Francine Houben to give lecture in Medellin, Colombia

Francine Houben has been invited to give a lecture at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana in Medellin, Colombia on Wednesday, August 16, 2017. The lecture will be hosted at the Faculty of Architecture and start at 6pm. Entrance is free.

In the lecture, Francine will present various Mecanoo projects which address key challenges for socially cohesive cities, stressing the importance of collaboration, innovation, and craftmanship. Each project is carefully considered in terms of its cultural setting, location and time. Moreover, they are designed to be prepared for predictable and unpredictable changes in our ways of communicating, living, working and consuming.

In particular, she will focus on the potential to transform cities by reimagining their mobility networks. For example, as Mecanoo did in their proposal for the former railway yards of Milan. By creating multi-modal hubs where people of all generations can live, work and meet, a city can become an inclusive and sustainable habitat.

Francine Houben, Hon. FAIA, Hon. FRIAC, is the founding partner and creative director of Mecanoo architecten. Her work ranges from theatres, museums and libraries to neighbourhoods, housing and parks. Selected works include Delft University of Technology Library, National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, and the renovation of the New York Public Library Midtown Campus.

She has received Honorary Doctorates from Utrecht University and Université de Mons (UMons) and was granted lifelong membership to the Akademie der Künste in Berlin. In 2015, Queen Máxima of the Netherlands presented her the prestigious Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Prize for her entire oeuvre.