Open Lectures

All design enthusiasts are welcome to an open lecture by Dr. Jonathan Ventura on Tuesday, April 16, at 4 pm at Estonian Academy of Arts room A301. The guest researcher at the Royal College of Art, Helen Hamlyn Center for Design Center, focuses mainly on social and medical design, design theories and methodology, spatial and urban design, visual and material culture, and applied anthropology. In the open design lecture at EKA, he gives an introductory overview of contemporary design theory.

Design is rapidly becoming much more than an amalgam of history, practice and theory, yet as a defined sub-discipline, design theory is yet to reach its full potential. Furthermore, the schism between design theoreticians, historians and practitioners should be overcome to offer a more holistic approach. In this lecture/workshop, I wish to elaborate on the potential of teaching and practicing design as a social and material language. Moving forward from classic semiotic theories, using hermeneutics as a platform to shape design differently will help in the integration of history, practice and theory.

In this innovative outline, I see the designer not as a problem-solver, nor a “mere” translator or mediator, but rather as an active interpreter and maker of vehicles of meanings that, for example, denote and signify marital or social status,  manifest ideas, refer to previous styles of design, and symbolize their zeitgeist Accordingly, this lecture or workshop will present the semantic, referential, or expressive qualities of design objects, and of design objects that interpret their surroundings or lend themselves to interpretations within hermeneutic circles, thus generating visual-material languages.

Though design is a ubiquitous ontological and aesthetic phenomenon, and a flourishing practical discipline that is broadly taught in the academia, and while design history has developed into a respected discipline—the philosophy of design is still in its early stages. Design methodologies have been outlined and discussed. However, the long-lasting segregation between the various sub-disciplines of design, coupled with an inherent division between the philosophy of design and its practice and history cripple the overall reach of design research. Additionally, design has been sometimes considered to be a tool for devising aesthetic packaging meant for the enhancement of consumerism. In the light of global anti-consumerism, economic crises and socio-cultural changes, the designer’s role in society is starting to change.

Shifting our definition of the practice of design from semiotics to interpretation, or more broadly and accurately to design hermeneutics hold great potential to both research and pedagogy. For example, through redefining the act of prosthetic design transforms the designer to a physical interpreter, redefining the patient’s body. Thus, integrating practice and theory will help us create better-suited lessons to our complex reality.

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https://hadassah.academia.edu/JonathanVentura

Dr. Jonathan Ventura is currently researching the multilayered world of the industrial designer, focusing on medical and social design vis-à-vis applied anthropology. He is a visiting research fellow at the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design at the Royal College of Art in London. He has completed a post-doctorate at the RCA and presented his PhD dealing with anthropological dimensions of industrial design, in a joint program of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem (the Department of Sociology and Anthropology) and Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Jerusalem (the Department of Industrial Design). He teaches at the Department of Inclusive Design at Hadassah Academic College Jerusalem and at the Design Graduate Program at Shenkar College in Ramat Gan. Jonathan focuses mainly on social and medical design, design theories and methodologies, theories of space and urbanity, visual and material culture and applied anthropology.

You are welcome to the Open Lecture of glass artists Krista Israel and Jacky Geurts on Thursday, 21th March at 5PM in room B604.

“The use of multiple techniques to come to complex works is based on the complexity of society. I try to capture its ambiguity in layered, ambiguous works that touch both personal and universal feelings. My work reflects how I see the world around me. References, experiences, memories, questions. I am deeply interested in the impact of our hyper-complex world on each of us as a modern person.” Krista Israel.

Krista looks for answers to those questions with her objects; especially personal answers that the viewer can think for thought. No ready-made solutions, but moments of reflection.

“Getting outside is nurture for the soul. On my daily walks I wonder about the beauty around me, the little things. But I also notice how humans interfere with nature. How we fail to protect the source we all need as a species to survive”. Jacky Geurts

Inspired by nature, human life and interaction, observing in all its details, Jacky Geurts searches for understanding of the world around myself, both on a small and larger scale.

More info about the artists:
http://www.krista-israel.com/

The next lecturer of the Open Lecture Series this spring will be Mark Wigley – New Zealand-born architect, author, and from 2004 to 2014 Dean of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture. He will be stepping on the stage of the main auditorium of the new EKA building on the 28th of March at 6 pm to talk about his latest book that discusses the works of Gordon Matta-Clark.

