Odile Decq, architect and urban planner, founder and owner of Studio Odile Decq, will be speaking at DesignTalks 2023 in Harpa on 3rd May.

I have always considered that architectural work was not limited to the building envelope and its spatial organisation, but like the architects of the early 20th century, it extended into the interior design, the furniture and sometimes the artwork.

Odile Decq is a French architect and urban planner with a long and colorful career. She is known for her radical and experimental methods and has fought for gender equality and against discrimination in the profession. She founded Studio Odile Decq in the beginning of the 80s and after having taught architecture over 25 years she established the international architecture school Confluence in 2014. Odile has received multiple prizes and recognitions, including the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale of Architecture in 1996, Prix Femme Architecte in 2013, the Jane Drew Prize in 2016 and in 2017 she was honored with Architizer’s Lifetime Achievement Award for her pioneering work, but also her engagement and contribution to the debate on architecture.

Her multidisciplinary approach was recently recognized with the Jane Drew Prize in 2016, and she was honored with Architizer’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017 for her pioneering work, but also her engagement and contribution to the debate on architecture. In 2018, she received an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, in recognition of her outstanding contributions in building science, design and education. The same year in October, she received the ECC Architecture Award 2018 for her contribution both as an architect and educator, and in November an Honorary Fellowship from The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland.

In a society where all productions tend to become uniform, ignoring any cultural particularism, historical or social, the philosophy of Studio Odile Decq has always been to be specific and particular. By questioning command, use, matter, body, technique and taste, the invented architecture offers a paradoxical look on our world that is tender and severe at the same time. In a creative and positive work process, the obstacles are transformed into advantages while developing a specific vision for each project with the most advanced contemporary technologies. In numerous architectural projects, the Studio has also often developed the interior fittings and furniture, in a continuity of thought and in relation to specific and different needs for each project. In the same continuity, the Studio is also committed to developing innovative products for the benefit of architectural projects, interfacing with industrialists, in fields as diverse as acoustics and facade.

Studio is an international firm of about fifteen people and the conceptual process is centered around experimentation closely followed by Odile Decq herself  The external partners, engineers, consultants, economist, participate actively and regularly in the progress of the project. Thus the design includes from the start all the parameters to succeed, in an initially iterative approach, to achieve perfectly integrated projects.

DesignTalks 2023 will take place in Harpa on the 3rd of May and is curated by Hlin Helga Guðlaugsdóttir. 

This year’s theme is What now? and the event will tackle this question, explore and showcase some answers and alternatives, discuss current challenges for designers and architects and, if successful, raise even more questions!

DesignTalks addresses the challenges the world is facing and highlights the importance of design and architecture in societal and global change, with talks about impactful projects and inspiring conversations. Designers, architects and creative thinkers, international and local, provide insight into pressing issues with passion. Nothing is off limits. 

Ticket sales are now open - join us in Reykjavík! Special early bird price for a limited time!

DesignTalks 2023 - Paola Antonelli, founder of Design Emergency and Senior Curator of Architecture & Design at The Museum of Modern Art

DesignTalks 2023 - Odile Decq, architect and urban planner, founder and owner of Studio Odile Decq.

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