On October 3, a panel of architects, historians, critics, and authors will discuss Diana Agrest’s recent publication Architecture of Nature / Nature of Architecture.

Drawing inspiration from disciplines ranging from philosophy to the history of science, Agrest uses architecture’s modes of seeing and representational techniques as a means to explore the history of the earth. Transcending disciplinary boundaries of architecture, urbanism, and landscape, the book rigorously and creatively examines natural phenomena through original drawings and models.

Alongside work from Agrest’s advanced research studio at the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union, the publication features essays by Agrest, as well as contributions by D. Graham Burnett, Peter L. Galison, Caroline A. Jones, and John McPhee.

Panelists: Diana Agrest, Beatriz Colomina, Kurt Forster, Peter L. Galison, Caroline A. Jones, Sylvia Lavin. Moderated by Paul Lewis.

Diana Agrest, an architect, theorist, and filmmaker, is a professor at The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union. Her firm’s award-winning design projects range in scale from buildings to cities and urban regions.

Beatriz Colomina, an architectural historian and theorist, is the founding director of the interdisciplinary Media and Modernity Program at Princeton University and a professor and director of graduate studies in the School of Architecture.

Kurt Forster is a professor at Yale University and has taught at Stanford University, MIT, ETH Zurich, and Bauhaus University, Weimar. He was director of the Getty Research Center and the Canadian Centre for Architecture.

Peter Louis Galison is the Joseph Pellegrino University Professor in history of science and physics at Harvard University and director of the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments. He has co-directed two documentary films.

Caroline A. Jones is an art historian, curator, and critic. She is a professor in the History, Theory, and Criticism of Architecture and Art program at the MIT School of Architecture and Planning.

Sylvia Lavin is a historian, critic, and curator of architecture. She is a professor of architecture at Princeton University and was formerly chairperson and director of Critical Studies in Architecture at UCLA.

Paul Lewis is a professor and associate dean at Princeton University School of Architecture, a partner at LTL Architects, and president of the Architectural League of New York.

This event is organized by the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of the Cooper Union and co-sponsored by The Architectural League of New York.