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40 327 The Art of Collecting Architecture: Events!
Admission to AHO and successful completion of three years bachelor level studies (180 ECTS).
Part of course series: OCCAS: The Art of Collecting Architecture
The course is open to students from: Architecture
Events!
A car bomb explodes outside an exhibition venue raining glass on a display; a raging party takes place during a paused building demolition; a group of illustrious architects toast champagne as they celebrate the end of constructivism; a galvanized public protests the destruction of a contested monument. Resounding applause, scandalized gasps, widened eyes, awe, shock, excitement!
Architecture is more than static structures. Its development hinges on events – brief or long moments in time when people meet, decisions are made, and buildings are designed, erected, or demolished. An event is singular and unpredictable in its own present, but typically demarcated as history is written. Similarly, its significance is unclear until post-conceptualization, when meaning is extracted. Often canonized, these narratives can result in feedback loops and derivative takes. We are interested in how the same piece of evidence can be used to tell different versions of “what really happened,” coloring our perception of the event in question.
Events are ephemeral and uncollectable. The missing subject poses challenges for historical research but opportunities for novel forms of writing architectural history. This course aims to explore creative ways of reporting architecture and its constituent events. Absent of the thing itself, our research must rely on fragments of evidence found elsewhere – in advertisements, archives, radio tapes, popular magazines, and others. Working with specific and temporally delineated events, ranging from minutes to years in length, students will unpack and document lost moments. We encourage experimentation with research methods, storytelling, and representation techniques in the crafting of factual, compelling and exciting architectural histories.
Knowledge:
The course offers critical knowledge of architectural history and historiography. The students will be trained in conducting archival research and in piecing together fragments from a variety of unpublished and published sources.
- Training in academic thinking and communication
- Critical reading and discussion of texts, buildings, and visual materials
- Formulate relevant questions in response to lectures, readings, exhibitions, and discussions
- Become familiar with the history of architectural collections and theories on collecting architecture
Skills:
- Identify relevant archives and sources
- Conduct archival research and organize source material
- Pair archival research with historical and contemporary sources, objects, and documents
- Become familiar with tools for academic writing
- Peer-review and editing
General competence:
The aim is to turn students into confident researchers able to command, apply and present contemporary perspectives on a historical material.
- Articulate original ideas through writing and image processing
- Use concrete and specific evidence to make broader historical arguments
- Communicate ideas through creative curation, publication, and presentation formats
- Clearly disseminate to both peer and public audiences
An exhibition, a congress, a demolition, and a protest will form the basis of our research. Students will work on assigned case studies, both individually and in groups. They will be introduced to archival studies, visual analysis, textual interpretation, and curatorial work. Lectures, reading seminars, and presentations will frame and inspire our work with archives, models, drawings, publications, photography and digital collections. The course will result in an exhibition and accompanying publication.
Course literature will be available in Leganto.
| Form of assessment | Grouping | Grading scale | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portfolio assessment (Vurderingsmappe) | Individual | Pass / fail | The course is assessed on the basis of seminar presentations, case studies, and contribution to the final exhibition. It must be stated in writing at the start of the course which elements are included in the folder, when they must be delivered and what is required for them to be approved. One overall grade is assigned to the folder. |
| Workload activity | Comment |
|---|---|
| Attendance | Students are expected to attend all course days and be active participants in the seminar activities. |