Eisenman is not only an internationally recognized architect, but also a leading intellectual and educator in his field, and uniquely positioned to reflect on architecture in the light of today’s most important philosophical discourses.
In a distinctive event on Tuesday, February 28 at 6:30 p.m., New York University’s Deutsches Haus will present the architect Peter Eisenman, who is perhaps best known for The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (also referred to as the Holocaust Memorial, in Berlin), in conversation with the Austrian philosopher Peter Englemann, editor and founder of the prestigious publishing house Passagen Verlag.
Tickets are free and will be available at the door (42 Washington Mews, at University Place, New York, N.Y.). Since space at Deutsches Haus is limited, please register by sending an email to deutscheshaus.rsvp@nyu.edu, and arrive 10 minutes prior to the event. For more information, call 212.998 8660.
Eisenman is not only an internationally recognized architect, but also a leading intellectual and educator in his field, and uniquely positioned to reflect on architecture in the light of today’s most important philosophical discourses. He will discuss with Englemann the meaning of deconstruction for Eisenman’s architecture and how his architectural work possibly influenced Jacques Derrida’s concept of deconstruction.
Prior to establishing a full-time architectural practice in 1980, Eisenman worked as an independent architect, educator, and theorist. In 1967, he founded the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies (IAUS), an international think tank for architecture in New York, and served as its director until 1982. Eisenman is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Among other awards, in 2001, he received the Medal of Honor from the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and the Smithsonian Institution’s 2001 Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award in Architecture. He was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 2004 Venice Architecture Biennale. Popular Science magazine named Eisenman one of the top five innovators of 2006 for the University of Phoenix Stadium for the Arizona Cardinals. In May 2010, Eisenman was honored with the Wolf Foundation Prize in the Arts, awarded in Jerusalem. Currently the Charles Gwanthmey Professor in Practice at the Yale School of Architecture, Eisenman’s academic career also includes teaching at Cambridge, Princeton, Harvard, and Ohio State universities. Previously he was the Irwin S. Chanin Distinguished Professor of Architecture at The CooperUnion, in New York City. He is also an author, whose most recent books include: Written Into the Void: Selected Writings, 1990-2004 (Yale University Press, 2007) and Ten Canonical Buildings, 1950-2000 (Rizzoli, 2008), which examines in depth buildings by ten different architects.
Englemann will guide the evening's discussion. Since 1987, he has been the publisher and editor of Passagen Verlag Publishers in Vienna, whose specialization in French philosophy was groundbreaking for the entire German-speaking world. The Passagen Verlag has translated the works of crucial French authors into German, such as Jacques Derrida, Jean-Francois Lyotard, Emmanuel Levinas, Sarah Kofman, Jean Baudrillard, Paul Virilio, Jacques Ranciere, Alain Badiou and Hélène Cixous. The publication developed a wide range of socially engaged programs and was an important place of publication for contemporary, experimental literature. Peter Engelmann is the author of "Dekonstruktion. Jaques Derridas semiotische Wende der Philosophie" and "Philosophie und Totalitarismus. Zur Kritik dialektischer Diskursivität. Eine Hegellektüre." as well as the editor of numerous works on French postmodern philosophy and deconstruction.