Introduction
The Meeting by the Alvar Aalto Academy is framed around the theme “High-Rise Shuffle”. Great insight sometimes only occurs by focusing on material practices, and practical examples can trigger feasible idealism. Our melting pot of thought in the 2011 Alvar Aalto Meeting in Finland will concentrate on design methodologies and concepts, especially related to high-rise building. A tower is an architectural object of design and organisation, but also a device for the optimisation of growth. Despite the negative associations often linked with tall buildings, there is a sustainable justification for high-rises in infill construction: this saves land, optimises large technical infrastructures, and reduces traffic.
This meeting – a conference, but also a point of new creation – takes place in Jyväskylä, bringing together practising architects and architectural pedagogues, philosophers and art historians, sociologists and cultural theorists.
This event is especially targeted at architects, planners and designers interested in the relationships between theory, development and practice.
The meeting is chaired by Dr., architect Antti Ahlava (principal at helsinkizurich and adjunct professor at Aalto University, FI).