Thursday, October 8 | 7:00 PM | 79 New Montgomery Theater

Andrés Jaque Architects and the Office for Political Innovation explore the role architecture plays in the making of societies. They are dedicated to exploring the potential to confront architectural practices through the theoretical framework of post-foundational politics and symmetrical approaches to the sociology of technology. The office’s slogan is, ‘architecture is technologically rendered society’.  Jaque and his firm, are part of a generation of architects redefining the discipline as a practice linked  to politics, embedded in a complex system of social networks, and blurring the boundaries across various fields.

“We live in a time where interdisciplinarity is the rule, not the exception,” the Madrid-  and New York–based architect says. “Architecture now is not about forcing everyone to accept what  you are doing, but about creating a space for conversation.”  Office for Political Innovation’s philosophy is that architecture is the mediating force between public  and private interests. The firm begins each project with an intense research process, counts sociologists and a journalist among its dozen staff members, and maintains an expansive international network of  associates and partners in many different disciplines.  Jaque’s approach has earned his work a spot in MoMA’s design collection and as a finalist in its  2015  Young Architects Program and the MoMA PS1 installation “COSMO“ was just executed garnering attention and publications from all over the world.  The firm also won a Silver Lion for its research project  Sales Oddity at the Venice Architecture Biennale, curated by Rem Koolhaas. Jaque is building a pair of  100-foot-wide mobile photovoltaic canopies in Abu Dhabi, and is currently working on the transformation  of a public square in Holon, Israel.

On display at the AAU 79 NM Atelier is work from students of the School of Architecture celebrating the 15th anniversary of the department.