03.26.24 Exhibition Lecture | Jimenez Lai: A Litter of Monsters

Monsters, in fiction, represent human conditions veering on the edges of the abnormal. Whereas monsters may depict grotesqueness, deformation, or further forms of otherness, they also are parables to galvanize people into acting normally. In this lecture, we will look at a range of stories and architectural projects with these features. Some may call them characters, creatures, or caricatures - but this is a story about monsters, a chance for allegories.
The lecture will be introduced and moderated by Michael Young.
Jimenez Lai was born in Taiwan, came of age in Canada, and lives in Los Angeles. Before establishing Bureau Spectacular, Lai lived in a desert shelter at Taliesin and resided in a shipping container at Atelier Van Lieshout on the piers of Rotterdam. Lai's first book, Citizens of No Place: An Architectural Graphic Novel, was published by Princeton Architectural Press with a grant from the Graham Foundation. Lai has won various awards, including the Architectural League Prize for Young Architects, the Debut Award at the Lisbon Triennale, and the Designer of the Future at Art Basel. Lai represented Taiwan at the 14th Venice Architecture Biennale. Lai's work is in the permanent collection of MoMA, SFMOMA, Art Institute of Chicago, and LACMA.