At a time when moral pragmatism, atmospheric minimalism, and veiled virtuosity have come to dominate conversations on contemporary architecture on the Pacific Rim, KINDLING counters with a vision of the future characterized by unstable fictions, elaborate expression, and roaring multiplicities. Made up of small but easily combustible material ideal for starting a fire, Kindling is also a neurological process by which a seizure or other brain event is both initiated and its recurrence made more likely.

In summer 2016, SCI-Arc Director Hernan Diaz Alonso will join moderators Yusuke Obuchi, Thomas Daniell, and Todd Gannon to kindle alternative modes of producing architectural representation, meaning, construction, and form. Additional participants will include Makoto Watanabe, Jun Sato, Souhei Imamura, Keisuke Toyoda, Hitoshi Abe, Steven Ma, Joe Day, Liam Young, and John N Bohn.