BK Talks: Art city

Imagining the built environment through the lens of art

15 December 2022 18:00 till 20:00 - Location: OOSTSERRE & ONLINE - By: Communication BK | Add to my calendar

On 15 December, the BK Talks 'Art City: Imagining the built environment through the lens of art' will take place.

On December 15th, ‘The BK Cloud (of Art)’ installation will open in parallel to the BK Talks ‘Art City: imagining the built environment through the lens of art’. The panel will explore the integration between art, architecture, and the built environment at large. This notion, which dates back to the very origin of the discipline, took on a new meaning and social purpose during the Avant-Garde movement of the early twentieth century, becoming one of the most defining characteristics of Modernism. Besides the inclusion of art works in the public realm, art has been — and is — essential to understand our societies and cultures beyond the political context of a certain moment. Art can be critical through beauty (or through ugliness), and is one of the world’s places of autonomy, reflection, production of alternatives, seduction, and hope. Simply put, some cannot imagine life devoid of art.

In this edition of the BK Talks, to be held literally underneath the collective installation made of the artwork submitted by students, faculty, and staff, we will explore the role of art in the built environment. We will also consider whether it is necessary to expand art education in the Faculty’s curriculum. Does the education of appreciating the arts augment critical thinking? Does art valuing improve the creative abilities of the designer? Is art education a way to direct prospective professionals to be effective, vocal, and sensitive designers who acknowledge the influence of the arts in the design disciplines?

Moderator

Peter Koorstra
Coordinator of Form Studies and Modelling, Architecture at TU Delft

Peter Koorstra graduated cum laude at the Academy for Industial Design in Eindhoven in 1981. Since then, he has worked as a designer and as an artist, joining the office of the Dutch Government Architect as an advisor from 1987 until 1992. He has worked for several governmental institutes and municipalities in the Netherlands as advisor in arts. In 1998 he founded Cucinacosta, a design office for furniture and kitchen design. Since 2018 he is leading the Form Studies group of the department of Architecture and  Head of BK Labs. Peter also acts as curator of the Model collection of the faculty of Architecture. In 2017 he was appointed as Coordinator of the Master Track Architecture. In 2021 he was also appointed as Education manager of the Department of Architecture.

Panellists

Krijn de Koning
Artist

Krijn de Koning’s work interrupts the environment by adding sculptural, architectural and colourful constructions to a specific site. His works emphasise the environment and give the audience new possibilities to use and interpret the place. Works within de Koning’s oeuvre vary from minuscule to very large, and contain classic references up to absurd expressions. Within the installations, drawings, sculptures and architectural works, connections arise, spare space is visualised and new perspectives are offered. As well as museums, art institutes and galleries, public, private and corporate clients provide a stage for artworks by Krijn de Koning.

Maurice Meewisse
Artist

Maurice Meewisse (NL 1978) is a Rotterdam based artist with a context specific practice, his work ranges from land-art and sculpture to performance and video. At the moment he also is connected to Buitenplaats Brienenoord in Rotterdam as curator and to the a.pass Research Center in Brussels associate researcher.

Mariken Overdijk
Performance artist, urban choreographer

Mariken Overdijk is a performance artist/urban choreographer/autopsychogeographer operating in the urban public space. With a background in Mime, Fine Art, Performance Art, Overdijk moves through life in a non-spectacular, poetic & ethnographic way. She searches for the poetry of the everyday that manifests itself in low-key gestures and other movements of her fellow passers-by.

Johannes Schwartz
Architectural photographer

Johannes Schwartz studied photography at Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam. From 2004-2011 he has been head of the photography department of the Rietveld Academy where he is currently still teaching. Among others Schwartz initiated an ongoing succession of publications in collaboration with graphic designers Experimental Jetset. The series started in 2003 published on the occasion of a group exhibition that took place at Centraal Museum, Utrecht. Schwartz was one of the participating artists in 'Opera Aperta / Loose Work', the official Dutch entry to the Venice Biennale in 2011.

Sarah van Sonsbeeck
Artist

Sarah van Sonsbeeck studied architecture at TU Delft (MA) and art at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie (BA) and Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten. Although initially trained as an architect Van Sonsbeeck focusses on the things architects cannot control like neighbours noise or value. Scrutinising the thin permeable line between interior and exterior she still practices architecture it would seem, but of the immaterial, no less fundamental kind.

She had recent solo exhibitions at the Kunsthalle Emden (2022) and Annet Gelink Gallery, Amsterdam (2020) and her sculpture 'Tristan Gong' is on display at Utrecht Central station the coming four years. Her work is part of various public (ministry of OC&W, De Nederlandsche Bank, Centraal Museum Utrecht) and private collections.

Practical information

This BK Talks will be streamed live from the Oostserre and can be followed via this link.