During the weekend of April 10th-12, 2014, the 102nd Annual Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) meeting took place on Miami Beach. This year’s event was co-hosted by Director of Miami Beach Urban Studios/Associate Dean of Cultural and Community Engagement for the College of Architecture + The Arts at FIU John Stuart and Mabel O. Wilson, Associate Professor of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University.
This year’s theme for the ACSA Meeting is “GLOBALIZING ARCHITECTURE / Flows and Disruptions.” The conference will focus on ideas of “place, power, and social responsibility,” (acsa-arch.org) and is presented by Marshall McLuhan, communication theorist and intellectual.
On Saturday, April 12th, the conference ended with a lecture by its closing keynote speaker, Bernard Tschumi, followed by a reception at 11 11 Lincoln Road. Bernard Tschumi is an architect based in New York and Paris. First known as a theorist, he exhibited and published The Manhattan Transcripts (1981) and wrote Architecture and Disjunction, a series of theoretical essays (MIT Press, 1994). In 1983, he won the prestigious competition to design and build the Parc de la Villette, in Paris. Since then, he has made a reputation for groundbreaking designs that include the New Acropolis Museum, Le Fresnoy Center for the Contemporary Arts, the Alésia Archaeological Museum, and the Vacheron-Constantin Corporate Headquarters, among other projects. Tschumi’s work has been widely exhibited, with solo exhibitions at The Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Venice Biennale. He served as Dean of the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University in New York from 1988 to 2003. His most recent publication is Architecture Concepts: Red is Not a Color (Rizzoli, 2012), a comprehensive collection of his conceptual and built projects. http://www.tschumi.com/
As Co-Host for the ACSA conference, John Stuart ran the audio and visuals of Tschumi’s presentation so Tschumi could effortlessly engage with his audience of 500+ attendees. The closing keynote speech was hosted by 11 11 Lincoln Road, “envisioned by Robert Wennett and designed by Herzog & de Meuron, 11 11 Lincoln Road represents the collaboration of renowned architects, landscape architects, artists and designers to create a unique shopping, dining, residential and parking experience for Miami’s residents and visitors. Situated at the gateway to Lincoln Road’s pedestrian promenade…” the space allowed for a visual and experiential environment to discuss contemporary issues about architecture and globalization.
Overall, the ACSA meeting was an extraordinary success and a testament to the innovation and creativity that is pouring out of Miami and captivating the attention of the world.
For more pictures of the Bernard Tschumi lecture and the 11 11 space, please visit https://www.flickr.com/photos/117246202@N04/.
For more articles on the ACSA Conference and FIU’s presence please visit cartanews.fiu.edu.