Material, financial and human resources, public participation, the future of cities and issues of social inclusion and cultural identity are on the agenda of an unprecedented array of speakers for the 2023 season of New Now Next.

Curated and hosted by the Irish Architecture Foundation and supported by Arup, the 2023 season presents individual speakers, head-to-head conversations and round-table speculations, in person in Dublin.

This year’s series opens with Swedish architect Alexandra Hagen, a leading expert in innovative timber research and building construction and, since 2018, CEO of international architecture practice White Arkitekter.

After studying at Chalmers University of Technology, Hagen joined White Arkitekter in 2000. Since then, she has held several roles, including director of White Arkitekter International and managing director of White Arkitekter’s Malmö office. Hagen is driven by the conviction that architecture affects people’s quality of life as well as that architects have the power and responsibility to drive development towards a more sustainable future.

White Arkitekter is an employee-owned practice of about 700 professionals with a presence in Sweden, Norway, the UK, Germany, Canada, and East Africa. The practice’s vision is that all their projects will be carbon neutral from 2030.

White Arkitekter exhibited their innovative work in timber construction and material research at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia. In their exhibit, they take the 20-storey timber building Sara Cultural Centre in Skellefteå as a starting point and examine how a timber project on that scale affects the forest. Their project consists of three documentary-like films showing the forest, the forest industry and the Sara Cultural Centre and examines the project’s use of materials and the extraction of raw materials from the forest.

In conversation with Alice Casey (TAKA) and Emma Geoghegan (TU Dublin), Alexandra will discuss the importance of research, supporting smaller practices, and how Sweden as a land of trees makes large-scale timber construction work.

Register for Alexandra Hagen’s in-person New Now Next talk.

28 September 2023, 7.00-8.30pm
The Complex, 12 Mary’s Abbey, Dublin 7
Free – Booking required

If you have any specific accessibility needs, please contact us at info@architecturefoundation.ie when booking and we will do our very best to facilitate you.

Alexandra Hagen is the first speaker in a series of four New Now Next events in 2023. Read about the full series and subscribe to our newsletter to be notified when booking opens for the remaining talks.

Photos: Magasin X, Uppsala, Sweden, White Arkitekter. Photo by Müns Berg. Photo of Alexandra Hagen by Camilla Svensk.