After careful consideration on how to prioritise the health of our visitors, speakers and staff, this talk has been cancelled. All ticket holders will be contacted by email.
Stay informed with RIBA’s response to COVID-19.
Hear from architectural designers Lara Lesmes and Fredrik Hellberg - the duo that make up Space Popular - as they discuss the relationship between architectural style, popular culture and media technologies.
Starting with the printing press and the Renaissance, they will look at the direct link between the development of photography and the international style; the rise of television, pop culture and Postmodernism, before arriving at the present day, reflecting on the impact of the internet, social media and VR on architecture.
Space Popular have also identified an acceleration in the consumption and displacement of architectural styles with each subsequent era of technological development. The relatively slow process of production and distribution allowed by the printing press prolonged the dominance of classical styles over centuries, whilst the subsequent inventions of photography, film, TV and the internet have led to styles superseding each other with increasing speed. According to Space Popular we now live in stylistically confusing times, where styles are tested, praised, blended and then discarded in just a few tweets.
Joining Space Popular will be Oliver Wainwright, architecture and design critic at the Guardian, who will chair a conversation following the talk.
This lecture is part of our season of events related to Freestyle: Architectural Adventures in Mass Media.
