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Professor Lone-Pia Bach and Assistant Professor of Architecture Margarida Amaral in new documentary series: På spaning efter åttiotalets hus

For a long time, the motto “The future is already built” has characterised the further education courses in architecture on an artistic basis at the Royal Institute of Art. More recently, societal bodies and the media have shown increased interest in the issues and missions that have driven the courses forward in recent decades.

In the new three-part radio series På spaning efter åttiotalets hus, Katarina Wikars takes a closer look at the architecture of the 80s: the dreams, the demolitions and the restoration. The Swedish Radio (SR) produced programme highlights the importance of:

“Learning to see the qualities of what already exists. The repair society is here now.”

Wikars has invited Lone-Pia Bach, Professor of Architectural Restoration art at the Royal Institute of Art, and Margarida Amaral, Lecturer in Architecture at Royal Institute of Art for all three episodes.

The first episode gives listeners a basic course in postmodernism, the dominant style of the 1980s. Dan Hallemar, Architecture Writer and Podcast Maker of Staden, talks about a dreamy era. Bach and Amaral share their views on the movement, which is explored through the courses at the Royal Institute of Art.

Bach sees the 80s as a vital time. It is fun, playful and based on an incredible optimism that dares to break the strict norms of modernism.

Amaral emphasises Signalhuset in Marievik as an architectural gem. By using signal colours consistently throughout the building, from the façade to the smallest detail on the inside, materiality and colour are reflected against each other. The project is well thought out from the inside out.

They emphasise the need to reassess postmodernism, to give the buildings a language to explain them in environmental terms.

The first episode, Drömmarna, can now be listened to on SR, Swedish Radio. The next two episodes, Rivningarna and Upprättelsen, will be released soon.

Registration for this year’s courses in restoration art and rebuilding culture opens on 15 March and will be held mainly in Malmö.