Intimacy Exposed: Toilet, Bathroom, Restroom

Monday 10 December 2018 to Tuesday 11 December 2018

HEAD – Genève
Bâtiment H
Av de Châtelaine 7

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Conferences en anglais

Interior Architecture Conference
A conference organized by the Interior Design Department, HEAD – Genève 

“Toilet” is a euphemism, the fruit of a figure of speech rather than metonymy. In contemporary Western societies, this ultimate area of privacy found its name in a process of extension and social exchange. Our social need for polite and indirect expressions to designate a place dedicated to evacuation in a public context (e.g. trains, buildings and open spaces) transformed what was initially a piece of fabric into an item of furniture first, then into a room, and finally into a place filled with other things.  
It was only once the facility was incorporated in a room that the "petite toile" – that linen lining with laces resting on a shelf where vases, brushes and any other item required for personal hygiene were arranged – became a "toilet".  Because of this transition from a two-dimensional item into an object, then a room, and finally an environment – which often acts as a meeting place – the toilet is a formidable tool to reflect on the current circumstances of interior architecture.
​​​​​​​Roberto ZancanJavier F. Contreras, Scientific Committee of the Conference

PROGRAMME

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10 2018

14h00 – 14h15
Jean-Pierre Greff
, Director, HEAD – Genève
Javier Fernandez ContrerasHead of department Interior DesignHEAD – Genève

Welcome and opening of the seminar

Section 1 - Chairman: Roberto Zancan, HEAD – Genève

14h15 – 14h45
Roberto Zancan
, Lecturer, HEAD – Genève
Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste…

14h45 –15h30
Alexandra Midal,Professor in history and theory in design, HEAD – Genève
Plomberie moderne

15h30 – 16h00
Philippe RahmLecturer, HEAD – Genève
A gradation of intimacy: about two recent projects by Philippe Rahm architectes

Coffee Break 16h00 - 16h15

16h15 – 16h45

Michael JakobLecturer, HEPIA andHEAD – Genève
On displacement. Toilets are very special places

16h45 – 17h30
Joel Sanders, Professor Adjunct, Yale University, New Haven
From Stud to Stalled! Social Equity and Public Restrooms

Special Events

17h30 – 18h15
Louise Lemoine et Ila BekaFilmmakers, Paris
Spaces of intimacy.
A dialogue about toilets and films between Javier Fernandez Contreras et Roberto Zancan

18h15 – 19h00
Javier Fernandez Contreras, 
Head of department Interior DesignHEAD – Genève
Presentation of the new Master in Interior Design (opening September 2019)

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11 2018

Section 2 - Chairman: Javier Fernandez Contreras, HEAD – Genève

9h00 – 9h45
Renaud Haerlingen, 
Founder of Rotor DeconstructionBruxelles
ROTOR : Field Reporting

9h45 – 10h30
Catherine Ince
, Chief Curator,Victoria and Albert Museum, London
A dancer, a poet and an artist: the seductive story of an ‘all glass’ English bathroom

10h30 – 11h15
Mariana Siracusa
, Founder and Curator, SPAZIO Gallery, Milan
Hygiène populaire

Coffee Break 11h15 – 11h30

11h30 – 12h15

Ignacio G. Galan, Assistant Professor,  Barnard+Columbia Colleges, New York 
Crip Bathrooms 

12h15 – 13h00
Eva Gil Lopesino, 
Architect, Founder of elli [architecture office], Madrid
Spaces for body cares

Lunch Break 13h00-14h30

Section 3 - Chairmen : Roberto Zancan et Javier Fernandez Contreras, HEAD – Genève


14h30 – 14h50
Pierre Schaefer et Béatrice Deslarzes
, Artistes,Fondation Bea pour Jeunes Artistes, Vessey
« Les cacares », an ancestral institution

14h50 – 15h10
Maria Maddalena Margaria
, Editor-in-Chief at INNER MAGAZINE 
Public Toilet as a place for Art

15h10 – 15h30
Andrés García Pruñonosa, 
Architect, University Polytechnic Valencia
Dawn the hall to the right? A glimpse into Le Corbusier’s bathrooms

Coffee Break 15h30 - 15h45

15h45 – 16h45

Collective discussion between guest speakers and young researchers

16h45 – 17h00
Roberto Zancan
, HEAD – Genève 
Closing speechand scientific summary of interventions and papers presented

Special Events

17h00 – 17h30
Franco Paracchini, 
Metis Presses 
Presentation of the book “L’architecture par l’intérieur” 

17h30 – 18h30
Jean Pierre Blanc, 
Director Villa Noailles, Hyères
Presentation of the book “Stéphane Boudin-Lestienne et Alexandre Mare, Charles et Marie-Laure de Noailles. Mécènes du XXe siècle” 

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