"LOOK BACKWARD / LOOK FORWARD" CONFERENCE STEINMETZDEMEYER AT JIA
« Backward/Forward : contemporary architecture and sustainability in and around old buildings » au JIA (Japan Institute of Architects) de Tokyo.
The increase in energy costs and the environmental impact of construction affected Europe harder and earlier than Japan. Therefore, for over a decade, projects in Luxembourg have concentrated on rational use of energy: the layout and the orientation of different spaces and glazed openings capturing a maximum of solar energy for instance. Elements of bio-ecological construction are always added: healthy materials, no pollutants or solvents and in-depth studies of embodied energy. Steinmetz and DeMeyer have done extensive research on these issues and will discuss them in Tokyo, also trying to learn from their Japanese colleagues.
Creating an intensive relationship between “site” and “design” is the two architects’ main aim. The quality of any architectural or urban project is measured by its level of resonance with its surrounding public spaces. Projects, small or large, must find a meaning in the eyes of the community, public, residents and of course the final users. The lecture will focus in particular on architectural heritage in Europe and how both architects seek to keep memory intact and also give it new life. They clearly work in a contemporary way, creating a dialogue between the existing and the new. Each project should enrich and strengthen the ancient by comprehensible contrast.
JIA: 1F（2-3-18, Jingumae, Shibuya) Tel.:03-3408-8291, à 18h30