Leading international architecture studios at IE University to examine challenges facing the sector

IE University brought together this last week three leading international architecture studios based in Barcelona, Singapore, Paris and Casablanca with the aim of reviewing the latest architecture trends worldwide and the challenges that lie ahead for new generations of architects.   The representatives from the three studios who attended a round table held at IE’s Segovia campus were Cecilia Tham (MOB, Makers of Barcelona), Ong Ker-Shing amd Joshua Comaroff (Lekker) and Tarik Oualalou and Linna Choi (Oualalou+Choi). The conversation took place in the refectory of the Santa Cruz la Real campus in Segovia, and was moderated by David Goodman, Director of IE University’s Bachelor in Architecture.

The event, which was organized by IE School of Architecture & Design, formed part of the “Integration Workshop” week, in the course of which the three architecture studios from Barcelona, Singapore, Paris and Casablanca also led a project workshop for second- and third-year students of architecture.

The format of the round table comprised a brief presentation of the current projects of each of the architecture studios, followed by a discussion of the growing importance of the user experience in the development of the discipline, and the challenges facing new generations of architects. The workshop was one of the activities included in the “Uses” workshop series run by IE School of Architecture & Design during the 2015-2016 academic year, organized by Professor Laura Martínez de Guereñu, with participants who include architects and academics of international renown, like Francine Houben, Aitor Fuentes and Antoine Picon.

Cecilia Tham is the founder of Makers of Barcelona + FabCafe Barcelona and MEAT (Making Extremely Awesome Things). Qualified in design and the field of biology, and an entrepreneur, Ms. Tham is currently a professor at the New School for Design, Parsons School of Design Strategy and Management in Nueva York, and serves as a mentor at Google for Entrepreneur and the Harvard Innovation Lab.

Lekker Architects is an architects’ studio in Singapore, specialized in non-conventional  buildings and environments. Ong Ker-Shing and Joshua Comaroff began their professional lives together in 2002, after studying architecture and landscape at Harvard University. Their joint efforts in the project consist of combining the specific details of clients’ requirements with a broad range of explorations in geometrics and materials, as well as exploring new architectonic avenues.

Questioning the limited scope of the traditional role of the architect, Oualalou+Choi has developed its practice based on the theory that architectonic strategies should form part of projects long “before”, and even “after” the traditional work of architects is done. Oualalou+Choi considers that playing an integrative role in “non-architectonic” aspects of a project can result in a more consistent solution.