Architect Talks is a series of public talks by experts from international architecture firms organized by Garage in collaboration with KOSMOS Architects and focused on contemporary experimental architecture.
Bypassing the so-called starchitects, or huge international architectural firms, the cycle introduces Russian listeners interested in architecture and design to smaller ateliers that combine innovation with conceptual design based on the study of contexts, as well as with scientific research and teaching. Collectives taking part in Architect Talks work at the intersection of architecture and contemporary art—or architecture and research. Many of them are little known in Russia, including among professionals, despite their impressive projects and portfolios. Architect Talks will introduce listeners to their work, offering opportunities to discuss it with the architects and ask questions.
During the first talk in the series, the Portuguese Fala Atelier will speak about their work on various projects, and offer advice on how to prepare for inevitable alterations in the project, cope with mistakes, failures, critique and whims on the part of the client and be serious about joy and lightness. Fala Atelier believe in learning and unlearning on a daily basis and insist that architects must forget whatever they are taught at university. Their most cherished projects often end up in the bin, but only to give way to more exciting ones. Fala architects are all about commitment and being stubborn.
Fala Atelier is an architecture firm founded in Porto in 2013 by Filipe Magalhães, Ana Luisa Soares, and Ahmed Belkhodja. Fala architects have lectured in various universities and institutions, including the Architectural Association School of Architecture, the Royal Institute of British Architects and Barbican (all in London), Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (New York), Graham Foundation (Chicago), BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts (Brussels), National School of Architecture of Versailles (Paris), Casa dell'Architettura (Rome), as well as at architecture departments of many European universities. The Atelier have shown their works at architecture biennials in Venice and Chicago, at the Serralves Foundation in Porto and Pavillon de l'Arsenal in Paris, and in solo exhibitions. Their projects have been reviewed in international media such as Domus, Engawa, Baumeister, Zeppelin, Plot and Architectural Review, and were the main focus of the 80th edition of 2G.
The event is organized in collaboration with KOSMOS.