The John Kurtich Lecture in Interior Architecture
In his talk, Alfred Zollinger will share reflections on his pedagogy and practice using examples out of his classroom and studio. As a practitioner foremost curious about the world around him, he commits himself to inspire others by making and teaching as a way to pursue and address social justice issues. He will discuss a range of projects from speculative inquiry-based student work to public exhibitions and installations around current issues of facial recognition, incarceration, and evictions. Additionally, Zollinger will share thoughts on expanding the discourse on interiority in the academy and the field with related ruminations on furthering how the design of interiors can challenge, rather than reinforce, social conventions.
Alfred Zollinger is an Associate Professor of Architecture and Interior Design at the Parsons School of Design in New York, where he currently directs the MFA Interior Design program. Previously he led the Design Workshop, a design-build program working with students to improve public pool facilities for the New York City Parks and Recreation Department. He is also a co-principal of Matter Practice, an architecture and exhibition-design firm in Brooklyn focused on public projects foregrounding social justice issues. His early training as a precision machinist is foundational to his commitment to making, in art and design as a mode of critical inquiry. As an educator and practitioner, he advocates for a human-centered approach and design as a social practice. Relational aesthetics inspires him to work toward creating new relationships through collective experiences. He studied fine art and architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design and completed his post-professional studies at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. He has taught at the ETH in Zurich, RISD, and at Parsons since 2006.
