Lecture: CAROLINE BOS “On the Verge”
UNStudio, founded in 1988 by Ben van Berkel and Caroline Bos, is a Dutch architectural design studio specializing in architecture, urban development and infrastructural projects. The name, UNStudio, stands for United Network Studio referring to the collaborative nature of the practice. But UNStudio is not the first incarnation of Van Berkel & Bos. A critical self-awareness has led us to reinvent and redefine the role of the architect every now and again. As it turns out, now is again the time for us to re-organize our practice.
Throughout more than 20 years of international project experience, UNStudio has continually expanded its capabilities through prolonged collaboration with an extended network of international consultants, partners, and advisors across the globe. This network, combined with the centrally located offices in Amsterdam and Shanghai, enables UNStudio to work efficiently anywhere in the world. Pivotal UNStudio projects include; the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart (Germany 2006), the large scale mixed-use project Raffles City in Hangzhou (China 2008 – 2013), the Galleria Department Store in Seoul (2005), the private family house VilLA NM in Upstate New York (USA 2007), the Agora Theatre in Lelystad (NL 2007) and the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam (NL 1996).
Currently, both the external world and an internal disquiet, manifested as a growing sense that we can no longer innovate in design as much as we feel driven to, has led UNStudio to a new point of imminent change. How will this alteration be shaped over the coming years? Much is as yet unclear, but some inklings of that new future are becoming noticeable. This presentation will offer a speculative, inside view of the transformations currently taking place within UNStudio.
Bio: Caroline Bos, (1959) BA, MSc, Int FRIBA. Co-founder/Principal Urban Planner. She studied History of Art at Birkbeck College, University of London, and Urban and Regional Planning at University of Utrecht. In 1988 co-founded Van Berkel & Bos Architectuurbureau with Ben van Berkel, extending her theoretical and writing projects to the practice of architecture. Realized projects include the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam, museum Het Valkhof in Nijmegen and the Moebius house.
In 1998 co-founded UNStudio (United Net), a network of specialists in architecture, urban development and infrastructure. Current projects include the restructuring of the station area of Arnhem, the mixed-use Raffles City in Hangzhou, a masterplan for Basauri, and the design and restructuring of the Harbour Ponte Parodi in Genoa.
Caroline has taught as a guest lecturer at Princeton University, the Berlage Institute, The Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and the Academy of Architecture in Arnhem. In 2012 she was awarded an Honorary Professorship at the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning. Central to her teaching is the inclusive approach of architectural works integrating virtual and material organization and engineering constructions. Currently she is External Examiner at DRL, Architectural Association, London.
When: 25th February at 19:30
Where: Iaac auditorium
