Journal of Architectural Education Fall Editorial Board Meeting Portland

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Journal of Architectural Education

Fall Editorial Board Meeting

Portland State University Portland, OR 02-04 October 2015

Table of Contents

General Information ...... 1

Meeting Schedule ...... 2

Meeting Agenda ...... 3

Reports

Executive Editor ...... 4

Associate Editor, Design ...... 5

Associate Editor, Reviews ...... 6

Art Director ...... 8

Additional Material

Spring 2015 Board Meeting Minutes

Theme Issue Proposals

Essays to be considered for the JAE Awards

General Information

Welcome to the Journal of Architectural Education 2015 Fall Editorial Board Meeting. All of our meetings will occur at Portland State University (1825 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97201)

If you are unable to attend the meeting, a skype connection can be provided. Please email Marc Neveu ([email protected]) if you wish to participate via skype.

While in Portland, Marc Neveu may be reached by phone at: 617-899-6965.

Barton Residence: (1920 SW River Drive, E101)

1 Meeting Schedule

Friday, 02 October 4.00 pm Clive Knights to introduce Editorial Board to students Shattuck Hall, 1914 SW Broadway

4.15 pm Tour, School of Architecture

5.00 pm Happy Hour at Professor Emeritus Rudy Barton's house 1920 SW River Drive, E101

Saturday, 03 October 9.00 – 12.30 Design Committee Meeting Shattuck Hall, 1914 SW Broadway: Room 250 Kulper, Fujita, Jackson, La, Sprecher, Stuth, Squire, Theodore

9.00 – 12.30 Reviews Committee Meeting Shattuck Hall, 1914 SW Broadway: Room 235 Rupnik, Contandriopoulos, Mumford, Nawre, Trubiano, Wendl

9.00 – 12.30 70:1 Shattuck Hall, 1914 SW Broadway: Office pod Neveu, Brennan, Weddle

1.30 – 5.00 Editorial Board Meeting Shattuck Hall, 1914 SW Broadway: Room 210 Full Editorial Board, Monti, Reimers, Vonier

7.00 Andina 1314 NW Glisan St. (503) 228-9535

Sunday, 04 October 9.00 – 1.00 Editorial Board Meeting Shattuck Hall, 1914 SW Broadway: Room 250 Full Editorial Board, Monti, Reimers, Vonier

2 General Board Meeting Agenda

Friday, 02 October Action Call to Order Neveu 1.30

Approval of Agenda Neveu 1.35 Approve Agenda

Approval of Spring 2015 Minutes Neveu 1.40 Approve Minutes

Executive Editor Report Neveu 1.45

Associate Editor, Design Report Kulper 2.00

Associate Editor, Reviews Report Rupnik 2.15

Art Director Report Vonier 2.30

Break

Best Essay (SoD, DaS), discussion Neveu 3:00 Select Essays

Adjournment 5:00

Sunday, 21 September Action Call to Order Neveu 9:00

Impact factor, discussion Neveu 9.05

Theme selection, discussion all 9.30 Select theme(s)

Editorial Board Member selection, discussion all 12.30 send nominees to EE

ACSA Annual Conference Session all 12.45 propose a session

Adjournment 1.00

3 Executive Editor Report

Since the previous Editorial Board meeting in Spring 2015, I have focused on the production of the forthcoming issue, 69:2 edited with Alicia Imperiale and Enrique Ramirez. Work for the upcoming issue, 70:1 is ongoing.

69:2 – S,M,L,XL (October 2015) • The issue is printed and available. • DaS essay to be published online as a teaser. • S,M,L,XL photos to be posted online.

70:1 – Open (March 2016) • 131 total essays (86 SoD, 45 DaS) • AnnMarie Brennan and Saundra Weddle have agreed to help edit the SoD content of the issue.

70:2 – Open or other (October 2016) Given the incredible call for 70:1, we may decide to select content for two issues.

Associate Editor, Design I have nominated Amy Kulper to continue as Associate Editor, Design for 2015-16.

Associate Editor, Reviews I have nominated Ivan Rupnik as Associate Editor, Reviews for 2015-16.

Committee Assignment for 2015-16: Design Kulper, Fujita, Jackson, La, Sprecher, Stuth, Squire, Theodore

Reviews Rupnik, Contandriopoulos, Mumford, Nawre, Trubiano, Wendl

70:1 Neveu, Weddle, Brennan

Paulette Singley decided to step down to pursue work as online reviews editor for the JSAH. Dr. Singley’s term ends in 2017 and will be fulfilled by Dr. Saundra Weddle.

Michelangelo Sabatino has not been able to make the previous three meetings and decided to step down. His term ends in 2016 and he will not be replaced.

Acceptance rates have been posted online.

The call for theme proposals yielded thirty-two proposals.

4 Associate Editor, Design: Report

The Design Committee welcomes two new members at this meeting: Tricia Stuth from The University of Tennessee College of Architecture and Design and co-founder and partner of the firm curb, and Mitchell Squire from the College of Design of Iowa State University. The cfp for issue 70:1, an open issue, produced a robust haul for the design committee with a total of 45 submissions for Design as Scholarship and Micro- Narratives combined. As this is a non-themed issue, the design committee will examine the submitted content, collectively decide upon a design framework, and solicit Guest Curators accordingly. (Typically, for themed issues, the design framework and Guest Curators are determined in concert with the Theme Editors.)

Inspired by the succinctness of the language of the Review Committee’s call for submissions, I have re-written the charges for authors of Micro-Narratives and Guest Curators (as discussed in the last meeting), pending the approval of the Design Committee, and hope that this will streamline and simplify the submission of solicited and unsolicited design content.

At the last meeting, I circulated the draft of a new Design Framework entitled, Discursive Images, among the members of the Design Committee. Based on their feedback, I have revised the text and upon their approval, we will include this new framework in the next issue. The aspiration for this new framework is to solicit drawings that instigate discourse from faculty and students of all of the ACSA member schools. This would generate design content for the website, allow us to select best faculty and student images for the print journal, and Aaron Sprecher will spearhead an effort to procure a grant for a traveling exhibition.

Currently, the Design Committee is focusing its efforts on getting more design content onto the website and we continue to discuss options for having a more robust design presence there.

5 Associate Editor, Reviews: Report

Ivan Rupnik, Associate Editor Report, Fall 2015

Working closely with Review Committee members Christina Contandriopolus and Eric Mumford, I have commissioned and completed nine reviews (three double reviews), included in 69:2 SMLXL, and three online reviews. I have also commissioned and am in the process of editing eight reviews for 70:1 and two for the web site. In addition, I have continued the work on a new review type, the expanded review, “what architects do”, with two of these reviews in production for 70:1. In preparation for an expanding reviews committee, I am working on a clearer set of protocols for the review production process.

Published Reviews:

Filip Tejchman: Insulating Modernism: Isolated and Non-Isolated Thermodynamics in Architecture Kiel Moe, with a foreword by Iñaki Abalos Birkhauser, 2014

Frederick R. Steiner: Ecology and the Architectural Imagination Brook Muller Routledge, 2014 + Design Education for a Sustainable Future Rob Fleming Routledge, 2013

David Theodore: The Return of Nature: Sustaining Architecture in the Face of Sustainability Edited by Preston Scott Cohen and Erika Naginski Routledge, 2014

Martin Bressani: A Topology of Everyday Constellations Georges Teyssot MIT Press, 2013

Robert McCarter: Kahn at Penn: Transformative Teacher of Architecture James Williamson Routledge, 2015

Sarah Thomas Karle: Projective Ecologies Chris Reed and Nina-Marie Lister Harvard Graduate School of Design and Actar Publishers, 2014

Kathleen James-Chakraborty: Urbanität und Dichte im Städtebau des 20. Jahrhunderts Wolfgang Sonne DOM publishers, 2014 + Die Stadt im 20. Jahrhundert: Visionen, Entwürfe, Gebautes Vittorio Magnago Lampugnani Verlag Klaus Wagenbuch, 2011

Panayotis Tournikiotis: Greece: Modern Architectures in History Alexander Tzonis and Alcestis P. Rodi Reaktion Books, 2013

Kiel Moe, Science in the Age of Computer Simulation Eric Winsberg University of Chicago Press, 2010 + KieranTimberlake Simulation Software

Stephan Kowal: Protomoments: The New Work of Projective Architectural Objects, Glenn Wilcox and Anca Trandafirescu McGill University School of Architecture January 5– January 26, 2015

6 José Bernardi: Latin America in Construction Architecture 1955–1980 Museum of Modern Art March 29–July 19, 2015

Martino Stierli: Claire Zimmerman: Photographic Architecture in the Twentieth Century

Reviews in Production:

Annie Pedret: Robert McCarter, Aldo van Eyck

Shundana Yusaf: Rebel Architecture

Kristian Kloeckl: Rachel Armstrong, Vibrant Architecture + Davina Jackson, SuperLux: Smart Light Cities

Rod Barnett: Walter de Gruyter, Why is Landscape Beautiful?

Réjean Legault: Timothy Rohan, Paul Ruplph

Nicola Pezolet: CCA, “The SAAL Process”

Spyros Papapetros: Martin Bressani, Architecture and the Historical Imagination: Eugène- Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, 1814–1879

Tim Love: Eric Firley, Urban Master Planning Handbook

Luka Piskorec, James Stevens and Ralph Nelson, Digital Vernacular: Architectural Principles, Tools, and Processes

Ryan Smith: Gordon Stott and Jared Levy, Connect Homes Patent (Expanded Review)

Suzanne Charles: Landing Studio, Agreement of Use - Rock Chapel Marine (Expanded Review)

7 Art Director: Report

Art Director Report may be found at the following: http://www.jaeonline.org/pages/managing-editor-report.

8 Additional Materials

Spring 2015 Minutes

Journal of Architectural Education (JAE) Board Meeting Spring 2015 Editorial Board Meeting

ACSA Annual Meeting Toronto, Canada March 20 – 21, 2015

Meeting Minutes Prepared by Nora Wendl

In attendance: Marc Neveu (Executive Editor – MN) Amy Kulper (AK) Ivan Rupnik (IR) Aaron Sprecher (AS) Christina Contandriopoulos (CC) Georgeen Theodore (GT) John Stuart (JS) Franca Trubiano (FT) Mari Fujita (MF) Doug Jackson (DJ) Nora Wendl (NW)

Clare Cusack (Representative from Taylor and Francis) Pascale Vonier (PV from ACSA, Senior Managing Editor) Michael Monti (MM from ACSA, Executive Director) Eric Mumford (EM, ACSA Board Member)

Absent: Amanda Gann (AG, from ACSA, Publications Manager) Grace La (GL, Editorial Board Member) Michelangelo Sabatino (GL, Editorial Board Member) Tom Avermaete (GL, Editorial Board Member) Paulette Singley (PS, Editorial Board Member) Shannon Criss (CS, ACSA Board Member)

1 Saturday March 21 Editorial Board Meeting

Call to Order

Approval of Agenda

ACTION To approve the Meeting Agenda supplied by MN. All in favor

Approval of Fall 2014 Minutes

ACTION To approve Minutes from the Fall 2014 meeting All in favor

1.0 Report from Marc Neveu, Executive Editor (MN)

MN announces that 69:1 is published.

69:2 S,M,L,XL Themed Edition is in production. In hindsight, wonder if call was difficult to decipher. The Open Issue, 70: 1 is next: deadline is August 1, 2015. We have 10 responses already, and anticipate a higher volume of submissions compared to 69:2.

FT: Perhaps we have fewer curated issues?

MN: Perhaps open call becomes two volumes.

Pascale Vonier announces that the JAE website is live. http://www.jaeonline.org/

MN announces new 2015-2018 Editorial Board members Annmarie Brennan, Alpa Nawre Aaron Sprecher, Tricia Stuth, and Mitchell Squire. MN explains that this represents an attempt to balance gender, geography, and expertise.

Peggy Deamer and Timothy Hyde also expressed interest in joining but would like to be considered next year.

MN introduces Amanda Gann, the new Publications Manager who will be handling proceedings, etc. (Amanda not precent)

MN announces that at ACSA Toronto, JAE will be holding two sessions. First, IR/AS/GT on Crisis, which will riff and build on it. We see this as a good model for sponsoring discussion and debate about the JAE and its themes at the conference, a model for engagement. At the Fall meeting, we’d like to discuss the session we’ll hold to promote discussion around the Open session. MN suggests we

2 hold JAE101 every other year, to continue engaging ACSA members on modes of participating and publishing in the ACSA.

2.0 Report from Amy Kulper, Associate Editor, Design

Alicia Imperiale and Enrique Ramirez are the co-Theme Editors for S,M,L,XL which had a smaller number of submissions than anticipated, but sponsored great conversation. Two design submissions are definitely worth publishing and one design submission we will recommend publishing online with a focus primarily on its images—this could perhaps be a teaser for the issue.

Mimi Zeiger has been approached as a guest curator for S,M,L,XL issue.

SMLXL: This theme seems to put most emphasis on layout, and we’d like to think about that as we approach designing the issue.

Theme Editors have solicited Micro-Narratives from Sarah Whiting and Sanford Kwinter.

We think that now that we have Design Framework and Micro-Narrative in place that we need to get work online.

AK suggests that we have a Design Framework co-authored by the entire design committee, a “snapshot” of the discipline, positioning design work. This Design Framework should suggest that “Best practices” are not stagnant, but an emerging constellation.

New Design Framework includes the Discursive Image. This is inspired by Mark Linder’s student, whose image on the cover of a prior issue provoked conversation.

AK is seeking working on new language for the Discursive Image framework that she wants the Design Committee to respond to and help shape. In short, the Discursive Image is inspired by the historical lineage of kinds of images that show you an object, but also how that thing is produced; images that have the capacity for precision, for clarity. Images that are informative. Invite ACSA Schools of Architecture to submit; make a call; put up online.

AS will go after a SSHRC grant to produce a traveling exhibition of such images. This campaign to get a grant from them and curate an exhibition of drawings and physical traveling exhibition, both of faculty and of student work.

GT supports the idea, suggests that the primary things architects do and evaluate are drawings. Discursive Images could also sponsor is a robust discourse around drawings online.

3 MN: SSHRC likes to see that you have other support, reminds AS to talk with MM about the NEA grant that JAE received, to mention that in the grant application.

Other strategies: invite a guest curator, could also curate three projects to put online. Online vs. print, need to clarify the role of each.

Teaser campaigns: prior to print journal online, keep theme in the air on the website.

Alicia and Enrique asked “Where Is It?”, asking people to take a photograph, give a name, date, and location of their S,M,L,XL. Expanding this even more to ask key players in the discipline where their copy of S,M,L,XL is, potentially hilarious to hear S,M,L,XL stories.

AK asked the Design Committee to reflect on the content since Design Framework, Micro-Narratives, and Guest Curator were issued. Extend the conversation to the larger board. AK suggests that it’s complicated to tell new guest editors and members of the board what we’re doing, and is concerned that it shouldn’t be that complicated. AK is working on an explanation of the Design content that will make all of this easy to understand, to streamline and make language more populous, mirroring the clarity of the Reviews Committee.

