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28th January 2021

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The RIBA + VitrA Talks series continues into 2019

The RIBA + VitrA Talks series continues into 2019 with more emerging and established international voices in architecture. Last year leading bathroom brand VitrA announced the partnership with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in the form of the RIBA + VitrA Talks series.

This flagship programme is aimed at showcasing 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.

The first series, launched last Autumn, consisted of four critically-acclaimed talks featuring celebrated international names Kazuyo Sejima, David Adjaye and Kate Macintosh amongst others.

In 2019, the programme will open with world-class architects Frida Escobedo and Emre Arolat as well as non-profit design firm MASS Design Group talking about their recent and upcoming projects.

"We are thrilled to be partnering with the RIBA for the second consecutive year and proud to be supporting such an inspiring programme," says Levent Giray, managing director, VitrA UK. "By giving the stage to visionaries and emerging voices, we hope the RIBA + VitrA talks series will help contribute to the exchange of ideas in contemporary architecture.

"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 - February - April 2019:

RIBA + VitrA Talk: MASS Design Group - Monday 11 February, 19:00hrs:

MASS Design Group will present projects demonstrating that innovation, driven by interdisciplinary research, can deliver well-built environments that are efficient, effective, and empowering.

MASS Design Group is a non-profit design firm based in Boston, United States and Kigali, Rwanda. Founders Michael Murphy and Alan Ricks (pictured right) will discuss their recent works including several healthcare projects and the National Memorial to Peace and Justice for the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama, which opened in 2018.

MASS Design Group began in 2008 during the design and building of the Butaro District Hospital in Rwanda; a project of Partners In Health and the Rwandan Ministry of Health. Since then, MASS Design Group has expanded to work in over a dozen countries in Africa and the Americas.

The practice was set up as a non-profit organisation to create a model of practice optimised to deliver maximum impact to the communities they serve. Their work spans the design of buildings, research, policy, education, and strategic planning.

RIBA + VitrA Talk: Frida Escobedo - Monday 18 February, 19:00hrs:

Frida Escobedo (pictured left) will discuss recent projects, including the 2018 Serpentine Pavilion. To date she is the youngest architect commissioned for the prestigious project. Frida is principal and founder of an architecture and design studio based in Mexico City.

The projects produced at Escobedo's studio operate within a theoretical framework that addresses time not as a historical calibration but rather a social operation. This expanded temporal reading stems from Henri Bergson's notion of 'social time,' and is materialised in such conceptual works as the El Eco Pavilion (2010), Split Subject (2013), and Civic Stage, presented at the 2013 Lisbon Architecture Trienniale.

Frida Escobedo has taught at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation; Harvard Graduate School of Design; and the Architectural Association, London. She is the recipient of the 2014 BIAU Prize, the 2016 Architectural Review Emerging Architecture Award, and most recently, the 2017 Architectural League Emerging Voices Award.

RIBA + VitrA Talk: Emre Arolat - Tuesday 19 March, 19:00hrs:

The principle of award-winning practice Emre Arolat Architecture will discuss recent projects. Emre Arolat (pictured right) is a co-founder of Emre Arolat Architecture, one of the largest architectural practices in Turkey with offices in Istanbul, London, and New York. Emre Arolat is a frequent international lecturer and was the 2017 Norman Foster Visiting Professor at the Yale School of Architecture.

Talks 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 | www.vitrA.co.uk

25th January 2019