11th International Alvar Aalto Symposium - Finland

Edge – Paracentric Architecture Aug 7-9 2009, Jyväskylä , Finland A group of African, Asian, South American and Finnish architects have embarked on a joint search for new architectural approaches to improving living and housing conditions around the world. Their projects include ecological objectives, aim for active collaboration with residents, and make use of local materials, building traditions and natural conditions. At the request of the Alvar Aalto Academy, the architect Sami Rintala has chosen the theme for the next Alvar Aalto Symposium, selecting Edge – Paracentric Architecture. Rintala has invited a number of architects who, unaware of each other, have engaged in responding to the same social demands in various parts of the world. It is hardly a coincidence that similar ways of thinking and humanist projects originated in the early 2000s, much like the philosophy of functionalism emerged out of needs shared around the world in the 1920s. Combining architects’ professional competence with local conditions, materials, labour and skills has resulted in architecture that is also interesting in terms of quality and aesthetics. The upcoming Alvar Aalto Symposium, on 7-9 August 2009, will present just this. One of the participants is Francis Kéré from Burkina Faso, whose motto is ”help to self-help”. He says people learn to appreciate their environment through being engaged in its development. Carin Smut’s award-winning low-cost dwelling programme is being realised in South America and Namibia in addition to in her native South Africa. Patama Roonrakwit from Thailand works in slums. Bijoy Jain and his Studio Mumbai Architects from India have a programme focusing on human infrastructure, while the German Anna Heringer has been acclaimed for her Handmade School project in Bangladesh. Sami Rintala’s colleagues in exploring the borderlands of art and architecture include the Chilean-Argentine Mauricio Pezo and Sofia von Ellrichshausen, Alexander Brodsky from Russia and Geir Tore Holm from Norway. The American Dan Rockhill declares opposition to the prevailing ideals of building and housing design, championing instead the spirit of regionalism and calling for architects to assume more responsibility for the process of building. From Finland, Yrjö Haila, Professor of Environmental Policy, will illustrate the demands and critical limits of nature on architecture. Juhani Pallasmaa will give a lecture on architecture between reality and fiction. Saija Hollmén, Jenni Reuter and Helena Sandman will be sharing their experiences working in Senegal and Tanzania. Olavi Koponen, Artist Professor, has become something of a dissident in Finnish architecture through his promotion of small-scale building and use of natural materials. The upcoming Alvar Aalto Symposium will be mapping the borders of architecture through various approaches: art and architecture, social constructs and architecture, planning and development, leadership and participation. The lecturers will be coming from various parts of the world, including new thinkers from Finland's neighbouring countries Russia and Norway. The Alvar Aalto Academy invites architects and other professionals as well as students and the press to join the next Alvar Aalto Symposium, to be held in Jyväskylä 7-9 August 2009. The event aims to be a forum for discussion on the responsibility of architecture in the development of nature and society. The opening of the event on 7 August will be highlighted by a performance by the artist Reijo Kela. Visit the official site: http://aaltoacademy.wordpress.com/ Press contact: Paula Holmila [url=mailto:paula@holmila.fi]paula@holmila.fi[/url]