Museum Salon 4: Architecture for a Future Together
VIEW EVENT DETAILSThe 2020 pandemic has had an inequitable impact on the most vulnerable members of modern society and exposed the shortcomings of urbanism that have long been swept under the carpet. With most at home and office buildings and public institutions largely empty, it makes us wonder how these spaces, especially arts and cultural spaces, should operate in a post-COVID world. In our last Salon, artists and curators affirmed that while online programming can temporarily bring solace through our screens, it cannot replace the live experience that creates connections, whether on stage or in a gallery, and stimulate us beyond a device. If humankind has weathered previous plagues, there must be a way for us to gather responsibly in public spaces again.
Historical crises have often served as accelerators for technological breakthroughs, and perhaps the path to safely come together to be immersed in a performance, talk, exhibition, or screening lies in the reevaluation of our approach to public spaces. Have we taken respect and personal comfort for granted and been cutting corners for the sake of momentary conveniences at the expense of the long-term greater good? As we commemorate the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, it is timely to reflect on how design and architecture have played a pivotal role in social change and influence human interaction. Four architects from around the world, Jing Liu of Brooklyn-based SO–IL, Hani Rashid of Long Island City-based Asymptote Architecture, Shohei Shigematsu of OMA’s New York office, and Keisuke Toyoda of Tokyo- and Taipei-based noiz architects, will share philosophies that have emerged during COVID-19 to help us navigate towards a future that allows a return to carefree socialization and engagement in beloved cultural activities.
Speakers
Jing Liu cofounded Brooklyn-based architecture design studio SO–IL with Florian Idenburg. She has led SO–IL in engaging sociopolitical issues of contemporary cities through research and practice in such projects as the Omaha Artists Loft and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in Cleveland. Her projects range from artistic collaborations with contemporary choreographers and visual artists to master planning and major public realm design in cities. Her designs include the award-winning Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at the University of California, Davis (2016); the New York venue for Frieze Art Fair (2012); and Pole Dance, an installation for the MoMA PS1 Young Architects Program (2010). Liu is an adjunct assistant professor of architecture at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, and was a board member of the Van Alen Institute. She is the recipient of the 2018 Vicek Prize for Creative Promise in Architecture.
Hani Rashid cofounded the New York-based architecture firm Asymptote Architecture with Lise Anne Couture. The practice is known for its unique hybrid approach to design, fusing architecture with technological innovation. Asymptote’s architectural signature can be seen, for example, at the iconic Yas Marina Hotel built above the F1 Circuit in Abu Dhabi, which features a sweeping glass and steel facade with an AI integrated LED lighting system. Asymptote is currently designing a number of important projects around the world including a new Hermitage Museum and Mariinsky Concert Hall in Russia; a luxury resort in Tuscany, Italy; and the Missoni Baia residential tower on Biscayne Bay in Miami.
Shohei Shigematsu is a partner at OMA based at its New York office. He has been a driving force behind many of OMA’s projects, leading the firm’s diverse portfolio in the Americas for the past decade. He has delivered a number of cultural projects across North America, including the recent completion of Sotheby’s Headquarters in New York (2019), the Quebec National Beaux Arts Museum (2016), and the Faena Arts Center in Miami Beach (2016). His current cultural engagements include a new expansion for the New Museum and the extension to Buffalo’s Albright-Knox Art Museum. Shigematsu has also designed exhibitions including “Dior: From Paris to the World” at Dallas Museum of Art (2019) and Denver Art Museum (2018); “Taryn Simon: An Occupation of Loss” at Park Avenue Armory, New York (2016); “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2016); and “La Feria Concreta” at the Venice Architecture Biennale (2014). Shigematsu also oversees OMA’s projects in Japan, including a new business center in Fukuoka and OMA’s first mixed-use tower in Tokyo for Mori Building.
Keisuke Toyoda is a visiting professor at the Institute of Industrial Science at the University of Tokyo; a partner of noiz architects, a Tokyo- and Taipei-based architectural design firm that he founded with Jia-Shuan Tsai in 2007; and a partner at Gluon, a consultation platform for “smart cities.” He has worked in internationally renowned firms such as SHoP Architects in New York (2002–2006) and Tadao Ando Architect & Associates in Osaka (1996–2000). Toyoda currently holds an adjunct professorship at National Chiao-Tung University in Hsinchu, Taiwan. He is also a lecturer at the Digital Design Studio of the School of Architecture at University of Tokyo and a part-time lecturer at the Tokyo University of the Arts Art Media Center and Keio University Shonan-Fujisawa Campus, Kanagawa. Toyoda received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Tokyo in 1996, and a Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation in 2002.
Kelly Ma (moderator) is the assistant director of global arts & collaborations at Asia Society Museum. Since 2013 she has organized international conferences for arts professionals, including the Arts & Museum Summit and the U.S.-China Museum Leaders Forum, both under Asia Society’s initiative titled Asia Arts and Museum Network, and their related publications. Previously, Ma was the project manager at artist Cai Guo-Qiang’s studio in New York, where she oversaw Cai’s exhibitions worldwide, including at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and Philadelphia Museum of Art. From 2012 to 2013, she contributed to the magazine ARTCO in Taiwan as a New York correspondent. Ma received a BA in visual art and history of art and architecture from Brown University.
Part of Museum Salons: At Home with Asian Arts series from Asia Society Museum