Mark Wigley is a Professor of Architecture at Columbia University. He is a historian, theorist and curator who explores the intersection of architecture, art, philosophy, culture, and technology. His books include: Derrida’s Haunt: The Architecture of Deconstruction; White Walls, Designer Dresses: The Fashioning of Modern Architecture; Constant’s New Babylon: The Hyper-Architecture of Desire; Buckminster Fuller Inc. – Architecture in the Age of Radio; and Are We Human? – Notes on an Archaeology of Design (written with Beatriz Colomina when they co-curated the 3rd Istanbul Design Biennial). He has also curated exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, The Drawing Center and Columbia University in New York, the Witte de With in Rotterdam, and the Canadian Center for Architecture in Montreal. His most recent exhibition was The Human Insect: Antenna Architectures 1997-2017 at Het Nieuwe Instituut (2018).

Wigley will give a lecture entitled “Cutting Matta-Clark: The Anarchitecture Investigation” on the occasion of the publication of his new book with the same title. This major book, based on a wealth of previously unpublished images and documents, completely rethinks the transgressive building cuts by Gordon Matta-Clark, the legendary cult figure in both the art and architecture worlds.

The work of Gordon Matta-Clark (1943–1978) fundamentally changed our understanding of the role of architecture in everyday life. Matta-Clark is best known for site-specific installations in abandoned houses scheduled to be demolished in New York, Paris, Antwerp and elsewhere. He revealed the chaos behind the seeming orderliness of the urban space and exposed the conflict between living spaces and architectural structures. Matta-Clark belonged to an artistic community that conceptualised the idea of “anarchitecture” (a conflation of the words “anarchy” and “architecture”). “Anarchitecture” referred to the creative practice that paid attention to the shifts, voids and non-places in the urban space.

Wigley’s lecture coincides with the joint exhibition of Gordon Matta-Clark and Estonian artist Anu Vahtra in Kumu Art Museum. The exhibition is called Gordon Matta-Clark: Anarchitect. Anu Vahtra: Completion through removal. On Friday, March 29th at 12:00 a joint exhibition visit with Mark Wigley and Anu Vahtra will take place in Kumu.

The architecture and urban planning department of the Estonian Academy of Arts has been curating the Open Lectures on Architecture series since 2012 – each year, a dozen architects, urbanists, both practicing as well as academics, introduce their work and field of research to the audience in Tallinn. All lectures are in English, free and open to all interested.

The series is funded by the Estonian Cultural Endowment. Mark Wigley’s lecture and the exhibition visit on Friday is organized in cooperation with Kumu Art Museum.

Curators: Sille Pihlak, Johan Tali

www.avatudloengud.ee
https://www.facebook.com/EKAarhitektuur/
https://kumu.ekm.ee/

The Many Realms of Home and Other Virtual Tales: Open Lecture by Lara Lesmes and Fredrik Hellberg of Space Popular

The next lecturers of the Open Lecture Series this spring will be London-based architects Lara Lasmes and Fredrik Hellberg, the founders of Space Popular. Space Popular is a multidisciplinary design and research practice that makes architecture, products, furniture graphics, interfaces and research. They will be stepping on the stage of the main auditorium of the new EKA building on the 14th of March at 6 pm to talk about the role of architectural practice in the virtual.

Lara Lesmes (Spain) and Fredrik Hellberg (Sweden), both graduates from the Architectural Association in London, founded Space Popular in Bangkok in 2013. Based in London since 2016, the practice works at multiple scales: from furniture and interior design to architecture, urbanism, and the design of virtual worlds. The duo have extensive teaching experience at INDA (Bangkok) and the Architectural Association and have lectured and participated as visiting critics internationally. Beyond their academic experience, Space Popular has ongoing and realised built projects and exhibitions in Europe and Asia.

How do we address the digital spaces we inhabit today, and the overlapping realms that will soon be an everyday reality? What is the virtual, as detached from the digital? How have virtual worlds been created, manifested and inhabited historically? What is the role of architecture as a practice in the virtual? What are function and program when there is no shelter to provide, nor problems to solve? How will the three-dimensional virtual realm challenge our notions of privacy and property? These and other issues will be discussed by Space Popular directors through examples of the office’s work. More info: http://www.spacepopular.com/

The architecture and urban design department of the Estonian Academy of Arts has been curating the Open Lectures on Architecture series since 2012 – each year, a dozen architects, urbanists, both practicing as well as academics, introduce their work and field of research to the audience in Tallinn. All lectures are in English, free and open to all interested.