3.0 Report from Ivan Rupnik, Associate Editor, Reviews

Reviews for 70:1, the Open Issue, have been solicited. There are 11 of them. All books are from the 2014-2015 period. More reviews will be placed online.

Eric M. and Christina C. are interested in developing a more consistent protocol on how we read and review books. Categories—to evaluate what’s being published. Umberto Eco just wrote a book on how to write a thesis, for instance.

Working on a new review topic: “What Do Architects Do?” Practices and Facts.

Single image and abstract, extracting and discovering knowledge we would associate with architecture.

Abstract: Reviews Committee: smaller group would be developed into print.

MN suggests IR craft a call and send it out.

CC asks about one original call per issue: is it too much? Feature creep?

MN says that the reviews are opening and expanding, not trying to distribute energies too far/wide.

4 FT says that if she were a faculty member with experience, she would have a hard time telling what was a peer review and what not. Design content vs. density of methodological intent. Perhaps we need to clarify for our constituent groups.

MN says it is difficult to get Micro-Narrative submissions at this time.

FT has a concern about the marketing of the journal, what will draw more people.

AK asks, with this new expanded review format, is there a conflict of interest problem—what is our policy? With any type of review, how do we keep someone from recommending their best friend’s work?

GT says that we have a tremendous opportunity with the website; launch everything at once, we want a more open and broader magazine—and include a number of areas to roll out in the next year and get people more excited.

CC suggests that if it is harder to get published in the JAE, that would be better.

MN suggests that we don’t jut want more, we want better submissions.

AS says that we should have more transparency, which is helping us now, but do we need balance?

GT suggests we raise the bar regarding who considers submitting.

4.0 Report from the Senior Managing Editor, Pascale Vonier

PV reports that she is continuing to work on the website, working with Clare. T&F is scanning all of the covers and those should be up and running on the site in the next few months.

MN mentions that Lian Chang made a presentation on data, can we look at trends now? What are the trends in the JAE? Could we track over the past few decades through keywords and tags?

MF asks about the possibility of an archive. What about the idea of a topic map? Crisis, relating the current issue to old issues; could we even republish an old article on the website, connecting the current trajectory to the legacy of the journal, put that on the website as reflexive content?

AK yes, asks could we guide people to content without needing to preserve the link?

MF, there is still the question of how to navigate through the website, ACSA, and T&F website to get to the article.

5 PV says that a platform is built for online content, and they are working out how to synthesize and include the published work; it’s still being resolved.

MN says we have two platforms and are trying to make that link between the two transparent.

Clare: trends and downloads, there are 20,000-some downloads of the JAE

MN: Subscriptions are above and beyond this; ACSA has a built-in subscription base via the member schools, whereas SAH does not have such a network.

MM: The number of ACSA full and candidate schools is roughly 138, with 75 to 100 affiliated. There are approx 3800 subscribers to ACSA membership.

MM: ACSA/NAAB merger is being discussed right now. In November we’ll be exploring a merger, but nothing is decided now. NCARB is asking for 15% more, and ACSA objected to it and objected to the balance of power on NAAB board— 1/3 NCARB, 1/3 ACSA, and 1/3 AIA: why are academic outnumbered by professionals? We’re looking at merging ACSA and NAAB to stop competing for numbers and prove that we have the same concerns. Benefits would include: 1. Lowering the cost of accreditation 2. Governance structure of NAAB 3. Informing the scope of what NAAB wants to do

MM says there is interest in restructuring the ACSA board, informed by the success that JAE is having: 1. Scholarship & Award, 2. Best Practices in Teaching, 3. Leadership and Advocacy.

JS says that the structure of the committee, from a chair/dean’s perspective, raises the question what if there is more ACSA service? How do departments support people to do these things? The mission statement may need to be rewritten, the word “engaged,” “active doing,” etc.

5.0 Review Process for 70:1, Marc Neveu

70:1 is an Open Issue—how to try to select essays for the theme? Two models: Scholarship of Design, which is overseen by the Design Committee, & Design of Scholarship, which is sent out for review. MN proposes that we have two options: some board members can become theme editor and distribute essays for review as a theme editor would. Be aware that a Theme Editor can see identities of those submitting, so you must send the essays out to be reviewed, to experts in that territory. Read the reviews they write, and then make a decision. MN suggests there might be a way around this if the Theme Editor is made to not know the identity of those submitting.

MN suggests that each board member come up with five names and keywords.

6 CC asks what about having authors propose reviewers for their papers? MN says that to do this can be problematic. CC asks, if I decide to do this, can I say that I find some of these un-publishable and jut not send them on? MN says that if one is just not appropriate, it is weeded out prior to it being reviewed, even, at an earlier stage.

MN says that another option for this Open Issue would be if MN were editor, and send ten submissions to each member of the editorial board, and the editorial board then uses their network to solicit reviewers.

ACTION To approve the process as proposed by MN. All in favor

Break

6.0 Call for Theme Issue Topics

70:1 is an Open Call, nothing in the queue after. How to choose themes and how to choose theme editors? Content and design: 1. How many? 2. What are we looking for? Editing an issue of the volume: the call is open and MN encourage the board to submit theme topics for upcoming issue.

IR: wonderful collaboration of AS and GT in terms of themes and how they continue to be productive. Nice dialogue.

MN suggests that it would be productive for a board member and an external member to team up to curate a theme.

FT: let’s be careful hw much we curate the journal; let’s say it’s an open call and let what falls on the table fall.

MN: let’s be clear what we expect from a call; not so focused, we could just communicate expectations for how to craft a call.

AS: yes, structurally.

JS: Is there anything from the last open call that we might consider?

MN: I’ll send that out as a PDF. You can consider them. But it would be odd to lump them altogether.

JS: Let’s look closely at the previous submissions, perhaps there is something that is particularly good timing. We have a field of options.

7 DJ: We could bring them forward if we liked them, they wouldn’t have to resubmit.

AK: Hyde’s Crisis was so beautifully crafted—should we extend it as a model?

GT: You could get opposing visions, as well.

Motion to have a call for Open Topics

IR: For how many topics?

MN: ACSA says we can’t have strictly themed issues and I agree.

AK: Concerned about delicacy of talking about board members’ proposals in front of them.

ACTION To approve a call for topics as proposed by MN. All in favor

7.0 JAE Outreach

AK: Recently, I was invited to lecture and talk to PhD students and part of the invitation was to talk about JAE. In a way we are our own best ambassadors. The website is a great tool to show people. AK asks faculty to do a 10 minute talk with faculty about submitting to the JAE—could be effective and encourage people to submit.

AS: We need a physical manifestation of JAE; seems very important to how we do this.

PV: We recorded the JAE 101 session yesterday.

AS: We taped Crisis session too.

PV: Landscape Architect tracks the journeys of their editors online.

MN: We can post where we’re going to lecture and use that as a platform for presenting; send your tour dates to PV.

GT: Our ambassadorial potential; part of our responsibility is to imagine how we might promote, reach out to our faculties and to our potential networks and encourage people to apply.

MN: We have a 7% acceptance rate; blind peer reviewed process for submission for scholarship.

8 AK: We need to let people know that it’s difficult to get in, but that you get great feedback, which is hard to get on the tenure track. Be clear that you get great feedback.

DJ: Plug design frameworks, and prime/help faculty to understand them.

IR: Is it explained that this is a framework?

AK: They don’t have much of a presence now, want to talk to PV about them and having a new presence in the author guide.

MN: Get author guide set up, focus more on ACSA peer review site.

FT: From an industry perspective other journals have a higher acceptance rate.

MN: From my perspective we get a lot of inappropriate essays from Iran, China, and they’re counted in the overall number of submissions.

FT: If I’m not aware of the JAE but see the 7%, I would go to 10 other journals first. What I wonder—the other journals are 15%-18% acceptance; perhaps our number should be a function of what is reviewed: think about perception and marketing. If they’re not blind peer reviewed, should we be counting them at all?

JS: In the about part of the website, we could describe that “of the articles that are pee reviewed, etc., this is the # that we accept.” Tell people how the review process works.

FT: The #s would be intimidating.

FT: That seems too low, not reputable.

AS: We need to explain what it means; because there are journals that are peer- refereed, which means that some people have reviewed but it doesn’t say blind, it’s not blind. We need to be clear about our process.

MN: We will add language about double blind and also list the #s more accurately. And we all agree to send our tour dates to PV and to advocate to our own faculties.

8.0 Policy Review

MN: Two years and some months ago, asked to construct policies for the JAE, defining roles and terms, expectations of board. It’s been over two years, and I propose an adhoc committee to determine how we choose board members and meeting attendance, which really matters to this process. It is counter-productive when a member skips 2 to 4 meetings.

IR: This is crucial; in addition to attendance, an issue of transition also. When an editor is being replaced, how do they prepare the replacement? Responsibility and agency of the new editor.

MN: Meant to shadow existing executive editor for a year. See the policy and all expectations are listed in the board book.

MN: We need to craft some language about how to participate if a board member is unable to attend in person; that technology is all right and okay to phone/skype in, if we believe it is.

CC: What about having the JAE meeting at the same time as SAH?

MN: The timing doesn’t quite work out. E. Ellis tries to make sure that there aren’t any conflicts for architecture faculty.

Ivan Rupnik and Franca Trubiano will work with Marc Neveu on an adhoc committee to review policy and present to this board and to ACSA board.

9.0 Fall 2015 Editorial Board Meeting Location

MN introduces this and suggests that the expectation is that the host has a place for the weekend’s meetings, Saturday and Sunday. Offer accommodation options.

All agreed on Portland State University School of Architecture in Portland, Oregon as the Fall 2015 meeting location. Meeting Oct 3 – 4, 2015: all day Saturday (9 a – 5 p) and half-day on Sunday (9 a – 1 p, with most flying back to their respective locations on Sunday).

Conversations will include: Best of, Upcoming Themes, Production of Current Theme)

10.0 Other Business

IR: The Crisis session was great; a good chance to animate the conversation of the theme in the context of ACSA conference. AS and IR discussed crisis being external; the discipline in crisis; end of theory and end of autonomy. Tim’s call, chose with practitioners; internal crisis—engaging crisis; economic issues; environmental issues. One of the more heated parts of the discussion was a conversation of intellectual practice vs. problem solving. Henri Lefebvre’s conception of mental space vs. social space, possibly polemical.

GT: The conversation stirred the pot; encouraged group to think about before/after architecture; framing the project of building. This active format worked very well.

10 MN: Content, questions, participants and timing are all important in the organization of these moving forward. Let’s get the word out in advance on who will be speaking.

GT: Let’s make sure it’s positioned as discursive.

MN: Yes; perhaps even framed as a debate. Could be good to facilitate the discussion. For the next issue, the Open Theme is the one we will be discussing. We need someone for next year to have a commitment to organize a session for JAE at ACSA.

AS: Why couldn’t it be SMLXL?

MN: Someone should take it on, extend it, organize and promote it.

GT: Yes, doing this in advance is a great idea. I was misrepresented in the program this time due to oversight.

MN: Timing and advance promotion can help.

11.0 Thank Outgoing Members

Farewell to John Stuart... Thank you.

12.0 Adjournment

11 Best of Essays

Design as Scholarship Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015

72 Building for Peace in New York City

Nandini Bagchee City College of New York

Figure 1. Building at 339 Lafayette Street during the Gulf War (1991). Photograph by Ed Hedemann.

“To be political, to live in a polis, stockpiling and supplying weapons to the building in the public realm and meant that everything was decided the very enemy it was about to attack. locates the practices of its occupants through words and persuasion and Dramatically billed as “Operation within Hannah Arendt’s concept of not through force and violence.” Desert Storm,” and broadcast live on a city—one where force and vio- —Hannah Arendt, The Human news and media outlets, this war pur- lence are countered with words and

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 Condition (1958)1 portedly allowed viewers access to the persuasion. frontlines as Iraqi cities were demol- The contribution of architects “Talks not Troops” announced a ished with air strikes and US troops and architecture to the public realm banner hung from the crenellated moved swiftly across the desert has long been in question. In 1974, roof parapet of a three-story build- followed by cameras. In deliberate the critic Manfredo Tafuri bemoaned ing in downtown Manhattan (Figure contrast to the high-tech military the loss of the social utopia of the 1). This call to persuade, rather than operation, the handmade banner at a early modernists and argued that bomb, Iraq in the aftermath of its prominent intersection in downtown capitalist development had reduced 1991 invasion of Kuwait brought Manhattan announced that there the role of architects in such a way thousands of people to the streets of are alternatives to the violence that that forms are without social purpose cities across the United States. With war proposes. By advocating speech and architecture is reduced to “sub- this act, the War Resisters League (talk) over violence (troops), the WRL lime uselessness.”3 Forty years later, (WRL), a group dedicated to pacifism inserted its radical pacifism into the architects find themselves even more since 1923, witnessed a resurgence of domain of the street.2 Punctuated by complicit in the diminishing of the interest among the populace to resist the image of a broken rifle, WRL’s public realm. Upscale developments a government that had been steadily concisely worded slogan situates co-opt the avant-garde grammar of

JAE 69:1 73 the modern movement and use it draws attention to a shared politi- acts as an incubator of change—the successfully to market luxury living. cal cause through direct action. If, grassroots town hall where myriad The ascendance of this lifestyle in however, a revolution seeks to bring ideas related to social reform are cities across the globe has generated about a fundamental change in the negotiated and transformed. an anxiety within the architectural sociopolitical order, then an ongoing The three-story building at profession and directed the urban mode of public engagement is called the intersection of Lafayette and imaginings of designers toward the for. The larger mission of activism is Bleecker Streets has provided such a capricious demands of the real estate not merely the liberation from tyr- work space to activists in New York economy. Yet, by looking beyond new anny but rather the constitution of a City for the past forty years. The construction to the history of adapta- new body politic.5 WRL bought the building in 1969 as tion and reuse of existing buildings, This two-part agenda of revo- a safe haven from raids by federal we can locate important and under- lution—to break the monopoly of agents.7 Then in 1974, they set up recognized ways in which buildings power and then to construct a new the A. J. Muste Memorial Institute inspire social organization and con- democratic imperative—provides (AJMMI) as a legal nonprofit orga- tribute to the formation of public a programmatic blueprint for two nization to look after the building practices. different types of spaces. In her dis- and also to provide a legitimate front This essay revisits the issue of cussion of the American Revolution, to process funding for the various the social function of architecture Hannah Arendt describes the projects and activist undertakings by looking at the history of a build- “Commons” and the “Town Hall” in the building. AJMMI continues ing appropriated by antiwar activists as the spatial corollary of these two to offer low-rent office space to -dif and social justice advocates since components of public participation.6 ferent social justice groups in the the 1970s. This and other such self- organized spaces in the city represent Figure 2. Continental a critical yet overlooked dimension Walk work desk (1976). of the space of political mobiliza- Photograph by Ed tion and dissent.4 The physical Hedemann. structure has deteriorated over the years, and today the owners face the grim prospect of fixing or losing a building that has been the locus of many experiments in radical political thinking. When a community concerned by larger, global crises found itself obligated to address a crisis in housekeeping, there emerged an opportunity to raise fundamental questions about the form of a building and the purpose of a community dedicated to peace. An architectural competition launched to “save” this building became a means to engage The first responds to the contingen- city. Current tenants include a range

