Crisis Panel @ Harvard GSD
With:
Benjamin Aranda
(Principal of Aranda\Lasch), Nader Tehrani
(NADAAA, Head of the Department of Architecture, MIT), Ioanna Theocharopoulou
(Assistant Professor, Parsons, The New School of Design), Iasson Tsakonas
(Founder and Managing Director at OLIAROS)
Moderated by: Spiro Pollalis
(Professor, Harvard GSD)
Context:
On 2 May 2010, the IMF
with the support of the European Union offered Greece a conditional
bailout loan accompanied by harsh austerity measures. Followed by four
more packages of austerity
measures, the bailout enforced a massive reconfiguration of the public
sector and the market in Greece: cuts on the public sector,
privatizations, sales of government property, tax increases, flexible
employment. In a country like Greece, with a slow moving
public sector and a deeply corrupted bureaucracy, the proposed changes
accelerated both feelings of hope and fear of change, and the crisis
immediately prove to be not only economical but also social and
political.
This panel will investigate the role of
design, innovation, and entrepreneurship during times of
socioeconomical crisis. What types of value can
design practice create or increase? In which ways does
investments and the real estate affect the practice of architecture?
Does this change reflect on architectural pedagogy and discourse? When
the market is dragged down, is there opportunity for design and
innovation? What kind of strategies can designers and
entrepreneurs employ and what do these strategies mean for the changing
role of architecture in shaping the built environment? Finally, what is
the role of innovation, and most importantly what kind of innova- tion
should architects be in a conversation with?
Addressing the viewpoint of the client,
the architect, and the society, this panel rethinks through the example
of Greece the role of in- novation, entrepreneurship, and design in
times of economical
crisis and social upheavals.
When: Tuesday May 15 2012, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Where: Room 111, Harvard Graduate School of Design 48 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA
Event co-sponsored by
GreeceGSD
Labels: architecture, events, gsd
