Innovative, award-winning architect Alvin Huang will share his insights and experience at the Faculty of Environmental Design as he makes a guest appearance this week for a student workshop, public lecture and gallery opening.
Huang joins the design faculty for the Taylor Visiting Lectureship, a one-week design studio established in honour of Dale Taylor, past director of the department’s architecture program.
Huang is the founder and design principal of SYNTHESIS, an emerging contemporary design practice based in California and the U.K. The firm operates in the fields of architecture, infrastructure, interiors, installations, exhibitions, furniture, and product design.
“Having Alvin here to lead this seminar and show students his work is a great opportunity for us as a faculty and a university,” said Jason Johnson, assistant professor of architecture. “As a young practitioner whose work is beginning to be built and recognized around the world, he is a great example of how innovative design approaches can find their place in the world of practice.”
Huang merges creative and intellectual design processes with intelligent fabrication and construction techniques to create beautifully crafted designs. Each project is a unique opportunity to integrate diverse and often contending conceptions and constraints, into a coherent whole.
“His research into material systems and computational techniques reinforces the objectives of the Taylor Seminar, which are to expose students to emerging modes of design research and practice,” notes Johnson.
Huang is also a tenure-track assistant professor at the University of Southern California’s School of Architecture. He has taught design studios at the Architectural Association in London, Tsinghua University in Beijing, and Chelsea College of Art in London.
The Design Matters public lecture with Huang takes place Wednesday, Feb. 20 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the university’s downtown campus, 906 8th Ave. S.W. Admission is free for students and $5 for non-student.
An exhibition of student work from the week-long workshop, as well as Huang’s work, will open with a reception on Friday, Feb. 22 in the Kasian Gallery (PF 2182) from 6 to 8 p.m.
For more information contact Jessica Wallace at jwalla@ucalgary.ca
Article by Jessica Wallace. Image courtesy SYNTHESIS.