Into the Open: Positioning Practice Conference

Into the Open: Positioning Practice The New York presentation of the U.S Pavilion, 11th Architecture Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia Curated by William Menking, Aaron Levy, Andrew Strum Friday, April 24, 2009, 5 - 9 pm Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Auditorium Sheila C. Johnson Design Center Parsons The New School for Design 66 Fifth Avenue, New York RSVP: Deborah Kirschner, 212.229.5667 x4310, [email protected] Parsons The New School for Design invites you to a conference held in conjunction with the New York presentation of Into the Open: Positioning Practice, the official U.S. Pavilion of the 11th Architecture Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia. On view through May 1, the exhibition features work by a new wave of architect-activists who are reclaiming a role in shaping community and the built environment. These 16 architectural groups actively engage communities, responding to social and environmental issues, including shifting demographics, changing geo-political boundaries, uneven economic development, and the explosion of urban migration. The conference on Friday, April 24 will bring together representatives of four of these architectural groups: Teddy Cruz, Deborah Gans, Laura Kurgan, and Rick Lowe, to discuss how the issues explored in the exhibition can translate into and transform contemporary architectural practice. Exhibition curators Aaron Levy (executive director, Slought Foundation) and Bill Menking (founder, The Architect's Newspaper) will deliver the introduction. Each guest will speak for twenty minutes, followed by an informal conversation with the public triggered by agents provocateurs William Bevington, Jean Gardner, Robert Kirkbride, David J. Lewis, Lydia Matthews, Brian McGrath, Miodrag Mitrasinovic, Raoul Rickenberg, Bob Rubin, Grahame Shane, John Thackara, Sven Travis, Susan Yelavich, and Alfred Zollinger. Into the Open: Positioning Practice is on view through May 1 in the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at Parsons. Hours are Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.—8 p.m. and Saturday -Sunday, noon-6 p.m. Admission is free. http://98.129.116.150/pressroom/emails/documents/intoopenconference.pdf http://www.newschool.edu/johnsondesigncenter/subpage.aspx?id=14434