Keynotes from 2024 Monterey Design Conferences (New!)
MDC – Brad Cloepfil, AIA, and Chelsea Grassinger, AIA: Sense of Investigation
Brad Cloepfil, AIA, and Chelsea Grassinger, AIA, of Allied Works focus on the meaning of stewardship in design and how their architecture is fueled by the desire to create resonant, enduring design and expand the boundaries of traditional practice. Brad and Chelsea take us on a journey of their work and explain how each project starts with an intense investigation into the program and the local environment as they search for simple solutions.
MDC – Brad Cloepfil, AIA, and Chelsea Grassinger, AIA: Sense of Investigation
MDC – Reflections with Chuck Davis, FAIA
Chuck Davis, FAIA (1935 - 2025)
Chuck Davis, FAIA, shares a lifetime of insights gained during his 50 years designing and overseeing major projects including aquariums, zoos and higher education. Deftly interviewed by Pierluigi Serraino, Chuck reflects on how his collaboration with Joseph Esherick influenced his inquisitive design approach and opines how the architectural profession has evolved.
This course is presented free courtesy of AIA California.
MDC – Reflections with Chuck Davis, FAIA
MDC – Fuensanta Nieto, Hon. FAIA & Enrique Sobejano, Hon. FAIA: Transformation and Discovery
Fuensanta Nieto, Hon. FAIA, and Enrique Sobejano, Hon. FAIA, based in both Madrid and Berlin, share how their designs bring a feeling of transformation, discovery and understanding of the place and purpose of a building. Delightfully sharing the stage, Enrique and Fuensanta take us on a tour of the recent projects, including the headquarters for Montblanc, a stunning museum in Cordoba, Spain, and a lyrical museum for Estonian composer Avro Pärt.
MDC – Fuensanta Nieto, Hon. FAIA & Enrique Sobejano, Hon. FAIA: Transformation and Discovery
MDC – Tatiana Bilbao: The City, My Living Room
Tatiana Bilbao from Mexico City passionately challenges convention norms and examines how architecture can address fundamental human needs. Through largescale masterplans and projects to smaller affordable housing strategies, and by reimagining urban spaces, Tatiana shares her passion for accommodating diverse social configurations, local materials, and environmental conditions.
MDC – Tatiana Bilbao: The City, My Living Room
MDC – Go Hasegawa: Ambitious Ambivalence
Japanese architect Go Hasegawa’s “Ambitious Ambivalence” presentation includes stunning and oftentimes whimsical creations. Go displays his dry wit as he reflects on how local materials, cultural elements and environmental considerations influence his designs. He also shows how a combination of inspired design and amazing craftsmanship results in paper-thin marble structures.
MDC – Go Hasegawa: Ambitious Ambivalence
MDC – Frederick Fisher, AIA: Four Pillars
Frederick Fisher, AIA, takes us on a tour of his firm’s landmark projects designed on four pillars: process, context, function, and aesthetics. Frederick highlights his enthusiasm for light and space coupled with design strategies that utilize clean energy and lead to net-zero-emissions.
MDC – Frederick Fisher, AIA: Four Pillars
MDC – Kerstin Thompson - What Architect?
Renowned Australian architect Kerstin Thompson presents a more casual version of the talk she delivered for her Australian Institute of Architects’ Gold Medal tour. With stunning images and a focus on adaptive re-use, Kerstin assesses architectural design strategies that adapt to and mitigate environmental challenges, such as bushfires and floods, while promoting sustainability.
MDC – Kerstin Thompson - What Architect?
MDC – Refik Anadol: AI in Art and Architecture
In this fast-paced session, Refik Anadol, renowned artist and inventor, explores how generative AI and computational tools can assist architects in designing buildings that integrate functional and aesthetic considerations and how AI can be integrated across disciplines such as neuroscience, architecture, and environmental science to create meaningful, socially impactful outcomes.
MDC – Refik Anadol: AI in Art and Architecture
MDC – Enabling Abundance – Housing California
Four housing experts present short case studies and then engage in a thoughtful discussion about the impactful ways architects are bringing solutions to California's severe affordable housing shortage while reducing carbon emissions and uplifting the physical and emotional well-being of residents.
Join Kevin Daley, FAIA, Founding Partner of Frederick Fisher Architects and Partners, Phoebe Yee, AIA, Executive Vice President of Design for Related California, Cory Henry, Founder and Design Director of Atelier Cory Henry, and Dana Cuff, Professor of Architecture and Urban Design, Urban Planning, and Founding Director of cityLAB at UCLA, as they tackle one of California’s most pressing challenges.
MDC – Enabling Abundance – Housing California
Emerging Talent Presentations from Monterey Design Conferences
MDC Emerging Talent: Nick Hopson, Hopson Rodstrom Design
Among the most inspirational events at the famed Monterey Design Conference are the 15-minute presentations by some of California’s finest emerging talent.
