Upcoming events

CHAST Lecturer : Mark Burry.
Director of the Spatial Information Architecture Laboratory, RMIT
Antoni Gaudi's Sagrada Familia and its role in assisting the art-science dialogue
When: Thursday May 24, 2012, 6:00 pm.
Where: Old Geology Lecture Theatre, University of Sydney.
Cost: Admission Free. No Bookings. All Welcome.

While the typical image of Gaudi's work is one that focuses on his artistic virtuosity his handle on technology nevertheless placed him at the forefront of his profession then. His approach to geometry, especially in his later years, places him at the forefront of today's architectural practice. In many ways Gaudi was a reactionary preferring to restrict his building repertoire to traditional techniques, but his approach to design required him to innovate regardless. Mark Burry has had a leading role in helping complete the project during the last three decades. Central to his engagement has been a significant research effort into the surviving material from Gaudi's studio, which was trashed during the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War. His talk will describe the translation of this design research into coherent building information and will demonstrate how the technological link between this project and its particular needs have actually contributed to cutting-edge design research for contemporary architecture almost nine decades on from Gaudi's death in 1926. It is the unexpected holism of Gaudi's oeuvre that helps support Mark Burry's view that great architecture helps bridge the gulf between art and science thus offering an essential dialogue between the two.

Biography
Professor Mark Burry has published internationally on two main themes: the life and work of the architect Antoni Gaudi in Barcelona, and putting theory into practice with regard to 'challenging' architecture; he has also published widely on broader issues of design, construction and the use of computers in design theory and practice. As architect to the Temple Sagrada Fam'lia since 1979, Mark Burry has been a key member within the local design team based on site in Barcelona, untangling the mysteries of Gaudi's compositional strategies for his greatest work, especially those coming from his later years, the implications of which only become apparent as they are resolved for building purposes. On February 18 2004, in recognition of his contribution to this project, Professor Burry was awarded the prestigious award . 'Diploma i la insignia a l'academic corresponent' and the title Il.lustrisim Senyor by the Reial Acadèmia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi. In 2006 Mark was awarded the Australian Research Council's most prestigious funding award, a 'Federation Fellowship' for five years. He was also the recipient of the USA Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA) Award for Innovative Research that year. He was the Velux Visiting Professor at CITA, Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, Denmark (2009-2011). In April this year, was awarded the Sasada Award 2012.
Professor Burry is Director of RMIT's state-of-the-art Spatial Information Architecture Laboratory (SIAL), which has been established as a holistic transdisciplinary research environment dedicated to almost all aspects of contemporary spatial design activity. The laboratory focuses on collocated design research and undergraduate and postgraduate teaching with associated advanced computer applications and the rapid prototyping of ideas. The laboratory has a design-practice emphasis and acts as a creative think-tank accessible to both local and international practices, including ARUP in Melbourne, Sydney and London, dECOi in MIT, and Gehry Partners in Los Angeles.
Professor Burry is the Founding Director of RMIT University's Design Research Institute (DRI), inaugurated in March 2008. DRI brings together researchers from a range of design disciplines and harnesses their collective expertise to address major social and environmental dilemmas.

CHAST Lecturer : Dr. Brian Schmidt.
Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University
The Accelerating Universe
When: Wednesday 18th July 2012, 1 pm.
Where: Eastern Ave Auditorium, University of Sydney.
Cost: Admission Free. No Bookings. All Welcome.

In 1998 two teams traced back the expansion of the universe over billions of years and discovered that it was accelerating, a startling discovery that suggests that more than 70% of the cosmos is contained in a previously unknown form of matter, called Dark Energy. The 2011 Nobel Laureate for Physics, Brian Schmidt, leader of the High-Redshift Supernova Search Team, will describe this discovery and explain how astronomers have used observations to trace our universe's history back more than 13 billion years, leading them to ponder the ultimate fate of the cosmos.