Acts of Design

Acts of Design is a full-day conference organized by Hilary Sample of MOS Architects at Columbia GSAPP that aims to assess the current state of housing in North America through a combination of case studies and expanded thematic discussions among architects, academics, and advocates. The conference specifically focuses on designing housing across scales in cities spanning Toronto, Mexico City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, and New York.

The conference begins with a case study of Territorio de Gigantes, a project directed by Tatiana Bilbao (Tatiana Bilbao Estudio, Mexico City) as part of a masterplan for the city of Aguascalientes, Mexico. The project, which includes workers’ housing and a series of public spaces, was collaboratively designed by leading architects including Derek Dellekamp (Dellekamp Arquitectos, Mexico City), Simon Hartmann (HHF Architects, Basel), Anna Puigjaner (Columbia GSAPP, MAIO, Barcelona), and Hilary Sample (Columbia GSAPP, MOS, New York). Each architect is presenting their housing project for the masterplan and discussing their role in the collaborative process.

The second panel, Small to Large Sharing, examines contemporary conditions of the small scale as it relates to domestic living, the consequences of multiplying the small scale to something larger, and how designing for small scales affects both lifestyles and building practices. Speakers Fernanda Canales (Fernanda Canales Arquitectura, Mexico City), Jorge Ambrosi and Gabriela Etchegaray (Columbia GSAPP, AMBROSI | ETCHEGARAY, Mexico City), and Luis E. Carranza (Columbia GSAPP, Roger Williams University, Rhode Island) present case studies and histories from Mexico City with the goal of better understanding how housing is designed and constructed within a rapidly growing and densely populated region. Moderated by Adam Frampton (Columbia GSAPP, Only If Architecture, New York).

The morning closes with a keynote lecture by Julia Gómez Candela (Infonavit, Mexico City) on how the design group at Infonavit, the Mexican Institute for Workers’ Housing, is organized within the larger institution. After the lunch break, Maurice Cox (Planning and Development Department, City of Detroit) begins the afternoon session with a keynote on the current and upcoming housing work planned in Detroit, Michigan, a city experiencing an unprecedented revitalization.

The third panel, Livability and Design Excellence, turns its attention to specific ways of living and the effects they have on their inhabitants. Lisa Yun Lee (National Public Housing Museum, Chicago) presents on the Chicago Public Housing project Cabrini Green, now demolished. David Brody (Parsons School of Design, New York) presents the work in his book Housekeeping by Design: Hotels and Labor, and Hans Ibelings (University of Toronto) on his book Rise and Sprawl: The Condominiumization of Toronto. These examples of contemporary and historic conditions of place make visible what has been rendered invisible in design. Moderated by Cassim Shepard (Columbia GSAPP, S/Q Projects, New York).

The fourth panel, Design of a Certain Scale, focuses on specific projects as case studies of design at different scales while emphasizing the importance of place in design. Lorcan O’Herlihy (Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects, Los Angeles) presents on mid-sized housing projects in downtown Los Angeles, Brigitte Shim (Shim-Sutcliffe Architects, Toronto) on the Integral House in Toronto, Marc Norman (Taubman College, Univ of Michigan, Ann Arbor) on the process of accomplishing housing in complex markets, and Weston Walker (Design Principal, Studio Gang, Chicago / New York / San Francisco) on City Hyde Park in Chicago’s South Side. Michael Bell (Columbia GSAPP, Bell-Seong Architecture, New York) will moderate a discussion on housing’s relationship to municipalities, materials, and technology.

A closing discussion brings together speakers from earlier conversations to consider how the design of housing in North America is shaping development and thinking about architecture. Moderated by Reinhold Martin (Columbia GSAPP, The Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture).

Free and open to the public. Registration is recommended for all attendees and required for those seeking AIA Credit or equivalent CES credits.