The lecture consisted of a number of short manifestos by various ASD tutors and affiliates. It was great to hear a diverse panel presenting real thoughts and feelings without much pomp or pretention. Although I didn't agree with everything that was said, it was refreshing to hear what drives these people, what they like, what they don't, what they're fighting and what they're aspiring to.
Highlights included:
1/ Peter Carl's frank bashing of capatilist-economy-driven-city-evolution.
Finally he's getting to the point and explicitly drawing attention to the spatial divide between rich and poor in developed nations.
2/ David Kohn's proposal for a coppiced woodland and on-site Art Gallery in an East London park.
It was an interesting proposal that was neatly conceptualised and visualised. The aim was to mitigate the operational costs of the Art space by integrating the building into a public park and relandscaping the area with willow coppice to burn in an on-site Biomass plant. It was a cleverly integrated, urban proposal that reminded me of MVRDV's Pig City, which is also seductively self-contained. It was polemical and unrealistic.
Kohn's Deptford Creek Charrette proposal hailed a new era of participation and discussion in the industry.
3/ Studio Weave's grappling with the 'Money as Motivator' problem.
This was fascinating because the studio (two ASD alumni) were sharing their challenges of growing their practice. It was great to hear people sharing their moral dilemnas publicly. Although I disagreed with a lot of what Maria said, it was interesting to hear that discussion because it's seldom discussed in either education oro practice.
4/ Anne from ASD projects identifying Free Schools, Localism and Big Society agendas as opportunities for Architects.
Luckily Robert Mull questioned the government's agenda in a very eloquant way. He noted the Tories' dislike of the 'collective' and the smokescreen being created by these agendas.
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