Gilles Retsin
Parts that precede buildings
Part of the MIT Fall 2023 Architecture Lecture Series. Presented with the Design and Computation Group.
ONLINE Webcast: http://youtube.com/mitarchitecture
6:00 PM
This lecture will be held in person in Long Lounge, 7-429 and streamed online.
In this talk, London-based architect Gilles Retsin will present the work of both his architectural practice and the technology company AUAR ltd (Automated Architecture). This body of work is framed as an alternative route for the digital in architecture, based on a proposition for automation as the digital distribution of discrete parts - parts that precede buildings. Gilles’ work addresses a range of questions, always framed as consequences of the distribution of parts: from technical logics, to architectural qualities and socio-economic impact. The work presented takes a political position, arguing that architecture should reconcile itself with automation to address both its own increasingly precarious position as a profession, the imminent climate emergency and global housing crisis.
Gilles Retsin is founder and CTO/ChiefArchitect of AUAR ltd, a UK-based startup building a micro-factory network for affordable timber housing. He studied architecture in Belgium, Chile and the UK, where he graduated from the Architectural Association. His design work and critical discourse has been internationally recognised through awards, lectures and exhibitions at major cultural institutions such as the Museum of Art and Design in New York, the Royal Academy in London and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. He has edited books on architecture, computational design and robotics and is also an associate professor at UCL, the Bartlett School of Architecture where he co-directs AUAR Labs, a research lab focused on innovating the full value chain of housing. Gilles has a passion for design, tech, timber, cities, economics and politics.
Lectures are free and open to the public. Lectures will be held Thursdays at 6 PM ET in 7-429 (Long Lounge) and streamed online unless otherwise noted. Registration required to attend in-person. Register here or watch the webcast on Youtube.
