Recording a Sensibility of Place
Ways of Seeing and Understanding by Alison and Peter Smithson
Thursday, 3 November 2016

A discussion on the Smithsons' forthcoming book The Space Between and on the importance of developing a sensibility of place in contemporary architecture and urbanism

Alison and Peter Smithson first rose to prominence in the 1950s. Many of their ideas - social, architectural, and urban - profoundly influenced generations of architecture practitioners, students, and academics. During their career the Smithsons shifted the focus of architecture and urbanism to spaces shaped by the characteristics of particular places, specific patterns of human association and requirements imposed by transport networks as well as the changing implications of nature and climate.

The forthcoming book The Space Between completes a trio of volumes envisaged by Alison and Peter Smithson as their collected works. It follows The Charged Void: Architecture (2001) and The Charged Void: Urbanism (2005), and describes the Smithsons’ approach to capturing the identity of places. It is richly illustrated, mostly with drawings and photographs taken by the Smithsons themselves.

In the presence of the Smithsons’ family, and involving some of their closest collaborators, the discussion reflected on the importance of a sensibility of place in contemporary architecture and urbanism, and on the Smithsons' approach as documented by The Space Between.

PROGRAMME

Welcome
Hans-Jürgen Commerell, Director, ANCB The Aedes Metropolitan Laboratory, Berlin

Introduction and Book Presentation
Max Risselada, Professor emeritus, Department of Architecture, TU Delft

Presentations
Louisa Hutton, Founding Partner, Sauerbruch Hutton Architects, Berlin
Eva Prats, Founding Director, Flores & Prats Arquitectes, Barcelona
Dirk van den Heuvel, Associate Professor, Department of Architecture,  TU Delft

Followed by a Discussion with the speakers and Max Risselada.