Episode 111 of Scaffold features of conversation with dorsa – a new architectural practice founded by Yufei He, James Horkulak and Pan Hu in 2021. The three met while studying at ETH in Zurich, and in their own words, "seek to capture multiple and parallel realities concealed within our time, and employ whichever medium necessary to create optimistic narratives for an empathic future."
This episode was recorded live at the Royal College of Art, and was supported in part by the Embassy of Switzerland in the United Kingdom.
Yufei He studied architecture in Vienna and Zurich. His master thesis – Java – (ETH Zurich, 2019) was awarded the LaFargeHolcim Next Generation Prize. During his studies he worked in Vienna, Beijing, London and Basel. In 2020 he received together with James Horkulak the travel scholarship of the Ernst-Schindler-Stiftung. The photographic project “Where river moves mountain” emerged, which was later nominated for the vfg Young Talent Award 2022. Since 2020 Yufei He has been working as Teaching and Research Assistant at the Chair of Building Technology and Construction at the ETH Zurich.
James Horkulak studied Architecture in Berlin and Zurich. His master thesis – Bridge in the Dunes – (ETH Zurich, 2019) was awarded the Theo Hotz Prize (Zurich), the Fritz Schumacher Prize (Hamburg) and was nominated for the Young Talent Architecture Award 2020 of the Fundació Mies van der Rohe. During his studies he assisted the ceramic artist Andreas Tesch in Berlin.
Pan Hu studied architecture in Karlsruhe and Zurich. After graduating in 2022, he joined the chair of Prof. Arno Brandlhuber at ETH Zurich as a teaching and research assistant and works as an architect and researcher at the Case Studio of Günther Vogt. During the past years, he has worked at Herzog & de Meuron in Basel, FAR in Berlin. With the team 2038 German Pavilion, he contributed to the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale in 2021. He further contributed to associated research projects such as Arch+ 236: Posthumane Architektur (2019) or New Modernity.
Scaffold is a podcast series featuring interviews with architects, artists and designers. Hosted by Matthew Blunderfield and produced by the Architecture Foundation, it is available on Apple Pocasts, Spotify, and most major podcast streaming platforms.
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