IoA Sliver Lecture: Peter Testa

?Technology is the answer … but what was the question?? (Cedric Price, 1966)

The Greek term téchne, is a term which up until today in European philosophy, coined the notion of Art, Science and Craft. The history of technology could be described as the history of inventions in form of tools and techniques. At the same time, it is closely connected to the history of science, economics and social agendas - a history of the very human condition itself. Weather viewed through the topic of energy, information, productivity, machines, or social development, today most of the world is accommodating a ?technically civilized life? to some extent.
?It is the moral, economic, and political choices we make, not the machines we use?, Lewis Mumford argues, ?that have produced a capitalist industrialized machine-oriented economy, whose imperfect fruits serve the majority so imperfectly.?
This years?s IoA Sliver Lecture series “Architecture and Technology? is trying to gather professionals to present versatile notions of technology and its impact on the discipline of Art and Architecture. The invited lecturers will present their take on technology and reflect on the potentials which it bears or what conventions it questions and how to approach those creatively/artistically.

Peter Testa is principal of Testa & Weiser, a Los Angeles based architecture practice that invents, designs, and prototypes breakthrough architec­ ture, products, and systems for a diverse client roster that includes some of the world?s most inno vative companies. His work is exhibited at leading museums worldwide including recent shows in New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Tokyo, and Beijing. His work is part of the permanent col­ lection of the Canadian Centre for Architecture CCA. Since 2004 Testa has been a member of the graduate and post­professional design faculty at SCI­Arc. Previously he was associate professor of architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Columbia University GSAPP. Testa holds an S.M.Arch.S. (History/Theory) from MIT and is a Registered Architect in California. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the MIT Innovation Award and the Design Arts Award of the National Endowment for the Arts. His most recent book Robot House will be published in 2017.