Pecha Kucha, never heard of it? Well look it up.
20 slides each lasting 20 seconds, 6 minutes 40 seconds, a different and almost perfect way to give a powerpoint presentation. My only criticism after trying it is if you are really passionate about the subject then the hardest part isn’t giving the public speaking but deciding how to fit all the information you have into the 400 seconds you have their attention for!
Pecha Kucha styled presentations were originally developed by architects Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham as a way for architects to present as traditionally a presentation from an architect may have sent you into an eternal sleep of boredom.
In our class we were tasked by our lecturer Andy to choose a personal design hero and put together our own Pecha Kucha and present them in groups.
Being a keen lover of architecture I started looking at some of my favourite architects, Gerhry, Bjarke Ingles etc. I also looked at buildings I liked and the men and women that dreamt them up, such as Rogers Georges Pompidou Centre in Paris. I had visited it last year and fallen in love with its outlandish and mechanical look. In one of the most historical parts of Paris this modern ‘monstrosity’ is king.
And it’s creator… my hero. Lord Richard Rogers – Italian born British Architect.
He has laboured over many iconic buildings such as the Pompidou, The Lloyd Banking Building and the O2 Arena just to name a handful.
Originally I was pretty nervous about the prospect of giving this talk. Every pecha kucha talk I had looked up was clear cut and precise, delivered in such a professional way that I just didn’t see how anything we could come up with would compare.
The reoccurring theme throughout the talks was confidence and passion, I decided if I could collect enough research material and present my talk with enough conviction and passion it would turn out alright.
The classes talks actually superseded my expectations, they were all very well delivered.
For my own talk I was pleased with how it went although I felt I missed out a few key point in reflection about Archigram’s influence and my thoughts on its relevance today. Other things I wish I had mentioned included Rogers notably winning the most prestigious prize in the industry, the Prizker Prize for architecture in 2007 for his Lloyds Banking Building (1986 – awarded in 2007).
Overall I really enjoyed the pecha kucha way of presenting and the class’s work. It helped keep the talks to a length where people have to optimise both their time ad quality of work to effectively present it in an engaging and fun way.
I have included a pdf of my slides from the presentation.
jordan-snitch-product-pk-hero-rich-rogers
All image belong to the Richard Rogers Archive, creative commons properties.
Jordan Snitch - Product Design Student 