The culture of architecture

By Maria Gregoriou

For all who have visited the photography exhibition by Swiss architectural photographer Helene Binet of the house designed by Cypriot architect Neoptolemos Michaelides in Nicosia, Saturday gives you an opportunity to visit it again, but this time you will also be able to enjoy a reading, along with a discussion.

And for those who have not visited the exhibition, which has been extended until February 7, this is the perfect chance to see how architecture can be captured in photography while learning all about the culture behind creating buildings.

The Point Centre for Contemporary Art is hosting the event, considered to be a theoretical workshop in the form of a discussion. Leading the discussion will be architectural historians and theorists Panayiota Pyla from Cyprus and Yorgos Tzirtzilakis from Greece.

The pair will discuss themes that relate to this residence in particular and other relevant postwar themes such as nature and authorship, therefore creating critical perspectives of Michaelides’ work and postwar architectural culture.

Pyla is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Architecture and the director of the Mesarch Lab at the University of Cyprus. Her research encompasses cultural criticism and environmental studies. The architectural historian and theorist have published a number of articles including the Hassan Fathy Revisited Postwar Discourses on Science, Development, and Vernacular Architecture, which received the Journal of Architectural Education JAE best article award in 2007.

Tzirtzilakis is an Associate Professor at the Department of Architecture, University of Thessaly and artistic advisor of DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art. He has curated various exhibitions, edited monographs, books, special issues and participated with critical essays and reviews in numerous exhibition catalogues and magazines.

Workshop Discussion
A workshop in the form of a discussion on the work of Cypriot architect Neoptolemos Michaelides. January 31. Point Centre for Contemporary Art. 2 Evagorou Avenue, Nicosia. 11am. Tel: 22-662053

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