Lithuanian-born artist Aleksandra Kasuba is known for her large scale works in brick, marble and granite, and most notably for innovative environments of tensile fabrics. She is credited with “creating several families of closed system shapes of unbelievable richness and complexity.” In the field of tensile fabric structures, according to Frei Otto, her work “stands out as a strong personal vision […] The results of her investigation are among the most extraordinary to have emerged in years […] Forms derived from complex geometries display a mature sense of tension dynamics.”

Kazys Varnelis holds a PhD in the History of Architecture and Urban Development from Cornell University. He is Director of the Network Architecture Lab and co-founder of AUDC, entities that are both think tanks and practices, conducting research, producing publications, and exhibitions. With AUDC he has published Blue Monday: Absurd Realities and Natural Histories (2007) and exhibited at High Desert Test Sites and other venues. With the Network Architecture Lab, he has edited the Infrastructural City. Networked Ecologies in Los Angeles and Networked Publics (both in 2008) and exhibited at the New Museum and the Museum of Modern Art. The Netlab is currently undertaking a major solo exhibition at the Contemporary Art Centre in Vilnius, Lithuania, to open in July.

“Futures of the past” looks at buildings of the past and how we think about their future. Aware of the necessarily creative and destructive role of architecture we hold a deep interest in what exists. This series of talks is a public forum intended to address a range of questions on architecture’s role, past and present. The current suite of lectures focuses on architects in the role of curators of historic buildings as well as the technologies of preservation.