Recorded: March 23, 2011
The New York-based office of David Ruy and Karel Klein, Ruy Klein, examines contemporary design problems “at the intersection of architecture, nature, and technology.” In this excerpt from their lecture they discuss “Knot Garden,” a proposal for PS1 Queens, NY; and “Klex,” their ongoing experiments with developing ornamentation through digital modeling. The office describes its investigations within this context: “The devastating technological changes of the last century have marked unusual territories of material production where artificial and natural systems share vague, overlapping boundaries. As architecture grapples with new synthetic regimes, the uncertainties of contemporary material practices unexpectedly opens unexplored possibilities for aesthetic experience and a renegotiation of architecture’s meaning structures.” Ruy Klein’s work includes “Klex,” “Biaxial Bouquet,” and “Knot Garden,” a proposal for PS1. In 2009, Surface Magazine honored the office with the Avant Guardian Award. The office has been a finalist for both the Young Architects Program at MoMA/PS1 and for the Iakov Chernikov Prize.
The Architectural League’s annual Emerging Voices Award spotlights North American individuals and firms with distinct design “voices” that have the potential to influence the disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design. The work of each Emerging Voice represents the best of its kind, and addresses larger issues within architecture, landscape, and the built environment.