In this presentation from the 2024 MDC, Nick Hopson, Co-Founder of Hopson Rodstrom Design, shares his firm’s work and design approach through the lens of three strikingly different housing projects: an adaptive reuse transitional housing project, a podium urban transit zone apartment building, and a single-family residence. Each project conveys the risks and challenges facing a young design practice in today's environment.
MDC Emerging Talent: Nick Hopson, Hopson Rodstrom Design
MDC Emerging Talent: Gary Lewis and Julia Lewis, ReGroup
Among the most inspirational events at the famed Monterey Design Conference are the 15-minute presentations by some of California’s finest emerging talent.
In this presentation from the 2024 MDC, Julie Lewis and Gary Lewis of ReGroup illustrate their "What If" approach to design with four fascinating projects. First, a rural performance stage they originally designed and built as a processional and ceremonial place for their own wedding. Second, a house that doubles as a movie screen for the neighbors. Third, a duplex landlocked between industrial buildings and a TV station that creates an urban oasis. Lastly, another duplex resembling a mini-tower that captures the evening sky and an amazing set of views.
MDC Emerging Talent: Gary Lewis and Julia Lewis, ReGroup
MDC Emerging Talent: Valery Augustin, AIA, DNA Architecture + Design
Among the most inspirational events at the famed Monterey Design Conference are the 15-minute presentations by some of California’s finest emerging talent.
In this presentation from the 2024 MDC, Valery Augustin, AIA, Founding Principal of DNA Architecture + Design, shares his exploration into materials and fabrication techniques. Valery then illustrates some of his recent public architecture where low budgets and fast schedules do not deter from his mission of providing beautiful spaces to underprivileged users and residents.
MDC Emerging Talent: Valery Augustin, AIA, DNA Architecture + Design
MDC Emerging Talent: Aaron Forest and Yasmin Hobbs, Ultramoderne
Among the most inspirational events at the famed Monterey Design Conference are the 15-minute presentations by some of California’s finest emerging talent.
In this presentation from the 2024 MDC titled Cheapskates, Aaron Forest and Yasmin Hobbs of Ultramoderne illustrate how their economical approach to architecture sparks invention and leads to opportunities for lightness and sustainability. Among the projects highlighted: a kiosk featuring a CLT roof with no supporting beams; a performance space with roof trusses turned upside down; and two "tower houses” that share a common roof terrace. As Yasmin explains, “The idea of Cheapskate is a certain resourcefulness, playfulness, but also ecological responsibility and new forms of beauty."
MDC Emerging Talent: Aaron Forest and Yasmin Hobbs, Ultramoderne
MDC Emerging Talent: Dan Weber, AIA, LEED AP, ANACAPA
Among the most inspirational events at the famed Monterey Design Conference are the 15-minute presentations by some of California’s finest emerging talent.
In this FREE presentation from the 2019 MDC, Dan Weber, AIA, LEED AP, of Santa Barbara-based ANACAPA, takes us on a journey through his firm's experiential and award-winning hospitality, custom residential, creative office and urban infill mixed-use projects and, of course, his recent design for a marijuana dispensary.
Don’t miss the Keynote Presentations from the Monterey Design Conference!
MDC Emerging Talent: Dan Weber, AIA, LEED AP, ANACAPA
MDC Emerging Talent: Urban Works Agency
Among the most inspirational events at the famed Monterey Design Conference are the 15-minute presentations by some of California’s finest emerging talent.
In this presentation from the 2022 MDC, Antje Steinmuller and Neeraj Bhatia of Urban Works Agency discuss their research lab and recent explorations into climate justice, infrastructure and housing access. Antje and Neeraj share results of some of their case studies and surveys that might inform how society approaches the built environment.
This course is presented FREE courtesy of the AIA California Council and aecKnowledge.
MDC Emerging Talent: Urban Works Agency
MDC Emerging Talent: David Hackett
Among the most inspirational events at the famed Monterey Design Conference are the 15-minute presentations by some of California’s finest emerging talent.
In this presentation from the 2022 MDC, David Hackett, AIA, of Siol Studios showcases some of his firm’s work, from their scrappy roots designing simple rooms that illustrate big ideas to their beautiful design for one of America’s rare Masonic temples.
This course is presented FREE courtesy of the AIA California Council and aecKnowledge.
MDC Emerging Talent: David Hackett
MDC Emerging Talent: Morgan Sykes Jaybush
Among the most inspirational events at the famed Monterey Design Conference are the 15-minute presentations by some of California’s finest emerging talent.
In this presentation from the 2022 MDC, Morgan Sykes Jaybush of Omgivning discusses his perspective of Los Angeles, designs for unhoused people on skid row, and a series of adaptive reuses that revitalize communities.
This course is presented FREE courtesy of the AIA California Council and aecKnowledge.
MDC Emerging Talent: Morgan Sykes Jaybush
MDC Emerging Talent: Ed Ogosta, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, Edward Ogosta Architecture
Among the most inspirational events at the famed Monterey Design Conference are the 15-minute presentations by some of California’s finest emerging talent.