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 in this ongoing crisis of maintaining a cies of gathering and the second to of politically engaged organiza- space for critical action. the formation and debate of a politi- tions such as Paper Tiger TV, Deep cally engaged community. Both of Dish TV, Met Council on Housing, Peace and Justice Headquarters these spatial models are today much New York State Youth Leadership Revolutions are born on the street dissipated: the commons are policed Council, Socialist Party, Women’s and sustained in the open air of the by various forms of control, and the International League for Peace and public square, in plain sight of powers town hall is virtually inaccessible to Freedom, Global Revolution TV, that be. Visibility in the city and the the private citizen. What then are the and the WRL.8 The groups operating impromptu accumulation of bodies possible venues for staging political from within this building organize in protest are the hallmarks of civil dissent? In thinking of the inspiring demonstrations and develop strate- disobedience. The spontaneous pres- spaces within a city that are capable gies to resist war, redirect taxes, and ence of bodies in protest challenges of nurturing a revolution, one seldom produce television programming that and dismantles its established status thinks of an office—replete with propagates nonviolent resistance to as site of control. This temporal desks, computers, phones, filing cabi- oppression both nationally and inter- quality of the revolutionary tactic nets, and clutter (Figure 2). And yet nationally. The convenient location of effectively commandeers space and this is precisely the kind of space that the building in downtown Manhattan

74 Building for Peace in New York City Figure 3. List of tenants—past and current (in years as a scaffold from which to (Figure 4). The WRL, in a one-to- red)—located by room in the building (2014). hang signs and banners to project one response to the military, holds messages that express the politics of workshops that train civilians in non- and the subsidized rents have cre- the organizations within the build- violent resistance. This dedication to ated a stronghold for a community of ing. The main entry door to the ten nonviolence and the ongoing critique activists in this part of town (Figure or so upper-level offices is located of US militarism have earned the 3). on Lafayette Street. The central building the name “Peace Pentagon.” Built in 1922, the structure at stair and corridors that connect the The banners on the building and the

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 339 Lafayette Street was originally offices of the various organizations marches within the city are not the designed for light manufacturing are plastered with announcements of only means deployed by the activ- and retail. The storefronts on the meetings and actions. This small but ists at the Peace Pentagon to project ground floor are currently rented out functional interior constantly invites their message. In particular, the work to commercial tenants, and the top new forms of participatory expression of artist collectives, new media col- two floors are occupied by the offices and organization focused on social lectives, and housing action groups of the aforementioned movement justice, equality, and ending war. complement and often directly sup- groups. Utilitarian in its architecture, A timeline of the US wars since port the antiwar actions. the building’s large window open- Vietnam mapped against the major Formed in 1981 and composed ings, brick piers, and embedded steel demonstrations9 organized by the of a rotating group of young media structure are common to the other WRL (1969–2013) shows the ways in artists, the Paper Tiger TV (PTTV) factory buildings from this time which the building has functioned to media collective seeks alternatives to period in the neighborhood. The counter the institutional history of mainstream reporting by large syndi- generic form and materiality of the the United States by organizing and cated media sources. Video footage exterior and its prominent corner participating in rallies, blockades, shot live with readily available VHS location have worked well over the and other forms of direct action technology in the 1980s sought to

Bagchee JAE 69:1 75 Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015

Figure 4. Timeline of protest actions (top) and wars (bottom) measured in terms of participants and “boots on the ground.”

76 Building for Peace in New York City Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015

Bagchee JAE 69:1 77 create a consumer awareness of the into a document of dissent to this offices and toilets is an embarrass- news. In 1986, as the PPTV meeting short war. The series was broadcast ment to the egalitarian ambitions of room piled up with videotapes, the from local and international TV sta- the tenants. members of the collective initiated tions and remains to date the most In its semiderelict state, the a distribution arm—Deep Dish TV multifaceted view of the beginning of building stands out in a spruced- (DDTV) in room 305. Deep Dish what drags on to be the longest war in up neighborhood of entertainment transmitted programs made by vari- U.S. history. establishments, high-end apartments, ous activist videographers to a larger and glossy advertising (Figure 5). network of national cable TV. Satellite Peace Pentagon in Crisis The tenants and the management technology was used to create an The neighborhood around the Peace have accepted and to some degree electronic commons for individuals Pentagon has witnessed a complete embraced the unkempt exterior and groups across the United States transformation in the past 30 years. over the years, but evidence that the to share their views on war and peace, Once a focal point for radical politics problems might be more significant ecology, diversity, and women’s and home to lower-income immi- became visible on the exterior of the rights. grant groups, the Lower East Side building in 2007. The second column Early in 1991, as the official rheto- is now emblematic of escalating real bay along the western facade of the ric of the Gulf War was broadcast estate values and pricey restaurants. building was sinking downward, cre- on all major networks, PTTV and The influx of capital in the form of ating visible sag at the northern end DDTV embarked on a serial program art galleries, followed by the condo- of the Lafayette Street facade. A proj- to “counter media disinformation.”10 minium boom of the last decade, has ect scheduled by the Metropolitan The ten-part “Gulf Crisis TV Project,” pushed many former residents and Transit Authority to embark on made through a collaboration of local community-run nonprofits out of the a large-scale restructuring of the and international video activists, neighborhood.11 The tenants at 339 Bleecker Street subway station that began by examining the history of the Lafayette Street have managed to sur- abutted the building at foundation Gulf region, expanded to document vive these pressures by virtue of the level precipitated a crisis. The struc- the dissent on the home front, and low rents subsidized by AJMMI. The tural investigation revealed that the carried on to observe the losses, grief, physical fabric of the building has, building, though not an immediate and anger of the Iraqi people as the however, succumbed to the forces danger to the occupants, was indeed armed assault ended. The network of of time, weather, and neglect. Water structurally compromised. To repair TV activists nurtured by DDTV were leaks, electrical short circuits, and or rebuild it would take a substantial joined by hundreds of disaffected energy inefficiencies are impediments sum of money, and AJMMI consid- citizens who sent their video work to to those working inside the building. ered selling the building and moving. 339 Lafayette Street to be compiled The lack of handicap access to the The prospect of selling the building met with stiff opposition from the long-term tenants and concerned community members who viewed the building as an active symbol of dissent in a neighborhood that has so rapidly gentrified. The displacement from this central location to cubicles of rented space in a peripheral loca-

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 tion did not appeal to the tenants, and there was the fear that the $7 million earned by the potential sale of the building would disappear quickly, leaving very little in terms of a legacy for future generations.12 To address this imminent crisis and to look for alternative solutions, the Friends of 339, a group opposed to the sale of the building, sought ways to understand the extent of the problems at hand as well as to develop

Figure 5. Building with scaffold and streetscape looking north (2014). Photograph by Jade Doskow.

78 Building for Peace in New York City 30 years. People who actually worked within the building thought this moment of crisis was an opportunity to envision a completely new kind of building—one that could restructure the internal organization and bring fresh impetus to the various social agendas. After much discussion, and not necessarily with complete consensus, my colleague Maureen Shea and I decided to launch an open architectural competition on behalf of the Friends of 339. The goal of the competition was twofold: first, to bring attention to the plight of the building and, second, to explore the various options for rebuilding and rei- maging a peace and justice center in downtown Manhattan. “Peace Pentagon: A Call to Action” was launched in September 2009 to create a dialogue with an extended community of practitioners. Figure 6. Paper Tiger TV office (2014). democratic civic purpose, guide city The competition asked the par- Photograph by Jade Doskow. governance. In Smith’s telling, the ticipants to envision a future for this city extracts revenge on the marginal- building that would accommodate the propositions to save the building ized segments of society and those current tenants, optimize resources, from being sold.13 The group included institutions that support them by and raise awareness about the mission long-term tenants of the building as demonizing them and ultimately driv- of its workers. well as activists, architects, lawyers, ing them out of the urban center. The The web site www.peacepen- and artists affiliated with the building, battle to maintain the groups that tagoncompetition.net described who saw the crisis as a means to bring have historically opposed such spatial the building in terms of its physical renewed energy to the fundamental injustice in this part of the city ele- structure and appearance but also in questions of the importance of a place vated this most ordinary of buildings terms of its connection to the city and dedicated to political organization. to the status of a monument. the agendas of its users. It presented The potential threat of the building the building as a repository of all the being lost, demolished, or otherwise A Call to Action strategic actions and projects planned refashioned as high-end housing In 2008, the larger building com- and executed from within. A timeline helped galvanize many to rethink the munity, which went far beyond the charted the seminal marches and nature of what was essentially a shared immediate inhabitants, was united in actions of the WRL in New York City resource within the city. The group the goal of saving the building. That since the 1960s. The drawing (Figure

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 met, discussed the issues, brought in said, there were differences of opin- 7), based on the interactive web site a team of experienced engineers, and ion as to how this could be achieved. map, visualizes the way in which in some measure convinced AJMMI Some felt that the physical attributes the city streets and the locations of that the sale of the building would be of the building—brick exterior, tin bureaucratic institutions (the UN, the a mistake. ceilings, and windows—were worth central post office, and others) are The escalating value of this build- keeping as is, whereas others thought activated by these temporary spatial ing—worth more each passing year that a more radical architectural occupations. In addition to fram- in terms of its real estate price tag transformation was in order (Figure ing the city as a palimpsest of the rather than its ability to sustain social 6). The question of representation marches, a series of interviews with movements within New York City—is often came up, even as the group of the people filmed inside the building symptomatic of a larger crisis. The well-wishers sorted out scenarios of reveals the private work spaces and chances of maintaining the hard cost and feasibility. According to the ideas of individuals involved in the won gains of political activism in the engineer’s report, the renovation of collective public actions and common heart of what geographer Neil Smith the old building with an updated elec- cause. This act of uniting the actions called the “revanchist city” are slim.14 trical and mechanical system would launched from within the building Finance and real estate interests, not only extend the life of the building by by mapping them in the city became

Bagchee JAE 69:1 79 Figure 7. Seminal marches and actions in New York (1969–2014). Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015

an important part of the process of to position themselves within this new spatial imagination. In keeping negotiating space and connecting the array of concerns and possibilities. with the speculative nature of the building to the city. project and the battle cry for action, The competition brief encour- Architecture the architectural schemes envisioned aged the participants to build up to There were 128 responses to the ques- a building with the potential to com- the allowable five-story mark. The tion posed: “How Can a Building municate the movement’s actions by compromised 100-year-old structure, Mobilize for Peace?” The competition interior reorganization and exterior with its leaks, precarious electrical entrants responded to the challenge projection. Proposals with facades systems, and circulatory malfunctions, of creating a building that expressed inscribed with overt symbols of peace could be renovated or demolished and and aided the political and functional such as white doves, olive branches, built anew. The long-term economic aspirations of the organizations and white perforated “breathing” viability of this decision was part of within. The interpretation of ideas, walls (Figure 11-E) were rendered the problem and challenge of the forms, and methods of activist prac- alongside performative skins that competition. The entrants were asked tices provided fertile ground for a announced and called attention to just

80 Building for Peace in New York City Figure 8. “Megaphone Facade” by Heejoo Shi and Kyung Jae Kim (New York City, USA).

causes. The work spaces within the building, one that could be seen as along thematic lines. These themes building opened up to the collabora- going against the grain of the “Peace each connoted the possibility of doing tive work and the flexibility associated Pentagon”—an everyday workplace something—enacting change. with a democratic decision-making that had acquired meaning through process. Old questions of form and use over time. In heavily coding the 1. MESSAGING: The trope of build-

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 function thus entwined with the new building with signs, symbols, ing as billboard was explored in deployment of a symbolic imagery and even organizing the interior to several different ways. Banners, digi- and messaging tactics common at ral- be more open, hence more public, tal screens, marquees, and flip-dot lies, protests, and marches. did the architects render the building technology were deployed to create I began the essay by describ- coercive and inflexible? The jury was flexible messaging systems that tele- ing the “ordinary” qualities of the simultaneously generous and ambiva- graphed the work and ideas of the existing building in contrast to the lent in its response and awarded three activists onto the building facade. radical politics of people who have first prizes, two second prizes, and Heejoo Shi and Kyung Jae Kim pro- worked inside the building. This ten honorable mentions.15 In analyz- posed a megaphone elevator that generic architecture has functioned ing the deliberations of the jury and drifts across a panelized facade pro- as a perfect neutral background the responses of the building com- jecting images and combining analog to plan the more visible actions of munity, we came to see the strength and digital technologies (Figure 8). the politicized organizations. The of the proposals as a form of action to The age-old communication and symbolically loaded representations participate in the process of mitigat- media tools used by the activists were produced by the competition claimed ing the larger crisis outlined earlier. appropriated to give form to an archi- a new kind of visual identity for the An exhibit of select works was curated tecture advocating political causes.

