PechaKucha Night, now in over 700 cities, was devised in Tokyo in February 2003 as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public.
For our "City Focus" this week we go to the Indonesian city of Jakarta, to highlight its growing archive of presentations, with the latest batch coming from the city's PechaKucha Night Vol. 18, that was held last month (six of those presentations are now online).
We know that many of you love watching content on YouTube, and so on top of continuing to share our presentations here on the global site, we are now adding our "Presentations of the Day" on YouTube as well. Check out our new PechaKucha Channel, subscribe, and share!
A PechaKucha event was part of the AIA 2014 Convention, in Chicago, taking place at PKN Chicago's regular venue of Martyrs', which gave it a real PechaKucha Night feel. You'll find all of the presentations from the evening on the official event page, and in the AIA Channel.
The repetitive use of natural detritus brings Shona Wilson closer to understanding the world we share. The materials themselves are storehouses of knowledge and information. They act as 'keys', unlocking doors to memory, science, history and imagination. Her current work increasingly responds to and reflects upon the cross-pollinations between nature, humans and culture, referencing in particular, plastics' invasion into the 'natural' world.
Urban planner Tay Pruecksamars attempts to summarize the research and work he has done in the past year. In particular he focuses on shop houses, which are generally despised by architects and urban designers, but which can serve multiple purposes, and use their space much more efficiently than many other types of buildings. In his book he proposes solutions to problems facing modern urban designers, and takes a closer look at the shop house problem.
Zahra Alabanza is a magical being, a unicorn. She describes exactly what this means, how she has recruited her nephews into being unicorns, and how being a unicorn has helped to bring bicycling to her family, friends, and community.
Takashi Yanai, an architect from Los Angeles, talks about what it is he enjoys so much about creating a home -- the collaboration between designers, the satisfaction of clients, and the journey from concept to realization. Take a look at the incredible dream-like California homes that Takashi and his team have turned into a reality.
Architect Charles Piper admits that his title may seem architectural and pretentious. As well, even though he admits it's just an excuse to show us some of his favorite places, those places sure can make you acutely aware of context, scale, meaning, and place the way he unfolds them.