In this FREE presentation from the 2019 MDC, Ed Ogosta, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, of Los Angeles-based Edward Ogosta Architecture, showcases his firm's quiet architecture of sobriety, coherence, simplicity and atmosphere. Ed artfully illustrates how his firm’s designs emanate from two principles: ROOTEDNESS to site, context, culture and time, and CLARITY of concept, form, experience and execution.
Don’t miss the Keynote Presentations from the Monterey Design Conference!
MDC Emerging Talent: Ed Ogosta, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, Edward Ogosta Architecture
MDC Emerging Talent: Dan Spiegel, AIA, and Megumi Aihara, ASLA, PLA, SAW // Spiegel Aihara Workshop
Among the most inspirational events at the famed Monterey Design Conference are the 15-minute presentations by some of California’s finest emerging talent.
In this FREE presentation from the 2019 MDC, Dan Spiegel, AIA, of SAW and Megumi Aihara, ASLA, PLA, of Spiegel Aihara Workshop start by walking us through and around their design for COURT, YARD, HOUSE in Palo Alto. Showcasing their love of storytelling, they then show us how their TRY-ON TRUCK transforms itself from a lingerie store to a meditation studio and present their prototypes of a variety of other building types.
Don’t miss the Keynote Presentations from the Monterey Design Conference!
MDC Emerging Talent: Dan Spiegel, AIA, and Megumi Aihara, ASLA, PLA, SAW // Spiegel Aihara Workshop
MDC Emerging Talent: Chris Warren, AIA, WORD
Among the most inspirational events at the famed Monterey Design Conference are the 15-minute presentations by some of California’s finest emerging talent.
In this FREE presentation from the 2019 MDC, Chris Warren, AIA, Principal of Los Angeles-based WORD, takes us on a tour of his firm's recent work and how their designs respond to the interface between architecture and the natural elements--light, sky and view. See why his designs have been described as confidently choreographed, experienced through ephemerality and as an intersection of the elemental and the phenomenal..
Don’t miss the Keynote Presentations from the Monterey Design Conference!
MDC Emerging Talent: Chris Warren, AIA, WORD
MDC Emerging Talent: Alan Tse, Associate AIA, Alan Tse Design
In this FREE presentation, San Francisco-based Alan Tse, Associate AIA, captivates the audience with stunning images and a delightfully dry wit as he describes how he learned about budgets, his role as a designer, getting work and meeting client expectations. Alan's stunning restaurant, mixed-use, residential and work space projects combine a warm neutral palette, natural light and a welcoming modern style.
Don’t miss the Keynote Presentations from the Monterey Design Conference!
MDC Emerging Talent: Alan Tse, Associate AIA, Alan Tse Design
MDC Emerging Talent: Laura Crescimano, AIA, SITELAB Urban Studio
In this FREE presentation, Laura Crescimano, AIA, of San Francisco-based SITELAB Urban Studio, deftly shows how extraordinary events in symbolic spaces or banal ones such as highways and roads can temporarily reveal and transform our image of the urban environment. Laura illustrates how placemaking can elevate the social practice of architecture and encourage inclusive decision making.
Don’t miss the Keynote Presentations from the Monterey Design Conference!
MDC Emerging Talent: Laura Crescimano, AIA, SITELAB Urban Studio
MDC Emerging Talent: Jimenez Lai & Joanna Grant, Bureau Spectacular
In this FREE presentation Jimenez Lai & Joanna Grant describe how their Los Angeles-based Bureau Spectacular began at the beginning of the Great Recession--through research, experimentation, teaching, publications, and exhibitions and competitions--and evolved into a group of avant-garde individuals who explore design through the lenses of art, culture and education. They conclude their presentation with a delightful Pool Party video created as part of a 2017 MoMA PS1 competition.
Don’t miss the Keynote Presentations from the Monterey Design Conference!
MDC Emerging Talent: Jimenez Lai & Joanna Grant, Bureau Spectacular
Keynotes from 2022 Monterey Design Conferences
MDC – Prof. Lesley Lokko: Building and Being
Prof. Lesley Lokko, Curator of the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale and Founder of the African Futures Institute about global change making, delivers a passionate 2022 Monterey Design Conference keynote presentation about embedding diversity, equity and inclusion in the built environment.
Through a series of poignant illustrations and videos, Lesley paints a future built on Confront, Connect and Change, and showcases how the African Futures Institute is reversing a thousand years of exploitive practices, giving Africa’s dynamism and creative energy a space to flourish.
MDC – Prof. Lesley Lokko: Building and Being
MDC – Deborah Berke, FAIA: Current Work
Deborah Berke, FAIA, AIA 2025 Gold Medal recipient, captivates the audience at the 2022 Monterey Design Conference with a whirlwind tour of 10 projects and demonstrates how adaptive reuse is one of the most valuable tools design professionals can employ to help address climate change and provide an array of social benefits. Deborah illustrates strategies for capturing light, improving building performance and enhancing the health and well-being of building occupants.
