[Positions series] Techne
DISCUSSION: Sat Oct 18th, 3PM@ Greene Gallery:
“TECHNE”
On Saturday, October 18, 2014, the Rensselaer Positions Series third discussion, “Techne” took place in the Greene Gallery. New York City-based architects Michael B. Young and Kutan Ayata (Young & Ayata) as guest speakers along with RPI SoA faculty member and practicing architect Adam Dayem (actual/office) discussed the nature of modes of representation and examined the contemporary techniques and tools with which architects engage in order to produce engrossing spatial constructs and tectonic relationships.
The discussion began with an introduction by Dillon Webster (B.Arch.), who co-coordinated the event along with fellow Positions Series organizers.
Michael B. Young presented on the practice’s two-dimensional drawing investigations which blur the line between actual drawing and rendering through a game of depth, intensity, movement, and moiré effects to produce certain atmospheric and aesthetic readings. Kutan Ayata expanded upon the firm’s position on representation, with a presentation of two of their most recent projects, elaborating on the representational techniques employed for the Busan Opera competition. Professor Adam Dayem concluded the presentation portion of the afternoon with an expansion on Robin Evans’ diagram “The Arrested Image” and Dayem’s very own reworking of said diagram titled “The Arrested Image Revisited.”
The presentations were followed by a discussion on the continued evolution of drawings within the architectural profession and discourse, as well as matters concerning the user, author, software, and aesthetics.
About the Participants
Kutan Ayata is an architect and an educator practicing in New York City where he is co-founder of the architecture and urban design practice Young & Ayata. He was a fellow at Princeton University School of Architecture and earned his Masters of Architecture degree in 2004 as a recipient of the Suzanne Kolarik Underwood Thesis Prize. His international professional experience includes projects for urban scale master-plans, cultural institutions, transportation buildings, commercial/mix-use high-rises and high-end residences. He is a registered architect in the Chamber of Architects in Turkey. Ayata is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Pratt Institute (GAUD) and a Lecturer at University of Pennsylvania, teaching architecture and urban design studios at graduate level. Previously he thought at Columbia University, NJIT, Cooper Union and Princeton University.
Michael B. Young holds a Master of Architecture from the Princeton University, and a Bachelor of Architecture from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He is the co-founder of Young & Ayata, a multi-disciplinary firm based in Brooklyn, New York. His drawings are part of the Drawing Center’s Viewing Program and have been shown nationally and internationally. In addition to teaching & practicing, he is invested in writing, research and experimentation on issues concerning geometry, representation and aesthetics. Prior to forming Young & Ayata, Michael worked for Reiser + Umemoto, Stan Allen Architects, and Pfau Architecture. Michael is an Assistant Professor at The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at the Cooper Union where he has taught design in the third year and second year undergraduate studios, and graduate seminars on a range of topics. Additionally, he is a Visiting Lecturer at Princeton University teaching geometry and representation.
Adam Dayem is a Brookyn-based architect and educator. He is the principal of actual/office, an architecture and design studio founded in 2004. actual/office takes on a wide variety of work including multi-family housing, exhibit design, furniture design and research projects. Adam received a Bachelor of Arts in architecture from UC Berkeley and a Master of Architecture from Columbia University where he was awarded the McKim Prize. He subsequently worked at Bernard Tschumi Architects on competitions and projects worldwide including the New Acropolis Museum. In addition to RPI, Adam has taught courses at Pratt Institute; Columbia University; Parsons’ New School for Design; and the University of Pennsylvania.
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