Golden Blue: Celebrating Earth’s Natural Resources – Sand & Water
About the event
Golden Blue: Celebrating Earth’s Natural Resources – Sand & Water is Studio_ITO’s research agenda that aims to critically analyse and articulate the over-extraction of natural resources in the global south, most particularly in post-colonial South-East Asian nations where illegal extraction has exponentially increased in the last two decades to keep pace with the ever-growing demand fuelled by population growth. The project unveils and raises questions on how these resources are distributed, commodified, and consumed by post-developed nations, multi-national corporations, and wealthy individuals. The lecture critiques the spatial and architectural implications that are inherently linked to the extraction of natural resources and the formidable consequences that humanity must accept. The role of architects and architecture shaping our world becomes ever more instrumental to ensure greater awareness of how we strategically regulate, monitor, and efficiently use scarce resources as stewards of our planet.
About the speaker
Sho Ito is a registered architect, educator in the UK and the founder of Studio ITO: Interdisciplinary Thought Operations, a design and research studio working with large-scale housing developments in Cambodia, café renovations in London to private homes in Tokyo. Ito graduated from the Architectural Association School of Architecture (AA). He has extensive experience and knowledge in both the academic and architectural industry, having previously worked at Stirling Prize-winning offices, Rogers Stirk Harbour+Partner, dRMM (de Rike, Marsh, Morgan) and AHMM (Allford Hall Monaghan Morris) in the UK across the commercial sector.
In conjunction with practice, Ito is currently a First Year Studio Master and a Diploma Technical Studies tutor at the Architectural Association School of Architecture. He has previously held positions as a studio master for a Bachelor of Architecture Studio at the University of Westminster, University of Cambridge and Nottingham Trent University. Ito has been invited as a guest critic, lecturer, and has given workshops and seminars at various institutions globally. His work has also been widely published and exhibited on different platforms and publications.
