New York conference celebrates depth and diversity in architecture practice today
The World Around, Beatrice Galilee's day-long conference in New York, brought together future projects, inter-discplinary discussion and issues around gender bias, through an exciting array of international participants

In her five years as architecture curator at New York’s Metropolitan Museum Art, Beatrice Galilee’s most outstanding accomplishment was the creation of a banner annual design conference, ‘A Year of Architecture in a Day'. Now flying solo, she’s rebooted the event – now retitled ‘The World Around’ – and expanded on its scope: as the curator explains, ‘With The World Around, I tried to share more insight into the type of thinking and ideas that could change what happens next.'
Debuting on a rainy Saturday in late January, the first installment of the new symposium didn’t necessarily give a sense of where precisely the design industry is headed, though it certainly demonstrated the sheer depth and diversity of practice today.
Following much the same format as its predecessor, albeit in a different locale – the TimesCenter, inside the Manhattan headquarters of the New York Times – the eight-hour talk series drew some twenty-odd participants from as far afield as Ghana, Italy and Bahrain. Some of the projects presented were familiar fare; architect Junya Ishigami, for example, spoke about his widely-published Art Biotop Water Garden, a beguiling landscape project in rural Japan that blurs the line between the organic and artificial.
Writer and activist Carolina Criado Perez discussed gender bias in design
Other presenters came from well outside the disciplinary fold, in particular video game designer David O’Reilly, whose recent creation Everything (‘either a video game or art,' as its O’Reilly termed it) is an interactive experience that allows users to experience the world through the perspective of a snail, a star, or anything in between.
RELATED STORY
Other highlights included experimental designer Michael Wang on his 2019 exhibition Extinct in New York, featuring plants once native to the metropolis but long destroyed by urbanization, carefully collected and cultivated by the architect. Perennial favorite Bruce Mau took the stage to share highlights from his upcoming book Twenty-Four Design Principles, advancing provocative imperatives for would-be designers like ‘Begin with fact-based optimism' and ‘Design the invisible'.
And in perhaps the afternoon’s most entertaining turn, writer and activist Carolina Criado Perez delivered a tutorial on the gender bias hidden in almost every aspect of design – as for example in automobiles, where she pointed out that only lately have European manufacturers begun to use ‘short male crash-test dummies' to test for safety on women passengers (‘never women drivers,' she added). Fast and funny, Perez’s talk helped lighten what was otherwise a decidedly weighty, if always engaging intellectual round robin.
Junya Ishigami talked about one of his most recent completions, the Art Biotop Water Garden, in rural Japan, pictured here
David O'Reilly discussed his interactive ‘experience', Everything
OMA's Shohei Shigematsu talked about the firm's plans for the New Museum
INFORMATION
-
Dine on an Eames table at Oakland’s Snail Bar
‘Tables! Tables! Tables!’ is an Eames Institute pop-up designed by Industrial Facility at Oakland’s Snail Bar, celebrating the link between food and design
By Hannah Silver • Published
-
Magasin Électrique opens in Arles as the home of material pioneer Atelier Luma
The Magasin Électrique at Luma Arles has been expertly redesigned as the home for Atelier Luma, a pioneering material and design laboratory
By Malaika Byng • Published
-
Last chance to see: Rolex Arts Festival exhibition in Athens
Following a week of dynamic festivities to mark 20 years of the Rolex Mentors & Protégés programme, it’s the last chance to see the festival’s exhibition at the National Museum of Contemporary Art Αthens, until 4 June 2023
By Bill Prince • Published
-
This Shelter Island house is designed as a ‘modern cabin’
Shelter Island house by Koning Eizenberg is designed with a ‘modern cabin’ approach and aesthetic, keeping the owners close to nature
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Rafael de Cárdenas Scholarship at RISD supports access and equity in education
The new Rafael de Cárdenas Scholarship at RISD offers support for students at the school’s Architecture or Apparel departments; we catch up with the architect to find out more
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Texan family house foregrounds sports cars, secret spaces and fantastic finishes
Smitharc has shaped a formidable Texan family house in suburban Dallas, using courtyards and setbacks to create a series of intimate spaces within a substantial plot
By Jonathan Bell • Published
-
Compact Mount Washington house is designed for maximum impact
A Mount Washington house by Anonymous in Los Angeles makes the most of its views, steep site and small size
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Roberts Projects turns historic car dealership into characterful LA art space
Roberts Projects by Johnston Marklee sees the gallery launch its new home in Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Studio Gang’s Richard Gilder Center brings organic tactility to New York City
The Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation by Studio Gang marks a new era for New York City’s iconic American Museum of Natural History
By Pei-Ru Keh • Published
-
Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts launches its undulating Studio Gang design
Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts by Studio Gang opens in Little Rock, USA, blending new construction and renovation
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
‘Living among the trees’ finds form in a Miami house design
The experience of ‘living among the trees’ takes centre stage in a Miami house by Strang Design
By Nana Ama Owusu-Ansah • Published