NEIL DENARI presented by SPACE.CITY
THURSDAY - MAY 24 - 6 PM
SEATTLE CENTRAL LIBRARY
WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?
Lecture by Neil Denari
When we as a global culture present a problem to politicians, thinkers, scientists, etc., we demand a solution to it. When architects, thinkers, scientists, etc. present a problem to culture, quite often culture did not know about this problem as it exists mainly within a particular field. This lecture will outline the similarities and differences in these types of problems and how they unite the private and public discourses of architecture.
Tickets: $10 Advance, $12 at the door, $5 for students (student id required at the door)
Seattle Public Library
1000 4th Ave
Seattle, Washington 98104
(map) Use 4th Ave Entrance
NEIL M DENARI ARCHITECTS:
Long considered to be one of the pioneers of the use of computers in architectural design and visualization, NMDA has produced a body of work that has fused the physical and the graphic worlds in unprecedented ways. From our groundbreaking installation in Tokyo’s Gallery MA in 1996 to our current explorations, we have relentlessly pursued the development of “cultural ergonomics”, i.e. those forms that “fit” our contemporary life. Although NMDA operates on a global level, Los Angeles and it’s landscapes and cultural institutions play an important role in the development of our work. From cinema and television to advanced forms of technological production, Los Angeles provides a rich context from which to draw inspiration.
NMDA produces work in the realms of urban design, building design, interiors, landscape design, and graphic design commissions. We often collaborate with innovative consultants, artists, and designers in the development of projects- the list includes artist Mel Chin, 2X4 of New York, FRONT façade consultants of New York, the Brand Architect Group of Tokyo, LA based- artist Jim Isermann, BBM art group of Berlin, and Richard Massey Graphic Design.
The work of the office has become, over the last 15 years, an influential force in the culture of contemporary architecture. NMDA’s commitment to design innovation and construction excellence has been demonstrated in award winning projects such as l.a. Eyeworks, the Alan-Voo Residence, the Endeavor Talent Agency, our built projects in Japan for the Mitsubishi United Financial Group, and for HL23 in New York, a 14 story residential tower.
NEIL DENARI’s lecture is brought to you by Space.City
NEIL M. DENARI / PRINCIPAL
Neil Denari was born in Fort Worth, Texas and studied at the University of Houston (B Arch 1980) and Harvard University (M Arch 1982). After graduate school, Denari worked as a technical intern in Paris (La Courneuve) for Aerospatiale Helicoptres (now Airbus). In 1983, Denari moved to New York where his work explored the technical and formal impact of technology on architecture. While there, he worked as a senior designer at James Stewart Polshek and Partners, exhibited his speculative work at numerous museums and galleries, and in1986, at 29, was the youngest member of 40 Architects under age 40. Also in 1986, the Cooper Hewitt Museum purchased a drawing by Neil Denari, the first of seven major museums to have his work in their collection. The others include the Museum of Modern Art New York, MOMA San Francisco, the Denver Art Museum, the Heinz-Carnegie Collection in Pittsburgh, the FRAC Center in Orleans, France, and the Museum of Modern Art in Sydney, Australia.
Neil Denari shifted his practice to Los Angeles in 1988 and began Cor-Tex Architecture, which later became Neil M. Denari Architects (NMDA), Inc. in 1998. In the late 1980’s Denari’s work began to achieve international recognition, most notably through his 3rd place finish in the Tokyo International Forum Competition. This launched his now 22 year association with Japan, a country where he has taught and lectured on a regular basis. While teaching at the Shibaura Institute of Technology in 1990, Denari lived for 8 months in Tokyo. His experiences there, like those of Paris, have been a constant reference on phenomena as diverse as urban morphology and fashion design. His first project built in Japan (1996), the Interrupted Projections exhibition space, has now been followed by a series of bank projects for the Mitsubishi Trust Financial Group and other experience economy projects. With NMDA, Denari has focused on a diverse range of design endeavors that look at manifold issues pertaining to architectural speculation.
Since 1986, Denari has had a distinguished career as a teacher. He is a tenured Professor in the Architecture and Urban Design Department at UCLA. He has also taught at Columbia University, the Bartlett, UC Berkeley, Princeton University, and the Harvard GSD.
Neil Denari is the author of two bestselling books, Interrupted Projections (TOTO 1996) and Gyroscopic Horizons (Princeton 1999). In 2002, he was given both the Richard Recchia Award and the Samuel F.B. Morse Medal for architecture from the National Academy of Design in New York for distinguished work in the field. In 2008, Denari received an Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and in 2009, he received a Fellowship from the United States Artists organization.
In 2011, he received the Los Angeles AIA Gold Medal. It is the organization’s highest honor for an individual architect. He is a registered architect in New York and California, a member of the American Institute of Architects, and has given more than 230 lectures around the world on his work.
