If you're in Auckland in the next couple of weeks be sure to take a few long lunches to catch some of Communiqué's great line-up in their Autumn Lecture series.


Here's an overview of the schedule, and here's where it is, each start at 12pm at Auckland University (details below)


4 May: Namita Kambli: New Media and the Changing Nature of Urban Place

"Urban place is a well conceptualised notion that denotes a physical space in which people gather to exchange goods, ideas and information, and this function of place has remained relatively stable over time. In this talk Namita Kambli will discuss the growing incorporation of digital communication media, and how this will change the role and the nature of urban places."

11 May: Lada Hršak: Local Stories

"In May and June Lada Hršak is leading an intensive design studio at The University of Auckland’s School of Architecture and Planning. This lecture will present several of her designs and will illustrate how they have been conditioned and articulated by the local conditions of topography, landscape, culture, agriculture, economy, politics, memory, history and building techniques and materials."

13 May: Akihisa Hirata: Tangling (NOTE: 6pm, Engineering Lecture Theature)

"Akihisa Hirata has established himself as a leader among the new generation of Japanese architects. The latest in an illustrious group of young architects to emerge from Toyo Ito’s office (including Astrid Klein, Mark Dytham, Mokoto Yokomizo and recent Pritzker Prize-winner Kazuyo Sejima), Hirata established his independent practice, Akihisa Hirata Architecture Office, in 2005."

Location: Engineering Lecture Theatre (Bldg 401), 20 Symonds Street, Auckland


18 May: Peter Robinson: Snow Ball Blind Time and other projects

"In Snow Ball Blind Time, (Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, 2008), Robinson realised a kind of artificial-industrial-nature, with the multi-level gallery threaded through with polystyrene chain. The links, varying in diameter from reasonable to supersized, plunged from floor to floor in the white gallery space."


19 May: Astrid Klein & Mark Dytham: My Design Life

"Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham are the directors of Klein Dytham architecture (KDa), one of Japan’s most exciting young design firms. They studied together at the Royal College of Art in London and in 1989 travelled to Tokyo where they found work with Toyo Ito. Staying on in Japan, the pair established KDa and quickly gained recognition with a series of audacious and award-winning projects."


All of the Communiqué Autumn Lecture series takes place at the Design Lecture Theatre, Conference Centre, 22 Symonds Street, Building 423.  GoogleMap location here, and run from 12pm - 1pm (with the exception of Akihisa Hirata on May 13).




Enjoy.