The series is funded by the Estonian Cultural Endowment. The lecture of Space Popular is supported by British Council and Estonian Centre for Architecture.

Curators: Sille Pihlak, Johan Tali

www.avatudloengud.ee

https://www.facebook.com/EKAarhitektuur/

More info:

Pille Epner /  arhitektuur@artun.ee / +372 642 0071

Open lecture by Peter Martin, an American teaching design in Qatar, in Middle East. The lecture will take place on Thursday, March 7 th at 18:00, room A501 of Estonian Academy of Arts (Põhja pst 7, Tallinn). Based on his 20 years of teaching experience in Qatar, at a crossroads of new and ancient, of Western and Middle Eastern cultures, of tense 21 st century global socio-political processes, Peter Martin explores how design works culturally. Unfolding the visible layers of design, he considers and explores its invisible cultural/contextual activities and significance. As Peter’s experience has revealed – nearly everything is negotiable as an imperative and a possibility. As designers, how do we begin to make sense of what imperatives we participate in and what possibilities we pursue? How can we work more holistically to the shared endeavor of living together on this earth.

Peter Martin holds a BS in Design and Environmental Analysis from Cornell University and an MFA in Graphic Design from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). He leads the Graphic Design department at VCU’s branch in Qatar on the Arabian Peninsula. He began working there in 1999, being the first teacher of visual communication in a country that had nearly no history of graphic design within its very traditional Bedouin culture. Using different platforms, Peter became a promoter of design and design thinking beyond the university campus. In 2004, he co-founded the biannual Tasmeem Doha international design conference, in 2010, he initiated and co-hosted a radio program, Design Edition. In 2014, he co-led the VCU Qatar strategic planning process. Peter’s research involves theoretical, applied and pedagogic inquiries into structures of contextual analysis and mapping methods. Also, he focuses on processes designed for social and organizational innovation.

Info:
Kristjan Mändmaa
EKA Faculty of Design
kristjan.mandmaa@artun.ee

Being a gardener is to build the experience: Open Lecture by Cristina Díaz Moreno and Efrén García Grinda of amid.cero9

The next lecturers of the Open Lecture Series this spring will be Madrid-based architects Cristina Díaz Moreno and Efrén García Grinda of amid.cero9 fame. They will be stepping on the stage of the main auditorium of the new EKA building on the 28th of February at 6 pm to talk about a variety of amid.cero9 projects from the period between 2004 and 2015.

Cristina Díaz Moreno and Efrén García Grinda hold a MArch (E.T.S. de Arquitectura de Madrid, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid) degree and are co-directors and co-founders of amid.cero9, an experimental architectural practice based in Madrid. They are currently Visiting Professors at the Institut für Kunst und Architektur, Akademie der Bildenden Künste IKA, Vienna, Diploma Unit Masters at the A.A. School in London since 2009 (on leave during the 2018-2019 academic year) and Visiting Critics at SOA, Princeton Universtity since 2017.

Their work is part of the Permanent Collection of the Pompidou Center in Paris and has been exhibited in the Biennale di Architettura di Venezia in the Official Section in 2010, 2004, 2000, in the Spanish Pavillion in 2014 and 2002 and in the Greek Pavillion in 2014, among others.

Their projects have been widely disseminated and they have won more than 40 prizes in national and international competitions.

Amid.cero9 cultivates a post-digital, afterpop approach to the contemporary notion of space that enlists sociology, technology, media, politics and representation in projects ranging from architecture (Cherry Blossom Pavilion in Jerte Valley, Spain, shown at the 12th Biennale di Venezia, Giner de los Ríos Foundation in Madrid, Diagonal80 Industrial Pavillion in Madrid) to design (ESA Pavillion), ecosystemic studies (The Magic Mountain in Ames, We as a plague in Rome, TRP in Venice) and hybrid urban projects (Aijalaranta in Jyväskylä, or Hhouse in Balearic Islands).

Their lecture is titled “Being a gardener is to build the experience”. As our speakers promise: “The intervention will be based on a choral recount, with many voices from different authors, places, scientific disciplines and moments of history but also a partial one, which gathers some of the main topics of concern and study that inspired our project of the Institution for Free Education headquarters in Madrid. Anchored both in our own personal concerns and in the intellectual connections of the Institution, our aim was to project the intellectual legacy of Giner de los Ríos – a philosopher, an educator and one of the most influential Spanish intellectuals – towards the future.” Díaz Moreno and García Grinda’s lecture will also look at different amid.cero9 projects from the period between 2004 and 2015.

