What Is Green Architecture?

Buildings and Cities: Green is the New Black--A Talk by Steffen Lehmann Lecture + Dialog 10/06/08 7:00pm Please note new location: Galapagos Art Space 16 Main Street Brooklyn, NY 11201 English Free admission The Goethe-Institut New York presents What Is Green Architecture?, a series of conversations, lectures, and events exploring the cutting-edge developments in the field and their impact on contemporary life as well as implications for the future. The series continues with a talk by noted architect Steffen Lehmann followed by a conversation with Andres Lepik. Roughly half the energy consumed in the developed world is used to run and operate buildings. However, the relationship between energy-efficiency and urban design decisions has become a complex issue. Urban design, and the fundamental principles of how to shape our cities, has barely featured in debates in recent years; much of the debate has circled around ideas about technology for individual ‘eco-buildings’. However, sustainable architecture is only really effective when set in urban planning context which itself is based on sustainable principles. The theme of this presentation is to explore and assess emerging urban design principles and practical strategies for more energy-efficient cities, beyond the scale and scope of the individual building. The talk will reflect on sustainable design on the urban scale and critically examine new strategies for eco cities. What are the principles of 'Green Urbanism', appropriate models for urban growth and compact communities, and the emergent forms of urban design based on the paradigms of ecology? Steffen Lehmann will also speak about Australia's first zero-emission urban development, Taree Waterfront Masterplan, for which he has been working as lead urban designer since 2007. German-born Professor Steffen Lehmann, PhD, holds the UNESCO Chair in Sustainable Urban Development for Asia and the Pacific, the professorial Chair in the School of Architecture and Built Environment at the University of Newcastle (NSW, Australia), and is Founding Director of the s_Lab Space Laboratory for Architectural Research and Design (Sydney-Berlin). Steffen Lehmann is the Editor of the U.S.-published Journal of Green Building, and his book The Principles of Green Urbanism will be published in mid 2009 (with Routledge, London). Since 1991, he has presented his work at more than 180 conferences in 12 countries. He has researched, built and taught on informal urban design, urban renewal and energy-efficient cities since the early 1990s. He is an advisor to government, city councils and industry in Europe, Asia and Australia. He holds three post-graduate degrees; after graduating from the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London (1989) he worked with James Stirling in London and with Arata Isozaki in Tokyo. Before being appointed to a Chair in December 2002 in Australia, he ran his own ideas-driven practice in Berlin, for more than 10 years, where he designed numerous award-winning buildings. Steffen Lehmann has a particular interest in sustainable strategies for urban regeneration of the post-industrial city and the principles of ‘Green Urbanism’. During the 1990s, he was instrumental in the urban re-development of Berlin’s city centre and has built large-scale buildings in Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz, Hackescher Markt and Pariser Platz. In recognition of the international significance of his work, he has been invited as Visiting Professor to lead design studios at leading universities in six countries. In 2008, he received a Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence. What Is Green Architecture? series curator and moderator Dr. Andres Lepik studied art history and German literature at universities in Augsburg and Munich, earning his Ph. D. in Rome on Architectural Models in the Renaissance. He has curated noted architecture exhibitions, including solo shows highlighting the work of Renzo Piano, Rem Koolhaas, and Oswald Mathias Ungers at the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, and the German venue for The Museum of Modern Art’s Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Die Berliner Jahre 1907-1938 at Altes Museum. He is currently Curator in the Architecture & Design Department of The Museum of Modern Art, as well as author of Skyscrapers. This event is presented with the support of Galapagos Art Space. Future events planned in the What Is Green Architecture? series include a conversation with Friedrich von Borries on October 14, 2008, and Stefan Behnisch (http://www.behnisch.com/) on December 4, 2008. http://www.goethe.de/ins/us/ney/kue/en3659503v.htm