Bagchee JAE 69:1 81 4. ENVISIONING: Another approach used the material qualities of a lightweight structure as an appropriate means to explore the fragility of the undertaking. The entry by GMBH from Innsbruck proposed to keep the old building with an added element of a giant white tentlike structure at the top (Figure 11-E). Perched upon the rehabilitated building, the tent—symbol of the disenfranchised—becomes a luminous cube, a beacon. It responds both to the structural and ephemeral aspects of the program and adds new life to the building. This entry was one that resonated well with the activists using the building, since it seemed to respond to site and program without being heavily coded with a specific message. Maria Byck from the television collective Paper Tiger TV, who Figure 9. “Peace Pentagon” by Benoit Streicher worked in the building at the time, and Michel Sirkosi (Strasbourg, France). These vehicles for consumer culture felt the design’s focus on internal are redesigned as an impossible-to- organization and simplicity was in 2. RE-PURPOSING: Several entries navigate clothing store. Inside, the keeping with the spirit of the institu- choose to keep a portion of the old shoppers crawl up a steep incline and tion. Other more formally elaborate building intact, reorganizing the are barely able to reach the merchan- versions of this genre explored a white interior offices and repurposing the dise, while outside other consumers volume that glowed at night at the outer shell in new ways. A particularly are sprayed with (exhausting) Chanel corner of Bleecker and Lafayette. striking entry by Benoit Streicher No. 5. The dysfunctional store sup- and Michel Sikorsk salvaged the ports the volume of the office spaces Widening the Public Sphere strong half of the old building and above. The artist Maureen O’Conner inserted the literal form of a penta- from the Institute of Wishful Like festivals, uprisings cannot gon-encasing auditorium, offices, Thinking salvaged a defunct ocean happen every day—otherwise they and roof garden (Figure 9). The liner and repurposed the interior to would not be “non-ordinary.” But scheme tapped into the structural accommodate “the imperiled but not such moments of intensity give shape problem of the building as well as its yet sinking ship of fools ... foolish to and meaning to the entirety of a life. symbolic relationship to that other set a course of social justice” (Figure The shaman returns—you can’t stay Pentagon, headquarters of the U.S. 11-A). The project commented on up on the roof forever—but things Department of Defense. The figure the perils of the globalization, where have changed, shifts and integrations

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 of the Pentagon, tipped into an eleva- such ships floated to the shores of have occurred—a difference is made. tion, negotiates its position within the Bangladesh and, dismantled in haz- —Hakim Bey, The Temporary remains of the existing building. ardous working conditions, were Autonomous Zone, Ontological Anarchy, transformed into a center for social Poetic Terrorism (1991)16 3. CRITIQUING: The critique of justice. The architectural competi- militarism, consumerism, and gen- tion became a means to explore both In April 2010, we exhibited fifty com- trification produced some of the social utopia and political realism petition entries at four locations in most arresting images. In a strategic by bringing together the vehicles of close proximity to the building site. plough-sharing, planes and tanks were consumption—advertising, signage, The exhibitors installed large-scale incorporated into the body of the shopping—into dialogue with the models within the New York Public building. These weapons of war were street in the body of this building Branch Library on Mulberry Street thus architecturally transformed into dedicated to peace (Figure 11-A, 11-B). and displayed the competition boards instruments of peace. The Dissident Through an inventive use of a lexicon in the library as well as in the store- Pentagon of JSPY Architects proposed of protest tactics, the contestants front of McNally Jackson Books, the a new building with an emphasis explored an alternative visualization punk rock concert room at ABC No on ground-floor shops (Figure 10). of a participatory architecture. Rio, and a commercial lobby curated

82 Building for Peace in New York City competition and the exhibition, I hope to draw attention to an overlooked aspect of the space of public engagement: the place to which the dedicated activist returns once the festival has ended. While the immediate political gains resulting from these actions are hard to gauge, the combined actions of millions of citizen-activists created forums for a new generation to voice their opinions and to participate in the creation of fresh democratic perspectives (Figure 12).

Acknowledgments I thank Maureen Shea for introducing me to the building and its the community of well wishers—the Friends of 339. This writing builds upon our yearlong collaboration on framing the competition, developing the Web site, and organizing the exhibition. I am grateful to Ed Hedemann for sharing his photographs and for taking the time to discuss his lifelong work with War and Tax Resistance. Thanks to all the participants for their submissions to Figure 10. “Dissident Pentagon” by JSPY (Jersey The response to the crisis the competition—for shipping their City, USA). within the building and the multiple models across the seas—and the expressions of engagement with the jurors for taking time to review and by the Common Room gallery in problem has forced the ownership discuss their entries. The comments downtown Manhattan (Figure 11-E).17 to reconsider selling the building. of Mariana Mogilevich and edits from By dispersing the works in publicly While the future of the building (in Jacqueline Edlund-Braun helped accessible but unlikely locations the 2014) remains uncertain, the process shape the writing, as did the insight- exhibit linked these sites together of the competition and exhibition ful feedback from Amy Kulper at JAE. and claimed parts of the city for a helped redefine the relationship of discussion about public space.These the building to the city and exposed Funding typologies—the public library, the its potential to become a truly public The project Peace Pentagon: A Call bookstore, the collectively run art space. As has been its history, the for Action was funded by two Lower

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 center and gallery—all vital parts of synergy between the building and its Manhattan Cultural Council Grants. the city increasingly threatened by tenants continues to strive toward the same crisis—escalating rents, Hannah Arendt’s idea of a livable Author Biography dwindling public funds, and a frag- polis. Nandini Bagchee is an Assistant menting constituency that supports In 2011, the Occupy Wall Street Professor at the Spitzer School of these institutions. The problematic Movement brought a renewed sense Architecture at the City College of nature of the task, to “save” the of belief in the power of public dem- New York (CUNY) and principal of Peace Pentagon, allowed the design- onstration. Global Revolution TV, her New York based architectural ers to imagine a public realm through the media source for this movement, practice, Bagchee Architects. The the projection and exposition of their worked out of the Deep Dish TV built and speculative design work architectural schemas. In negotiating office on the third floor to stream live of her office has been recognized the venues for the exhibition within to a global audience. These events through exhibitions and publica- the neighborhood, the public sphere refocused the attention of advocates tions. Her current academic research was expanded further through a tem- of public space to questions of open focuses on space, politics and the porary occupation of “sympathetic” spaces and symbolic sites targeted potential for urban transformation sites.18 by the movement.20 In revisiting this through citizen’s initiatives.

Bagchee JAE 69:1 83 Figure 11. “Peace Pentagon: A Call to Action.” Submissions and map of exhibition venues (NYC).

A. “SOS” by Maureen Connor (New York City, USA).

B. “Tank Installation” by S. Neumann, J. Wegner, and L. Cham Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 (Hanover, Germany).

C. “Banners” by Emmanoil Anastasakis (Athens, Greece).

D. “Marquee” by New World Architects (New York, USA).

E. “ Sustaining” by Graham Thompson (Dublin, Ireland).

F. “Tents” by ATP Sphere GmbH (Innsbruck, Austria).

84 Building for Peace in New York City Figure 12. Building at 339 Lafayette Street during Climate Change March (2014). Photograph by Jade Doskow.

working in the office at the time suspected this to informal review of all the projects by the Friends Notes be the work of a federal law enforcement agency. of 339 allowed us to make the final selections for 1 Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition (Chicago: Information gathered through conversations the exhibition. University of Chicago Press, 1958), 26. with David McReynolds (WRL) and Brad Lyttle 16 Hakim Bey (Peter Lamborn Wilson), The Temporary 2 Radical Pacifism, as opposed to the passive (Coalition for Non Violent Action). Autonomous Zone, Ontological Anarchy, Poetic Terrorism refusal to participate in war, built around the 8 The building has ten to twelve movement tenants (New York: Autonomedia, 1991). idea of civil disobedience by nonviolent means, at a time. For a full list of current tenants, visit 17 ABC No Rio, a volunteer-run Lower East Side arts has its beginnings in the conscientious objection the AJMMI Web site, http://ajmuste.org/meetour- organization has experienced similar problems to war practiced by religious groups such as the tenants.html. For a short history of the building with their building and managed to raise money Quakers in America. This movement was slowly tenants, visit http://www.peacepentagon.org. for a renovation through a private fund-raising transformed to its more “radical” status by the 9 This information is based on a list put together campaign and city grants. An account of this influence of Gandhi, Socialism, and the civil rights by Ed Hedemann, a member of the War Resisters by Colin Moynihan, “Punk Institution Receives movement in the 1960s. For a broader history of League and active participant in most of these City Money for New Building,” appears in the the radical pacifist movement in the United States, actions since 1972. This timeline singles out some New York Times, June 29, 2009, A18, http://www. see Marilyn Mollin, Radical Pacifism in Modern of the major demonstrations with over a thou- nytimes.com/2009/06/29/nyregion/29norio. America: Egalitarianism and Protest (Philadelphia: sand participants. The sources of the number html?_r=1&pagewant&. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006). For a of soldiers deployed are from reports by the 18 The owners and management at each of these specific research on the War Resisters League, see Department of Defense. locations were generous in allowing us to install Scott Bennett, Radical Pacifism: The War Resisters 10 DeeDee Halleck, “The Camcorder Goes to War: the exhibit and leave it up two months. League and Gandhian Nonviolence in America, 1915– Making Outrage Contagious—A Chronology 19 A series of lectures and talks organized at 1963 (New York: Syracuse University Press, 2003). of the Gulf Crisis TV Project with Texts and the Center for Architecture, New York (AIA), 3 Manfredo Tafuri outlines this predicament in Testimonies,” in Hand-Held Visions: The Impossible addressed the question of public space in February his preface to Utopia and Architecture: Design and Possibilities of Community Media (New York: Fordham 2012. The book Beyond Zuccotti Park: Freedom of Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, Capitalist Development University Press, 2002), 169–87. Assembly and the Occupation of Public Space (Oakland, 1975). 11 For a discussion of the gentrification brought CA: New Village Press, 2012) documents some of 4 For larger community planning projects and the about in the neighborhood by artists and galleries these ideas in a series of essays. concept of self-organization in New York, see in the 1980s, see Rosalyn Deutsche and Ryan Cara Tom Angotti, New York for Sale: Community Planning Gendel, “The Fine Art of Gentrification,”October Confronts Global Real Estate (Cambridge, MA, and 30 (Winter 1984): 91–111. London: MIT Press, 2008). 12 This sum has since quadrupled. The board has not 5 The body politic is a metaphor that refers to the yet announced a clear plan of action. governing state as a corporeal entity. I refer to it 13 For the mission statement of the Friends of 339, in the sense proposed by Arendt, as a new constel- see http://www.peacepentagon.org/. lation of people with a shared political awareness. 14 Neil Smith, The New Urban Frontier: Gentrification See Hannah Arendt, (New York: On Revolution and the Revanchist City (New York: Routledge, 1996). Viking, 1963). 15 The official jury comprised Michael Sorkin 6 Ibid., 63. (urban designer and critic), Martha Rosler (artist), 7 The WRL’s active role in antiwar rallies and the DeeDee Halleck (videographer and founder of left wing agenda of its members had made it a PTTV), Deborah Gans (architect), Mark Schulz target of government surveillance. Their rented (engineer), Karla Rothstein (architect), and Nato offices in downtown Manhattan were burgled Thompson (Creative Time curator). A more and important documents stolen. WRL members

Bagchee JAE 69:1 85 Design as Scholarship Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015

72 8Mile Baseline A Dialectical Image of the Urban Crisis

Rania Ghosn Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Figure 1. Greetings from Detroit. Postcard by Omar Ali, Suo Ya, Safei Gu, and Brianne DuRoss.

Detroit and the Origins height of the civil rights movement, of the American urban crisis. The of the Urban Crisis the Detroit Riot underlined a longer subsequent narrative of the city’s The 1960s riots in Detroit and history of structural conditions of decline interweaves white flight and

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 other American cities cast light on discrimination in housing, employ- capital flight with the rollback of the disparity between the values of ment, public accommodations, and government and economic deregula- American Democracy and the life of urban renewal along racial lines. tion in the wake of the global crisis African-American citizens.1 Racial Established by President Johnson of Fordism during the 1970s.2 After confrontation was hardly a stranger to investigate the causes of the 1967 a decades-long, drawn-out struggle to the “Motor City,” which had expe- race riots in the United States and with flawed economic development rienced major disturbances in 1863 to provide recommendations for policies and fiscal conditions, the city and again in 1943. The Detroit Riot the future, the National Advisory of Detroit filed for Chapter 9 bank- in the summer of 1967 erupted par- Commission on Civil Disorders, ruptcy in July 2013. tially in response to the simmering known as the Kerner Commission, The spatial response to Detroit’s anger of black residents at an abu- warned in its most famous pas- shrinking economy and demograph- sive, mostly white police force and sage: “Our nation is moving toward ics has mostly favored an approach lasted for five days until Michigan two societies, one black, one to “right-size it.” Hence, the finan- National Guard troops first and US white—separate and unequal.” Once cial contraction of Detroit requires Army troops after that intervened to America’s “arsenal of democracy,” that the city’s geographic and bring the “rioters to disperse.” At the Detroit became the poster child infrastructure footprints shrink to

86 survive. Proponents of the “right- revitalization scheme operates as policies are proposed to deal with size it” approach have constructed a an ideological structure to contain each of the diagnosed “social prob- deterministic argument in disfavor social disagreement and depoliticize lems.” The language of analysis is of the scale of the city—that its the unevenness of the urban process. clinical, not political; diagnostic, boundaries contain an area the size It begs the question of the proposed not historical. Far too much remains of Manhattan, San Francisco, and spatial contract of urban manage- hidden from view. Institutionalized Boston combined—and proposed rialism, for if uneven sociospatial inequalities, overall patterns of capi- shrinking its size as the singular dynamics have underpinned the cur- talist development, and the nature response to mitigate or the resolve rent crisis in Detroit, what future of the contemporary state are not the economic crisis of the city. The worlds would yield from the repro- seen as part of the crisis.3 urban rationale favors a pervasive duction of geographic segregation didactic solutionism: if a place is and a selective care for the urban? The “urban crisis” has often been growing, you manage growth through This essay argues for the disci- said to be the result of the city new infrastructure and coordination plinary significance of narratives of itself, of a city too big or too much of services. If a place is shrink- the urban in which recovery is not a diverse pool of humanity that pro- ing, you manage such shrinkage by the a priori denouement of crisis. duces conflict, poverty, and violence. downsizing it and limiting urban It proposes to open up the crisis- Framed as a series of discrete prob- expenditures. For proposals such imagination beyond the prescribed lems, the crisis is approached with a as “Detroit Future City,” it implies scripts of a constellation of emer- troubleshooting mindset. In its prag- focusing money and resources gency manager, bailout plan, a new matism and sense of immediacy, the around the islands of economic Whole Foods, a preserved collection problem-solving approach equates potentiality that remain in the city of the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the urban crisis with a crisis of the and turning the rest back to “nature.” fine-dining options in restored his- city; it exacerbates a historic and The ultrarealistic renderings associ- toric buildings. It asks, What matters spatial myopia that dissociates the ated with such visions often offer no of the urban do we value beyond land city from the longue durée and larger- alternative other than the specula- revalorization, building restoration, scale processes of urbanization. In tive Real: they portray a “clean” and and urban renewal? And how do we this sense, the very term “urban quaint city where the “good citizens” representationally engage potential crisis” serves as a “bureaucratic mingle on its streets, crowding its other Crisis Coda scenarios? Is it euphemism to dissociate a majority beautiful urban agriculture lots. possible to conceive the crisis as of citizens from, while at the same In this worldview, the crisis of dark, and darkening further, thus time accommodating them to, the the urban is one of capital accumula- rejecting the false hope offered by dysfunctional workings of funda- tion, the solution to which fosters positivist scenarios and desperate mental processes shaping the whole entrepreneurialism and disciplinary economic fixes, all without collapsing of American society.”4 Rather than conservatism. Detroit might after into despair? exceptional, critical geographers all be an opportunity for another The essay conceptually frames have reframed the urban crisis as a cycle of land valorization and capital the urban crisis at the geographic crisis of (surplus) capital accumula- fixes! The Renaissance yet-to-come scale. It tackles Detroit’s urban crisis tion, and which in periodic cycles hinges on the possibility of shrinking through the 8 Mile division line that overcomes this problem through the economically dire city to select separates the city from its metropoli- “spatial fix” (geographical expansion) islands of real estate markets. The tan region. Pursued as a pedagogical and “accumulation by disposses-