MDC – Deborah Berke, FAIA: Current Work
MDC – Yung Ho Chang, FAIA: Form and Content
Yung Ho Chang, FAIA, from Beijing, Yung Ho Chang, FAIA, from Beijing, delights the audience with his wry sense of humor and spectacular buildings. Yung Ho Chang showcases six recent projects including the Joshua Art Museum, which doubles as a pedestrian bridge.
Yung Ho ends his lecture with an in-depth look at the China Academy of Art, Liangzhu, a far cry from the MIT Department of Architecture that he headed from 2005 through 2010 before returning to Beijing to establish China's first private architecture firm, Atelier FCJZ.
MDC – Yung Ho Chang, FAIA: Form and Content
MDC – Liu and Idenburg: Form, Material and Light
Jing Liu and Florian Idenburg of SO-IL lead us on a tour of their recent projects that inspire lasting positive intellectual and societal engagement. Through their use of traditional craft and interplays of form, material and light, they explore a range of issues that regenerate urban environments, engage communities and illustrate their locally sensitive perspectives of architecture.
MDC – Liu and Idenburg: Form, Material and Light
MDC – James Wines: Architect and Artist
In this 60-minute virtual discussion with Reed Kroloff, James Wines, President of SITE NY, reflects on his extraordinary career. His multi-disciplinary practice focuses on the design of buildings, public spaces, environmental art works, landscape designs, master plans, interiors and product design.
From his lyrical crumbling facades of Best Products to his many other memorable projects, James explores the messages communicated, impact on natural environment and cost implications of buildings and public art since the 1960s. In his words, “I taught myself to contradict myself in order to avoid conforming to my own tastes” and challenges the audience to rethink the role of public works in a post-pandemic world.
MDC – James Wines: Architect and Artist
MDC – Alison Brooks, RIBA: Context is Everything
RIBA Stirling Prize recipient Alison Brooks shares her commitment to historical context, communities and landscapes through a plethora of building typologies: high-density, urban design, cultural buildings and private homes. Alison illustrates how her firm’s designs embrace mass and weight and “welcome gravity,” which she presents as a welcome antidote to modernism.
Alison joyfully walks us around and through "The Smile" – a Landmark Project for the 2016 London Design Festival that straddled architecture, sculpture, and public art.
MDC – Alison Brooks, RIBA: Context is Everything
MDC – Sandra Barclay, Hon. FAIA: modus operandi
Sandra Barclay, Hon. FAIA, presents a series of projects that explore the bonds between landscape, climate and architecture. Sandra discusses how her studio, Barclay&Crousse, is structured as a laboratory. In her words "We consider our work as an ongoing research, in which each project informs the next one in terms of hypothesis, strategies and building processes."
Sandra presents a set of spectacular designs located in the ruins and hillsides throughout Peru, each rooted in Peruvian culture, history, and local ecologies.
MDC – Sandra Barclay, Hon. FAIA: modus operandi
MDC – Bijoy Jain: Environment and Materials
Renowned architect Bijoy Jain connects from his Mumbai studio as part of the 2022 Monterey Design Conference. Showcasing a few of his breathtaking projects, Bijoy talks about his creative process, his attentiveness to the environment and materials, and his thoughtful approach to local inhabitants. Bijoy concludes his presentation by taking us on a virtual tour of his studio.
MDC – Bijoy Jain: Environment and Materials
MDC – Lorcan O’Herlihy, FAIA: Social Acts
Lorcan O’Herlihy, FAIA, takes us on a tour of LOLA’s recent projects and makes an impassioned plea for how architecture should serve as a social act that elevates communities and transforms cities.
Lorcan discusses revitalization efforts in Detroit, employing public space and pocket parks alongside buildings to create density with green space, and affordable housing strategies that support health and community. With a bit of Irish humor, Lorcan illustrates his commitment to artistry and elevating the human condition.
(On September 26, 2023, AIA California announced that Lorcan O'Herlihy was selected as the 2023 Maybeck Award Recipient, which recognizes outstanding achievement in architectural design as expressed in a body of work produced by an individual architect over a period of at least 10 years.)
MDC – Lorcan O’Herlihy, FAIA: Social Acts
Keynotes from 2019 Monterey Design Conferences
MDC – Alberto Kalach: Architecture, Landscape and Urbanization
Watch one of Mexico’s most inspiring and famed architects in this 60-minute course filmed live at the 2019 Monterey Design Conference. Alberto Kalach showcases the work of TAX—Taller de Arquitectura X and passionately illustrates the fragile relationship between nature and urban environments, from a $5,000 minimal house, to his housing developments to one of the largest project ever conceived for the Valley of Mexico Basin.
MDC – Alberto Kalach: Architecture, Landscape and Urbanization
MDC – Mark Cavagnero: Simple Volumes, Unapologetic Forms
Mark Cavagnero, FAIA, takes us on an exploration of his firm’s work, which is grounded in the belief of the power of collaboration and community buildings. His stunning buildings and reductive designs show his journey from his early exposure to Marcel Breuer and the use of architecture “as a foil to reach out and grab space” and to the long, low lines expressed by Edward Barnes.
