Alexander Tochilovsky – public lecture Close reading

A talk about the role of design archives, questioning if they still hold value for contemporary practitioners. More importantly, a presentation of what we know and what we thought we knew about typographic and design history. Models of alternative practice of engaging with archives and past design will also be presented.

Alexander Tochilovsky was born in Odessa, USSR. He emigrated to the USA in 1989 and received his BA from The Cooper Union in 2000, where he focused on graphic design and photography. He worked as a designer and later received an MFA in 2D design from Cranbrook Academy of Art. After returning to New York, he began teaching at The Cooper Union School of Art. In 2009, he curated the exhibition Lubalin Now, and in 2010, he became the curator of the Herb Lubalin Center for Design and Typography Studies. Since 2010, he has organised several exhibitions, including Appetite, Pharma, Type@Cooper, Image of the Studio and We Dissent. Since 2007, he has taught typography and graphic design at several universities and co-founded the Type@Cooper program. He also co-organises the Typographics conference and has created digital projects for the Lubalin Centre.