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 implicit consent is that capital will methodology, it discusses the issues sion” (privatization).5 A dialectical settle again in the city if patterns of and strategies of representation worldview thus offers the conceptual geographic segregation are accepted, as they have been explored in the device for understanding the totality consecrated as facts of the ground, context of a graduate studio. In par- and totalizing nature of capitalism and channeled as an arm of develop- ticular, it introduces the concept of and does so by emphasizing process ment. These proposed visions are at the dialectical image as a pedagogical and singling out contradiction.6 best reactionary, in the sense that tool to open up disciplinary conver- they propose a return to a previous sation, as both discourse and image, From Abstract Space to Right to the condition of affairs: revitaliza- of the urban process. City as Creative Symbolic Process tion, redevelopment, reinvestment. What attributes of space character- Formulated as such, the question From Urban Crisis to Urban Condition ize the capitalist process? For Henri of the urban crisis does not address Lefebvre, the emergence of capital- the sociospatial contradictions that The urban crisis has often been ism has paralleled the production of have surfaced through the cracks of understood as the sum of discrete “abstract space,” characterized by urban governance, let alone aspire to microcrises of housing, transport, social fragmentation and homog- transform them. Rather, the selective finance and the like, and new public enization. He states that capitalism

Ghosn JAE 69:1 87 engenders a “vast displacement homogenizing representations of through Guy Debord and the of contradictions ... by occupying space. Lefebvre argues the right to Situationists, all of which weave space, by producing a space,” and in the city “is like a cry and a demand” the contradictions in everyday life the process that such social contra- expressed by “[a] need for creative and an open-ended philosophy of dictions become contradictions of activity, for the œuvre (not only of practice, sometimes with a dash of space.7 By “abstract space,” Lefebvre products and consumable material humor told by means of a montage of refers both to the physical com- goods), of the need for information, fragmentary texts. In The Dialectics of modification of space in the chain symbolism, the imaginary and play.”11 Seeing: Walter Benjamin and the Arcades of production and consumption Project, Susan Buck-Morss observes and to its subjugation to systems of From the Image of Homogeneity to that the dialectical image is “a way representation to divide, measure, the Dialectical Image of seeing that crystallizes antitheti- calculate, and compare. Abstract Within the architecture studio, the cal elements by providing the axes space, Lefebvre argues, mobilizes image of homogeneity is reproduced for their alignment ... the ‘synthesis’ representations of space according in factual and metric modes of rep- of which is not a movement towards to the exigencies of land speculation, resentation such as statistical data, resolution, but the point at which functionalist zoning, or segregation diagrammatic charts, aerial views, their axes intersect.”13 While an by the state: it suppresses difference and soft renders. The ubiquitous image is meant as a singular frame and friction to create instrumental proliferation of infographics and and a single moment in time, the homogeneity as its image and its datascapes has favored a disciplinary dialectic refers to a relationship or goal.8 That’s why Lefebvre claims conservatism rather than offering contradiction between two entities that violence is inherent to the social a radical positioning on the condi- or opposing values—just as these use of abstract space and the image tions of urbanization. While the issues and actors act simultaneously of homogeneity upon which it rests. “mapping” project was significant within urban space. The Dialectic The deconstruction of abstract space in the expansion of architecture’s Image dispels the homogeneous is thus a representational project that scalar and thematic concerns by image of reality (and remedies) by its uncovers the elements of disjunc- making visible the unacknowledged ability to combine conciliatory with tion in the formation of the urban. or invisible territories of logistics, its contradictory elements in a single To transform and renew access to deployment as spatial evidence has frame. The image itself is the argu- urban life, Lefebvre had coined the often served to propose or legitimize ment and therefore is able to project “right to the city” that implies the a corrective intervention under the dichotomies, juxtapositions, or exag- collective design of production pro- banners of economies, ecologies, or gerations in order to make its point cesses and products, of buildings infrastructures. clearer or easily identifiable. It is fric- and infrastructures, and above all In The Storyteller, Walter tional: it is not a spatial fix, nor does of the organizations (the concrete Benjamin argues that information it posit itself as a logical negation of social relations) that run these on a processing is replacing ways of sto- the capitalist world of commodities. day-to-day basis. This right to the rytelling in relation to changes in Across these reflections, the discon- city manifests itself in creative terms: the regime of capitalism.12 The essay tinuity or difference of the image it is the right to participate in the concerns itself with the incommuni- becomes a question of form. For perpetual creative transformation of cability of experiences in the modern Sergei Eisenstein, montage is a “dia- the city, which thus becomes “the world, in part because of the dra- lectical assemblage,” based on the ephemeral city, the perpetual œuvre matic influx and rapid distribution principle of collision and conflict—

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 of its inhabitants.”9 The concept has of information in the early twentieth not just juxtaposition. He declares, since been extensively deployed as century. Information, according to “in the realm of arts this dialectical a catalyst to thought, policy, and Benjamin, cannot impart any wisdom principle of dynamics is embodied in action at a range of scales, most upon its reader. The beauty of the conflict as the fundamental principle recently in relation to neoliberal storyteller, according to Benjamin, for the existence of every art-work developments to assert the right for was the ability to communicate a and every art-form.”14 For Eisenstein, the poor to remain in central and story and allow the audience member who treats form as process, the agita- inner areas of the cities and the right to integrate this story into her tional artwork must not only reflect of all groups to use public spaces of own experience, with meaning and the dynamic of the world but also the city.10 For the most part, how- purpose. provoke the spectator into patterns ever, the concept is used in more To differentiate the homo- of thought and the setting in motion restricted meanings than initially geneous image of abstract space, of chains of associations.15 conceived. Beyond the right to par- dialectical humanism draws on a How does a dialectical image ticipate in the physical use of urban lineage of aesthetic techniques of perform? Breton’s position in his first space, dialectical humanism implies de-alienation from Walter Benjamin, manifesto is exemplary: “The value a call to challenge the abstract and André Breton, and the Surrealists of the image depends on the beauty

88 A Dialectical Image of the Urban Crisis Figure 2. Learning from Detroit. Rania Ghosn.

of the spark obtained; it is, conse- recovery. To appropriate Benjamin’s University of Michigan coordi- quently, a function of the difference “On the Concept of History”— nated graduate studio on “Enclaves of potential between the two con- replacing history with geography—the and Utopias: Possible Futures for ductors.”16 Especially in the Arcades geographical materialist approaches Detroit,” which proposed to envi- Project, such “constellations” or “dia- the “urban crisis” as a geographi- sion future worlds in a series of lectical images” are ascribed meaning cal object solely and alone where Detroit’s surviving enclaves: Eastern by virtue of their capacity to “blast he encounters it as “a constellation Market, Hamtramck, Highland Park, open the continuum of history” by overflowing with tensions.”19 Rather New Center, Belle Isle, and so on. unearthing specific alternatives in the than the recovery of a new economic Beyond the insinuated binaries of mediation of past and present.17 The normal, the agency of architectural utopian idealism and archipelago practice of a dialectic image can best speculation in this case lies in point- realism, the utopian impulse of be described as the staging of spatial ing to contradictions in the urban the “8 Mile Baseline” studio sec- evidence, as the creation of a world process and framing some relevant tion was anchored in the politics of of concerns shaped by the argument questions and approaches. It juxta- the present and in the iconic geo- that it sets into motion. According to posed contradictions, exaggerates graphic symbol of the rift of fortunes Benjamin, images become dialecti- the real, and points to the absurdity between the city and the metropoli- cal when they produce a moment of of underlying social relations. tan region. Rather than envisioning historical cessation in which a viewer enclaves within Detroit, it probed could come face-to-face with “a revo- The 8 Mile Baseline the status of Detroit as exceptional

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 lutionary chance in the fight for the within its metropolitan region. oppressed past.”18 The point of the The lesson of Detroit is a warning In the context of Detroit, the dialectic image is to shock the viewer to every city in America. It is my 8 Mile Road draws an almost exact into a new emotional response: an belief the best days for this nation demographic and social line between aspiration that endorses that an image are still ahead of us, if only we can the city and the metro region. A can portray an immediacy that a con- confront the reality of Detroit’s recent continental mapping by Justin cept or an abstract idea cannot. By demise. Cable displays the population dis- outsourcing resolution, the dialectical —Paul Kersey, Escape from Detroit tribution of every person in America image inducts the viewer, whether along racial and ethnic lines. The confronting the absolute nonresolu- How can such a dialectic framework map features 308,745,538 dots, each tion of the urban’s contradictions or on the territorial and represen- smaller than a single pixel and each witnessing the aftermath of an “urban tational structures of capitalism representing one person: Caucasians crisis” episode in the life of a city. inform discussions of the urban are blue, blacks are green, Hispanics In the specific context of the crisis in American cities? I pursued are orange, Asians are red, and other urban crisis, the dialectical image this investigation as a pedagogic races are brown. Along the 8 Mile disturbs the normalized scenario of experiment in the context of a Road, the divide is exact. Catapulted

Ghosn JAE 69:1 89 a Figure 3. Territorialities. (a) Median Incomes and Economic Enclaves in Metro Detroit. (b) Territorialities. Mapping and Analysis of Threshold Conditions. (c) Sections of Territorialities. Suo Ya and Alexandra Chen.

into the national media through local rapper Eminem’s film8 Mile, the road has long served as the de facto dividing line in the most segregated American metropolitan region. While Detroit’s land annexations left its boundaries jagged along its other borders, the northern border along Eight Mile Road remained a straight line that runs west following the Michigan Baseline. In Detroit, the racial divide can be shock- ingly exact, without much buffer. As Thomas Surgue argues in The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit, institutionalized racism resulted in sharply b limited opportunities for Detroit blacks for most of the twentieth century. Following the 1967 race riots, regional divisions were further exacerbated according to differences in income and racial lines—white “donuts” around black holes. The 8 Mile Road is the dividing line that separates the predominantly dispos- sessed African-American urban core from the more affluent, predominantly white northern suburbs in Macomb, Oakland, and Livingston counties. The shrinking city portrays a different economic profile when framed at the metropolitan scale: the population of the three counties that make up the metropolitan

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 area has been steadily growing since 1950. Detroit’s suburbs are among the richest in the nation. Oakland County, for example, is the fourth wealthiest county in the United States, of counties with a million or more residents, with a median household income of $50,000 a c year. The median household in Birmingham, just across the border that delineates the city of Detroit, earned more than $94,000 last year; in nearby Bloomfield Hills—still within the Detroit metropolitan area—the median was more than $150,000. In other words, as Robert

90 A Dialectical Image of the Urban Crisis Reich notes in “Detroit and the from the 8 Mile Road collective con- real than objective reality itself. In a Bankruptcy of America’s Social sciousness with the help of iconic sense, their visions bizarrely tell the Contract,” “much in modern disciplinary precedents. truth while pointing to the limits America depends on where you draw of both reality and the disciplinary boundaries, and who’s inside and Step 2: Learning From the 8 Mile discourse within which they operate. who’s outside. Who is included in the Road: Thematic Mappings In their words, those urban features social contract? If ‘Detroit’ is defined The second exercise invites an that are usually purified in narratives as the larger metropolitan area that understanding of Detroit across mul- of recovery (race, enclave, waste, includes its suburbs, Detroit has tiple themes and issues, rather than a inefficiency) are the matter through enough money to provide all its reduction of the city to a “problem” which they create possibilities to residents with adequate if not good that needs to be solved. In groups of construct new values. The aspired public services, without falling into two, students were asked to propose outcome: dialectical visions that are bankruptcy.”20 a series of original mappings of an so magically real as to elicit disbelief, assigned theme, as it was manifested disciplinary disruption. The Method Is the Message: The 8 at the scale of Metro Detroit and What follows are the two project Mile Baseline Dialectical Image on both sides of the 8 Mile division narratives that were developed by the The 8 Mile Baseline Studio proposes line (Figure 2). The assigned themes Territorialities team. to formulate a political-aesthetic included Territories, Landmarks, project on urban unevenness in the Infrastructures, Programs, and Land Detroit SAR: The Land of the Chinese object of the division line between Structures. How are structures of God of Wealth the city of Detroit and its suburbs. land use, financing, taxation, mort- Last fall, when a group of Chinese gage, ownership, building permits, investors paid $9.4 million for the Step 1: Greetings From parking meters, light fixtures, and Art Deco David Stott Building, a For their first exercise, students were neighborhood associations similar thirty-eight-story downtown tower asked each to produce a set of eight or different along the baseline? What named for Detroit’s former flour postcards on the 8 Mile Road (Figure are the materialities of unbuilt, mogul, it was the first time Gilbert 1), by appropriating the concerns, vacant, or abandoned grounds? was outbid on a building there tools, and structures of a place-based What are significant industrial or (Figures 4–8). For Chinese investors, manifesto from a list that includes infrastructural sites in the vicinity— Detroit is the Land of Opportunities: works such as Venturi and Brown’s railroad stations, power plants—and low real estate prices and a Fordist Learning from Las Vegas, Koolhaas’s how do they operate at the scales test bed par excellence and an Delirious New York, Atelier Bow Wow’s of Michigan, the Great Lakes, the opportune municipal bankruptcy. Made in Tokyo, and Aureli’s Brussels: A world? The team addressing the With the blessings of its God of Manifesto towards the Capital of Europe. question of territorialities examined Wealth Cai Shen, China drafts a fea- Along with the list of works, I shared the administrative and legal borders sibility study that learns from nearby with them a quote from French sur- that mark the dividing line—their Hong Kong to propose to buy off the realist artist Tristan Tzara from Feeble topographies, physicalities, levels city and establish Detroit Special Love & Bitter Love, II: of permeability. They analyzed the Administrative Region. Detroit SAR related structures of exclusion and is established: the American Dragon A manifesto is a communication securitization, as well as enclaves on was born. The God of Wealth was made to the whole world, whose both sides (Figure 3). quite pleased that Detroit SAR was

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 only pretension is to the discovery the new frontier of world capitalism. of an instant cure for political, Step 3: 8 Mile Baseline Stories— The residents of Detroit’s suburbs, astronomical, artistic, parliamen- Narrative and Collage Jameson however, had mixed feelings toward tary, agronomical and literary Science Fiction the new fortunes of the city. They syphilis. It may be pleasant, and In the last phases, students indi- benefited from the newfound pros- good-natured, it’s always right, vidually developed proposals and perity of their metro center, and yet it’s strong, vigorous and logical. narratives for their scenarios. In they had a deep-seated fear of losing Apropos of logic, I consider myself class we discussed techniques of their cultural identity to foreign very likeable.21 architecture storytelling in relation investors. In their eyes, the dragon to the dialectical image. Drawing and pandas were scaring away the The exercise in détournement had a on the work they developed in the American eagle. They request that few pedagogic desires: to anchor the previous phase, I asked students to the city’s important landmarks be studio in the tone of the manifesto, draw their architectural sustenance moved north of 8 Mile Road admin- to familiarize students with geog- directly from reality yet convert istrative boundary. Tensions between raphy-based tools and discourses, this often-stark reality into fantasy, Chinese investors and the residents and to invite them to rearrange signs into visions that tell a story more of the suburbs worried the God of

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Figure 4-8. Detroit SAR. The Land of the Chinese God of Wealth. Suo Ya.

