AIA Virginia is pleased to announce that Dwayne Oyler will give a keynote address during the General Session at ArchEx on Nov. 7, 2019. Oyler is a partner at the LA-based architecture firm Oyler Wu Collaborative, which he co-founded with Jenny Wu. The firm is widely recognized for its experimentation in design, material research, and fabrication. He’ll share the firm’s approach to fostering a collaborative and innovative culture – including the development of LACE, Wu’s 3D printed jewelry line.
About the Work
The firm was recognized with the prestigious Miller Prize
in 2017 to create The
Exchange, an installation at Eero Saarinen’s Irwin Conference
Center. The installation “fabricates a new
space within the site by completing the geometries implied by three
canopies, legacies of the Irwin Conference Center’s history as a drive-up bank.”
They’re also known for their design of 3D System’s Culinary Lab, an experimental food lab in LA. The firm stripped the interior of a 1928 Neoclassical bank down to its elements, and created a two-story glass food-printing room outfitted with 3D food printers and a demonstration kitchen. The mezzanine is wrapped in an intricately woven guardrail of white linear steel elements and CNC milled wood panels.
In 2013, the firm designed The Cube for the Beijing Biennale. The 52-foot tall installation, constructed of painted steel and rope, is a 3-dimensional solid object bounded by six square faces. According to the firm, “the aspiration of the installation is to achieve the transcendence of the first dimension – the line – by simulating warping two-dimensional planes, which penetrate and populate the object framework, to create the perception of inhabitable three-dimensional space.”
Their experimentation with lines and geometry is carried through in their design for Monarch a 16-story residential high rise in Taipei, Taiwan. The project employs a “strategy of ‘pixilated lines’ by applying a set of exterior paneling in varying materials and differing geometries to run along the façade of the building.”
About Dwayne Oyler
Oyler received his Bachelor of Architecture from Kansas State University and
Master of Architecture from Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Prior
to establishing Oyler Wu Collaborative, he worked for Toshiko Mori Architects
and collaborated with Lebbeus Woods on numerous projects including Nine Boxes,
Terrain, and Siteline Vienna. He has taught architecture studios at Syracuse
University, The Research Institute for Experimental Architecture, and The
Cooper Union. He teaches architecture design
studios at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI_Arc) and is also a visiting professor at
Columbia GSAPP in New York.
About Oyler Wu Collaborative
Oyler Wu Collaborative, based in Los Angeles, was founded in 2004. The firm has been recognized with numerous design awards, including the 2013 Emerging Talent Award from AIA California Council, 2012 Presidential Honor Award for Emerging Practice from AIA LA, and 2011 Emerging Voices Award from the Architectural League in New York. They also won the 2013 Design Vanguard Award from Architectural Record. The firm has published two books, including Pendulum Plane (2009) and Trilogy: SCI Arc Pavilions (2014).
About Architecture Exchange East
ArchEx is AIA Virginia’s annual conference and expo. This year, it takes place at the Greater Richmond Convention Center from Nov. 6–8, 2019. We’ll be bringing together the brightest minds and most engaging speakers to explore the theme of culture.