, Ali Rahim, and Robert Stuart-Smith. The exhibition will remain in place for the duration of the Biennale in Palazzo Mora, Strada Nuovoa 3659, Venice, Italy. In the Biennale’s Arsenale, Graham Chair Professor of Architecture Marion Weiss and partner Michael Manfredi were featured prominently with their immersive installation "Lines of Movement." Eduardo Rega participated in the Spanish Pavilion with a magazine he co-edited called Displacements Magazine and his text, The Judge-less Trial of Architectural Things, Towards a Practice of Spatial Diplomacy, was displayed on the walls. Eduardo also produced and edited the video of the Bahrein Pavilion at the 2018 Venice Biennale titled Friday Sermon.

We Integrate

Our 500-level students worked on a pavilion competition that was exhibited in The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and Curator Anne Tiballi acted as an important collaborator for our first year faculty. The second semester students again worked on a proposal for a neighborhood branch library for East Parkside, Philadelphia. The students worked closely with community organizations as they developed their concepts. We grew our Standing Faculty and were joined by Assistant Professors Sophie Debiasi Hochhäusl, who just completed her Frieda L. Miller Fellowship at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced study at Harvard University, and Dorit Aviv, who finished her PhD at Princeton University. Dorit recently co-curated with Dr. Forrest Meggers the pavilion Energy is Everywhere and Nowhere in the 2017 Architecture and Urbanism Biennale in Seoul.

We Collaborate

The Department of Architecture has started a collaboration with the Athens Water Supply Company in Greece; led by Cecil Balmond and Ezio Blasetti, this third-year studio designed hybrid structures that combined a public plaza, an open air theater, and a museum in Dexameni Square. The students worked on location during spring break and over the summer. We also started a collaboration with Cemex’s R&D group located in Biel, Switzerland. Robert Stuart Smith’s studio participated in an extensive workshop there and the Cemex R&D leaders joined the final reviews here at PennDesign. 

As always, Pressing Matters was printed using recycled paper and non-toxic inks and will be available online as an e-book. Please contact the department for a student discount.

Winka Dubbeldam, Assoc. AIA Miller Professor and Chair Department of Architecture

WSDIA design

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Pressing Matters 7 on ISSUU