28 March 2011

Kengo Kuma public lecture - 'The Answer is Architecture', Saturday May 21st

Kengo Kuma, the lead architect on the V&A at Dundee project, will present his first public lecture in Scotland at the University of Dundee on May 21st.

Kengo Kuma & Associates won the design competition for the V&A at Dundee building, which is set to transform Dundee and reconnect the city to the water.

A Professor at the Graduate School of Architecture at the University of Tokyo, Mr Kuma also holds the prestigious Architectural Institute of Japan Award (1997).

He will present his public lecture - 'The Answer is Architecture' - at the University’s Dalhousie Building on Saturday May 21st, from 6pm. The event will be open to all and admission is free. Due to demand a second lecture has been added which will take place at 12.30 pm on Saturday May 21st.

In this exclusive lecture, Mr Kuma will explore the role that architecture has in connecting people to their environment. He will discuss how a well-designed building acts as an operating system for society and can mark a defining moment of civilisation.

The title of the lecture answers the question of whether a building can enhance our relationship with the environment rather than detracting from it.

'We are delighted that Kengo Kuma is going to give this public lecture in Dundee,' said David Dorward, Chief Executive of Dundee City Council and Board member of Design Dundee Ltd, the partnership delivering the V&A at Dundee.

'We continue to receive enormous public interest in the V&A at Dundee and this will be a chance for people to hear directly from the lead architect on the project.'

Tickets are available from the University's Online Store or from the Events Office, tel: 01382 385564.

Meanwhile, Kengo Kuma’s design proposal for the V&A at Dundee building, together with those from the five other finalists in the design competition, will go on show at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London from April 1st.

The Architectural Designs for the V&A at Dundee exhibition has already been seen by thousands of people in Scotland and now moves to London. Around 15,000 people visited the exhibition when it was unveiled at the University of Abertay Dundee in autumn last year and it has since been shown at the Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh and the Lighthouse in Glasgow.

The exhibition showcases the six shortlisted designs from the international architectural competition for the V&A at Dundee, which attracted over 120 entries from around the world.

The exhibition will run until May 15th at the V&A in South Kensington.

For more on the V&A at Dundee see www.vandaatdundee.com

The V&A at Dundee is being delivered by Design Dundee Ltd, a partnership between the Victoria & Albert Museum and Dundee City Council, the Universities of Dundee and Abertay Dundee, and Scottish Enterprise.

For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
Head, Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384910
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07800 581902