At a moment of dissolution in design, technique is all an architect can grasp. Techniques occupy a beautifully indeterminate void on the fault line between theory and practice. Spared of reductive allegiance to either, design techniques are uniquely powerful. A technique may disrupt, innovate, communicate, or surprise. At the same time, techniques stand as silent markers of membership—opaque envelops delimiting communities of colleagues.
This symposium, the first event in the series “All that is solid…,” interrogates the motivations, instruments, influences, justifications, effects, and origins of contemporary design techniques. Ultimately technique is how novelty manifests itself in architecture, expanding and advancing the inner core of our discipline. Introduction by Iñaki Abalos, with presentations by: Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee, Johnston Marklee & Associates, Los Angeles, California, Harvard GSD Design Critic in Architecture Jeannette Kuo, Karamuk Kuo Architekten, Zurich, Switzerland Philippe Rahm, Philippe Rahm Architectes, Paris, France, Harvard GSD Design Critic in Architecture Camilo Restrepo Ochoa, Camilo Restrepo Arquitectos, Medellin, Colombia, Harvard GSD Design Critic in Architecture Responses and panel discussion moderated by: Neil Leach, European Graduate School Professor, University of Southern California Adjunct Professor, NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Fellow, Harvard GSD Visiting Professor in Architecture Carles Muro, architects Barcelona, Harvard GSD Design Critic in Architecture and Urban Design Supported by the Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities
