BK Talks: A ticket to your future?
The role of design competitions
17 February 2022 18:00 till 20:00 - Location: OOSTSERRE & ONLINE - By: Communication BK | Add to my calendar
On 17 February, the BK Talks 'A ticket to your future? The role of design competitions' will take place.
For centuries, competitions have undoubtedly pushed the boundaries of design. Winning entries (built or unbuilt), runner-ups or honourable mentions have encouraged individuals to think beyond the possible, and have helped move design professions forward.
This edition of BK Talks aims to look at the state of design competitions today, and will be celebrated on the opening day of the Archiprix 2022 Exhibition at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment.
We will address the importance of student work prizes and their impact in the shaping of students’ future careers. Also, we will extend the conversation to competitions for professionals in the design fields.
What are the design issues that competitions are concerned with? Do they address or -moreover- modify societal, cultural, political or territorial aspects? Some new competition formats have been implemented without the intention of producing a new building, urban plan or landscape, but rather with the aim of calling attention towards certain pressing issues. How have competitions changed throughout history and for what reason?
We also want look at the impact of competitions in the transformation of design representation, as well as the changes triggered by competitions in the status and the role of the designer in the fabrication of the built environment.
The questions above are just a few examples of what the conversation could be about. ‘A ticket to your future?’ is an invitation to design students, professionals and decision makers to share a lot more what’s, why’s and how’s about careers that are -or are not- determined by the result of a competition.
Moderator
Beatriz Ramo
Founder, STAR strategies + architecture
Beatriz Ramo is a Spanish architect and urbanist living and working in Rotterdam where she opened her own architecture firm, STAR strategies + architecture in 2006. She studied at ETSAV at the Polytechnic University of Valencia and at the Eindhoven University of Technology. Since 2008 Beatriz Ramo is the managing and contributing editor of MONU Magazine on Urbanism, with which she has collaborated since its foundation in 2004.Since 2012 Beatriz Ramo has been part of the Scientific Council of the AIGP- Atelier International du Grand Paris, when STAR strategies + architecture was selected as one of fifteen teams participating in the second edition of the Atelier.Before founding STAR Beatriz Ramo worked in 2003 and 2004 for the Dutch firm OMA - Office for Metropolitan Architecture in Rotterdam.
Speakers
Ifrah Ariff
MSc Architecture Student, TU Delft
Ifrah Ariff is an MSc Architecture student at TU Delft. As a student, her experiences in professional, academic and extracurricular design competitions provides a unique standpoint on the role of competitions; her particular interest being in the nature of ‘competitiveness’ as a driver of new ideas. Her prior experience includes undergraduate studies in the United Kingdom, where she won the Foster + Partners Design prize for a thesis on women’s mosques, and separately, professional competition projects in the Passive House design sector.
Félix Madrazo
Founding Partner at Inter.National.Design
Félix Madrazo (Saltillo, Mexico 1972) is an architect, researcher and lecturer. He is a founding partner of the architecture studio IND [Inter.National.Design], co-founder of the research collective Supersudaca and lecturer in various universities including TU Delft /The Why Factory. Competitions since an early stage of his education have drastically changed the course of his career and ultimately of his firm. He is co-author with Prof. Winy Maas of the books City Shocks and Copy Paste done at the Why Factory and published by Nai010 Press.
Liesbeth van der Pol
Founding Partner at Dok Architecten Ltd
Liesbeth van der Pol is the founder and partner of Dok Architecten Ltd in Amsterdam, which is known for its innovative transformation of the 17th century Dutch The National Maritime Museum and many other projects. She is also Director of the Royal Holland Society of Science and Humanities and a board member of various committees including the Hendrick de Keyser Historic Houses Association, Foundation Fortress Island Pampus, Europan Nederland (the European Architectural Competition for Young Architects) and Recommendation of Europa Nostra (a Network Association safeguarding Europe’s cultural heritage). Her prior experience also includes her role as a Chief Government Architect and the Head of the Man and Public Space department at the Design Academy Eindhoven.
Ronald Rietveld
Founding Partner at RAAAF
Ronald Rietveld graduated in 2003 cum laude at the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture. He was awarded at Archiprix 2004 (third prize). His working period during Prix de Rome 2006 at the Rijksakademie of Visual Arts in Amsterdam was the early beginning of RAAAF. After winning the golden medal he founded the multidisciplinary and experimental studio together with his brother and Socrates Professor in Philosophy Erik Rietveld. RAAAF works at the intersection of visual art, experimental architecture and philosophy. RAAAF’s work has been published world-wide and exhibited at leading contemporary art- and architecture biennales such as those of São Paulo, Istanbul, Chicago and Venice. Ronald & Erik Rietveld are members of the Society of Arts of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts & Sciences (KNAW).
Lesia Topolnyk
Founding Director at StudioSpaceStation
Lesia Topolnyk is an architect who focuses on a broader interpretation of her field. She is interested in the potential of her profession within our constructed reality, exploring it through research and design simultaneously. Lesia founded StudioSpaceStation after winning several design competitions such as Archiprix NL, Archiprix International and Tamayouz International Award. Prior to that, she worked at several award-winning international practices such as MVRDV and Powerhouse Company. StudioSpaceStation operates on different scales across architecture, politics and environment. It translates complex issues into precise design interventions, which provide a vessel for discussion.
Practical information
This BK Talks will be streamed live from the Oostserre and can be followed via this link.