The Future of Cultural Centers: Gabriel Kogan on SESC Pompéia

*This event is occurring as a live webinar. Registrants will be emailed a link to access the program.*

The Future of Cultural Centers Dialogue Series

As the world rapidly changes around us, old frameworks for the development of cultural centers look less and less relevant. Continuing the success of the series from 2020, this year AIA New York will look at cultural institutions that take a mixed-use approach to programming and space and a more holistic view at the human experience. We will touch on opportunities and challenges around these hybrid organizations, questioning what would happen if we were to take this unprecedented time to explore new missions, visions, and models to help address existing institutional deficits. What will 21st-century arts and community spaces be like? Join us for this Spring line-up of conversations as cultural forecaster and museum expert David van der Leer, Principal of DVDL, speaks with professionals from around the US and beyond.

In this week’s installment, Van der Leer will be joined in conversation by architect, critic, and professor Gabriel Kogan, who will discuss São Paulo’s SESC Pompéia. SESC Pompéia is a remarkable adaptive reuse project by one of Modernism’s best-known female architects, Lina Bo Bardi. Originally a drum factory, Bo Bardi transformed the structure in 1982 into a highly successful, multi-purpose building by adding two concrete towers connected by diagonal walkways. She stripped the factory back to its original concrete and brick to show the structural tectonics while also allowing the program to drive the design in a socially utopic vision that reflects Modernism’s highest ideals. The building continues to thrive to this day, fascinating lovers of Modern architecture around the world.

Speakers:
Gabriel Kogan, Architect, critic, and professor (São Paulo, Brazil)
David van der Leer, Principal, DVDL

Gabriel Kogan is an architect, critic and filmmaker based in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He is a PhD candidate at the University of São Paulo’s School of Architecture and Urban Planning (FAU-USP) and a professor in history and architecture theory at Escola da Cidade. Since 2015, Kogan has been a guest lecturer and teaching assistant at Politecnico Milano. His main research and teaching areas include modern and contemporary architectural theory, especially in Brazil and Japan.

David van der Leer is a consultant, curator, educator, moderator, researcher, strategist, and writer. He is the principal of DVDL, a New York City and Rotterdam-based agency of cultural forecasters, institutional strategists, and design matchmakers, where he advises institutions, government agencies, corporations, and individuals in reinventing the institutions of yesterday and building the most inspirational institutions of tomorrow. Along with his consulting work, David van der Leer is a professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation where he teaches a course called (Re)Programming Museums.

Explore all events in the series and register for upcoming programs here.