Office Mi-Ji + Captcha| We Need to Talk
Join us for Volume 1 of the Department of Architecture Online Lecture Series: We Need To Talk.
We Need To Talk is an ongoing online architecture and urban design lecture series that takes time to unpack a theme from multiple points of view. The annual series will be curated around a theme.
This year the theme is: What Are You Looking At?
We don’t talk much anymore about design in terms of what we see: influences, the cannon, theory, concepts, formal and planimetric resolution, proportions and so on. Instead, in the context of planetary emergency we work from the bottom up and discuss the social agenda, ecological relationships, material flows and indigeneity, economic models and regulatory frameworks. All for the better. Except, buildings and places must be formed and materialised. How do we decide if it’s this shape or that shape when function trumps form? And how can we teach without addressing what it is we are physically making? In a moment where design is consumed and reapplied through images isolated from the place, program, plan, or who made them, we ask, ‘What are you looking at?’ and invite guests to unpack the image.
Architects have been paired, one local and one international, to discuss this question
Office MI—JI/ Captcha
Office MI—JI was established in Melbourne, but took shape in London and Chicago. With a clear motto of “do good work”, the office works with a straightforward motive that “good work” speaks for itself. MI—JI works equally across all breadths of architecture and interiors, approaching design collectively with an open mind, and formulating buildings that define a clear relationship with their contexts and their clients.With a strong commitment to simple, quiet architecture, MI—JI finds intrigue in the overlooked, hoping that an openness to architectural formulation and fabrication can have an honest and deliberate effect.
CAPTCHA architecture, founded by Margherita Marri (1993) and Jacopo Rosa (1992), explores the intersection of architecture, politics, technology, and ecology. CAPTCHA has curated exhibitions, such as Machines of Loving Grace for Triennale Milano 2019, and founded SUPERATTICO in Milan, an independent space for architecture and design. The studio work has been displayed among others at Biennale di Architettura Venezia and Centro Per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci. From 2020 to 2023 CAPTCHA thought at the Architectural Association as program head of Possibility of an Island. Their first built project, Anonima Agricola, received a special mention at Premio Architettura Italiana Triennale MAXXI in 2022, and has been nominated to Eu Mies Award 2024.
Event Details
- Date:
- 20 August 2026 at 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
- Venue:
- Online
- Categories:
- Architecture; Current Students; Industry / Alumni
Description
Join us for Volume 1 of the Department of Architecture Online Lecture Series: We Need To Talk.
We Need To Talk is an ongoing online architecture and urban design lecture series that takes time to unpack a theme from multiple points of view. The annual series will be curated around a theme.
This year the theme is: What Are You Looking At?
We don’t talk much anymore about design in terms of what we see: influences, the cannon, theory, concepts, formal and planimetric resolution, proportions and so on. Instead, in the context of planetary emergency we work from the bottom up and discuss the social agenda, ecological relationships, material flows and indigeneity, economic models and regulatory frameworks. All for the better. Except, buildings and places must be formed and materialised. How do we decide if it’s this shape or that shape when function trumps form? And how can we teach without addressing what it is we are physically making? In a moment where design is consumed and reapplied through images isolated from the place, program, plan, or who made them, we ask, ‘What are you looking at?’ and invite guests to unpack the image.
Architects have been paired, one local and one international, to discuss this question
Office MI—JI/ Captcha
Office MI—JI was established in Melbourne, but took shape in London and Chicago. With a clear motto of “do good work”, the office works with a straightforward motive that “good work” speaks for itself. MI—JI works equally across all breadths of architecture and interiors, approaching design collectively with an open mind, and formulating buildings that define a clear relationship with their contexts and their clients.With a strong commitment to simple, quiet architecture, MI—JI finds intrigue in the overlooked, hoping that an openness to architectural formulation and fabrication can have an honest and deliberate effect.
CAPTCHA architecture, founded by Margherita Marri (1993) and Jacopo Rosa (1992), explores the intersection of architecture, politics, technology, and ecology. CAPTCHA has curated exhibitions, such as Machines of Loving Grace for Triennale Milano 2019, and founded SUPERATTICO in Milan, an independent space for architecture and design. The studio work has been displayed among others at Biennale di Architettura Venezia and Centro Per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci. From 2020 to 2023 CAPTCHA thought at the Architectural Association as program head of Possibility of an Island. Their first built project, Anonima Agricola, received a special mention at Premio Architettura Italiana Triennale MAXXI in 2022, and has been nominated to Eu Mies Award 2024.