Critical Architecture
AHRA Annual Conference:
The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL
25-27 November 2004
Programme
Call for Papers:
This two day international conference is the second annual conference
on Architectural Research to be organised by Dr. Jane Rendell
(Director of Architectural Research) and Dr. Jonathan Hill (Course
Director of the PhD by Architectural Design) at the Bartlett School
of Architecture, UCL. This year's conference is held in association
with AHRA (Architecture Humanities Research Association) represented
for this event by Prof. Murray Fraser (University of Westminster)
and Dr. Mark Dorrian (University of Edinburgh).
AHRA promotes, supports, develops and disseminates high-quality
research in all areas of architectural humanities. It has been
founded to provide an inclusive and comprehensive network of researchers
across all the UK architectural schools and has an international
advisory panel. AHRA organises events forums, seminars and conferences;
its inaugural event was a research student symposium held at the
University of Westminster in May 2004. The broader aim is to raise
public awareness of the social, cultural, economic and political
value of research in architectural history, theory, culture, design
and urbanism, helping to set the terms of reference for debates
about the quality of the built environment.
Critical Architecture aims to examine the relationship
between critical practice in architecture and architectural criticism.
The intention is to place architecture in an interdisciplinary
context, to explore architectural criticism with reference to
modes of criticism in other disciplines, specifically art criticism,
and to consider how critical practice in architecture operates
through a number of different modes: buildings, drawings and texts.
Speakers include Howard Caygill, Decosterd & Rahm, Kim Dovey,
Dunne and Raby, Hal Foster, Hilde Heynen, Ben Nicholson, Eyal
Weizman, Sarah Wigglesworth Architects.
Four separate strands will address the following areas of discussion:
Criticism by Design
The history and status of the architect are interwoven with those
of design. The term design
comes from the Italian disegno,
meaning drawing, suggesting both the drawing of lines on paper
and the drawing forth of ideas. What then is the relationship
of designing to building? Is there a role for the design project
that is critical but not intended to be built? Can a design, whether
drawn or built, question existing conditions and propose alternatives?
Is the dependence of designing on drawing positive? Are other
means of design more effective in developing a critical architecture?
Criticism, Negation and Action
In the wake of developments in theory over the last 30 years,
how should the idea of criticism in architecture be understood?
Does criticism still have pertinence or have we moved, as some
have argued, into a post-critical
condition, and if so what are the limits of this? On what terms
should criticism be mounted and what models do we have? Are the
historical models adequate or do we have to imagine new kinds
of reconfigured critical practices? What would these be like and
how would they integrate with questions of action?
Architecture-Writing
This session calls for papers that explore new ways of writing
architectural criticism. Discussions in art criticism concerning
art-writing open up possibilities for new writing practices and
also for re-thinking the relationship between criticism and critical
practice in the visual and performing arts. This debate questions
objectivity and judgment, as well as introduce considerations
of subjectivity, positionality, textuality and materiality in
writing. What kind of issues does such a debate raise for architectural
and spatial criticism? Abstracts which speculate upon the relation
of creative and critical practice in architecture-writing are
welcomed from artists, poets, architects, writers and critics
alike.
The Cultural Context
of Critical Architecture
The term critical architecture creates problems. It implies a
clear distinction for a mode of architecture that opposes dominant
economic and cultural strands, and hints at an alternative form
of practice that does not reproduce prevailing values. Perhaps
it is more useful to recognise a complex and negotiated concept
of critical architecture that depends on cultural context. What
are the variations between rural, suburban and urban conditions
within developed countries? How are globalisation and cultural
diversity affecting critical discourse in architecture? ÊMight
it be that critical architecture is a relative standpoint culturally,
maybe a luxury in Western countries, yet more needed elsewhere?
Please send a 500 word abstract plus 250 word biography - both
included in the body of the email (not as attachments) - to rachel.stevenson@ucl.ac.uk
by 3 September 2004. Please indicate which strand you wish your
paper to be considered for. Papers will be refereed by two academics.
You will be notified as to whether your abstract has been accepted
by 17 September 2004.
