Mario Cucinella: Creative Empathy

Sustainability expert and award-winning Italian architect Mario Cucinella of Mario Cucinella Architects (MCA) is in New Zealand to discuss his theory of Creative Empathy. He presents a talk at Victoria University on 16 May.

Creative Empathy is a vision for sustainable building where the relationship between architecture and engineering becomes genetic, and sustainable features are no longer a fashionable accessory.

Cucinella is the founder of Building Green Futures, a non-profit organisation improving living conditions and access to resources in developing countries through integrating sustainable architecture and renewable energy, and is head of the School of Sustainability in Bologna, one of Italy’s leading organisations in sustainable design thinking.

“For far too long we have believed in the clear and simple illusion of technology, that we were going to be able to control everything artificially: light, air conditioning. Instead, we have to imagine buildings that only have a minimum of visible technology, and maximise instead the efficiency of form. These buildings will possess a high degree of empathy, a creative empathy,” says Cucinella.

The lecture will be followed by a discussion led by Sam Kebbell, Professor of Architecture, University of Wellington and co-founder of KebbellDaish Architects.

Runs from 5.30–7.30pm
The talk is free but bookings are essential. You can book here.