UK / Michel Rojkind | The Quiet Radical: Imagination and the Reconnection of Architecture

Title: Michel Rojkind | The Quiet Radical: Imagination and the Reconnection of Architecture 

(This session has been pre-recorded with the speaker due to timezone variances)

Synopsis: In a time when speed is mistaken for progress and noise for relevance, imagining becomes a quiet, yet radical act. It is not an escape, but a return to see the world with depth: a way to recognise that what exists is not the only possibility. As architects, we should explore how shared imagination can open pathways to rebuild meaning, repair connections, and shape environments that regenerate rather than repeat.

Ultimately, imagining together is presented as the most powerful tool for creating futures that matter.

Key Learning Outcomes:

• Understand imagination as a critical tool for challenging fast, superficial cultures and opening new possibilities for cities, projects, and communities.
• Identify design approaches rooted in generosity, deep listening, and human presence: strategies that repair, reconnect, and regenerate collective life.
• Recognise architecture as a healing, living system capable of returning value, meaning, and dignity to the communities it serves.

Speaker BIO: Michel Rojkind (born 1969, Mexico City) is a prominent Mexican architect known for founding Rojkind Arquitectos (2002), a studio focused on innovative, experiential design, and for his past career as a successful rock drummer for Aleks Syntek y La Gente Normal. He blends music-inspired dynamism with architecture, teaching globally (SCI-Arc, Harvard) and earning accolades from Forbes, The New York Times, and Architectural Record, recognized for transforming urban challenges into unique design opportunities like the Cineteca Nacional renovations.