Internationally renowned architect Chris Van Dujin of the notable architectural firm, Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), shared his expertise on the design process and heritage sustainability that provided exclusive glimpses of their creations and concepts in a free lecture.

The industry expert also highlighted their cultural conservation practices and mixed-use advertisements of complex buildings in several Asian nations.

To boost the artistic landscape, Van Dujin encouraged interested attendees and practitioners to be imaginative and inventive in developing ideas and structures.

“In architectural design, even if it is functional like a box, architects can always find ways to innovate and be creative about it,” he added.

The OMA veteran holds a Master of Architecture from the Technical University of Delft in The Netherlands.

Van Dujin has been involved in some of OMA’s most esteemed projects, such as the Universal Studios in Los Angeles California, USA; the Prada stores both in New York and California; Casa da Musica in Porto, Portugal; CCTV Headquarters in Beijing, China; and Prada Transformer in Seoul, South Korea.

Among his recently completed infrastructures are the Hanwha Galleria department store in Seoul, South Korea, MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre in Toulouse, France; Axel Springer Campus in Berlin, Germany; the extension of Beijing UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Genesis Gangnam Car Dealership in Seoul, South Korea; Prada Foundation in Milan, Italy, the Bibliothèque Alexis de Tocqueville in Caen, France; and the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, Russia.

The public discussion was organized by the Architecture Program of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) School of Environment and Design, in coordination with Berlin-based public relations agency Send/Receive.

The event was attended by over 400 students and mentors from various schools in the country, to include the University of the Philippines, the University of Santo Tomas and DLS-CSB.

They were joined by professionals from the Design Center of the Philippines.