MDC – Mark Cavagnero: Simple Volumes, Unapologetic Forms
MDC – Gregg Pasquarelli: Thinkers and Makers
Gregg Pasquarelli, AIA, of SHoP Architects, captivates us with the art, mathematics, science and design behind his firm’s innovative portfolio. See how this cutting-edge interdisciplinary firm is proving—at sites around the world—that intelligent, evocative design can be made within real-world constraints. Gregg reveals the process behind the world's skinniest skyscraper and a pair of skyscrapers that feature copper cladding, bent silhouettes and a skybridge suspended more than 90 metres above the ground.
MDC – Gregg Pasquarelli: Thinkers and Makers
MDC – Yvonne Farrell: The EARTH as Client
Yvonne Farrell, FRIAI, Hon. RIBA, shares what Grafton Architects has discovered through its widely acclaimed practice and how each project explores questions: What do we value? How do we invent? How do we create something that is useful, beautiful and meaningful? Yvonne takes us on journey through the silent language of space and inspires us to “treat EARTH as a client.” Her poetic delivery leaves no doubt about why her firm won the inaugural RIBA International Prize in 2016 and was recently awarded the RIBA 2020 Royal Gold Medal and the 2020 Pritzker Prize.
MDC – Yvonne Farrell: The EARTH as Client
MDC – Bob Harris: RESONANCE--Nature, Place, Craft & Restraint
Bob Harris, FAIA, LEED Fellow of Lake|Flato, shares his passion for environmental issues as he illustrates how his firm’s designs push sustainability in new directions. Starting with an overview of Lake|Flato’s practice and design approach, Bob leads us on a visual tour of some of his most innovative projects and explains how the firm’s wide body of scientific research helped produce high performance, ecologically responsive buildings.
MDC – Bob Harris: RESONANCE--Nature, Place, Craft & Restraint
MDC – Brian MacKay-Lyons: The Wind and the Moon
Royal Architectural Institute of Canada’s 2015 Gold Medalist Brian MacKay-Lyons captivates us with his spectacular buildings, storytelling and dry wit. Brian shows us how his designs draw on his inspiration from a rich local heritage of building types and how he reinterprets local vernacular to respond to harsh climates and exterior elements.
MDC – Brian MacKay-Lyons: The Wind and the Moon
MDC – Lyndon Neri & Rossana Hu: Obsessions and Disappearing Villages
Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu highlight their Shanghai-based interdisciplinary work. Through stunning visuals and a series of short movies, they share their design obsessions and how their architectural practice confronts some of China's most challenging urban issues, rapid development and demolition, disappearing villages and disgruntled population. Lyndon and Rosanna highlight some of their most provocative projects and share a glimpse of Chinese urban life that is seldom seen.
MDC – Lyndon Neri & Rossana Hu: Obsessions and Disappearing Villages
MDC – Paul Kephart and Marta Kephart: Lightened Footprints, Natural Landscapes
Paul and Marta Kephart deliver a beautifully orchestrated and compelling case for preserving delicate landscapes and illustrate how incorporating biophilic design and ecological engineering can preserve natural landscapes and lighten the footprint on natural habitats.
From their innovative rooftop of the California Academy of Sciences to their solutions for restoring dune habitats, these pioneers of landscape design, ecology and horticulture inspire us to design for people in ways that promote sustainability and increase biological diversity.
MDC – Paul Kephart and Marta Kephart: Lightened Footprints, Natural Landscapes
Keynotes from 2017 Monterey Design Conferences
MDC - Julie Eizenberg, FAIA: Urban Hallucinations
Julie Eizenberg, FAIA, examines placemaking and community building in Los Angeles and how architecture can address regional issues of sustainability, responsible growth, affordability, and housing shortages.
Showcasing recent affordable housing, apartments, libraries, public spaces and places of worship projects, Julie illustrates strategies for creating informal social interaction within, and between, buildings. And through her firm’s urban research and a personal account of life and work in the Los Angeles region, Julie deftly walks us through her "urban hallucinations."
MDC - Julie Eizenberg, FAIA: Urban Hallucinations
MDC – Sou Fujimoto: Between Nature and Architecture
Renowned Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto inspires us with soft lighting effects, visually arresting geometric forms, an interplay between nature and architecture, and with his desire to "question everything."
With a gentle presence and soft wit, Sou describes his ethereal installation at London's Serpentine Gallery, the infinite forest of books that comprises one of Japan's most distinguished libraries, his magical tree-inspired high-rise residential tower in southern France and, of course, his toilet in nature.
MDC – Sou Fujimoto: Between Nature and Architecture
MDC – Marion Weiss, FAIA, and Michael Manfredi, FAIA: Expanded Territories
Marion Weiss, FAIA, and Michael Manfredi, FAIA, illustrate how movement, light and materiality actively shape how participants perceive and experience environments.
