November 2022 Lectures

events, lectures, symposium

I typically give around 3 public lectures a year, but in 2022 all of them occurred during a week-and-a-half span in November. A chance to connect to 3 completely different audiences, the compressed timeframe also offered a unique learning opportunity: Like looking at the same object from different angles, each lecture reframed and highlighted different aspects of the last 6 years of my lab’s design research.

We are often reminded of the basic tenet of public speaking: understand and empathize with one’s specific audience. But somehow as architects, this rule is easily overlooked. Is it because we are trained to follow our personal (and therefore rarified) version of creativity? Through simultaneously preparing for 3 lectures, I realized that along with crafting spaces, we also have to craft narratives about them. Stories that allow others to enter into the utopian goals behind the inevitable layers of compromise. By elevating public discourse in this way, we can also design positive social, cultural, and environmental change.

PAI Form | Executive Education Lecture Series | 15 November 2022

The long-running PAI Forum is an executive education lecture series for many of Korea’s leading business owners. Curated and managed by professor Jin-Suk Yang, the events offer an important platform for patrons who are arguably making some of the largest impacts on design culture through their design commissions. Here they can discuss essential emerging issues and directions in design.

My lecture focused on the importance of integrated design across scales that can immerse users in an experience about a building’s site, materials, history, and cultural narrative.

The Children’s Museum Future Development Forum | The National Museum of Korea | 17 November 2022

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In planning for a future expansion of their Children’s Museum, the National Museum of Korea invited speakers to delve into aspects of the design and management of children’s spaces.

My talk, ‘City-Making for Children,’ focused on how city design principles can be used to create children’s spaces that inspire them to build relationships between others and their environment. The ability to explore these city-like spaces on their own allows children to gain a sense of independence – and in turn this confidence can allow them to engage and improve their future cities.

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Speakers included: John Falk, Yoo-Kyung Yim, Hyung-Sook Cho, Sung-Hoon Noh, Ji-Hoon Goh, Lyung Baek, with moderator Kwang-Hyun Kim.

Architecture, What is it to Us? | Beomeo Library, Daegu | 24 November 2022

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Beomeo Library hosts an exciting lecture series open to all citizens. Being my first lecture in Korean, I inadvertently condensed what was supposed to be a 90 minute talk into just 40 minutes because of my limited vocabulary.

Much to my surprise, an hour of enthusiastic Q&A followed with questions from the diverse audience covering topics from aesthetics, architectural education, and collaborating with clients. The unplanned discussion revealed the importance and impact of architecture on our everyday lives.

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Psychedelic Architecture: Form and Allegory

The 2013 Sciame Distinguished Visiting Professor Lecture The Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture. There are uncanny parallels between the 1960s and today in terms of social, political, and environmental issues. However…