San Diego—March 25, 2014— NewSchool Graduate Architecture Program Chair Kurt Hunker is scheduled to present his latest research on the critical literature of tall buildings at several events planned in Moscow this week. His presentation – “Programming for Spectacle: The Tall Building’s Next Phase?” – is the latest he has made to an international audience and it builds on more than ten years of his own research into the topic.

Hunker, whose speaking engagements include presenting at the MARKHI University (Russia-Moscow Institute of Architecture) March 27, has received extensive recognition for his research, which he has presented at international conferences such as the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat international conference in London and the International Alvar Aalto Meeting on Modern Architecture in Jyväskylä Finland. His research on the topic has also been published in eVolo: “The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered: Critical Events Since 9/11.”

Hunker evaluates what has been written by architecture critics about tall buildings and their role in society. He explores how critics make connections between architecture in the new global economy and the concept of “spectacle,” or how the architecture of tall buildings reflects cultural values. In his most recent research and presentation, Hunker explores the tall building’s next phase through the concept of “spectacular programming” approaches such as vertical neighborhoods and skateboard parks that have the potential to redefine the concept of “mixed-use.”

Hunker has developed this topic for more than a decade, and at NewSchool he challenges students to explore future concepts for tall buildings. NewSchool student work has received outside recognition for a number of student projects that explored tall building concepts for the redevelopment of San Diego’s downtown area, as detailed in a news story by the U-T San Diego, “Here’s How Students Would Design San Diego’s Skyline”.