Through their museums, visitor centers, colleges, embassies, technology centers and waterfront parks, Marion and Michael describe how they push the boundaries of design to shape contemporary culture and to create buildings and open spaces that serve as models for urban ecology.
MDC – Marion Weiss, FAIA, and Michael Manfredi, FAIA: Expanded Territories
MDC – Shohei Shigematsu, OMA: Light, Movement and Shadow
OMA Partner Shohei Shigematsu leads us through a diverse portfolio of museums, university buildings, high-rise buildings and cultural venues that highlight the interplay of light, movement and shadow.
Shohei captivates his audience with his wit, incisive analogies and over 500 stunning images of his remarkable projects and collaborations with artists.
MDC – Shohei Shigematsu, OMA: Light, Movement and Shadow
MDC – Dominique Jakob: Jakob + MacFarlane
Parisian architect Dominique Jakob of Jakob+MacFarlane illustrates how her firm uses digital technology as both a conceptual design and a production tool for internationally acclaimed projects in Paris, Lyon, Orleans, Boulogne and Belgium.
Dominique describes how the structure, shapes and cladding of her museums, libraries, office buildings and housing projects were digitally conceived and executed through collaborations with artists and fabricators. She concludes her keynote with a fascinating short video “Augmenting the Invisible” that animates and brings to life a simple sketch.
MDC – Dominique Jakob: Jakob + MacFarlane
MDC – Jeff Goldstein: Building Walls: Meaning + Mass
Jeff Goldstein, AIA, of DIGSAU explores how to involve end users in using indigenous materials, how existing materials and structures can be re-used and re-purposed to create stunning community buildings, and how the use of form, space, light, and material convey potent ideas and connect to the human spirit.
With passion and a bit of social commentary, Jeff highlights six of his recent projects to illustrate how to create meaningful places that empower and inspire people to be more creative, productive, and fulfilled.
MDC – Jeff Goldstein: Building Walls: Meaning + Mass
MDC – Dorte Mandrup: Buildings and Conditions
Danish architect Dorte Mandrup illustrates the playful, innovative and poetic projects created by her “team of die-hard overachievers.” Dorte showcases her transformations of existing buildings, infills and urban planning to entirely new works, always anchored in location and landscape.
Among the projects Dorte presents are the expressive cantilever of the steel Salling Tower, the wooden truss of the Icefjord Center that bridges the rugged landscape, and the thatched roof of the Wadden Sea Centre that interprets the local building tradition and rural farmhouse typology of the region.
MDC – Dorte Mandrup: Buildings and Conditions
Keynotes from 2015 Monterey Design Conferences
MDC – Rand Elliott, FAIA: Stray Dogs
Rand Elliott, FAIA, shares his insights on designing for the environment and discusses the experiences that influence his work.
Rand'smesmerizing poetry, stunning visuals and provocative videos capture his deep respect for the land, the sun and the wind. His dramatic parking garage, iconic gas station, rhythmic boathouse and small-town house sited in a spare landscape enchant us with how light flows into a building. In his own words, Rand shows us "space that can only be heard by a stray dog."
MDC – Rand Elliott, FAIA: Stray Dogs
MDC – Clive Wilkinson, FAIA: The Theatre of Work
Clive Wilkinson, FAIA, illustrates how architecture can be elevated beyond the pragmatic needs of the people a building accommodates to a level of theater. Clive explores how this theater of architecture can serve as an amplification of human life, a re-energizing of memory and experience, and a reawakening of passion. Drawing upon his diverse portfolio, he illustrates how building designs must address cultural models, community structures, knowledge sharing, diversity, the human scale, and "tribal" organization and connectivity.
MDC – Clive Wilkinson, FAIA: The Theatre of Work
MDC – The Work of Carme Pinós
Filmed live at the 2013 Monterey Design Conference.
MDC – The Work of Carme Pinós
MDC – Junya Ishigami: How Small? How Vast?
Japanese architect Junya Ishigama introduces us to an entirely different style of architecture. Is it biophilia? Or magical props?
His designs facilitate the movement of nature along with the movement of people, inviting trees and clouds and rain inside. In varied projects, from house to university hall to port buildings, an unlikely collaboration can be seen -- habitats for the elements as well as for people. Here are materials that fool the eye, and structures so light and airy that they disappear before your eyes.
MDC – Junya Ishigami: How Small? How Vast?
MDC – Frank Barkow: Spielraum
Frank Barkow explores his deep interest in craftsmanship, structure and new technologies, and demonstrates how architectural ideas and materials are intertwined in projects that include easy-to-assemble tents, low-cost housing, advanced factory buildings and eye-catching high-rises.
Barkow illustrates how his firm, Barkow Leibinger, begins each project by first examining a particular material, then choosing the tools and software needed to turn it into a final formed product. With a deep knowledge of today’s cutting edge fabrication techniques, extensive research, and traditional model making, surprising new forms and structures arise.
MDC – Frank Barkow: Spielraum
MDC – Insights from Bernard Tschumi, FAIA
A legend goes live!
