UCD Master of Architecture Swiss Lecture Series 2020/21 - Foreign Exchange Conversations on Architecture Here and Now

The School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, University College Dublin. in partnership with the Embassy of Switzerland in Ireland is delighted to present Catherine Gay Menzel of Gay Menzel Architectes, Monthey, in conversation with Jeff Bolhuis, of AP&E and Emma-Lucy O’Brien, Director of the VISUAL, Carlow at 19.30 IST, 15th September 2021. Catherine Gay Menzel will present her lecture ‘In the Folds’ in which the architect’s explores approaches to seeking out diverse and hidden meanings of place through a series of projects based in the Alps and in towns in the Valais.

Foreign Exchange: Conversations on Architecture Here and Now, is the 2020/21 edition of the U.C.D. Master of Architecture Lecture series and is  curated and hosted by Emmett Scanlon and Livia Hurley and is presented by the School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy at University College Dublin, in partnership with the Embassy of Switzerland in Ireland. 

With a specific focus on architecture in Switzerland, and discussing topics such as housing, climate, public realm and building reuse across a series of four evenings, leading Swiss architects will share and discuss their work in conversation with invited guests and with public audiences.

The lecture on 15 September 2021 is the final event in the Foreign Exchange series and it is free and open to all, with registration in advance HERE. 

About Catherine Gay Menzel
Catherine Gay Menzel runs the architectural office GayMenzel in collaboration with Götz Menzel in the Valais. She studied at the ETH Zurich, graduating in 1999, and gained her first professional experiences with Hans Kollhoff in Berlin; Leslie Gill in New York, Sabarchitekten in Basel; and Herzog & de Meuron in Hamburg. Since 2018 she is Vice-president of the cantonal building commission of the Valais. Since the autumn of 2020 Catherine is Visiting Professor at the EPF Lausanne, teaching on the master programme there.

About Jeffrey Bolhuis
Jeffrey Bolhuis is an architect based in Amsterdam. In 2013 together with Laurence Lord he established AP+E; a collaborative practice for design & research based in Ireland & The Netherlands. The work of AP+E has earned international recognition, winning awards and competitions as well as being widely published and exhibited. In 2018 Jeffrey was co-curator of Free Market, the Irish Pavilion for the Venice Biennale 2018, which investigated the public realm and potential development of market towns in Ireland. Jeffrey also teaches at the Faculty of Architecture TU Delft and holds a position as researcher at Institute for Art and Public Space at the Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam.

About Emma-Lucy O’Brien
Emma-Lucy O’Brien is a curator and arts producer. Her practice considers place and context as an instigator for the creation and positioning of art and site responsive artistic investigations. She is interested in cooperative and collaborative ways of making and sharing in artistic practice. Emma is CEO and Artistic Director at VISUAL Centre for Contemporary Art, Carlow.

About This Series
Foreign Exchange: Conversations on Architecture Here and Now is free and all are welcome to attend the lectures whether directly involved in architecture, education or not. 

A key aim of the UCD Master of Architecture lecture series is to share the work and practice of architects with a public audience. We are pleased to invite you to attend this series of public talks to discuss, consider and debate ideas in architecture, ideas which inevitably impact and enrich our individual and collective daily lives. 

The 2020/21 series pays particular attention to architecture and housing, climate, public realm and working with existing buildings. The partnership with the Embassy of Switzerland in Ireland also enables a vital discussion on the cultural import and impact of architecture in Ireland, Switzerland and beyond.

Further details or inquiries from Emmett Scanlon or Livia Hurley.