FF – Distance Edition: Kennedy & Violich Architecture

The League’s monthly First Friday series has shifted to a new online format and other days of the week. Each event explores design practices in New York City and beyond that operate in multiple roles—coupling architecture with initiatives including design advocacy, fabrication research, and community engagement.

Boston-based Kennedy & Violich Architecture (KVA matx) was founded in 2000 by Juan Frano Violich and Sheila Kennedy. The practice also houses matx, the interdisciplinary research unit at KVA, which explores material culture across scales. Working with industry leaders, educational institutions, and public agencies, matx creates designs that advance the sustainable use of existing and renewable materials and explore low carbon fabrication in architecture. In this video, team members discuss recent work including the Global Flora Conservatory at Wellesley College and the Plant Properties project, which explore the intersections between design, biology, and social life. The firm also shares their experiences working on an ongoing project to develop a relocation plan for rural communities in Basid, in the High Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan.

The presentation is followed by a Q+A moderated by Rania Ghosn, an Associate Professor of Architecture and Urbanism at MIT School of Architecture + Planning and founding partner of the practice DESIGN EARTH with El Hadi Jazairy.