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Lecture by NUP’s Assistant Professor D. Antoniou on the ephemeron of Architecture

September 15, 2014

Mr. Dimitris Antoniou, MA, Assistant Professor of Architectural Design and Building Technology at Neapolis University Pafos, has recently presented a lecture with the title: “Contemporary thinking on the ephemeron of Architecture” in the Lecture Series held in “Palia Ilektriki” in Pafos, in the context of the NOMA-Workshop. The workshop, ending on September 19th, was organized by Chryso Onisiforou and Haris Petrou, architects. Its theme is Mobile Architecture and its scopes are to initiate a dialogue on the matters of mobility and ephemerality and to construct a prototype mobile cultural unit for the needs of Pafos 2017 (Cultural Capital of Europe). Mr. Antoniou’s lecture had the intension to put some relevant questions and to motivate young architects and students towards a new ground-breaking thinking on the social aspects of the profession today.

Short Lecture Abstract

Ephemeral architecture goes back to the beginning of mankind. Nowadays, it continues to play a part in shaping our environment. Mobility and impermanence are only two characteristics of it. It is not only about limited timeframes or the feeling of ephemeral lightweight materiality. It does not embrace only seasonal and nomadic aspects or daily events of architecture. In fact, it is a rethinking of architecture as we know it. Ephemerality is more a quality experience rather than duration of use. It might create a new notion of architecture in our world of users, consumers and new nomads (immigrants, slum habitants), through the use of new materials and prefab design. Many questions arise: What we could gain if we perceive architecture as temporary, mobile, flexible and ephemeral? What can be the role of architects in the future as we pass rapidly from the time of owners to the time of users? How could the temporary architecture be integrated in urban design or planning? Are architects able, to realize the importance of coupling sustainability with obsolescence and the need for technological upgrading as we move through time? Could it be a new democratic form of architecture, responding to emerging human needs and to the quest for sustainability? How architecture will be affected from the “ephemeralization” of our life on this planet? Many youth groups, anti-systemic architects worldwide and organizations teach the architecture for the need, the social responsibility of architects, or the access of all to the benefits of good design. TYIN from Norway, Shigeru Ban of Japan, Rural studio from U.S., Architecture for Humanity, and Architects without borders, are only some of the pioneers in the contemporary thought that incorporates the ephemeral in architecture today.

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