Book Talk | Building Culture: The Museum Beyond Art
Tuesday, February 18, 2025, 6:30 - 8:30pm
This event will be conducted in-person in the Rose Auditorium and through Zoom.
For in-person attendance, please register in advance here.
For Zoom attendance, please register in advance here.
A conversation celebrating the launch of Julian Rose’s new book, Building Culture: Sixteen Architects on How Museums Are Shaping the Future of Art, Architecture, and Public Space (Princeton Architectural Press, 2024). This compelling work gathers in-depth interviews with Elizabeth Diller and fifteen other celebrated architects, offering fresh insights into the design and evolution of art museums in today’s dynamic cultural landscape.
In this exclusive event, curator Paola Antonelli, architect Elizabeth Diller, and author Julian Rose will come together to explore the growing complexity and diversity of museum programming. They will discuss how both curatorial and architectural approaches are adapting to an era when museums increasingly serve as vital public forums. The conversation will also delve into the art museum’s evolving relationship with alternative cultural spaces and how these institutions are redefining their roles in society.
Julian Rose is a historian and critic of art and architecture. From 2012 to 2018, he was a senior editor at Artforum, and he regularly contributes to a wide range of publications including Aperture, Architectural Review, Artforum, Bookforum, Log, Perspecta, and October. His work as a cofounder of the award winning design studio Formlessfinder has been exhibited internationally at venues including the Museum of Modern Art, the Chicago Architecture Biennial, and the Venice Biennale of Architecture. Rose received a BA in the history of art and architecture from Harvard University and an MArch from Princeton University, and he has taught architectural design and history at Columbia University and Princeton. He is currently completing a PhD at Princeton on the origin and evolution of museums of contemporary art.
Paola Antonelli is Senior Curator of Architecture & Design at The Museum of Modern Art, as well as MoMA’s founding Director of Research & Development. Her goal is to promote design’s understanding, until its positive influence on the world is universally acknowledged. Her work investigates design’s impact on everyday experience, often including overlooked objects and practices, and combining design, architecture, art, science, and technology. Among her most recent exhibitions are the XXII Triennale di Milano Broken Nature, Never Alone, on video games and interactive design, and Life Cycles, on the materials of contemporary design. The Instagram platform, book, and now podcast Design Emergency, which she co-founded with design critic Alice Rawsthorn, is an ongoing investigation on design's power to envision a better future for all.
Elizabeth Diller is a founding partner of Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R), an interdisciplinary design studio operating at the intersection of architecture, the performing arts, and the visual arts. Alongside partner Ricardo Scofidio, Liz's cross genre work has been distinguished with TIME’s "100 Most Influential People" list and the first MacArthur Foundation grant awarded in the field of architecture. DS+R established its identity through self-generated projects in public spaces that challenged the status quo of the architectural discipline before expanding the practice to include architectural work at all scales, with an emphasis on cultural, educational, and civic projects.Following the success of the ICA Boston and The Broad in Los Angeles, Diller spearheaded the conception and design of The Shed—a start-up multi-arts institution. She also led the renovation and expansion of MoMA in New York and V&A East Storehouse, currently under construction in London. In parallel with her architecture projects, Diller continues to develop independent works for the stage, curatorial and installation projects for museums and public spaces, as well as works for print and alternative media. Most recently, she completed Architecture, Not Architecture, a double-volume monograph on the studio’s cross-disciplinary work. Diller serves as a Professor of Architecture at Princeton University and a member of the UN Council on Urban Initiatives.
This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required.
Located in the Frederick P. Rose Auditorium, at 41 Cooper Square (on Third Avenue between 6th and 7th Streets)