James Taylor-Foster - A Complex Utopia, "In Therapy"
Nordic architecture is arguably approaching a crossroads: continue in the vein of the status quo or begin to holistically re-evaluate the role of architecture as a political, formal and functional practice. Based on the curatorial concept behind In Therapy, the exhibition of the Nordic countries (Finland, Norway and Sweden) at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale, this talk will present the presupposed paradoxes at the heart of Nordic architecture and suggest how, and why, the sands are starting to shift. This discussion will be framed by the historical (and theoretical) post-war call for a political and cultural union between the Nordic nations and the Baltic countries (“Baltoscandia”), examining why such a utopian ambition appears to persist today.
The talk will take place:
18:00, 1 August 2017
Contemporary Art Centre Reading Room
Vokiečių g. 2, Vilnius, LT- 01130
Language: English
James Taylor-Foster is a writer, curator, and architectural designer. He is the European Editor-at-Large at ArchDaily, the world’s most visited architecture platform, and an Editor of LOBBY Magazine (The Bartlett, UCL). While he almost co-curated the British Pavilion at the 15th International Architecture Exhibition (La Biennale di Venezia), he actually co-curated the Nordic Pavilion (In Therapy, 2016). He is a regular contributor to Monocle 24 radio, broadcast out of London, and is a Guest Critic at the University of Cambridge, The Bartlett (UK), the AA (UK), TU Delft and The Berlage (NL). He is a Visiting Professor at Università IUAV di Venezia (IT). James also writes for the likes of Disegno, Log, Real Review, and Volume Magazine.
