Enrique Sobejano to deliver Spring 2011 Ekdahl Lecture
MANHATTAN - Spanish architect Enrique Sobejano will deliver the Spring 2011 Oscar Ekdahl Memorial Lecture “Memory and Invention” on March 28 at Kansas State University.
Sobejano is a founding partner of internationally renowned architecture firm Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos S.L. in Madrid and Berlin. Sobejano and his partner, Fuensanta Nieto, graduated from the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura in Madrid and the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University in New York. Sobejano teaches at the Universidad Europea de Madrid and Nieto teaches at the Universität der Künste in Berlin.
Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos’ work focuses on programs of cultural halls. Their projects include the Concert Hall in Mérida, Spain; the Auditorium and Convention Centre of Aragón Expo in Zaragoza, Spain; the San Telmo Museum in San Sebastián, Spain; the Moritzburg Museum Extension in Halle, Germany and the Museum and Research Centre Madinat Al Zahra in Cordoba, Spain, for which the firm also received the 2010 Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
The firm received the 2010 Bundes Deutscher Architekten (BDA) Grosse Nike Award, the 2010 European Conference of Leading Architects (ECOLA) Award for the Use of Render/Plaster in Architecture, three 2009 International Architecture Awards from the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design, and the 2008 Spanish National Prize for Restoration. In 2009, their work earned the Moritzburg Museum a spot on the Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM)’s list of “the 26 Best Buildings In/From Germany.”
Currently, Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos has several projects under construction, including the Barceló Market, an urban area in downtown Madrid that will include a library, sports complex, market and parking facility in the center of Madrid, and the extension of the Universalmuseum Joanneum in Graz, Austria.
Nieto and Sobejano were the directors of the architectural journal ARQUITECTURA from 1986-1991. They have been visiting critics and lecturers at various international universities and institutions. Their work has been widely published internationally and has been exhibited at three Venice Biennial exhibitions and at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The Ekdahl Lectures began nearly 40 years ago as a memorial honoring Topeka architect and K-State alumnus Oscar Ekdahl. Born in Manhattan, Ekdahl was a founding partner of Topeka architecture firm Ekdahl, Davis, Depew & Pearson Architects (now Tevis Architects). The Ekdahl Lectures focus on issues affecting the quality of the environment and the leadership roles of architects. The 2011 Ekdahl Lecture will be held on March 28, 2011 from 3:30-5:00 p.m. in the Leadership Studies Building Town Hall. The lecture will be delivered in English and is open to the public free of charge.
Contact: Professor and Associate Dean Wendy Ornelas, FAIA, (785) 532-5950, wornelas@ksu.edu