BAS + BAF
Architectural Practice: Philip Christou (UK/CAN)
18:45
Architectural Practice is a lecture series inviting exemplary practices from across the globe to share their ongoing body of work. The series is curated by Cristian Ștefănescu (Associate Professor, BAS & founder of Cristian Ștefănescu Architect) and co-hosted by the Bergen School of Architecture (BAS) and Bergen Society of Architects (BAF).
Philip Christou is an architect, artist and architectural educator, born in Alberta, Canada. He was educated at McGill University, Montreal, before studying Fine Art at the University of Lethbridge and the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax. Philip then moved to London where he studied at the Architectural Association.
For a number of years, Philip worked alongside Florian Beigel in the Architecture Research Unit (ARU), London Metropolitan University. Since its inception in 1974, the ARU acted as a design laboratory for design-based research, conducting building studies across a variety of scales and mediums. This practice was seen as a methodology for producing innovative responses to architecture, interiors and urban design. Conceived as a single function, thinking and doing were amalgamated through a synthesis of drawing, making and building. As the ARU, Florian and Philip designed several buildings, including the Youhwadang book hall and the Youlhwadang publishing houses, as well as formulating the urban and landscape design, all at Paju Book City, outside of Seoul.
The scope of the ARU went beyond building. Alongside students, they published several books including Urban Figures and Baukunst: The Art of Building. These were self-published under the ARU moniker and provided an ongoing reference point for students and professionals alike. In addition to these books of architectural reference projects, they wrote and designed several books on their own works that were published elsewhere, including Architecture as City: Saemangeum Island City, The Idea of City, and Translations.