Bartlett International Lecture Series - Iain Borden

Drive: Journeys through Film, Cities and Landscapes

With the publication of his new book Drive (Reaktion Books), Iain presents a photographic, filmic and spoken exploration of automobile experiences of a diverse range of architectures. Iain explores how getting behind the wheel of a car allows us to encounter buildings, landscapes and cities around the world, as well as how driving is portrayed in film from America to Europe to Asia, and from Hollywood to the avant-garde. Throughout, Iain argues that car driving is an integral part of the kineaesthetics of modern life, making Drive a timely riposte to anti-car attitudes and those blind to the richness of life behind the wheel.

Biography

Iain Borden is Professor of Architecture and Urban Culture at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, where he is also Vice-Dean for Communications for the Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment. His wide-ranging research includes explorations of architecture in relation to cities & public space, film & photography, critical theory & philosophy, and human bodies and spatial experiences. Authored and co-edited books include Drive: Journeys through Film, Cities and Landscapes (Reaktion, 2012), Bartlett Designs: Speculating With Architecture (Wiley, 2009), Manual: the Architecture and Office of Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (Birkhauser, 2003), Skateboarding Space and the City: Architecture and the Body (Berg, 2001), The Unknown City: Contesting Architecture and Social Space (MIT, 2001) and InterSections: Architectural Histories and Critical Theories (Routledge, 2000).

Image: Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976)