Thursday 14 July 2005, 18.30–20.00

Part of Architecture Week

This is the fourth in a series of conversations investigating the elements of architecture in contemporary life and across various cultural practices. Do the Vitruvian principles of commodity, firmness and delight still hold good? What is the value of sensuousness or of spectacular shape making? With the rise of digital and virtual technologies, what is the value of the material properties of architecture?

Ai Weiwei is a Chinese conceptual artist. Born in 1957, his family was exiled from Beijing until 1978 at which point he returned to the city. After founding a group of Western-oriented artists, the Stars, Ai Weiwei moved to the USA in 1981. He returned to China in 1993 and started on a series of works that have become more ambitious and architectural, and with an approach that stimulates doubt and questioning. His recent work includes Concrete (2000) and Chandelier (2002) both of which challenge traditional understandings of space. Ai Weiwei is currently working closely with Herzog and de Meuron on the design of Beijing’s new Olympic stadium.

Philip Dodd was Director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts from 1997 to 2004. He left the ICA to become co-founder and Chairman of Made in China, an agency which develops cultural, educational and commercial projects between the UK and China. He is an award-winning broadcaster and editor, and has curated major arts, film and architecture exhibitions at venues including the Hayward Gallery and the ICA. Dodd has also been deputy editor of the New Statesman, a consultant to the BBC and was founding editor of the BFI’s Sight and Sound magazine.

Tate Modern  Starr Auditorium
£7 (£5 concessions), booking recommended

    

This event is related to the Herzog & de Meuron: An Exhibition exhibition