The architecture and urban design department of the Estonian Academy of Arts has been curating the Open Lectures on Architecture series since 2012 – each year, a dozen architects, urbanists, both practicing as well as academics, introduce their work and field of research to the audience in Tallinn. All lectures are in English, free and open to all interested.

The series is funded by the Estonian Cultural Endowment.

Curators: Sille Pihlak, Johan Tali
www.avatudloengud.ee
https://www.facebook.com/EKAarhitektuur/

More info:
Pille Epner
arhitektuur@artun.ee
+372 642 0071

Combining Design and Science for a positive impact on built environment: Open Lecture by Areti Markopoulou

The next lecturer of the Open Lecture Series this spring will be Greek architect, educator and urban technologist, Areti Markopoulou. Markopoulou will be stepping on the stage of the main auditorium of the new EKA building on the 14th of February at 6 pm to talk about advanced architecture research and how to combine design and science for a positive impact on our built environment.

Areti Markopoulou is a Greek architect, researcher and urban technologist working at the intersection between architecture and digital technologies. She is the Academic Director at IAAC in Barcelona, where she also leads the Advanced Architecture Group, a multidisciplinary research group exploring how design and science can positively impact and transform the present and future of our built spaces, the way we live and interact. Her research and practice seeks to redefine architecture as a performative “body” beyond traditional notions of static materiality, approximate data, or standardized manufacturing.

Areti is the founder and principal of the multidisciplinary practice Design Dynamics Studio, and co-editor of Urban Next, a global network focused on rethinking architecture through the contemporary urban milieu. She is the project coordinator of a number of European Research funded Projects on topics including: urban regeneration through technologies, dynamic design through novel materials and multidisciplinary educational models in the digital age. 
Areti has also served as a curator of international exhibitions such as On Site Robotics (Building Barcelona Construmat 2017), Print Matter (In3dustry 2016), HyperCity (Shenzhen Bi-city Biennale, 2015) and MyVeryOwnCity (World Bank, BR Barcelona, 2011).
She holds a Bachelor of Architecture & Engineering from DUTH – the Democritus University of Thrace, a MArch from IAAC, and a Fab Academy diploma on Digital Fabrication offered by the Fab Lab Network. Her work has been featured in numerous exhibitions worldwide, such as the Venice Biennale, Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale, Centre Pompidou, MAXXI and Beijing Design Week among others.

The architecture and urban design department of the Estonian Academy of Arts has been curating the Open Lectures on Architecture series since 2012 – each year, a dozen architects, urbanists, both practicing as well as academics, introduce their work and field of research to the audience in Tallinn. All lectures are in English, free and open to all interested.

The series is funded by the Estonian Cultural Endowment.

Curators: Sille Pihlak, Johan Tali, for this lecture

www.avatudloengud.ee
https://www.facebook.com/EKAarhitektuur/

More info:
Pille Epner
E-post: arhitektuur@artun.ee
Tel. +372 642 0071

Public lecture by Raine Vasquez will be held today(17.01) at 5pm in room nr A301

In an informal conversation Raine Vasquez will discuss his complicated and frustrated relationship with art, his exodus into philosophy, and his continued work at the Museum of Impossible Forms and other art-centric organizations. He will discuss some points of his forthcoming “anti-art” manifesto, contemplate arts’ role as a technology of late-capitalism, and whether it really has the power to disrupt that it is so often claimed to possess. He will wonder about the ethics of continuing to make art, and speak about disappointment, hopelessness, and self-exile.

http://www.raine–vasquez.com

The EKA Design Showcase presents the results of collaborations between the Estonian Academy of Arts Faculty of Design and various enterprises and will take place on 15 January at 13.00 in the EKA main auditorium (A101). Concepts, prototypes and final results for innovative products and services will be presented, featuring new developments in the space, transport and package delivery industry and other fields. All enterprises, EKA’s present and future cooperation partners, and enthusiasts of innovative design are kindly invited to attend the event! The presentations will be given in English. At the end of the design day, the winner of the Abakhan Creative Award will be announced.

Timetable and registration.

