VitrA announces a new talks series in partnership with the RIBA
Above - Adjaye Associates, NMAAHC
Leading bathroom brand VitrA announces a new partnership with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in the form of the RIBA + VitrA Talks series. Over the next two years, this flagship programme will showcase the best in contemporary established and emerging voices in architecture, both in the UK and internationally with talks taking place in London, Istanbul and regional cities in the UK.
This Autumn, speakers will include world-class architects Kazuyo Sejima and David Adjaye as well as Turner Prize-winning collective Assemble talking about their recent and upcoming projects. The series will also feature Intergenerational Dialogues talks launching with a discussion between Kate Mackintosh and Mary Duggan. This is a theme which will run throughout the series – conversations about ideas, inspiration and ways of working between architects of different generations.
“At its core, VitrA promotes social and economic development, encourages cultural and scientific collaborations and preserves scarce resources through responsible business practices. VitrA aims to reinterpret bathroom excellence in collaboration with contemporary design and architecture. The partnership with the RIBA Talks Series 2018/19 further elevates this commitment and VitrA are proud to be supporting such an inspiring initiative.” Levent Giray, Managing Director, VitrA UK
“RIBA are delighted to be partnering with VitrA on this exciting new talks series that will be rich in talent and ideas. In keeping with the themes in the series VitrA is a contemporary design brand with a long history of ingenuity and an
international reach. We look forward to two fruitful years of programming inspiring events together.” Ben Derbyshire, RIBA President
Through this partnership, VitrA aims to champion the sharing of knowledge and thought leadership, confirming its long-established engagement with cultural initiatives.
RIBA + VitrA Talks - Autumn 2018:
RIBA + VitrA Talk: Kazuyo Sejima
Wednesday 5 September, 7pm
Founding partner of Tokyo-based SANAA will discuss her approach to design in Japan and internationally.
Kazuyo Sejima (left) is principal of the Tokyo-based architecture practice SANAA, which she founded in 1995 with Ryue Nishizawa. SANAA’s projects are distinctive in style through their lightness of touch - exceptional b u i l d i n g s i n c l u d e t h e 2 1 s t C e nt u r y M u s e u m of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Japan; the Rolex Learning Centre in Switzerland; New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York and the Louvre-Lens in France. In 2010, Kazuyo Sejima was appointed the first female director of the Venice Architecture Biennale, and in the same year Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa were named Pritzker Prize Laureates. Other
honours include the Japan Architecture Award, Venice Biennale Golden Lion Award, Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and Medal with Purple Ribbon. She is currently a professor at the Polytechnic University of Milan, University of Applied Arts Vienna, Yokohama Graduate School of Architecture, and teaching at Japan Women’s University as a visiting professor.
Abovefromleft:DavidAdjaye and Lesley Lokko
RIBA + VitrA Talk: Sir David Adjaye in conversation with Lesley Lokko
Wednesday 19 September, 7pm
The leading architect of his generation, Sir David Adjaye will discuss his broad range of influences with Lesley Lokko, author and Head of School at the Graduate School of Architecture, University of Johannesburg.
Sir David Adjaye OBE is the principal and founder of Adjaye Associates. Born in Tanzania to Ghanaian parents, his broadly ranging influences, ingenious use of
materials and sculptural ability have established him as an architect with an artist’s sensibility and vision. His largest project to date, the $540 million Smithsonian Institution National Museum of African American History and Culture, opened on the National Mall in Washington DC in 2016 and was named Cultural Event of the Year by the New York Times. In 2017, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and was recognised as one of the 100 most influential people of the year by TIME magazine.
RIBA + VitrA Talk: Assemble
Tuesday 23 October, 7pm
Turner Prize-winning collective Assemble (left) will discuss recent projects including the major commission, Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art which opens in September 2018.
Assemble is a multi-disciplinary collective working across architecture, design and art. Founded in 2010 to undertake a single self-built project, Assemble has since delivered a diverse and award-winning body of work, whilst retaining a democratic and co-operative working method that enables built, social and research-based work at a variety of scales, both making things and making things happen.
RIBA + VitrA Talk: Intergenerational Dialogues - Kate Macintosh and Mary Duggan
Wednesday 28 November, 7pm
Intergenerational Dialogues is a new talks theme giving a platform to discursive conversations between pioneering architects of the past and the future, through pairing an established seminal architect with a younger emerging architect.
Above from left: Kate Macintosh and Mary Duggan
Edinburgh-born architect Kate Macintosh is best known for her 1960s social housing projects, the first of which she designed at the remarkably young age of 26. After graduating from the Edinburgh School of Art in 1961, Macintosh spent three years working and studying in Warsaw, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Helsinki before returning to the UK where she commenced work under Denys Lasdun on designs for the National Theatre in London. In 1965, aged 26, Macintosh began work for the Southwark architecture department, where she designed the distinctive Dawson’s Heights estate in Dulwich. Following its completion, Macintosh embarked on a project in Lambeth, tasked with designing a housing facility for the elderly, and went on to work on similar housing projects in East Sussex and Hampshire. Later, Macintosh established a private practice with her partner, the architect George Finch also known for his post-war social housing projects. Macintosh has been described by Rowan Moore in the Observer as “one of Britain’s great unsung architects of social housing.”
Mary Duggan is the Founding Director of Mary Duggan Architects. She graduated from the Bartlett School of Architecture in 1997 with Distinction and was a founding director of Duggan Morris Architects from 2004-2017. Mary Duggan Architects was established in March 2017. During her time at Duggan Morris Architects, the practice attained numerous industry awards for design excellence including ten RIBA National and Regional Awards, three Civic Trust Awards, three Nominations for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award, The Stephen Laurence Prize, The Manser Medal and achieved consideration for the RIBA Stirling Prize for three buildings. The work of Duggan Morris Architects is widely published in many international journals including the Architectural Review, Domus, Detail and Baumeister and nationally the Architects Journal, Architecture Today & the RIBA Journal. Her current project include an event space in the Science Museum and a project to deliver 120 new homes for the London Borough of Croydon.
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Talks in London will take place at the RIBA headquarters at 66 Portland Place, London, W1B 1AD. For more information on the RIBA + VitrA talks series and to book tickets go to www.architecture.com/campaign/riba-vitra-talks
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Press contact:
For further information about VitrA, please contact Quitterie Vallet at Caro Communications: quitterie@carocommunications.com | 020 7713 9388
For further information regarding the RIBA, please contact Beatrice Cooke in the RIBA press office: beatrice.cooke@riba.org | 020 7307 3813
Notes for editors:
About VitrA:
VitrA is part of the Eczacıbaşı Group, one of Turkey’s most prominent industrial groups. Founded in 1942, VitrA is Turkey’s leading bathroom manufacturer. In recent years VitrA has expanded into international markets and over 50% of VitrA’s total output is sold outside of Turkey. From 16 production facilities in Turkey, Germany, France and Russia, VitrA produces a full range of bathroom products including over 5 million pieces of sanitaryware along with complementary bathroom furniture, baths, brassware and bathroom accessories, which are distributed to over 75 countries on five continents. VitrA UK, based in Didcot Oxfordshire, has been supplying the UK bathroom market for over 25 years and is an active member of the Bathroom Manufacturers Association.
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