<Czech>Do Prahy přijede Cecil Balmond: architektonická superstar a filosof za projekčním prknem</Czech><English>Cecil Balmond is coming to Prague: an architectural superstar and philosopher behind the drawing board</English>

“Cecil Balmond is not an engineer in the sense that we usually use this word,” says the executive director of the reSITE festival, Osamu Okamura, “he is a thinker, mathematician, and philosopher, one of the few in this field – a truly Renaissance personality. Thanks to Balmond and his studies, it has been possible to realize even the boldest ideas of architects around the world.” The Sri Lankan-born resident of London (*1943) has helped bring to life projects such as the Centre Pompidou building by Shigeru Ban in Metz, France, or the unique pavilions by Rem Koolhaas and Toyo Ito for London’s Serpentine Gallery. Last year, the world was enchanted by his 120m high sculpture Orbit, installed in London for the Olympic Games, designed by artist Anish Kapoor. In Prague, he will present his projects for public space in a public lecture on June 23 at 19:00 at ARCHIP.

The former vice president of the best engineering office on the planet, Ove Arup, an excellent constructor and “artist of steel and concrete” has collaborated on projects with the greatest architects of today, such as Alvaro Siza and Daniel Libeskind. “He is a true ‘star’ – of the world of art and architecture,” adds the program coordinator of the festival, Milota Sidorová, “moreover, thanks to our workshop, it is possible to not only listen to Cecil at the public lecture but also to work directly with him.” This attractive opportunity awaits participants of the dPAV workshop, aimed at creating a new mobile pavilion for the accompanying events of the reSITE festival.



The dPAV workshop is open to interdisciplinary teams and individuals from various fields. Interested parties such as architects, landscape architects, engineers, sociologists, geographers, ecologists, marketing professionals, economists, scientists, business people, technologists, and IT specialists, anyone interested in architecture, urbanism, or simply in cities and life within them, can participate. “Thanks to Balmond, the workshop will have an interdisciplinary character. The more diverse the composition, the better,” Milota Sidorová invites participation from “non-technical” fields as well. The workshop itself will be overseen by Cecil Balmond, while one of his best architects, Tyson Hosmer, will lead the daily work.

The public lecture will take place on June 23 at 19:00 at ARCHIP, Fr. Křížka 1, Prague 7. ENTRY IS FREE.

Detailed information about the workshop can be found here. Applications must be submitted by May 30, 2013, exclusively in electronic form.