rocker-lange blog

Y Inge Y is an independent student project that grew out of an investigation in modular form in the “On The Bri(n)ck” class with professor Ingeborg M. Rocker of Rocker-Lange Architects at the GSD in the fall of 2009. It was recently completed for the Harvard Arts First festival in April of 2010.

The project was produced with the help of Hiroshi Jacobs, Jon Scelsa, Ben Lehrer, Doug Jack, & Julian Wu. The material is baltic birch plywood with a polyurethane finish, there were no mechanical fasteners used.  There are over 3000 unique pieces in the sculpture which were cut using a laser-cutter and a CNC milling machine. All geometry was generated and numbered by Rhinoscript to organize the production and assembly of the pieces.

Architecture Studio: Shanghai, International Summer Program in Architecture in China 2010.

Christian J. Lange of Rocker-Lange Architects and Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture at the University of Hong Kong is co- coordinating an International Summer School in Architecture at The University of Hong Kong, Faculty of Architecture Study Centre in Shanghai, China.

Architecture Studio Shanghai is a three-week program held at The University of Hong Kong Faculty of Architecture Study Centre, at the center of Shanghai. Taught by professors from The University of Hong Kong, as well as architects and scholars from Shanghai, the course offers participants a design studio experience within Asia’s most vibrant and fastest growing city. A fundamental element of the course is to introduce students to architectural issues and design practices, in contemporary China. The studio topic is embedded in the context of Shanghai and addresses contemporary issues in architecture and urbanism.

The structure of the workshop is coordinated around a studio-based core accompanied by short lecture courses covering issues in Chinese architectural history, architectural theory and computational technology. The program is taught in English. The HKU Study Centre provides state-of-the-art studio space in the heart of Shanghai. Field trips to significant architectural sites and visits to local and international design firms will provide participants with a broad view of contemporary Chinese culture, architecture and urbanism. Students work closely with the teaching staff, using the dynamic city of Shanghai as a context for understanding architecture’s role in the built environment.

Dates:
The program will take place at the Shanghai Study Centre from June 14 to July 2, 2010. Students should arrive no later than June 13.

Expo 2010 Shanghai:
The program will run in parallel with the 2010 World Exposition in Shanghai, forecast to be the largest in history. Participating students will have special access to the Expo through guided tours, lectures and presentations by international architects responsible for several structures and pavilions.

Enrollment:
Applicants who are interested to enroll should have completed at least two undergraduate or graduate level design studios in, or be a recent graduate of, an accredited school of architecture. Enrollment is limited to 50 students. The comprehensive course is designed to augment participants’ architectural studies at home with a rigorous international experience. This is a university level course and The University of Hong Kong will assist participants to transfer college credits to their home university.

Tuition:
The fee for the summer program is US$3,000, covering the cost of the program in Shanghai (field trips, admissions, etc). It does not include flights or accommodation. Accommodation can be arranged for additional costs at a reasonably priced four-star hotel adjacent to the Shanghai Study Centre.

Program Coordinators:
Christian J. Lange
Jason F. Carlow

Location:
Shanghai Study Centre
2/F, 298 North Suzhou Road,
Hong Kou District, Shanghai, China

Registration:
Deadline for registration is June 1, 2010. Online registration is required.
For details and forms, please go to http://fac.arch.hku.hk/summer/sh/a
Questions may be sent via email to: asprog@arch.hku.hk

Christian J. Lange of Rocker-Lange Architects and Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture at the University of Hong Kong recently curated the presentation of the Department of Architecture of The University of Hong Kong’s Faculty of Architecture at the 8th International Biennale of Architecture in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The show called Hong Kong Echoes included a broad selection of work pursued in design studios and seminars at HKU during the 2008-09 academic year.
Addressing the topic of Urban Echoes: Spatiality, Connectivity, Originality, Sustainability, the nine contributions demonstrate an intense investment into contemporary methedologies and discourses related to urbanism and architecture. The various components of this experimental body of work ranged from design research on technique-driven exercises in computation and fabrication, research in global urban history and theory, and region-specific urbanism and architecture, emphasised in studios and seminars at HKU.