Fall 2015 Visiting Critics Offer Global, Diverse Perspective

The School of Architecture has announced its visiting critics for the fall 2015 semester: Guillermo Banchini of Banchini Arquitectos (Barqs), Rosario, Argentina; Roberto de Leon of De Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop (DPAW), Louisville, Ky.; Elodie Nourrigat of NBJ Architectes, Montpellier, France; Malkit Shoshan of the Foundation for Achieving Seamless Territory (FAST), Amsterdam; and Fei Wang of FWStudio, an interdisciplinary studio in the U.S. and China.

Each semester, upper-level architecture students participate in the visiting critic program that brings leading architects and scholars from around the world to the school. Students can choose to study with a particular visiting critic in a studio course where innovative theoretical approaches and design methods are explored.

“We’re very fortunate to have these five individuals leading studios this semester,” says Dean Michael Speaks. “Coming from five countries on four continents, each brings a richly diverse and global perspective to architecture students that is uniquely valuable.”

Banchini, a registered architect in Argentina, received a M.Arch from Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles and a B.Arch from the National University of Rosario, Argentina. At BArqs he produces work that ranges from academic research to private commissions as well as national and international competitions. His studio this semester will engage students in the dynamic complexities toward building a new opera house and theater for Rosario, Argentina.

The professional work of De Leon focuses on public projects with a cultural, civic or not-for-profit basis. De Leon holds a master in architecture from Harvard University and a bachelor of arts in architecture from the University of California at Berkeley. Students in his visiting critic design studio will investigate a distillery site in downtown Denver. They’ll visit the area and explore issues involved in creating architecture within the urban context, considering social, political and cultural factors.

Nourrigat is an architect, researcher and educator. She is a graduate of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Montpellier (ENSAM) where she has taught since 2004. She received a master’s degree in philosophy from Université de Lyon III, followed by a Ph.D. in architecture at the Paris la Villette ENSA, part of Université Paris 8. Each year in June, Nourrigat and her partner Jacques Brion organize the Festival of the Lively Architectures, inviting young architects to construct a project in the courtyards of mansions of the city of Montpellier; a group of Syracuse students participated in 2015. Students in Nourrigat’s visiting critic studio this semester will develop a “Smart” site for the urban center of Montpellier, to be located near the airport and new train station. As they develop their design projects, students will work with two French companies involved in the development of modern news communication technology.

Shoshan is the founder of the Amsterdam-based architectural think tank FAST. Her work explores the relationship between architecture, politics and human rights. Shoshan studied architecture at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and at the IUAV: the University of Venice. She is a Ph.D. candidate at Delft University of Technology. Her dissertation explores the role architecture and planning can have in conflict areas, focusing on UN missions. Her students this semester will focus on the intersection between architecture, urban design, activism and human rights for the design of a UN peacekeeping base in sub-Saharan Africa.

Fei is an architect, educator and critic interested in issues on representation, tectonics, copy culture and cross-culture in architecture and urbanism. He received a master of architecture in history of theory from McGill University, master of architecture from Virginia Tech and bachelor of architecture from Tongji University. He has taught at University of Hong Kong, Tongji University, University of Michigan, North Carolina State University, the Architectural Association and China Academy of Art. Fei’s visiting critic studio, “Sustainable Commune,” will focus on a “low-carbon city” in Shenzhen, China, considering the complex challenges of the built environment, natural resources and quality of life in the modern era.

De Leon will lecture on Oct. 1 at 5:15 p.m.; Shoshan will deliver a public lecture on Oct. 13 at 5:15 p.m. Both will take place in Slocum Auditorium.

For more information, visit http://soa.syr.edu.