The RIBA+VitrA Summer Season of talks kicks off with a keynote from pioneering designer Nigel Coates, who explores how during a life in architecture he has drawn on a rich fusion of cultural sources, simultaneously straddling the 80s alternative club scene, Italian antiquity and ‘the chaotic vitality of the living city’. His conception of Ecstacity embraces modest, ephemeral structures, acknowledging citizens as active participants in their environment. While being driven by ‘a queer subversive drive’, often standing outside the establishment, he has always aspired to a sense of civitas, engaging with wider society, and rejoicing in the collaborative work that being part of an atelier affords.
June 2022 sees the publication of Nigel’s warm and compelling autobiography, Lives in Architecture: Nigel Coates (published by RIBA Publishing) where he explores the highs and lows of life at the cutting edge of architecture and design. Copies of the book will be available to purchase following the lecture.
Simon Allford, co-founder and director of AHMM, and current president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, will be introducing the lecture. After the talk, Nigel will be joined in conversation by friend and peer Iwona Blazwick OBE, Curator Emeritus of the Whitechapel Gallery. This will be followed by an opportunity for the audience to pose their own questions.
Lives in Architecture: Nigel Coates is available online at RIBA Books and at the bookshop at 66 Portland Place. After the lecture, it will be available for sale at a 20% discount.
This event is part of a series of events for the RIBA + VitrA Partnership.
This partnership reflects a shared commitment to add social, economic and cultural value to society, and VitrA Bathrooms are proud to be supporting such an inspiring programme.
With innovation at its core, a global reach and a tradition of collaborating with celebrated architects and designers, the VitrA bathroom brand has become a world leader, synonymous with contemporary sophistication since the mid-1900s.