92 A Dialectical Image of the Urban Crisis Figure 9. Demotown Detroit, Diagram of structures at the current rate of Mile administrative boundary of the Demolition Process. demolition (Figure 9). Both public city into the Detroit River to create Alexandra Chen. and private sectors have great plans “Debris Mota,” an iconic hyperreal on the demolition front. The city Detroit D island. In a spin on con- Wealth. “Such frictions could scare received $150 million of federal temporary “green city” discourses away capital,” he thought, adding funding in September 2013, specifi- that occupy the redevelopment “only a great wall can bring peace cally designated for the “effective, imaginary of Detroit: Debris Mota back to the region.” So the land- coordinated demolition of blighted leverages the Great Lakes for an marks were relocated. A border wall properties, neighborhood revitaliza- aquaculture industry based on high- wrapped around the city. It housed tion and redevelopment in Detroit.” priced commodities, such as shrimp the mutual dreams of American and Bill Pulte’s Blight Authority, Dan (Figure 10). Chinese capitalism. With on-site Gilbert’s Blight Elimination Task RELINQUISH conceives the production, the aisles were never out Force, as well as other self-orga- footprint of demolition at the urban of stock! nizing community groups, are also rather than individual building scale.

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 looking to get into the demolition The project figures the distribution Demotown Detroit business. The proposed series of of demolition to propose reverse Demotown operationalizes the interventions appropriate the pro- annexation, or land renunciation as a demolition process in Detroit to cess of demolition within a broader possible strategy for Detroit. Similarly critically engage the processes that critique of the disciplinary tropes of to the recent takeover of Belle Isle by underpin urban unevenness and shrinking cities. the Michigan Department of Natural obsolescence. Currently, some RECLAIM shifts the framing Resources, the voided area would be a 80,000 buildings are listed for demo- of the problem of Detroit from the new state park, the largest continuous lition in Detroit. The city employs abundance of land to its uneven green necklace in the United States! a thirty-six-step process to deal valuation in real estate markets. In areas of high demolition, the foun- with nonemergency demolitions. The project uses the demolition dation of demolished buildings form On average per structure, it involves debris toward an iconic reclamation a Memorial Field to the obsolescent nine agencies on all scales, costs project off the Grosse Pointe cities, forces of Fordist urbanization (Figure $10,000, and creates 345 cubic yards where real estate values and median 11). of debris. It would take twenty-six incomes are amongst the highest in BURN inscribes the admin- years to address Detroit’s vacant the nation. Reclaim extends the 8 istrative boundary of the city into

Ghosn JAE 69:1 93 Figure 10. Demotown Detroit, Reclaim. the present the seeds for the expres- line that radically thinks what is Alexandra Chen. sion of radical difference.”22 In that laid out as objective reality, in the sense, architecture operates as a image of architecture’s relation to physical space by recasting the Devil system of thought and visualization development. Pedagogically, rather Night into a controlled burn strat- that makes visible abstract urban than reifying the systemic coherence egy along 8 Mile. From the 1970s to dynamics that underpin the current of capital, it extricates contradic- the 1990s, October 30 represented crisis of the city. Through an infer- tions within the real, particularly at a night of debauchery, arson, and entially oriented system of montage, the moment of crisis. David Harvey vandalism in Detroit. The project the dialectical image affords the promises us that “only under condi- proposes an event every year on the producer and spectator the possibil- tions of crisis do we have the power night before Halloween, when a half- ity of critical analysis. It disturbs to think radically new thoughts mile-wide stretch would be set ablaze the matter-of-factness of the crisis because it then becomes impossible along 8 Mile. Slashing through the narrative and the consensus on to reproduce the naturalization of

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 red tape of the current demolition recovery by presenting two or more our own arbitrariness.”23 The repre- process, this carnival night in Detroit conflicting cognitions within the real. sentational project contributes to would draw tourists, researchers, and Such imaginary is not an effortless shed light on how to represent and ecologists, for Burn also aims to draw reconciliation. In this sense, the 8 speculate in relation to the crisis so upon ecological models of flame- Mile Baseline is political in that it as to spark the spectator’s insight adapted ecosystems. Progressing entails antagonism, dissensus, and and action—a constellation whose yearly, this results in a wide scorched contestation. It explores in the most potential meaning or affect is polyse- band between the city and its sub- radical ways the themes defined by mic, and mostly empowering. urbs (Figure 12). the urban condition—issues that might otherwise remain ungrasp- Acknowledgments Conclusion able—and with the help of the image 8 Mile Baseline students: Omar Ali, The 8 Mile Baseline Studio formu- and imagination deploys the specula- Brian Barber, Alexandra Chen, Ciera lates a political-aesthetic project on tive project for a ceaseless criticism Clayborne, Linnea Cook, Brianne the division line between the city of the tools of the discipline and our DuRoss, Kate Flynn, Safei Gu, of Detroit and its suburbs. In the urban imaginary. Collectively, the Robyn Wolowchow, and Suo Ya. words of Ernst Bloch, “it chooses in studio proposes a baseline, a datum

94 A Dialectical Image of the Urban Crisis University of Chicago Press, 1982), 5. New York: Harcourt, 1949), 161. Figure 11. Demotown Detroit, Relinquish. 4 Eric E. Lampard, “The Dimensions of Urban 15 Eugenia Mircea, “The Dialectical Image: Alexandra Chen. History: A Footnote to the ‘Urban Crisis,’” Pacific Eisenstein in the Soviet Cinema Source,” Scientific Historical Review 39, no. 3 (1970): 261–78, 264. Journal of Humanistic Studies 7 (2012): 240–45, 242. Author Biography 5 Henri Lefebvre, The Urban Revolution, trans. Robert 16 André Breton, Manifestoes of Surrealism (Ann Arbor: Rania Ghosn is an Assistant Professor Bonnano (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota University of Michigan Press, 1969), 37. Press, 2003); David Harvey, “From Managerialism 17 Walter Benjamin, The Arcades Project (London: of Architecture at Massachusetts to Entrepreneurialism: The Transformation in Fontana, 1973), 264. Institute of Technology and partner Urban Governance in Late Capitalism,” Geografiska 18 A. K. Thompson, “Matter’s Most Modern at Design Earth. Her work critically Annaler: Series B—Human Geography 71, no. 1 (1989): Configurations: Rivera, Picasso, and Benjamin’s frames the urban condition at the 3–17. Dialectic Image,” Scapegoat #2: Materialism 6 Andrew Merrifield, “Place and Space: a Lefebvrian (2012): 2–5, http://www.scapegoatjournal.org/ intersection of politics, aesthetics, Reconciliation,” Transactions of the Institute of British docs/02/02_Thompson_MattersMostModern. and technological systems. Ghosn Geographers 18, no. 4 (1993): 516–31. pdf. holds a Doctor of Design from 7 Henri Lefebvre, Survival of Capitalism: Reproduction 19 Walter Benjamin, “On the Concept of History,” Harvard Graduate School of Design. of the Relations of Production, trans. F. Bryant (1973; 1940, https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 She is founding editor of the journal London: Allison & Busby, 1976), 21. benjamin/1940/history.htm. 8 Henri Lefebvre, The Production of Space, trans. 20 Robert Reich, “Detroit, and the Bankruptcy of New Geographies and editor-in-chief Donald Nicholson-Smith Blackwell (Oxford: America’s Social Contract,” Robert Reich (blog), July of the third issue, NG2: Landscapes Blackwell, 1991). 20, 2013, http://robertreich.org/post/55976062830. of Energy. Her recent publications 9 Henri Lefebvre, “Right to the City,” in Writings on 21 Tristan Tzara, “Manifesto on Feeble Love & Bitter include essays for Thresholds, Bracket, Cities, ed. Eleonore Kofman and Elizabeth Lebas Love,” in The Dada Painters and Poets: An Anthology, (New York: Blackwell, 1996), 63–181, 172. ed. Robert Motherwell (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Perspecta, JAE, MONU, and NG6: 10 Lee Stickells, “The Right to the City: Rethinking University Press, 1989 [1951]), 86–96. Grounding Metabolism. Architecture’s Social Significance,”Architectural 22 Ernst Bloch, Principle of Hope Tristan Tzara Theory Review 16, no. 3 (2011): 213–27. “Manifesto on Feeble Love & Bitter Love,” in The Notes 11 Lefebvre, “Right to the City” (note 9), 147. Dada Painters and Poets: An Anthology, ed. Robert 1 L. Alex Swan, “The Harlem and Detroit Riots of 12 Walter Benjamin, “The Storyteller,” in Motherwell (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University 1943: A Comparative Analysis,” Berkeley Journal of Illuminations: Essays and Reflections, ed. Hannah Press, 1989). Sociology 16, no. 7 (1971): 75–93. Arendt (New York: Schocken Books, 1968), 83–110. 23 David Harvey, “Flexible Accumulation t hrough 2 Daniel Matlin, On the Corner: African American 13 Susan Buck-Morss, The Dialectics of Seeing: Walter Urbanization,” Antipode 19, no. 3 (1987): 260–86, Intellectuals and the Urban Crisis (Cambridge, MA: Benjamin and the Arcades Project (Cambridge, MA: 282. Harvard University Press, 2013). MIT Press, 1991), 46. 3 Ira Katznelson, City Trenches: Urban Politics and 14 Sergei Eisenstein, “A Dialectic Approach to Film the Patterning of Class in the United States (Chicago: Form,” in Film Form: Essays in Film Theory (1929;

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Figure 12. Demotown Detroit, Burn. Alexandra Chen.

96 A Dialectical Image of the Urban Crisis Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015

Ghosn JAE 69:1 97 Design as Scholarship Rematerializations Prototypical Exploration of Neovernacular Structures in South Africa

Daniel Baerlecken Georgia Institute of Technology

Judith Reitz Peter Behrens School of Architecture

Nora Mueller and Bernadette Heiermann RWTH Aachen University

Figure 1. Perspective: Main entrance to the Guga S’Thebe children’s theater.

Exploring the potential for poor a dichotomy between trash and unresolved waste production. These materials to become a rich source for resource. In Cradle to Cradle (2002), types of engineered materials are design, in opposition to an architec- William McDonough and Michael considered unresolved because they ture of “noble materials,”1 the Guga Braungart state that nature operates undergo an abnormal conversion to S’Thebe children’s theater project in according to a system of nutrients and base components and cannot safely be Cape Town, South Africa, investigates metabolisms, in which there is no such returned into the earth’s surface.2 an architecture of rematerialization thing as waste; one system’s waste is The wall installations of through reuse and recycling. another system’s sustenance. Waste Ghanaian artist El Anatsui demon- Today waste is an undeniable equals food. Humans, however, have strate how bottle tops and pull-tabs reality. As a part of our consumer- created waste that cannot be converted from metal cans can become works defined environment, waste creates to food, leaving behind a history of of art. Intricate, beautiful, and

246 Figure 2. Axonometric diagram: Building symbolism of Kente cloths with of vernacular buildings: the builders, components. their vibrant color and pattern.3 This Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherers, material transformation presents a built their circular, stacked bone huts sensitive in their nature, these sculp- historical dialogue, tying present-day with their own hands. Their structures tures are not shocking as Marcel waste to the production of tradi- were constructed intuitively, adapting Duchamp’s bicycle wheels and pis- tional cultural artifacts. Through to the environment by use of locally soirs were. In this work, disregarded a reference to the vernacular, tra- available materials and primitive objects—waste products as ready- ditional textiles are transformed. construction methods. Many indig- mades—are transformed into an Through reclaimed materials they enous constructions in Africa have undulating, beautiful aggregation become prototypes for rematerial- used earth materials. With the onset of colorful parts that are structured ized, neovernacular structures. of industrialization and coloniza- through folds and pinches. Anatsui’s Reuse and rematerialization date tion, construction methods changed. installations transform the object’s back to the Ukrainian mammoth bone Currently, townships in South Africa status from waste to noble mate- huts from 16,000–10,000 BC.4 These form a quilted landscape of sheds, rial, while referencing the cultural constructions exemplify principles where each shed is a patchwork of

Baerlecken et al. JAE 68: 2 247 Figure 3. Floor plan level 1 (left); floor plan level 2 (right).

Figure 4. Section main theater space.

Figure 5. Elevations.

248 Rematerializations Figure 6. Township industrialized scrap materials—sheets Cape Town, Langa. of corrugated metal, wood pieces, plastics, and brick. Under the rubric of “Rematerializations,” this design research attempts to rethink the roles of vernacular and waste materials, combining traditional and indigenous techniques in a neovernacular approach to the design build process.

Design Build Program This project is part of a program, Figure 7. Container where students from four interna- architecture in a tional schools—Georgia Institute of township, Cape Town. Technology, Peter Behrens School of Architecture, RWTH Aachen University, and University of Cape Town—design and build a theater as an extension to the current Arts and Culture Centre Guga S’Thebe (Figure 1) in collaboration with the local architect, Carin Smuts, under direction of the local community. Students experience all phases of a construction project, from the first Figure 8. Harbor Cape design sketches and models to detailed Town: Search for design plans (Figures 2–5). Detail containers. design, calculating quantities, scheduling, financing/sponsoring, and cost control are part of the task. During the construction phase, students work with unskilled members of the community, learning how to deal with different construction materials and their specific applications through every aspect of the building process, from constructing foundations to the cladding of a building. The students learn to develop a strong awareness of the built environment in another culture, and to evaluate the adequateness of applied construction methods. This pedagogy Figure 9. Beginning allows for an understanding of archi- of the construction tecture as a social practice with all of its process: Foundations for containers. attendant cultural implications. Located in one of Cape Town’s oldest townships (Figures 6 and 7), the Arts and Culture Centre Guga S’Thebe attracts local children, adolescents, and artists, as well as international tourists. One of its additional programmatic needs is a large multipurpose space. The new space facilitates local theatrical pro- ductions, concerts, church services, marriages, and festivals. Cape Town

Baerlecken et al. JAE 68: 2 249 Figure 10. Installation transformed module of the ship- of the containers. ping container has been used in different climate zones for youth centers, classrooms, office space, artist’s studios, live/work space, nurseries, and retail spaces.6 The used shipping container as a “fetish of modernism”7 represents revolution, mobility, and change, placing an emphasis on their availability, potential for standardization, and structural strength. Disadvantages, such as contamination by pesticides, hazardous coatings, and the ecological footprint of container reuse, have to be taken into account.8 Cape Town, with its big harbor, Figure 11. Installation provides numerous opportunities of the container to reuse locally found shipping con- structure. tainers (Figure 8). Single shipping containers are used everywhere (Figure 7) in the townships, as they easily generate a safe, usable space, which is an important issue in those neighborhoods. Unfortunately, the containers perform very poorly climatically. Rethinking container architecture as a sustainable prototype could lead to a new typology for housing in South Africa. For the multifunctional theater, which Figure 12. Assembly of seats up to 200 people, a system of the roof structure. loosely stacked sea freight containers (Figures 9–11) was developed, surrounding a central theater space. The poché of the container wall incorporates programmatic elements such as backstage areas, a soup kitchen, spectator balconies, a recording studio and sanitary facilities. The support structure is divided is the 2014 World Design Capital, project reconsiders locally found into two elements: a wood construc- and the project is part of an event materials and natural resources. tion roof system and a steel support intended to generate an innova- structure linked to the containers. tive sustainable building dialogue Shipping Containers as Structure (Figures 10, 12–14). The structure through participation, social integra- Old unused shipping containers, of the roof is based on a manually tion, and implementation of reused often found in junkyards, find new produced, readily available, and cost- and recycled materials. purpose as structure in this effective nail plate binder (Figures The reuse of waste in Africa car- project. The reuse of outsourced 12 and 13) widely used in South ries different connotations beyond freight containers has been explored African industrial construction. The “recycling.” What is perceived and in different projects in the V-shaped structure characterizes the experienced as aesthetically rich past—ranging from stacked towers main view of the theater and remains from an outside perspective is a like the Freitag flagship store by visible in the interior (Figure 14). necessary economy of reuse from Spillman Echsle to cantilevering within. The photographer Zwelethu structures, like the Puma City by Earth as Insulation Mthethwa shows us this dichotomy LOT-EK, and Shigeru Ban’s nomadic We developed a paneling system that in his series interiors.5 Similarly, this museum. In other instances, the uses straw and clay construction in

250 Rematerializations Figure 13. Installation of the roof structure.

Figure 14. Exterior view of the theater: Shipping containers and roof structure completed.

