On 24 February, Dutch historian and architecture critic Hans Ibelings will speak as part of the Foros series with an online lecture entitled “Outlining a history of global warming”. 

Hans Ibelings is the editor of The Architecture Observer (Montreal/Amsterdam) and lectures at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design at the University of Toronto. Before moving to Canada in 2012, he was the editor and publisher of A10 new European architecture, a magazine he co-founded in 2004 alongside graphic designer Arjan Groot. Before that, however, he was well known for being the author of the popular book Supermodernism: Architecture in the Age of Globalization.

“In recent decades, the history of architecture has made a global shift. The time has now come for architectural history to cast its gaze towards global warming. This lecture aims to offer a summary of such a history of global warming, which starts with the Industrial Revolution. Today’s sustainable architecture is commonly presented as better than yesteryear’s less energy-efficient, more pollutive and wasteful practices. But, it should be possible to step off this treadmill and develop an alternative in which sustainable architecture is not the final chapter in a ‘better than before’ narrative”, he adds. 

Under the title “Expectations”, Foros 2021 will open the floor to discussions on the reconstruction projects that have emerged as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, across all areas of society, with a particular focus on architecture and urban planning.

Language: English

Link for free access: https://zoom.us/j/93711045954