NOW CONFERENCE – SEASON 1
1 JULY 2011 – 2 JULY 2011

The conference, previously known as DATUM:KL, remains the principal anchor event for the Festival, but shall from this year onwards be re-conceptualised as the NOW CONFERENCE. NOW implies an immediacy, a moment in the present to define new positions and potentials, an architectural status update! At a time when architecture seeks new directions and new beginnings, the debut conference will seek to examine and describe key trajectories of thinking and practice, and to underline the essential transformative aspects of architecture as a critical instrumentality to engage a continually changing world.

NOW CONFERENCE / SEASON 1 will feature a series of lectures by a selection of both established and emergent architects and designers with divergent range of approaches and interests from the region and internationally. In addition to introducing a new set of exceptional talent to the Datum community, this year we welcome back some of our original speakers who over the years has also risen in stature and profile alongside Datum. The new conference will also have a refreshed and updated format but will leave intact the things that have worked well.























SPEAKERS (in alphabetical order)
YB SENATOR DATO SRI’ IDRIS JALA PUTRAJAYA
ALFREDO BRILLEMBOURG CARACAS
PITUPONG CHAOWAKUL BANGKOK
FLORIAN IDENBURG & JING LIU NEW YORK/BEIJING
ZHANG LI BEIJING
LAURENCE LOH PENANG
JÜRGEN MAYER BERLIN
HIROSHI NAKAMURA TOKYO
OLE SCHEEREN HONG KONG/BEIJING
MARC SIMMONS NEW YORK
CAMERON SINCLAIR LONDON
ALAN TAY & SEETOH KUM LOON SINGAPORE


OLE SCHEEREN HONG KONG/BEIJING
BÜRO OLE SCHEEREN www.buro-os.com
LECTURE TITLE: THEN AND NOW

Ole Scheeren is an internationally acclaimed German architect and Principal of Buro Ole Scheeren with offices in Beijing, Hong Kong and London and a visiting professor at Hong Kong University.

As the former Partner and Director of Rem Koolhaas’ Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in Beijing and Hong Kong, Scheeren directed the office's work across Asia. As partner-in-charge of OMA’s largest project to date, he successfully led the realisation of the China Central Television Station (CCTV) and the Television Cultural Centre (TVCC) in Beijing.

Scheeren's other projects include MahaNakhon, a 310-meter mixed-use tower in the city of Bangkok; The Scotts Tower high-end apartments in Singapore; The Interlace, a 1000-unit large-scale residential complex in Singapore; a media centre in Shanghai; a project for Shenzhen’s new city centre; as well as the Taipei Performing Arts Centre in Taiwan. He directed OMA’s work for Prada and completed the Prada Epicenters in New York (2001) and Los Angeles (2004). He also led numerous other projects including the Beijing Books Building, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Leeum Cultural Center in Seoul, and a masterplan for Penang Island, Malaysia.

Before Ole Scheeren joined Rem Koolhaas and OMA, he worked for architecture firms in Germany; collaborated with 2x4, a graphic design firm in New York; and was engaged in a range of projects through his own studio in the United Kingdom.

Ole Scheeren has contributed to various arts and culture projects and exhibitions throughout his career, including the International Highrise Award, Milan Triennale, China Design Now in London, Cities on the Move in London and Bangkok, Media City Seoul and the Rotterdam Film Festival. In 2006 he designed two exhibitions for the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Beijing featuring the CCTV project. He regularly lectures at various international institutions and conferences and serves on juries for awards and competitions.

Educated at the universities of Lausanne and Karlsruhe, he graduated from the Architectural Association in London and was awarded the RIBA Silver Medal.