Baerlecken et al. JAE 68: 2 251 Figure 15. Mud panels, mold from used pallets.

order to improve the interior cli- welded steel angles. The insula- is managed by thermal zoning: the mate. The entire outer skin of the tion properties of straw-clay panels poché of containers creates a ther- theater is covered with prefabricated allow a buffer for daily and seasonal mal buffer zone. straw-clay modules (Figures 16 and variation in indoor temperature. In 17). The wooden frame of the modu- contrast to other container projects, Fruit Crates, Tires, Sanitation Bottles lar system is made from recycled which insulate on the inside of the as Facade pallets, which are clamped onto a container, the selected construction The straw-clay panels will be covered folding formwork. The straw-clay uses external insulation to reduce with a layer of cladding made from mixture is tamped into the molds the risk of moisture, which could recycled local materials, such as (Figure 15).Once the module has build up between the wall and the wood from fruit crates, old tires, and been filled, the mold can be opened. insulation, reducing the transport of suitable plastics, providing weather The individual panels are attached heat through the building envelope. protection and simultaneously gen- (Figure 18) to the containers through Additionally, the interior climate erating the identity of the building.

252 Rematerializations Figure 16. Wet mud Currently students work (Figure 19) panels stored in the on the adaptation of different ver- interior of the theater for drying. nacular patterns such as the Shoowa Kuba textiles for the façade design— testing their technical and aesthetic properties through full-scale mockups (Figure 20).9

Conclusion Combining reused or recycled waste materials with traditional earth construction methods is a critical component in the development of novel, neovernacular, low-cost construction methods. Our research focuses on full-scale, developmen- tal, neovernacular structures, which experiment with such composite materials. In order to minimize risks, construction and design techniques Figure 17. Mud panels are tested in the public sector, first installed in front of the as prototypical explorations, before container structure. they can be applied to community structures. Combining the recycled/ reused materials with smart energy concepts, as well as the sustainable earth constructions, creates affordable building prototypes, which can be reconstructed easily by inexperi- enced and briefly trained laborers. New typologies emerge when contemporary architectural design accepts “dirty,” poor materials, such as earth and straw, modularizing and systematizing them through the use of recycled pallets and shipping containers. Following this approach, recycled materials could be used to augment existing buildings as Figure 18. Project secondary or ancillary spaces. The under construction; emerging material systems enhance view from the neighborhood. the aesthetic opportunity, while simultaneously allowing for climatic control using vernacular techniques.

Author Biographies Daniel Baerlecken is an Assistant Professor for Digital Design & Fabrication at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta. His work is concerned with digital media, materials, prototyping & fabrication. He cofounded bfr lab as office for architecture, design, and research, which has won numerous prizes and awards, in 2006 after working for Zaha Hadid Architects, London. He

Baerlecken et al. JAE 68: 2 253 studied at the University of Applied Figure 19. Pattern Arts Vienna, Austria, and RWTH research for the façade made from Aachen University, Germany. reused fruit crates (execution during the Judith Reitz holds a Master’s degree next construction with honors in Architecture from phase, summer 2014). RWTH Aachen University, Germany, in collaboration with the University of Applied Arts, Vienna, masterclass Zaha Hadid. From 2003 to 2006 Reitz worked as project and design architect for Zaha Hadid Architects, London. Since 2006 she runs bfr lab, an office for Architecture, Design and Research. From 2006 to 2011 Reitz Figure 20. Mockups was Assistant Professor of Building for different facades using fruit crates, Typologies and Design Basics, RWTH tires, and other waste Aachen University. Since 2007 she material. is Adjunct Associate Professor, Texas A & M University, USA. Since 2011, Reitz is Professor for Design / Interior Planning, at the PBSA Duesseldorf.

Nora Mueller holds a Master’s degree in Architecture from the TU Berlin. She worked for Zvi Hecker and Philipp Oswalt in Berlin. After her diploma in 2004 she contributed to the design and execution of the is working as an Interim Professor 8 B. Pagnotta, “The Pros and Cons of Cargo Container Architecture,” arch daily, August 29, ‘Winterbadeschiff’ in Berlin. From at the the University of Applied 2011, http://www.archdaily.com/160892/the-pros- 2006 to 2008 she was working for Studies in Detmold. Together with and-cons-of-cargo-container-architecture/ Kristin Jarmund Arkitekter, a leading Severin Heiermann she is leading 9 G. Meurant, Shoowa Design: African Textiles from architectural office in Oslo, Norway. the architecture studio Heiermann the Kingdom of Kuba (London: Thames & Hudson, 1986); S. Bennet, N. Batulikisi, and J. Liechty, In 2008 she won the Europan com- Architekten, Cologne. Kuba Textiles and Design (Africa Direct, 2009). petition in Prague and established the office P-EN-M architecture and Notes urbanism together with Tim Prins 1 P. Oliver, Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of in Maastricht, Netherlands. Since the World (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997); M. Vellinga, P. Oliver, and A. Bridge, Atlas of 2010 she is Assistant Professor for Vernacular Architecture of the World (London: Taylor Building Typologies and Design & Francis, 2007). Basics, RWTH Aachen University. 2 M. Braungart and W. McDonough, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things (New York: North Point Press, 2002). Bernadette Heiermann studied 3 S. Vogel, El Anatsui: Art and Life (New York: Prestel Architecture at the RWTH Aachen USA, 2012). University, at the Academy of Arts, 4 F. Kaltenbach, “Reusable Material or Art? The Duesseldorf and La Sapienza, Purpose and Attraction of Recycling, Architecture Rome. Since 1995 she has been and Recycling,” Detail 12 (2010): 1268–1274. 5 I. Brielmaier, O. Enwezor, and Z. Mthethwa, Assistant Professor for Building Zwelethu Mthethwa (New York: Aperture, 2010). Typologies and Design Basics, 6 M. Buchmeier, H. Slawik, S. Tinney, and J. RWTH Aachen University. She Bergmann, Container Atlas: A Practical Guide to co-founded the design-develop- Container Architecture (Berlin: Gestalten, 2010). build-studio of RWTH Aachen 7 H. Boehme, Fetishism and Culture: A Different Theory of Modernity (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2014). University in 2005. Since 2013 she

254 Rematerializations Design as Scholarship Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015

72 Rising Measures Drawing Over the Cités HLM in Greater Paris

Pari Riahi Rhode Island School of Design

The contrast between living conditions in Paris and its struggling suburbs is unsettling. Away from the determined form and defined structure of the city lies the constellation of disembodied suburbs, increasingly violent and segregated. The studio investigated the potential means to transform the living conditions in the Cités HLM1—areas of concentrated housing projects at the outskirts of the Parisian urban agglomeration—by considering two scales of operation: the larger urban/suburban scale and the smaller scale of housing complexes.

Delineating the Boundaries In the movie L’Ésquive (Games of love and chance), a group of young teen- agers rehearse a play by Marivaux at the foot of a housing project located in one of the most difficult suburbs of Paris.2 The towers in the backdrop frame the unfolding of a coming-of- age story in a tedious landscape. The Figure 1. Alexis Bothorel, Analysis of Multiple Figure 2. Reem Al-Thani, Analysis of the Roof- film depicts the undertones of despair Levels of Transition between the Inside and Scapes, Unités d’Habitation of Marseille and Outside, Unité d’Habitation, Firminy Vert. The Firminy Vert, France. By analyzing the different and aggression within the suburbs drawings analyze how daylight, and circulation elements that compose the two roof terraces while also bringing to life the pal- paths influence one’s perception of each of the of Marseille and Firminy’s Unités d’Habitation, pable energy of its young inhabitants. living units by emphasizing spatial ‘projections’ the drawings compare the public elements towards these different elements. (top) implemented within each complex. (bottom) Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 The lives of these cités’ inhabitants are indicative of very situated conditions, and yet the ongoing crisis contemporary framework. In France, that the problems of Cités HLM are of social inequity, massive waves of over four million HLMs house about deeply related to the built environ- immigration, and cultural tensions one-fifth of the country’s population. ment and urban strategies that had are shared among many social hous- Low standards of living, high crime been at work in shaping these coming clusters in different parts of the rates, overpopulation, and segregation munities in the first place. world. While specific socioeconomic characterize the lives of most HLM Resolving large-scale urban/sub- conditions define parameters unique inhabitants. The largest numbers of urban conundrums implies changes to each setting, maintaining social HLMs are located in the Parisian sub- that would have massive impacts on well-being and providing equitable urbs. As suggested by Simon Ronai, the built environment and call for living conditions are universally rel- Parisian suburbs present a unique synergy at many different levels. Since evant. The studio looked into Greater case since the city is “geographically erasing these neighborhoods is nei- Paris and its segregated suburbs as and symbolically” separated from its ther a viable option nor a realistic one, a testing ground for grappling with suburbs.3 The riots of 2005, which the studio looked for strategies that the dilemmas of social housing in a started in Clichy-sur-Bois, proved would allow for long-term (dramatic)

98 Figure 3. Anna Joseph Kurian, Collage: Paris’ social housing dilemmas. The studio between the inside and outside, by Desire to Reach Out. The collage depicts multiple proposed using multiple capacities following the change of light moving strata at work in creating the complex texture of a metropolis, emphasizing some of its natural, of drawing as a vehicle for inquiry, from the most public to the most pri- cultural, and historical landmarks and situates the a tool for musing and a medium of vate spaces in one’s trajectory through possibility of its extended reach towards the city representation in order to tackle the the building, as well as the exagger- of Le Havre. architectural potentials and complexi- ated projection of different rooms and and short-term (feasible) solutions ties of context. To do so, the structure facade portions based on their expo- that could be undertaken in parallel. comprised an intense research and sure to light on the exterior facade The aim of the studio was to develop analysis portion, which in turn segued and their distance from the interior multilayered, low-cost, and locally to a design exercise at multiple scales. corridor. Reem Al-Thani’s work based proposals, located strategically Calibrating precision and scale in (Figure 2) was centered on dissecting within each of these neighborhoods, developing different types of drawing and analyzing the roof terrace as a in order to provide safer and better allowed for targeting specific themes unique public space. By demarcating alternatives for its vulnerable inhabit- during the semester. Starting with multiple architectural elements that ants. Also, by looking into scale of studying a specific prototype through shape spaces suitable for gathering individual housing units and their analytical drawings, the studio then or solitude, she further extended the groupings, the studio intended to focused on developing collage draw- query into a comparison of the roof- engage with spatial and tectonic ings that allowed students to come to scapes in the Unité in Marseille with questions that belong to the archi- individual expressions of their inquiry that of Firminy. tectural domain. The studio foresaw of the context and interlace multiple The students moved from that generating two sets of outcomes: layers of visual data. Later, a series of quick analytical investigation of a (1) developing and transforming the orthographic drawings followed by prototypical social housing project interiors of the dwelling units to detailed isometric depictions com- to a research inquiry that delved into allow the Cités HLM to become truly prised a more in-depth investigation the Parisian suburbs by working on livable environments and (2) improv- within specific sites and projects. themes ranging from demographic ing the connections between the The studio started with an studies to the political makeup of the dwelling units and their extended investigation of subsidized housing suburbs, infrastructure, transporta-

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 surroundings. through a careful analysis of differ- tion, immigration, issues of violence ent features of Le Corbusier’s Unité and segregation—ranging from riots The Trajectory d’Habitation in Firminy Vert, which and demonstrations to specific cul- Understanding that the social housing operated as an HLM until 2003. tural outbursts in form of linguistic (le crisis has many causes and extends Studying the Unité as an established Verlan), musical (rap), or visual mani- to numerous fields in any given set- architectural prototype and prob- festations (graffiti). From the more ting, the studio was insistent on ing its adequacy as social housing general observations, the students locating its field of operation within gave the students an architectural then progressed to an in-depth review the unfamiliar setting of the Parisian basis and a historical perspective to of the submissions for the Grand suburbs, which contains highly con- start with. The students conducted Paris initiative,4 studying the points centrated constellations of subsidized their analytical projects by studying raised by each of the ten groups of housing. As such, the studio aimed either the collective or the individual architects, urban planners, and land- for the students to understand the units’ characteristics of the Unité. scape architects and fleshing out the implications of working in such set- Figure 1 represents the work of Alexis more architecturally centered themes tings by parsing through both local Bothorel, who focused on the vis- of social mixity, adaptive reuse, and and global aspects of contemporary ible and invisible layers of transition revitalization of critical nodes, and

Riahi JAE 69:1 99 Figure 4. Jacqueline devising new forms of infrastructure. Zhao, Collage: The As the culmination of the research Inescapable Spaces of the Banlieue. By phase, which elicited data gathering as stacking multiple well as verbal and visual presentations, fragments of the the students were asked to come suburbs and creating impossible spatial up with a large-scale digital collage, configurations, the which would contain their analytical work alludes to the and affective take on the subject of fact that the residents of these suburbs are the “banlieue Parisienne” by translat- caught within these ing all they captured into a collage. environments with no The work of Anna Joseph Kurian prospect to escape. (Figure 3) expresses Paris’s frenzy in reaching outside its defined boundaries (the boulevard péripherique) by highlighting some of the significant Figure 5. Michelle Munive, Collage: The urban, environmental, and infrastruc- Banlieue, Present and tural markers of its complex fabric. Future. By contrasting Jacqueline Zhao’s piece (Figure 4) the existing texture of the banlieues and its assembles fragments of dilapidated residents’ occupations buildings of multiple cités to render to a “greener” future, the desolation of the built environ- the image juxtaposes both the outer and ment and highlight one’s entrapment the inner face of the in such spaces. Similarly, Michelle existing structures and Munive’s work (Figure 5) juxtaposes their intended changes to test the possibility of the derelict fabric of the here and now such transformations. against a brighter, greener future by extending some of the architectural elements inside and out to emphasize the complexity of passage from one world to the other. Alexis Bothorel’s Figure 6. Alexis work (Figure 6) underlines the repeti- Bothorel, Collage: tive nature of the forms and their The Redundant. By selecting fragments of absurdity in referring to the ongoing different well-known life inside, by using the rotation as clusters of housing a device to demonstrate the trans- around Paris, the collage depicts the formation of the built forms into irrelevance of form, redundant patterns. material, and tectonic In the second part of the differences of these complexes in face semester, the students were divided of their relentless into teams of three and each team repetition. appropriated one of the four adja-

