Fall 2025 Lecture Series
Rensselaer Architecture is pleased to announce its lecture series for fall 2025. All events start 5:00pm at EMPAC Theater, admission is free.
Søren Pihlmann / pihlmann architects
Adding Less, Changing More – When Form Features Constraint
Wednesday, September 10
pihlmann architects was founded by Søren Thirup Pihlmann in 2021. Their portfolio ranges from temporary pavilions, over single-family houses to transformations in cultural environments worthy of preservation and cultural institutions.
To pihlmann, architecture is defined by the two outermost positions of the architectural scale – context and component – and the space in between is created as a result of these. philmann is involved throughout all phases of a projects: Conducting research and experiments with one hand while constructing with the other.
pihlmann projects are characterized by the idea of highlighting the material itself as the protagonist of architecture. By exploring the immanent processes and potentials of materials, they believe that robust and simple architecture comes to life. An architecture which inherits both character and atmosphere from the function and origin of the applied materials.
Sharon Johnston / Johnston Marklee
Architecture & the City: Extremes & In-Betweens
Wednesday, September 24
Frank Pitts ’75 Lecture
Sharon Johnston, FAIA, and Mark Lee are the founding partners of the architecture firm Johnston Marklee. Since its establishment in 1998 in Los Angeles, Johnston Marklee has been recognized nationally and internationally with over 50 major awards and numerous publications.
Projects undertaken by Johnston Marklee are diverse in scale and type, spanning fourteen countries throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia. Recent projects include the Menil Drawing Institute, on the campus of the Menil Collection in Houston, Texas, which opened November 2018; a renovation of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, which opened in September 2017; the new UCLA Graduate Art Studios campus in Culver City, California; and the design of the new Dropbox global headquarters in San Francisco.
Johnston and Lee served as Artistic Directors for the 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial. In 2016 the duo was named USA Oliver Fellows for Architecture & Design by the United States Artists. A book on the work of the firm, entitled House Is a House Is a House Is a House Is a House, was published by Birkhauser in 2016. This followed a monograph on the firm’s work, published in 2014 by 2G.
In 2018 Johnston and Lee were named Professors in Practice at Harvard Graduate School of Design, and Mark Lee was appointed Chair of the Architecture Department. They have also taught at major universities including Princeton University, the University of California, Los Angeles, the Technical University of Berlin, and ETH Zurich and have held the Cullinan Chair at Rice University and the Frank Gehry Chair at the University of Toronto.
Johnston Marklee’s work has been exhibited internationally and is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Menil Collection, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Carnegie Museum of Art, and the Architecture Museum of TU Munich.
Canceled: J. Alfonso Quiñones / BAAQ
Due to unforeseen circumstances, Alfonso Quiñones / BAAQ’ will be unable to present his lecture scheduled for Monday, September 29 at EMPAC. We look forward to welcoming him at a future date.
20 years under the sun
Monday, September 29
Steven Ehrlich ’69 Lecture
BAAQ’ is an architectural firm founded by Alfonso Quiñones, based in Mexico City with a branch in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca. The office operates very much like a studio, because a studio is where things are made, where you imagine something and produce it.
As part of our resume, BAAQ’ was the local associate architect for Casa Wabi, the most recent project in Mexico by master architect Tadao Ando (1995 Pritzker Prize winner). We are currently working alongside the first project in our country by both Alvaro Siza (1992 Pritzker Prize winner) and Kengo Kuma.
Our projects have been recognized in various publications, and in 2012 we received an award at the 12th Mexican Architecture Biennial for our project “Casa del Río.”
Barry Wark
The Architecture of Ecology
Monday, October 27
Born in Scotland, Barry Wark is an architect and designer who combines his New York-based design studio with research and teaching activities at the Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania. The origin of his practice is deeply rooted in his hometown of Glasgow, where the climate and gritty qualities of the city nurtured his sensibility for eco-centric architecture. Barry’s work has been published internationally in both physical and digital media, most recently being the cover of frame magazine, a leading international publication focused on architecture, interiors, and product design. Barry has given lectures and workshops about his research to architects and other design disciplines such as film studios and game developers. His work has been exhibited internationally, most notably at the Dubai Museum of the Future (‘Nadarra’, 2023) and the Venice Biennale (‘Printed Parts’, 2022).
Michael Hansmeyer
Tools of Imagination
Wednesday, October 29
Michael Hansmeyer is an architect and programmer who explores the use of algorithms to generate and fabricate architectural form.
His recent projects include two full-scale 3D-printed sandstone grottos, the production of an intricate Muqarna for Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, the installation of a hall of columns at Grand Palais in Paris, and the design of the 3D-printed Tor Alva aka White Tower in the Swiss Alps. His work has been exhibited at museums and venues such as the Museum of Arts and Design New York, Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Martin Gropius Bau Berlin, Design Miami / Basel, and the Gwangju Design Biennale. His designs are featured in the permanent collections of the FRAC Centre and Centre Pompidou.
Michael has taught architecture as a visiting professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and at Southeast University in Nanjing, and as a lecturer at the CAAD group of ETH Zurich. He previously worked for Herzog & de Meuron architects, as well as in the financial and consulting industries. Michael holds a Master of Architecture degree from Columbia University.
https://michael-hansmeyer.com/