NEIL M. DENARI BIOGRAPHY
Former Director of SCI-Arc from 1997 -2001 and now tenured Professor at UCLA, Neil Denari is principal of NMDA, Neil M. Denari Architects Inc. He received his B Arch from the University of Houston in 1980 and an MArch from Harvard in 1982. He is the recipient of the Los Angeles AIA Gold Medal in 2011 and in 2010, Denari was inducted into the Interior Design Hall of Fame honoring him for his contribution to the growth and prominence of the interior design field. In 2009, he was given the California Community Foundation Fellowship from the United States Artists and in 2008 he received an Architecture Award from the American Academy of Arts & Letters. In addition to these personal awards, NMDA has been awarded the 2005 and 2007 National American Institute of Architecture Awards, 2005 Progressive Architecture citation, 2004 and 2006 American Institute of Architecture/Los Angeles Honor Awards, among others. His work has been included in many exhibitions, including the solo shows “Fast Forward” in 2008 at the Museum of the City of New York, “Architects’ Work: HL23” in 2009 @ Syracuse University, and “The Artless Drawing” in 2010 @ Ace Gallery Los Angeles, curated by Sylvia Lavin and Hi-C. Current projects include a 34,000sf office building in Beverly Hills, an art gallery in New York, and HL23. He lectures worldwide and is the author of Interrupted Projections (TOTO), Gyroscopic Horizons (Princeton), and Speculations On (AADCU) forthcoming in 2012.
OFFICE PROFILE
Neil M. Denari Architects is a Los Angeles based office dedicated to exploring the worlds of architecture, design, urbanism, and global cultural phenomenon. We have been working across multiple continents since 1988, designing at all scales for a variety of clients and conditions. We seek out projects that demand new and innovative solutions to the complex issues facing the world today. Whether in a piece of furniture or in an urban design plan, our ambitions always are to materialize these questions in a powerful, evocative, and functional way. The work of the office has become, over the last 15 years, an influential force in the culture of contemporary architecture. Today, we continue to develop through new projects our repertoire of design possibilities. NMDA’s commitment to design innovation and construction excellence has been demonstrated in award winning projects such as l.a. Eyeworks, the Alan-Voo Residence, the Endeavor Talent Agency, our built projects in Japan for the Mitsubishi United Financial Group, and for HL23 in New York, a 14 story residential tower.
Long considered to be one of the pioneers of the use of computers in architectural design and visualization, NMDA has produced a body of work that has fused the physical and the graphic worlds in unprecedented ways. From our groundbreaking installation in Tokyo’s Gallery MA in 1996 to our current explorations, we have relentlessly pursued the development of “cultural ergonomics”, i.e. those forms that “fit” our contemporary life. Although NMDA operates on a global level, Los Angeles and it’s landscapes and cultural institutions play an important role in the development of our work. From cinema and television to advanced forms of technological production, Los Angeles provides a rich context from which to draw inspiration.
NMDA produces work in the realms of urban design, building design, interiors, landscape design, and graphic design commissions. We often collaborate with innovative consultants, artists, and designers in the development of projects- the list includes artist Mel Chin, 2X4 of New York, FRONT façade consultants of New York, the Brand Architect Group of Tokyo, LA based- artist Jim Isermann, BBM art group of Berlin, and Richard Massey Graphic Design.
In the past five years, NMDA has won 2 National AIA Honor awards, 8 LA Chapter AIA Honor awards, and a 2005 Progressive Architecture Award. Our work has been exhibited at the MOCA Los Angeles, San Francisco MOMA, the Mori Museum in Tokyo, MOMA New York, and the 2007 Hong Kong / Shenzen Biennale, and recently, at the Museum of the City of New York and Syracuse University with solo shows on HL23, a 14 story condominium tower in construction next to the High Line. NMDA’s work has been extensively published worldwide with recent covers stories in European and Asian design magazines. In 2008, Neil Denari was included in Taschen’s Encyclopedia of Modern Architecture, a massive two volume compendium of the most important architects from the last 250 years.
Architect John A. Loomis will present his lecture entitled Art, Architecture and the Cuban Revolution of Forms, at 7 p.m. July 12, in the Microsoft Auditorium at Seattle Central Library. The lecture is based on his recently republished book Revolution of Forms: Cuba’s Forgotten Art Schools, about the Escueles Nacionales de Arte. The National Schools of Art, the most outstanding architectural achievement of the Cuban Revolution, stood for many years neglected in the western suburbs of Havana. The Escueles were first conceived 
and initiated by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara and created by three architects: Ricardo Porro, Vittorio Garatti, and Roberto Gottardi, with the intent to reinvent architecture, just as the revolution strove to reinvent society. The lecture will explore that euphoric moment at the beginning of the Cuban Revolution through the subsequent convergence and collision of architecture, ideology and culture in 1960s Cuba, and the extraordinary ultimate fate of the schools.
