Design Matters with Fokke Moerel, MVRDV, “Socially Resilient”

UCalgary School of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape present its Design Matters Lecture series.

Exploring how we could create a better future through design

Design Matters is a thought-provoking lecture series, organized by the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, which seeks to inspire transformative change. The series brings to Calgary a range of designers, innovators, and thought leaders exploring the edge of design and city building. 

Lectures are delivered from September '21 to May '22, and feature provocative speakers who examine the latest ideas in architecture, regional and urban planning, and landscape architecture. The lectures challenge attendees to broaden their thinking on a myriad of issues related to design.  Design Matters engages students, public officials, industry professionals and interested citizens — people who want to learn, understand and address design issues affecting our community.

The lectures spark conversations about societal issues by engaging with innovative thinkers. Attendees are encouraged to recognize the important role design plays in our daily lives. 

Join industry professionals, faculty, students, alumni and people in the community who care about design and building a great city at an upcoming lecture!

Design Matters Lecture Series with Fokke Moerel, MVRDV, “Socially Resilient” (click here to register)

Socially Resilient - Based on 5 projects, Fokke will talk you through what a resilient building can do for public life and social matters. 

Date and Time: November 04, 2021 12:00pm - 1:30pm MDT (11:00am - 12:30pm PDT)

Location: Zoom

Partner, and Architect, Fokke Moerel (NL) directs MVRDV’s Studio Public, a unit within the office that focuses primarily on projects that have a dedicated urban impact. These include public, and cultural buildings, as well as transformations of monumental buildings that endeavour to revive their immediate urban context. To this end, the office’s interior design team is also within Studio Public, generating a strong relationship between interior and exterior public program. A clear example of this is the Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, which Moerel is leading. As a fully publically accessible art depot, it opens its doors to the public in 2021, bringing all visitors into a close connection with renowned masterpieces, and with the city. In addition to this, Moerel has lead award-winning designs such as the Baltyk office tower in Poznan, Poland, the Book Mountain Library in Spijkenisse, and the Lloyd Hotel & Cultural Embassy in Amsterdam.

Coming from a family of designers, Moerel’s professional presence extends beyond practice to include teaching or serving as a guest critic for academies, and universities worldwide. Moerel herself has a master’s degree in architecture from the Academy of Architecture Rotterdam, and a BA in interior architecture from the Willem de Kooning Academy. She has taught at Harvard and Cambridge alongside MVRDV Founding Partner, Nathalie de Vries, at the Silpakorn University in Bangkok, Thailand, and is currently tutoring at The Hague Royal Academy of Arts. Moerel is also is an external critic at the Academy of Architecture Rotterdam.

“I am strongly attached to the office’s mission to not exclude anyone or anything. To create human-scale spaces where people feel welcome, comfortable, and challenged to interact and gather. This brings a wide diversity of challenges which can lead to unconventional and innovative possibilities – always inspiring and fun.” - Moerel

Register for this virtual event here: https://events.ucalgary.ca/sap...