Bernard Tschumi, FAIA, examines some of his best known designs through concepts of space, event and movement.
Tschumi's early theoretical interests were in understanding and notating movement through space. He takes us through his design process, beginning with the concept, which evolves into form. In his varied museums, concert halls and other projects, Tschumi illustrates how structure and materials determine the form as much as the activities and movements within the space. Whether forms of movement or using a concept of "no form," his architecture is suffused with meaning.
MDC – Insights from Bernard Tschumi, FAIA
MDC – Art Installations by Pae White
Artist and collaborator Pae White shows her early projects, multi-media art and site-specific installations, which defy easy categorization.
White “listens” to space and uses her art to create a story that amplifies and alters the surroundings, whether a reflective curtain for Snøhetta's Opera House or a hall for pigeons at the Venice Biennale complete with birdseed chandeliers. The inventiveness of the many projects shown, their uniqueness and unexpected variety are inspiring proof of art’s ability to transform place.
MDC – Art Installations by Pae White
Keynotes from 2013 Monterey Design Conferences
MDC – Marlon Blackwell, FAIA: Transmutations
Marlon Blackwell, FAIA, discusses how his architecture and design process is based in design strategies that draw upon vernaculars and building typologies, upon contradictions of place, and upon strategies that transgress conventional boundaries for architecture.
Marlon skillfully demonstrates how resilient architecture can be achieved as an interplay between details, form and place and how responding to the specificities of site and sustainable design principles can result in architecture that can be felt as much as it is understood and be as immediate and tactile as it is legible, all while contributing to the fundamental civic dignity of communities.
MDC – Marlon Blackwell, FAIA: Transmutations
MDC – Odile Decq: Horizons
Odile Decq, one of Europe's most provocative architects, reviews her award-winning and highly experimental work in architecture, art and design products.
With her passionate French accent, Odile demonstrates how a strong vision and a bit of persuasion translates concepts into stunning restaurants, museums, glass houses, galleries, yachts, furniture and, yes, even dog houses. She generously weaves her signature shade of red throughout her sensual designs to infuse them with energy, passion and wit.
MDC – Odile Decq: Horizons
MDC – Kengo Kuma, Hon. FAIA: Age of Locations
Kengo Kuma, Hon. FAIA, shows over 360 mesmerizing images of his projects throughout Japan, China, Italy, France, Germany and England, poetically describing how architecture should place location, climate and environmental harmony above all else.
Kengo describes his “regionalism” as a movement aimed at true independence of each town, starting with reliance on local materials and skilled craftspeople. From museums and train stations, to an “umbrella house” to a Starbucks assembled with local timber in Fukuoka, Japan, Kengo’s mastery of details will inspire and delight
MDC – Kengo Kuma, Hon. FAIA: Age of Locations
MDC – Marcio Kogan, Hon. FAIA: What Makes Your Heart Beat?
Marcio Kogan, Hon. FAIA, Director of studioMK27 in San Paulo Brazil asks "What Makes Your Heart Beat?"
Known for his special attention to details and finishes, and his own interpretation of Brazilian Modernism, Marcio and his co-presenter Diana Radomysler mix images and film in this creative presentation. Marcio and Diana brilliantly showcase their work with humor, passion and with the help of an inquisitive cat.
MDC – Marcio Kogan, Hon. FAIA: What Makes Your Heart Beat?
MDC – Anne Fougeron, FAIA: A Decade
San Francisco-based Anne Fougeron, FAIA, showcases a decade of her award-winning work.
With humor and wit, Anne describes how her body of work embraces architectural opportunities and responds to political forces to create buildings that redefine program, reinvent historical building types, and reinvigorate civic centers. Each project is a careful consideration of context, light and structure.
MDC – Anne Fougeron, FAIA: A Decade
MDC – Thomas Phifer, FAIA: Outside In - Architecture, Landscape
Thomas Phifer, FAIA, discuss aesthetic and environmental principles guiding the design of recent buildings and their landscapes. He poetically illustrates how technical innovations can be used to express structural lightness and architectural transparency.
Thomas presents six recent projects showing how incorporating high levels of controlled natural light and views of nature increases human comfort and health and how utilizing sustainable design features grounds a building in its place.
MDC – Thomas Phifer, FAIA: Outside In - Architecture, Landscape
Keynotes from 2011 Monterey Design Conferences
MDC – Jennifer Yoos, FAIA: Material / Immaterial
Jennifer Yoos, FAIA, illustrates how VJAA’s research-based design approach is applied to diverse building programs, locations, and scales.
Jennifer illustrates the idea of “materiality” that emphasizes craftsmanship and research into new material systems and structure. She then discusses “immateriality” by illustrating how buildings interact with climate and changing uses over time. Jennifer weaves these ideas together with her firm’s sensitive and striking designs of museums, libraries, hotels, exhibits and a rowing club.
