︎
Semester II
ON REVOLUTION

Session 10
24.04.2019
Location: Lochergut, Zurich, CH

TEXT A
Geers, Kersten
2013
Intentions, Inventions
in Oase 90 “What Is Good Architecture?” Rotterdam NAi Publishers

TEXT B
Parnell, Steve
2013
Richard’s alternative
in Oase 90 ”What Is Good Architecture?” Rotterdam NAi Publishers

TEXT C
Kroll, Lucien
2013
Friendly Architecture
in Oase 90 “What Is Good Architecture?” Rotterdam NAi Publishers
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TEXT A Text Synopsis
The accumulation of thinking is a series of coincidences. The author describes how, during his studies, there was no obvious reason for contact with the architect duo Abalos & Herreros, but that is precisely why it became important. A defining aspect was the way the duo interpreted the work of Alejandro de la Sota: to De la Sota, intentions are more important than inventions. An architect has to deal with everything that is present, rather than seek to invent something new. Intentionally attempts, every time, to want to make something that does not yet exist, that still needs to be conceived, idealized and projected. Good architecture, as it were, can speak for itself, not with new words but with new sentences.
TEXT A About the Author
Kersten Geers studied at the University of Ghent and at the Esquela Tecnica Superior de Arquitectura in Madrid, Spain. He worked in Rotterdam for Maxwan/Max.1 Architects until 2001 and from 2001 to 2005 for Neutelings Riedijk Architects. He was a tutor at the TU Delft, the University of Ghent and the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio, and a guest lecturer and guest critic for the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam, and Columbia University in New York, among other institutions. He is founding member and editor of San Rocco magazine, and frequently publishes essays on architecture in a variety of magazines and books.
In 2002 he founded Office Kersten Geers David Van Severen together with David Van Severen. In 2008 they were awarded with the Belgian Prize for Architecture and in 2010 with the Silver Lion at the 12th Venice Biennial of Architecture. 

TEXT B Text Synopsis
From 1937 to 1971 Jim Richards was the editor of Architectural Review. He was of leftist orientation and repeatedly emphasized the social role of the architect. Architects have to inform the public about the built environment. Even today it is a worthwhile exercise to examine whether we can still strive for Richards's alternative.
He opposed personality cults and the individual ego, and believed in the power of anonymous architecture. His alternative consisted of learning from the medical profession: well-developed skills, local and immediate availability, and research that contributes to a corpus of architectural knowledge.
TEXT B About the Author
Steve Parnell is an architect and critic, lectures on the history of architecture at the University of Nottingham, and regularly contributes to the British and international architectural press. 2012 was a good year: he participated in the 13th International Architecture Biennale in Venice with the exhibition ‘Architecture Magazines: Playgrounds and Battlegrounds’, and his PhD, Architectural Design, 1954-1972:
The Contribution of the Architectural Magazine to the Writing of Architectural History, won the RIBA President’s Medal for outstanding PhD Thesis. He is fond of concrete and colons.
TEXT C Text Synopsis
Lucien Kroll sets out an argument for a human approach, grounded in respect for the planet. Architects seem to be trapped in a mechanized approach to society. Relationships among inhabitants are not facilitated. In opposition to this ‘Fordist’ approach, Kroll calls for an architecture that empathizes with human needs, is open to resident participation and is based on low-tech construction methods. An architecture that succeeds in restoring the balance between form, human values and a sustainable approach to the planet.
TEXT C About the Author
Lucien Kroll is an architect and urban designer.
He studied at La Cambre in Brussels, learning that architecture produces civilization and not ‘machines’. Kroll chose for a participatory practice, designing schemes that exclusively express the complexity, the organic organization and the social life of inhabitants. One of his most famous buildings is la Meme, the medical quarter of the Catholic University of Louvain, designed in close collaboration with the students. Kroll was in charge of designing the Academy of Expression in Utrecht, 150 dwellings in Haarlem and Ecolonia in Alphen aan den Rijn. In France he has realized research missions, social dwellings and schools in, among er places, Paris and Belfort. His work has been elaborated upon in numerous lectures and publications.
Geers
KerstenGeers
2013
Intentions
Inventions
Oase90
WhatIsGoodArchitecture
GoodArchitecture
Architecture
Rotterdam
NAiPublishers
NAi
Abalos&Herreros
Abalos
Herreros
AlejandrodelaSota
Sota
Office
San Rocco
VanSeveren
KGDVS
Ghent
Mendrisio
Accademia
Parnell
SteveParnell
2013
RichardsAlternative
JimRichards
ArchitecturalReview
SocialRole
Architect
Anonymous
Architecture
Anonymousarchitecture
Bibliography
Kroll
LucienKroll
2013
Friendly
Architecture
FriendlyArchitecture
Respectfortheplanet
Respect
Planet
Low-tech
Lowtech
Humanvalues
Sustainableapproach