Closing Keynotes: From Romantic to Pragmatic - 24-03-09

AIA CEU Number: 24-03-09
Number of Credits: 1.0 HSW
Course Title: From Romantic to Pragmatic
Keywords: Vernacular, Structural Integrity, Energy Efficiency, Public Welfare
Session Description:
Is there a moral imperative to apply the themes of traditional architecture to make a positive difference in improving the built environment today? Branko Mitrovic, an architect and philosopher calls for an honest assessment of our designs and respect the wisdom of the community and end users. Architect John Smylie reviews selected recent award-winning projects, critiquing their practicality, functionality and durability over time.
Author and Professor Emeritus James Stevens Curl discusses the necessity of classicism and it’s rich and varied language that is capable of infinite applications, a highly sophisticated, adaptable system, that suggests something coherent, with deep and diverse allusions, capable of enormous ranges of expression, like the spoken language of a culture. Maurice Culot discusses the beauty and meaning of traditional practice, and the equitable cultural and societal importance of new traditional architecture.
Learning objectives:
1. Learn about how public-facing architecture that incorporates traditional tectonic logic and creates an instinctive feelings of reduced stress in the public, leading to psychological and social benefits.
2. Learn well-established design languages to logically express a building’s design so it is intuitively comprehensible even to the untrained passer-by. This promotes a visually restful, calming urban realm which supports psychological and social well-being.
3. Learn how simplicity and structural logic in architectural expression intrinsically supports durability, adaptability, structural safety, water resistance, energy efficiency, and the continuity of weather and thermal barriers.
4. Learn how to communicate the psychosocial benefits of traditional, human-scaled architecture in clear, honest and direct design in order to equitably engage a wide range of users.
Efficiency and honesty in construction is psychologically comforting, and intuitively signals a built environment which is safe, stable, high-performing, and made with care. These architectural traits are much deeper than a façade. Tectonic design, present in Classical architecture as well as worldwide pre-modern regional vernaculars, is a holistic approach which expresses suitability to local culture and regional climate, durable construction, and sensitivity to the human scale. The beauty of traditional architecture is beneficial to the public’s psychological health in itself, but it’s also an outward expression of inherently stable and efficient construction.

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This is fascinating, well done to all involved.