Unilever Haus, Hamburg Germany, courtesy Behnish Architecten
David Cook of Behnisch Architekten, currently the Pietro Belluschi Distinguished Visiting Professor in Architecture at the University of Oregon School of Architecture, will be speaking at the U of O White Stag Building at 6PM Thursday evening, May 20th.
Behnisch Architekten is an international leader in large scale sustainable design projects. The Stuttgart, Germany-based architecture and planning firm maintains US offices in Los Angeles and Boston. Their portfolio includes the LEED Platinum-rated Genzyme Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts; the Norddeutsche Landesbank in Hannover, Germany; the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Cultural District Riverfront Development Plan; a corporate headquarters for Unilever in Hamburg, Germany; and a Science Complex for Harvard University.
“The name Behnisch is associated with a particular architectural language, one characterized by transparency, lightness and a decidedly modern approach," reads the firm's website. "In more than 50 years over 150 buildings have been realized, many of which are considered milestones in German post-war architecture, ranging from large-scale sports facilities to administration and bank buildings, from educational facilities, museums, libraries and airport towers to residential buildings of all sizes.”
David Cook (pictured at right) studied architecture at the Polytechnic in Manchester and obtained his Diploma at the University of East London in 1992. Together with firm leaders Stefan Behnisch and Martin Haas, he has co-led Behnisch Architekten since 2006.
Cook will be speaking in conjunction with the exhibit ”Design, Ecology, Synergy” which redefines the term sustainability by examining how people inhabit their built environments. This exhibition, which toured Europe, showcases the design approach of Behnisch Architekten and Transsolar Climate Engineering, as illustrated by several international projects and ongoing collaborations.
"It is a cleverly designed exhibition that demonstrates the human senses to the built environment," says John Jennings of BetterBricks (a Portland Architecture sponsor). "Human scale diagrams show our intake of the environment and our reactions to light, material, temperature, air, and sound as conditions determined or often dictated by the enclosure system of the building. The exhibition appropriately features audio, visual, and tactile displays including large light boxes where information on each category (light, material, etc.) is printed on the surface; videos of interviews and projects; project models, and large colorful dome luminaries."
The lecture is free and open to the public, and will take place at 6PM at the University of Oregon's White Stag Block, at 70 NW Couch Street.
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