#Foros2019 Identities

A new edition of the UIC Barcelona School of Architecture’s Foros lecture series, a can’t miss event for members of the architecture community, has been organised in cooperation with BB Construmat and is due to run from 11 February to 6 May. 

Entitled “Identities”, this new edition seeks to contribute to the discussion surrounding the concept of identity in contemporary architecture, a field heavily influenced by the forces of globalisation. Foros 2019 is co-directed by School lecturers Guillem Carabí and Fredy Massad. According to the organisers, “Architecture, particularly in this century, is subject to a series of globalising dynamics that frequently put into question the territorial discourse. In response, this has given rise to other more specific ways of doing things that vindicate local wisdom”.

 The series will begin on 11 February with a lecture by Manuel Delgado, full professor of Anthropology at the University of Barcelona (UB). Delgado is an expert in the construction of collective identities in urban contexts, religious violence and the social appropriation of the urban environment, issues on which he has published numerous articles in national and international scientific journals. 

 The second lecture will take place on 25 February, with a talk by Daniele Giglioli, professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Bergamo (Italy). Giglioli recently published Crítica de la Víctima [Critics of the Victim] (Herder Editorial) in Spain, an essay that explores the origins and symptoms of the ideology of the victim in today’s society.

 On 11 March, the floor will be given to Spanish architect Elisa Valero, a recent recipient of the prestigious Swiss Architectural Award (2017-2018). Valero is a full professor of Architectural Projects at the Higher Technical School of Architecture in Granada and director of the RNM909 Efficient Housing and Urban Recycling Research Group. She has directed her own studio since 1997 and has published numerous architecture-related papers.

 The series will continue on 25 March with a presentation by members of the Barcelona-based studio Addenda Architects (Roberto González, Anne Hinz, Cecilia Rodríguez, Arnau Sastre and José Zabala), the team behind the winning project for the new Bauhaus Museum Dessau (Germany), which is due to open in 2019, the German institution’s centenary year. 

 On 9 April, the Foros series will move to the Filmoteca de Catalunya, where video artists Bêka&Lemoine; (Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine) will lead a seminar followed by the screening of one of their films. Selected as one of the 100 most talented personalities by the magazine Icon Design, Bêka&Lemoine; have spent the past 10 years experimenting with new cinematographic narratives related to contemporary architecture and the urban environment. In 2016, their complete works were purchased by the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA) for its permanent collection. Following the lecture on 9 April, the Filmoteca de Catalunya will dedicate two days (10 and 11 April) to their work.

 The sixth lecture will take place on 29 April and feature young architects Nicolas Moreau+Hiroko Kusunoki. Moreau (French) and Kusunoki (Japanese) began their career in Japan, where they acquired extensive experience working with architects such as SANAA, Shigeru Ban and Kengo Kuma. In 2011, they moved to Paris, and, since then, their projects have clearly reflected the architects’ cultural duality. In 2015, they were named winners of the design competition for the Guggenheim Museum in Helsinki.

 Foros 2019 will come to an end on 6 May with a lecture by Catalan architect Josep Lluís Mateo, full professor of Architecture and Design at ETH Zurich. His work as an architect has earned him numerous awards and has been published and exhibited extensively throughout the world.

About Foros
Foros is an annual lecture series organised by the UIC Barcelona School of Architecture, in which prestigious national and international architects use their work to share their views on architecture. The lectures are open to students, industry professionals and anyone interested in participating.