On the occasion of the Centennial Celebration of the Central Academy of Fine Arts(CAFA), CAFA School of Architecture held the lecture Recent Preoccupations, the inauguration lecture of the CAFAa Lecture Series, at the beginning of the semester.
Rem Koolhaas, chief expert of CAFA Visual Art Innovation Institute, and the first speaker of the CAFAa Lecture Series of CAFA School of Architecture, brought a speech of his latest thoughts and focus of practice to the public.
| Chief Expert Awarding Ceremony |
At the beginning, Fan D‘ian, the President of Central Academy of Fine Arts, presented a certificate of appointment to Mr. Koolhaas and gave a speech.
In the speech, President Fan pointed out that this was an important academic activity at the beginning of the new semester of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. It was also an significant academic event organized by Zhu Pei after his appointment as the Dean of CAFA School of Architecture. Koolhaas’s architectural and theoretical exploration coincided with the CAFA motto: Reaching the breadth and greatness and penetrating the refined and subtle to the end. This academic event will help to improve the disciplinary planning and curriculum framework of the School of Architecture. Meanwhile, it will reinforce the connection between our academic study and the international academic community.
Later, Zhu Pei, Dean and Professor of CAFA School of Architecture, Visiting Professor of the Harvard University and Columbia University, gave a speech and welcomed Koolhaas for his extensive cooperation with the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and the future joint effort for architectural education and the field of Chinese Countryside. Koolhaas and Peterman, his team leader, expressed their gratitude to the Central Academy of Fine Arts for the warm invitation. Bart Hofstede, Cultural Counselor of the Embassy of Netherlands in China, subsequently delivered a speech, pointing out that the Embassy of Netherlands would pay close attention to the cooperation and look forward to the cultural development between China and Netherlands.
▲ Fan Di’an, President of Central Academy of Fine Arts, giving a Speech
▲ Fan Di‘an, President of Central Academy of Fine Arts, presenting a Certificate of Appointment to Mr.Koolhaas
▲ Zhu Pei, Dean of the School of Architecture, Central Academy of Fine Arts, having a talk with Koolhaas
| The Seminar: Generic Village |
The second part was a seminar on the theme of “Generic Village”, featuring Wang Mingxian, prestigious contemporary architectural critic, Zhu Pei, Dean of the School of Architecture, and Jiang Jun, prestigious urbanologist, as academic hosts. Guests invited into the discussion are important scholars in the field of architecture and art, including Hua Li, Li Xiangning, Lu Pinjing, Meng Yan, Qu Yan, Tao Lei, Yao Dongmei, Zhang Zikang, Zhi Wenjun and Zhou Rong (alphabetical order).
To start with, Koolhaas and his team leader Peterman explained the significance of the Generic Village and OMA's understanding of the Chinese countryside in recent years. Later, four panelists shared different focus on Chinese village from their perspectives under the moderation of Jiang Jun. The four panelists are Wang Mingxian, Chinese contemporary artist and art critic; Qu Yan, art critic and curator, artist and village construction facilitator; Zhou Rong, Associate Professor of School of Architecture, Tsinghua University; Wang Min’an, professor of Capital Normal University; Li Xiangning, Deputy Dean of School of Architecture and City Planning, Tongji University. After the speeches from the four panelists, Koolhaas and Peterman had a brief exchange of thoughts with Chinese scholars.
▲ Rem Koolhaas in the Seminar
▲ Group Photo of the seminar guests
▲ The Seminar Room
| Lecture: Recent Preoccupations |
After a short break, Professor Rem Koolhaas gave a lecture entitled “Recent Preoccupations” at the Auditorium of CAFA Art Museum. The lecture was hosted by Zhu Pei, Dean of the School of Architecture. Koolhaas briefly reviewed his life experience and presented his thoughts and focus of practices through a few recent projects. Lastly, Koolhaas interacted with the audience on topics of art films and new media technologies.
▲ Rem Koolhaas in the lecture
▲ Koolhaas talked with Zhu Pei
▲ Auditorium of CAFA Art Musuem
About the Speaker:
Rem Koolhaas, world-famous architect, architectural theorist, urban planner, co-founder and architect of OMA and AMO, professor of GSD at Harvard University. Koolhaas's past research covered multiple areas of architecture and urbanism. In recent years, his research has turned to villages. Now he is in the preparation of the exhibition "Countryside: Future of the World" at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in the fall of 2019. There has been a lack of focus on the countryside. However, we could see a more intense and rapid change happening in the countryside. In response, Koolhaas started a global study on the countryside, while regarding Central Academy of Fine Arts as an important partner of research and teaching in China.
