Open call for curator of the Auditorium lecture series

OPEN CALL FOR CURATOR AUDITORIUM 18/19
lecture series architecture, urbanism and design

Stad en Architectuur vzw is inviting curators to apply for the curatorship of the lecture series AUDITORIUM 18/19. The latest edition of AUDITORIUM will take place from October 2018 to May 2019 in the STUK Arts Centre. Stad en Architectuur vzw would like to invite curators to propose a programme that treats ‘the matter of architecture’, space as a tactile place and its creation.

Auditorium 18/19
Stad en Architectuur vzw has been organising the AUDITORIUM lecture series since 2001 in cooperation with the STUK Arts Centre and the department of Architecture of K.U. Leuven. This series has been bringing together a wide range of experience and expertise and centres around a common theme. International design and architecture firms present through their own projects answers to major social and cultural challenges facing the world, and in particular Flanders as well.

The series will feature a mix of renowned designers and up-and-coming architectural talents on the verge of their international breakthrough. Some of the renowned speakers who have been featured at AUDITORIUM are Lacaton & Vassal, Sou Fujimoto, MVRDV, West 8, Diener & Diener, Snohetta, Alvaro Siza, Charles Jenks, OMA (Rem Koolhaes), Henning Larsen and many others. Programmes of previous editions.

The lectures are accessible to all: not just a professional audience of architects, urban planners and related professions attend this series. All those who have a cultural interest in architecture are returning visitors of the lectures.

The central theme ‘architecture as a laboratory’
The aim of the AUDITORIUM lecture series is to draw attention to new trends and developments in the field of architecture by presenting a general, diverse picture of today’s architectural culture. At the same time AUDITORIUM has had a thematic approach since 2011 which provides a specific profile to the lecture series as a whole.

The next edition will place the series within the theme ‘the matter of architecture’.

The starting point for this series is architectural space that is actually built. We look at the basis of architecture: the matter with which we build, the tactility that results from this and the poetry of space. Architecture as a carrier of meaning, not just a problem-solver, in which materiality transcends itself and adds an emotional value for its users. This series of lectures aims to be a quest for the material with which architects work and its diversity. A story about the creation of space, the manufacturability of the human framework.

A story about the space in between: about what is not being built, but what we as users are gifted. Just as poetry uses language like a skeleton: stripped, so that a ‘feeling’ is transmitted to the reader that renders the empty space in between the bones tangible. Matter/words is used to understand that which cannot be written down.

“Before, I used to envision an architecture that nobody could touch, impossible to grasp and hold. Now, again, it is different. Now, I want to do an architecture that you can touch and feel. Now I am working on the physical reality, on the object, on the real. This interests me now.”
Toyo Ito

The theme ‘architecture and matter’ triggers the curator to start working with the aforementioned concepts which he translates into a relevant, coherent list of speakers. The lectures show work that pushes boundaries of the built, of materials, and of the will to build. Work that has as its basis the true concept of construction and forces us to truly look at spaces and feel them.

“I try to use materials like this in my work. I believe that they can assume a poetic quality in the context of an architectural object, although only if the architect is able to generate a meaningful situation for them, since materials in themselves are not poetic.”
Peter Zumthor, ‘Thinking Architecture’

What part does the curator play?
The curator develops and organizes a lecture series of six lectures in total in the STUK Arts Centre in consultation with Stad en Architectuur.

The assignment consists of creating a shortlist of potential speakers, booking said speakers, writing promotional materials, making practical arrangements, welcoming and introducing said speakers, and organizing debriefings.

Who can apply?
Stad en Architectuur would like to invite anyone who

• has a detailed knowledge of current international developments in contemporary architecture
• is available to organise the entire event and can take part in any and all meetings concerning the project.

Stad en Architectuur is inviting candidates to apply with a full proposal of lecture series by shortlisting a number of design agencies and motivating that shortlist.

The submissions are required to follow the following set of conditions:

• The proposal treats a full programme of 8 (6 + 2 backups) international and national speakers
• The proposal motivates the relevance of every single speaker to the central theme (in English or Dutch)
• The proposed lecture series provides a platform for a multitude of disciplines ( architecture, urban planning, landscape architecture, design, art)
• Candidates introduce themselves on the basis of a brief resumé (in English or Dutch)

Planning

• Candidacy until Friday April 27,
• Scheduling: creating a longlist, booking speakers and writing of promotional materials between May and July 1,
• Execution: making practical arrangements, welcoming and introducing all speakers, and organising debriefings between October 2018 and April

How can I apply?
Anyone can apply with a shortlist and motivation before Friday April 27, 2018.

We will provide the curator with a fee of €5,500 to curate the entire project (the budget to elaborate the programme with fees and transports for lectors is not included).

Interested parties can send their application to Kristel Putseys, Rijschoolstraat 4, 3000 Leuven, Belgium or kristel.putseys@stadenarchitectuur.be

Any questions? Do not hesitate to call us at +32 16 222 239.

About Stad en Architectuur
Stad en Architectuur vzw is an association based in Leuven that promotes Belgian architecture by means of debates, talks and exhibitions. Since 2009, it has cooperated with Museum M and arts centre STUK in Leuven to organise its activities. Stad en Architectuur makes it possible to see, experience and discuss a stimulating architectural scene. In this way it inspires a broad audience and thus creates the greatest possible public involvement. (www.stadenarchitectuur.be).