On Thursday, May 17, from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm Helms Bakery District and the Cal Poly LA Metro Program in Architecture and Urban Design are excited to host a presentation and discussion with Maxi Spina and Jia Gu of Spinagu. 

JIA GU
Jia Gu (b. Shanghai, China) is an architectural designer, educator, and curator with a special interest in critical and conceptual practices in art and architecture. She holds a B.A in Visual Arts with Honors from UCSD and a Master of Architecture with Honors from UCLA. She is Director of Materials & Applications and Associate Director of UCLA A.UD Summer Programs. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Architecture at UCLA. She is a co-founder of Spinagu.

MAXI SPINA
Maxi Spina (b. Rosario, Argentina) is the co-founder of Spinagu. He is currently Design Faculty and Applied Studies Faculty at SCI-Arc. He was previously the Maybeck Fellow at UC Berkeley, Lecturer at CCA, and Associate Professor at Woodbury. His work has been featured in exhibitions at A+D Museum, SCI-Arc, Jai & Jai, and Wuho Gallery. He received his M.Arch from Princeton University and a B.Arch from National University of Rosario, Argentina.
 
SPINAGU is a practice dedicated to architecture, curation, and pedagogy, formed of Jia Gu and Maxi Spina. They produce traditional architectural objects, such as follies, houses, and towers, alongside non-traditional objects, such as chess sets, exhibitions, and text. Their work is invested in formal exercises as well as thought experiments. They are interested in architecture as a speculative medium through which to explore technology, history, materiality, and form. They currently teach at SCI-Arc and the University of Southern California, and Jia directs an architectural exhibition space called Materials & Applications.

Introduced and moderated by Stephen Phillips, AIA, PhD, Principal of Stephen Phillips Architects (SPARCHS) and professor, director, Cal Poly LA Metro Program in Architecture and Urban Design (California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo)

Free Parking is available at the corner of Helms Ave. and Venice Blvd.

Photos (Left to Right): Maxi Spina and Jia Gu, Other Turns, Thick

Series Schedule:

Thursday, May 24: Forward-slash/Back-slash – Christoph Kumpusch

Thursday, May 31: Form:uLA – Bryan Cantley