Architecture: The Third World

NOMAS Symposium Keynote Lecture
Max Abramovitz Distinguished Lecture

Saturday, April 24, 3:00 P.M.
Lawrence J. Plym Auditorium
Temple Hoyne Buell Hall

Alfredo Brillembourg & Hubert Klumpner
Urban Think Tank, Caracas

An exploration of the architecture of the city of Caracas, Venezuela, CARACASCASE and the culture of the Informal City, is a project under the direction of the Urban Think Tank which studies the deep-rooted changes and urban realities which are visible in the explosive growth of mega cities. This lecture understands alternative design ideas concerning realities beyond urban planning and infrastructure in cities, proposing a possible methodology which can be the basis for a future realm while taking it’s roots in the 3rd world culture.

About the Lecturers

Caracas Urban Think Tank is a Latin American non-profit NGO research laboratory led by Alfredo Brillembourg (born New York, 1961) and Hubert Klumpner (born Salzburg, 1965.) CCSTT was represented in the World Forum and the Human Habitat Conference (global urban settlements, sustainable growth and redevelopment), and received sponsorship from the World Bank Development Marketplace Organization. CCSTT is presently producing on a book Caracas Case for the German Cultural Foundation to be released in 2005.

Alfredo Brillembourg was born in New York in 1961. He is a graduate of Columbia University, B.A. '84, M.Arch. '86, where he studied under the architects Romaldo Giurgola, Tod Williams and Henry Smith-Miller among others. He validated his professional degree at the Central University of Venezuela. In 1994 an interest for writing on architecture led him to collaborate on two publications: one on the work of Jimmy Alcock and the other on Alejandro Pietri, both talented Venezuelan architects. The same year he was invited to teach architectural design at the Universidad José María Vargas and later at the Universidad Simón Bolívar and the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas. In 1995, he opened his own office in Caracas, BVG Architects, the CCSTT urban research laboratory and in 2000, Brillembourg/Hotson Architects in New York City. He has lectured at various international Symposia and been a guest critic at Cooper Union and Columbia University.

Hubert Klumpner was born in 1965 in Salzburg, Austria. Klumpner was trained at the Academy of Applied Arts in Vienna and received his Masters Degree in Architecture and Urban Design as a Fulbright grantee from Columbia University in New York. Klumpner is Professor at the Central University of Venezuela/UCV and one of the Founding Professors of the Estudio Digital. He is a member of the Architectural Association of Germany. Klumpner is also an Urban Design Consultant to the International Program for Social and Cultural development in Latin America, UNESCO-OEA-BID, and a member of the Board of Directors of Consorcio Justica. Since 1996 he has been co/director of the Urban Think Tank along with Alfredo Brillembourg. In 2001 Klumpner worked together with Matías Pintó and Mateo Pintó in the K2P Studio. Hubert Klumpner has received various prizes including the Olympic Committee in Rome and the Prize of the City of Vienna for the Project "Vienna City of Sports,” the Beata Inay a Award in Memory of Rudolph Schindler, the Architectural Promotion Award from the City of Vienna and the City of Salzburg, and the Award for Excellence in Design from Columbia University.