AIA Keynote Lecture

Presented by William Pedersen

15 November 2005

The American Institute of Architects (AIA UK) Keynote Lecture was given by William Pedersen, design principal with Kohn Pedersen Fox, on 15th November at the RIBA’s Jarvis Hall in London. Speaking to a capacity audience Mr Pedersen’s lecture focused on the bond between building and place.

Mr Pedersen used examples of his own work over the last 35 years that varied considerably in scale and range. Within the constraints imposed by the building type and client brief a building was created that had a tangible connection to its environment. Depending on circumstances these connections could be expressed through a mixture of geometry, massing, materials, or interaction of uses.

The scale of projects ranged from literally high to low, including what will be the world’s tallest building, the World Financial Centre in Shanghai, and ending with the design of a lighting fixture. In between these extremes were mid-rise buildings such as the 36-storey 333 Wacker Drive building in Chicago and the 1.3m sq. ft. World Bank headquarters in Washington D.C. Other projects included low-rise university buildings and corporate headquarters.

Buildings without a detailed client brief/program, such as speculative office buildings, relied more on their form and geometry in making a connection with their place. Buildings where detailed briefs existed, such as Baruch University, expressed and integrated these elements into the overall composition. Other projects, such as the IBM headquarters in Armonk combined many of these elements to relate the building to a heavily wooded site.

A lively question and answer session followed the presentation. In closing, Mr Pedersen felt that sustainability would be the biggest issue facing the architectural profession in the years to come.

Schneider GB Ltd. sponsored the event that was produced in association with the RIBA Trust.

Official AIA Keynote Address Summary Press Release

View the Google video archive of Mr Pedersen’s presentation.