Understand the unique relation between structure and the effect it has on the overall design of a building – with ICSA, attended by Mohamed Ismail (A Ph.D. student from MIT School of Architecture and Planning).
“Just as animals have bones, every building has a structure…While a structure represents authority over the physical form of a building, the overall design can manipulate the concept of a structure itself. The design and concept of structure is thus the point of departure for endlessly diverse approaches to the creation of architectural form.” — “The Bones of Architecture”, Garagem Sul, Lisbon (June 18 to September 15, 2019)
ICSA brings together a diverse group of international designers, researchers, and practitioners interested in structure and architecture. In turn, they bring in a range of opinions and experiences, spend time sharing and debating their viewpoints, and seek to enrich the construction industry through interdisciplinary design thinking.
This year, ICSA was hosted at one of Portugal’s most important specimens of modernism: the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation by Alberto J. Pessoa, Pedro Cid, and Ruy Jervis d’Athouguia. As one of the wealthiest charitable foundations in the world, these buildings house the private collections of Calouste Gulbenkian. The site beautifully integrates concrete structure, wood interiors, and lush landscape design into a pretty wonderful conference venue!
The opening keynotes by bridge engineer, Fernando Branco, and artist, Olivier Grossetêtê, set the tone for the conference as a conversation between the art and science of building. Over the following few days, presenters covered topics ranging from the hyper-technical analysis of historical structures to the speculative experiments of temporary pavilions. It was exciting to see so many examples of people working between two historically divided practices, engineering and architecture, and trying to bridge between them while cognizant of their inherent differences.
To further explore this topic, the conference included an opening reception for the exhibit titled “The Bones of Architecture”, curated by ETH’s Mario Rinke, at Centro Cultural de Belém. — Mohamed Ismail
Pictures
Calouste Foundation, conference materials, opening keynote on monumental cardboard construction, Paul presenting efficient wood construction, and highlights of “The Bones of Architecture”