Architect To Give WCMA's Plonsker Lecture
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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Florian Idenburg, co-founder of SO-IL, the architecture firm selected to design and build WCMA's new home in Williamstown, will give the annual Plonsker Family Lecture on Thursday, Nov. 16, at 6 p.m. in the '62 Center for the Theatre and Arts.
The presentation will include an historical overview of the museum's evolution as a building type, touching on the drivers that have changed our thinking and how to design a museum for the future. Idenburg also will discuss some of SO-IL's previous work.
The lecture will be preceded by a reception at the '62 Center from 5 to 6 p.m.
SO-IL was founded by Florian Idenburg and Jing Liu and has been based in New York City since 2008. Diverse in origin, SO-IL's team of collaborators speaks a dozen languages and is informed by global narratives and perspectives. They are both locally-rooted and nationless, coming together as a mid-size, well-recognized company. With their ambitious private and public clients, they explore how the creation of environments and objects inspires lasting positive intellectual and societal engagement.
They have completed projects in Leon, Seoul, and Lisbon, as well as their hometown, Brooklyn, New York. Their concept home for nomadic living in Milan encourages an active awareness of life beyond routine. At the University of California, Davis campus, they designed a museum that cultivates an intentionally open-ended relationship between the visitor and the site at the outset. They design with time in mind. Whether working with existing structures or building from the ground, they carefully investigate physical properties and history.
They have been featured in the New York Times, CNN, and Frankfurter Allgemeine. Their work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Art Institute of Chicago. Their team has received numerous accolades, including the Vilcek Award, the Curbed Groundbreakers Award, and the MoMAPS1 Young Architects Program Award.
The Plonsker Family Lecture Series in Contemporary Art, established in 1994 by Madeleine Plonsker, Harvey Plonsker '61 and their son, Ted Plonsker '86, examines current issues in contemporary art. Past lecturers have included artists Arthur Jafa, Lynda Benglis, Kenturah Davis, Sharon Hayes, Senga Nengudi, Clifford Owens, Trevor Paglen, Cara Romero, John Rubin, and Jessica Stockholder.
The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the museum at 413-597-2429 or visit artmuseum.williams.edu.
WCMA is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.
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