Simon Herron and Susanne Isa – Bartlett International Lecture Series

The Bartlett International Lecture Series is free and open to members of the public. Places are limited so early arrival is recommended. 

Cabinets of Wonder in the Age of Abundance

“...what it is, with all the kinds, causes, symptoms, prognostics, and several cures of it. In three partitions; with their several sections, members, subsections, philosophically, medicinally, historically, opened and cut up…
[‘The Anatomy of Melancholy’ by Robert Burton, Priest and Scholar, first published 1621: an analogue compendium and guide book; a 17th-century universal model of everything.]

This lecture explores the post-truth world, where everything that was once stable appears suddenly uncertain. A powerful interplay between the forces of nature and technology against those of culture and economics, facts and ‘alt facts', grotesquely distorts picturesque futures.

‘New Wunderkammer’ – an encyclopedic inventory of complex interconnected taxonomies – presented with meticulous footnotes, exhibit cards, carefully catalogued listings and Latin citations of provenance, and guided by the reassuringly confident tone of the absent narrator.

A delirious journey confronting complex strands of interwoven narrative and inexplicable facts; finely balanced on the edge of reason and bathed in doubt. From the Historical Arcane and Natural Curiosa in the private collections of 16th- and 17th-century Europe, vitrines of state, to the ever-present digital cloud.

Simon Herron and Susanne Isa

Simona and Susann both trained at the Architectural Association London. They currently teach design studios at the University of Greenwich, and previously taught postgraduate design tutors to MArch Unit 16 at The Bartlett and DS 14 University of Westminster. They have also run international studios at Sci-Arc Los Angeles and Lund Sweden. Both have lectured and exhibited internationally.

Built works include: Machi no kao, three pavilions for Toyama Prefecture, Japan [Herron Associates @ Imagination 1991-94]; a collaboration with AHMM & Studio Myerscough to produce the Millennium products touring exhibition for the British Council; and display units for the Millennium Dome Learning Zone [1988].

Current research interest reflects on architecture in the age of the anthropocene, with particular focus on photography and architectural drawing. With Mark Morris [Architectural Association] they are documenting and curating the Ron Herron Archive. This project has been supported by a research and development grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.

• Part of the Spring 2017 Bartlett International Lecture Series
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Sponsored by Fletcher Priest Architects