MDC – Jennifer Yoos, FAIA: Material / Immaterial
MDC – Jeanne Gang, FAIA: Fish, Sticks, Birds and Bricks
How do the migration patterns of birds relate to the design of city towers? How can innovative community planning spur economic recovery in suburbs? Find out by stepping into the mind of 2011 MacArthur Genius Grant winner Jeanne Gang, FAIA, Founder and Principal of Studio Gang Architects. Jeanne offers fascinating insight into the creative process and thematic undertones that shape the work of one of America’s most visionary architects.
MDC – Jeanne Gang, FAIA: Fish, Sticks, Birds and Bricks
MDC – Tom Kundig, FAIA: Landscape, Community and Craft
Tom Kundig, FAIA, takes us through a vast body of his past and current work. Filled with wonderfully imaginative designs, inspiring solutions and more than a little subversion, Kundig's brilliance is on display as he discusses the aspects of architecture that are most personal and meaningful to him and have continued to resonate with him since he began working as an architect. Tom's inspirational lecture discusses four key aspects of his work: Craft and Making, Site, Hot-Rodding and Reuse, and Community.
MDC – Tom Kundig, FAIA: Landscape, Community and Craft
MDC – Borja Ferrater: Architecture and Geometry
Borja Ferrater, a part of the family team at the innovative firm, Office of Architecture in Barcelona (OAB), demonstrates his and the company's unique work. Ferrater delivers an engaging, entertaining and often amusing lecture, packed with fascinating projects incorporating techniques utilizing light, geometry and materials in ways that have only recently been possible. The projects themselves span a variety of different scales, budgets and purposes. Yet, given Ferrater's interest in buildings as systems, the projects form a cohesive and narratively-driven portfolio, populated by some work from one of the most exciting and innovative international firms.
MDC – Borja Ferrater: Architecture and Geometry
MDC – Michael Maltzan, FAIA: No More Play
How can architecture convince people to live, work and play in a single community? How can public housing be as beautiful as it is efficient? In this 60-minute course, filmed live at AIACC's 2011 Monterey Design Conference, Michael Maltzan, FAIA, draws on his significant architectural experience to offer new ideas for transforming the way we design, build and think about public structures and the cities they help to define.
MDC – Michael Maltzan, FAIA: No More Play
MDC – Peter Walker, FASLA: 9/11 Memorial and Its Precedents
Peter Walker, FASLA, reviews his landscape architecture work on one of the most significant new projects in the United States: the 9/11 Memorial in New York City. Walker puts the Memorial's design in the context of his firm's previous work on several notable projects and examines the special techniques he helped to develop in order to implement his vision.
Peter also provides a detailed account of how the Memorial came to exist in its current form: what challenges were overcome, what concepts changed, and how he helped to create a unique and somber landmark.
MDC – Peter Walker, FASLA: 9/11 Memorial and Its Precedents
MDC – Brigitte Shim, Hon. FAIA: Linking Light & Landscape
Brigitte Shim, Hon. FAIA, of Shim-Sutcliffe Architects and the University of Toronto, illustrates how she exploits seasonal changes to light, water and landscape to intertwine with her building designs. Shim's engaging lecture is filled with examples from her firm's earlier and recent cutting-edge work, significant not just for the buildings’ construction but also for the way they are integrated with their surroundings.
MDC – Brigitte Shim, Hon. FAIA: Linking Light & Landscape
MDC – Dr. Dickson Despommier: The Vertical Farm
Dickson Despommier, PhD, demonstrates the concept of vertical farming, a unique way of using technology to change how we grow food, treat the earth, and form our urban spaces. In a simultaneously heart-wrenching and uplifting lecture, packed with astounding facts, statistics and anecdotes, Dr. Despommier illustrates that humanity's future can easily be a bright one, but only if we act now.
MDC – Dr. Dickson Despommier: The Vertical Farm
Tribal Elder Dialogues from Monterey Design Conference
MDC Tribal Elder: Reflections with Herb Greene
In this Tribal Elder dialogue from the 2022 Monterey Design Conference, Pierluigi Serraino engages legend Herb Greene as they discuss many of his most memorable architecture including the iconic Praire House, photographed by Julius Shulman and featured in Life and Look magazines.
Herb Greene's grandneice Lisa Cohen joins her uncle as they reminisce about his extraordinary career.
This course is presented FREE courtesy of the AIA California Council and aecKnowledge.
MDC Tribal Elder: Reflections with Herb Greene
MDC Tribal Elder: Gere Kavanaugh - A Unique Multi-Dimensional Design Firm
In this Tribal Elder dialogue from the 20217 Monterey Design Conference, Pierluigi Serraino interviews the acclaimed American textile, industrial, and interior designer Gere Kavanaugh about her influence as a designer in the 1960s, the use of color and how interior design relates to the overall architectural design impact of a building. Gere discusses her work on the Nixon Library and her numerous exhibitions and collections, her collaboration with Victor Gruen and Frank Gehry, and her unabashed opinion about architects.
This course is presented FREE courtesy of the AIA California Council and aecKnowledge.