The event will be opened with a presentation by Ott Vatter, Deputy Director of the e-Residency programme, who will introduce the project that is being carried out in cooperation with EKA interaction designers and focuses on improving the user experience of the e-residency service.

The core of the day is made up of twelve presentations on cooperation projects that the EKA Faculty of Design and the EKA and TalTech Design & Technology Futures joint programme have been working on over the last two years. One of the showcased projects is in collaboration with the Swiss Space Center and it offers solutions for making living conditions during long space missions more human-friendly. How can astronauts avoid mental health problems on long missions during which their 24h rhythm has been turned upside down? What are new ways of engaging in sports in space for training in weightlessness? According to Janno Nõu, one of the project leaders and a teaching staff member at TalTech, the space centre is very satisfied with the innovative solutions the project has provided, as they give a completely different approach to the space industry. The technology for the lunar outpost will be developed based on the astronauts’ needs, which is one of the key elements during longer space missions. The high point of the project will come in Switzerland this summer when the project will present engineered technical solutions.

The EKA Design Showcase will also feature a new type of rental vehicle that leaves more space for people and makes the growth of major urban areas more sustainable. Together with Cleveron, which was named Company of the Year at the 2018 Estonian Entrepreneurship Awards, a drone-attached package delivery module was developed that allows for aerial delivery system, as well as other creative solutions for various enterprises. According to EKA Collaboration Coordinator Ingela Heinaste, approximately 200 collaboration projects with various enterprises and institutions have been carried out in the 10 years of the EKA Research and Development Office. “Using a specific problem statement as the starting point, we play out innovative solutions, many of which are later realised. We create products and services under the supervision of teaching staff members who are internationally renowned specialists in their field. We design future visions, develop never-before-seen solutions and test new technologies,” said Heinaste who highly recommends that companies contact her to discuss collaboration opportunities.

At 16.30 after the presentations, the winner of the Abakhan Creative Award will be announced followed by the exhibition of nominees.

We would like to thank EKA’s collaboration partners: Swiss Space Center, Santa Monica Networks AS, Cleveron AS, Emergency Response Centre, Good Deed Foundation, Atlas Partners OÜ, Welement AS, Taltech.

Event takes place as EU Industry Days 2019 event and under the umbrella of Cumulus.

Additional information:

Ingela Heinaste
Collaboration Coordinator
ingela.heinaste@artun.ee
Tel 521 9187

Mart Vainre
Communications Specialist
mart.vainre@artun.ee
Tel 626 7111

January 22 at 18.00-20.00
EKA room 501

We are excited to welcome Kenza Drancourt (industrial designer) and Theo Mahut (PhD, in product design, innovation and development) from GOODMOOD Laboratory for a talk and discussion on the role culture plays in perception and design of textures. Julia Valle-Norohna, design researcher and Assistant Professor in Fashion (EKA), will lead the discussion.

The event is free and open to everyone!

Please register until January 20, so we can better plan the event.

Same texture can be differently perceived depending on cultural experiences. Similarly, a texture can be differently designed depending on cultural references. What is a ‘traditional’ texture, for you? What is a ‘contemporary’ one? Is this texture differently perceived and designed depending on your Spanish, French, or Estonian approach?

GOODMOOD Laboratory will present this research study through the analysis of several workshops conducted in different Design Schools around Europe, including EKA. Both the general process and preliminary results will be shared and discussed. Additionally, this will be an opportunity to discuss how can research be useful for design; what is the future of tactile interactions; or even how to design for affective and cognitive reactions.

Théo Mahut is a Doctor in product design, innovation and development. He is specialized in human/product Interactions. Before getting his PhD from Les Arts et Métiers of Paris, he studied Industrial Design at La Martinière Diderot (Lyon, France).

Kenza Drancourt is an Industrial Designer, specialized in Meanings, Perception and Prospective of Colors & Surfaces. She graduated from Ensci – Les Ateliers (Paris, France), before approaching a Research & design way of working.

Julia Valle-Norohna is the Associate Professor in Fashion at EKA and doctoral candidate in Design at Aalto University. She holds an MA in visual arts and a professional background in fashion design. As a designer–researcher, her work explores wearer–worn relationships and alternative approaches to commercial fashion via practice-based inquiries.

The event is funded by European Union Regional Fund.

Further information:

Maria Jäärats
Research and Development Department
+37258025300
maria.jaarats@artun.ee