Lars Lerup: The American Suburb and “Foaming at the Edge”

This week, the American architect, author, professor of  architecture and urbanism, and former dean of Rice University, School of Architecture Lars Lerup will be the guest of the 4th IABR. On Thursday 8 October he will give the Open City Lecture, and on Friday 9 October he will present the Open City Master Class.

Open City Lecture
On 8 October, as part of the “Community” Cluster in the Open City Event Program, Lars Lerup (US) will lecture at the NAI. Dan D’Oca of Interboro, the curators of “Community: The American Way of Life” exhibition in the 4th IABR will introduce Lerup. Like Lerup, Interboro believes that suburbia presents rich terrain for the Open City, and offers architects and urbanists challenges and opportunities to “design coexitence.”

In his talk, Lerup will project ideas on how to construct coexistence, despite the exteme forms of isolation found in these contexts.  According to Lerup, suburbs are the new open metropolis and not, as many believe, a place where uniformity and mediocracy rule.
Lerup will introduce some utopian ideas in relation to stimulating social cohesion, mobility, and sustainabilty in metropolitan suburbs.

Masterclass Presentation
On Friday 9 October, Lars Lerup will present the results of the Open City Master Class, “Foaming at the Edge,” organized by the 4th IABR with the Berlage Institute–CARD in Rotterdam.
International teams of young architects, guided by their tutors and the New Dialogues AG team, researched the edge between the city of Rotterdam and its harbor in order to reflect on the city’s urban and architectural future. Participants designed the edge between the city and the harbor, between the liquid and the solid in order to explore what the German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk has defined as architectures of foam. At the center of this conception is the modern residence par excellence: the apartment. The master class participants explore how the apartment unit can form a new entity where humans coexist with nature and building together.

Fourteen participants will present their new master plan proposals for revitalizing the Rotterdam harbor at a public event as part of the Open City Event Program in the NAI Forum. The presentations will be held from 11 am – 4 pm.

Open Podium
At 5 pm, following the master class presentations, the Berlage Institute will host the Open Podium with special guest “Speedism” – a Brussels-based artists/architects collaborative. The peformance will related to themes in Interboro’s “Community” exhibition. Hunch 13 will be presented on this occassion. Admission to the Open Podium is free.