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 cent suburbs crowning the north and northeast of Paris: Saint Denis, Saint- Ouen, Aubervilliers, and Bobigny.5 Here the work of one of the teams, which focused on Aubervilliers, is presented. The group of Kurian, Darmawan, and Kaewket worked on Aubervilliers, a suburb that has shifted from an agricultural zone to an industrial area—with a focus on chemicals and cosmetics production—that is currently made up of over 100 different ethnicities. The students were required to study the general characteristics of their designated area, making note of its major institutional,

100 Drawing Over the Cités HLM in Greater Paris Figure 7. Kurian, Darmawan and Kaewket, Group Work, Suburban Analysis Map. The Analysis of institutional landmarks and significant public institutions makes the texture of the suburb more apparent (above).

leisure, and infrastructural charac- circulation cores and redistributed ones proved to be both challenging teristics (Figure 7). The group then the public, private, and communal and rewarding. Over the course of the focused on identifying the major spaces. Kaewket (Figures 17–20) tried semester, multiple strategies were complexes of social housing (Figure 8) to achieve similar goals by engaging tested by investing in drawing as an and selected one of the largest ones, the central hollow core of the building investigative vehicle, creating a body La Maladrerie,6 as their field of opera- through devising a new vertical cir- of work that echoed the complexity tion. In order to make alterations, culation pattern, adding community and richness of its subject matter. The improvements, and/or radical changes spaces on multiple floors and a more emphasis in this studio was on devel- to that large housing complex, the permeable core, exposing the inhabit- oping unique modes of expression team members undertook a thor- ants to more light, air circulation, and and nurturing one’s grasp of complex ough investigation of its planimetric, community interaction. entities while improving fundamental sectional, and spatial characteristics design skills. Reflecting on the range to better understand the setting Conclusion of work produced suggests that a (Figure 9). They observed an overall Looking critically at the “Grand Paris” second series of collages would have lack of coherent public and green initiative, the studio came to posit that completed the cycle of investigation, spaces and proposed the addition of a in order to make the greater Parisian allowing the students to once again green space along a better-connected region functional and prosperous, its merge their own findings with multiple meandering path (Figure 10), and many “Petits Paris” are to be embraced layers of the already existing environ- the addition of a number of light to connect the segregated entities of ment. Straddling different scales of commercial activities to the exist- the sprawling suburbs to the more operations, from that of the territory ing setting, to improve access from defined body of the city. By focusing to the interior spaces, indicates a the existing housing clusters to the on dwelling within such complex con- great potential for multidisciplinary

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 subway entrance. In addition, each ditions and expanding on alternative collaboration among diverse fields of individual took over a portion of the housing proposals for these areas, the design. Finally, exposing the student housing complex and worked within studio probed the merit of devising to a new environment, which called for the fascinating geometric grid set strategies to transform these existing understanding unique parameters of up by the architect. Kurian (Figures living units, as the nucleus of one’s social housing in that setting, fosters 11–13) observed a disconnect between primary interactions with/isolation hope for attaining insight into complex the intricate geometry of the outside from the others. Exploring alterna- design premises and multicultural and the function of the interior units tives for existing projects brought contexts. and worked to reconfigure them for a forth the possibility of grappling with more balanced distribution of living alienation and integration, isolation Author Biography spaces, as well as connecting spaces and togetherness, as well as empathy Pari Riahi is a part-time Faculty at for each floor. Darmawan (Figures and distance by manipulating architec- Rhode Island School of Design, 14–16) was interested in breaking tural elements in multiple scales. The where she teaches in the Architecture the unequal distribution of open use of drawing as an investigative tool, and INTAR departments. She is a spaces, public spaces, and units while ranging from collage, to mapping, to registered architect and practices in maintaining the current vertical analytical drawings and imaginative Western Massachusetts.

Riahi JAE 69:1 101 Figure 8. Kurian, Darmawan and Kaewket, Group Work, Identification of the Housing Clusters. Large concentrations of public housing, each with their own characteristics were identified prior to selecting the specific complex of La Maladrerie (upper right hand side) as the project site. (left)

Figure 9. Kurian, Darmawan and Kaewket, Group Work, La Maladrerie, Multiple Views and Partial Section and Plan of the Area Adjacent to the Subway. Visual analysis of the existing complex through collage along with architectural analysis of the different functions and their distribution along the complex was undertaken (below).

Notes 1 HLM stands for habitation à loyer modéré and is the common term for social housing or subsidized housing in France. Les Cités HLM are large areas of concentrated social housing, often located at the edge of defined urban zones in France. 2 Abdellatif Kechiche, L’esquive, translated in English as Games of Love and chance, 2002. The movie was filmed in the cité des Franc-Moisins in Seine Saint-Denis. 3 Simon Ronai, “Paris et la banlieue: Je t’aime, moi non plus,” Hérodote, revue de géographie et de géopoli- tique, second trimester 2004, 28 4 Launched by the former French President Nicholas Sarkozy in 2007, the Grand Paris initiative invited ten international multidisciplinary teams to study and corroborate guidelines for the expansion and upkeep of the greater Parisian agglomeration. 5 For the sake of clarity, only images from the work of one group are shown. Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 6 La Maladererie was built in between 1975 to 1986, and its architect, Renée Gailhoustet, believed in containing multiple community-related functions within the housing complex: http://www. frac-centre.fr/collection/collection-art-architecture/index-des-auteurs/auteurs/projets-64. html?authID=74&ensembleID=856, 07/28/2014.

102 Drawing Over the Cités HLM in Greater Paris Figure 10. Kurian, Darmawan and Kaewket, Group Work, La Maladrerie, Addition of a Green Pathway, Public Space clusters and Light Commercial Buildings. Implementing a few new light commercial spaces, carving out a series of covered walkways, extending and expanding the green areas and implementing an open air amphitheater are among the gestures made by the group prior to moving into their own individual interventions within the large residential complex.

Figure 11. Kurian, Transformation of a Portion of La Maladrerie, Aubervilliers Suburb, Existing Plans and Planimetric Diagrams. Analyzing the geometric and spatial characteristics of the complex, lead to the identification Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 of different types of ‘rooms’ within the residential units. The vertical and horizontal circulation paths proved to be somewhat labyrinthine.

Riahi JAE 69:1 103 Figure 12. Kurian, Proposed plans. While aiming to be faithful to the original geometry, the proposal attempts to carve out better horizontal pathways through the floors and connect the different areas in the complex through more continuous promenades.

Figure 13. Kurian, Overall and Partial Axonometric views, Elevations, and Sections. Making better horizontal connections and streamlining the access within the existing result in a more even distribution in height and transform the existing volume’s pyramidal form to a more balanced extrusion.

Figure 14. Darmawan, Transformation of a Portion of La Maladrerie, Aubervilliers Suburb, Comparisons between the Existing and the Proposed: Plans, Diagrams, and Axonometric Views. Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015

104 Drawing Over the Cités HLM in Greater Paris Figure 15. Darmawan, Proposed Plans and Circulation Highlighted in an Axonometric View. By maintaining the vertical circulation elements (both stairs and elevators), the proposal transforms the public areas of the complex such as the corridors into livable spaces that would accommodate the residents.

Figure 16. Darmawan, Splayed Axonometric View. The axonometric identifies new areas designated for gathering, play, and learning within the complex, some of which serve localized uses within each floor, and some serve the entire complex. (below) Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015

Riahi JAE 69:1 105 Figure 17. Kaewket, Transformation of a Portion of La Maladrerie, Aubervilliers Suburb, Comparison of the Existing and Proposed in Plans, Sections and Diagrams. The sectional diagrams exhibit the major areas affected by the change: a much larger central courtyard lends itself to bringing about better social interaction and encourages communal activities. By bringing the vertical circulation to the core, the notion of centrality is emphasized and core is integrated within the life of each floor as well as the entire complex.

Figure 18. Kaewket, Proposed Floor Plans. The transformed plans demonstrate a more democratic distribution of the private balconies, the emphasis on the central core as ‘void’ allowing for light and views to travel freely, and the possibility of appropriating areas in each floor for gatherings of varying

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 sizes and natures.

106 Drawing Over the Cités HLM in Greater Paris Figure 19. Kaewket, Proposed Sections and Elevations. A wide range of new potential activities such as intimate playgrounds, workshops and small trading places, temporary exhibition, and performance spaces populate the outer faces of the building. The sections reveal the continuity of public/ private interactions through the floors and the emergence of the central inner courtyard as a larger, brighter nucleus.

Figure 20. Kaewket, Partial Axonometric View Highlighting the Gathering Spaces within the Complex. Diagram of the Proposed Changes revealing the design objectives. By bringing light and air to the inner core, and opening views towards the outside, the transformation also fosters spaces for multiple forms of informal gatherings, suitable for different age groups and activities. Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015

Riahi JAE 69:1 107 Design as Scholarship Delivering Sustainable Urban Regeneration in Emerging Nations Introducing Neighborhood Hotspots

Ebun Akinsete Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen

Fabienne Hoelzel Fabulous Urban

Lookman Oshodi Urban Spaces Innovation

Figure 1. The Lagos rise to become the world’s thirteenth divide: Skyscrapers 2 and luxury of largest economy by 2050. Nigeria’s downtown Lagos, less reality, however, is a juxtaposition than 20 minutes away of extremes, with the city of Lagos from the low income community of Makoko. a living hyperbole of this inequity (© Nigerian Curiosity, (Figure 1). While a proportion of 2009) the city lives in the lap of luxury with multimillion-dollar properties and yacht clubs, a majority of the population lives far below the poverty line with incomes of less than US$1.25 per day.3 Lagos is located on the Atlantic coast in the west of the country and has a total area of 3,577.28 square kilometers, approximately 22% of which is wetland.4 This has made the city particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, and it has witnessed a series of environmental crises in recent years in the form of massive flooding. This intense combination of socioeconomic issues (poverty and high population density) in the context of extremely polarized social conditions (the few “haves” and the many “have-nots”) creates a backdrop of increasingly acute climatic risks and Introduction: Eko o ni baje African megalopolis inhabited by shocks, painting a picture of a city on Eko o ni baje: Eko is the indigenous approximately 20 million individuals, the brink. Those closest to this prec- Yoruba name for the city of Lagos, with a population density of 5,926 ipice are the poor masses living in and this is the affectionate slogan persons per square kilometer.1 With the slum communities of Lagos state. of its people, which can be loosely Nigeria named one of the “MINT” One such community is the translated to mean “Lagos shall nations (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, Makoko community, an ancestral never decline.” Lagosians love their and Turkey), the country is predicted water-top community of fisher- city, troubled as it may be. Lagos, to be one of the future economic men located on the shores of the Nigeria, is a twenty-first-century powerhouses, with an anticipated Lagos Lagoon (Figures 2–4). Over

238 Figure 2. Map of Lagos.

Figure 3. Location of Makoko on the Lagos Lagoon.

the years, large-scale rural-urban subsisted on marine-based indus- out large-scale demolitions across migration and unregulated develop- try such as fishing, fish processing, the Makoko community in order to ment have led to the devolution of and boat making; however, today prepare the site for new develop- the onetime coastal fishing village a large number of its residents are ment. No accommodation was made into an urban slum nestled in the economic migrants from other parts for the resettlement or compensa- bustling city. With a population of of the country and the neighboring tion of community members, which approximately 50,000, it is one of Republic of Benin (Figure 5). In the led to the backlash of a public outcry the largest low-income communi- summer of 2012, the Lagos State and eventually a court injunction ties in Lagos state. Historically the Government, in a bid to implement to cease the demolitions. When the residents of the community have its urban renewal plan, sought to roll State Ministry of Physical Planning

Akinsete et al. JAE 68: 2 239 Figure 4. Makoko life: The Urban- Scape of the Makoko Community.

Figure 5. Makoko demographic: Makoko is a multi-ethnic and mullti-cultural community with six main sub- communities, four main ethnic groups, three practiced religions and over five spoken languages.

240 Sustainable Urban Regeneration Figure 6. Situational both on land and on themes: infrastructure, land tenure, analysis: Risk factors water; local economic housing, local economic develop- were rated as red, development and amber, or green. These tourism, which ment and tourism, funding, and results informed explored strategies neighborhood management. the six core themes for drawing inward of the Sustainable investment into the Urban Regeneration community from Integrated Solutions for Multifaceted Plan. Infrastructure, the private sector Challenges which addressed by developing local The needs analysis revealed a number community facilities industry; funding, which such as schools, health considered the means of critical areas of concern, which care, sanitation and by which public sector ranged from environmental issues waste, access (to funds could be made such as sanitation and infrastructure land and water), and available and leveraged energy provision; land within the community; to socioeconomic challenges such as tenure, which posited and neighborhood job creation and health care (Figure a framework under management, which 6). With few, if any, facilities provided which the ancestral outlined frameworks and informal rights for sustainable local for the disposal of organic and solid of residents could be governance and made waste, waterways are clogged with considered; housing, recommendations on litter, and raw sewage is currently which examined the how these structures design and access could engage with deposited directly into the open to affordable quality existing government water, further exacerbating health- housing for residents offices. related issues.5 Energy provision in Nigeria remains extremely inadequate, Figure 7. The with the national grid generating neighborhood hotspot approximately 4,500 megawatts of (visualization): They will be able to provide power annually, while the city of Lagos electricity from the alone has an estimated demand of biogas production for 10,000 megawatts.6 In communities the entire community on water as well as such as Makoko, which are essentially badly needed human off-grid, a majority of the electricity and organic waste supply is obtained from dangerous management. Each hotspot contains unauthorized cable connections and four 20-meter biogas low-capacity generators. Existing digester bags (stored health-care facilities are grossly on boats), and creates 28 jobs—overall, the overstretched, with each center system generates 644 catering to approximately 5,000 new jobs. residents, and unemployment remains above the national average. An additional dimension to these issues is the disproportionate impact they have on women and children within the community. As part of the and Urban Development solicited the state government. Adopting an plan, the team produced a portfolio the submission of an alternative action research approach, the group of project ideas as stand-alone urban development plan from the commu- worked in close collaboration with elements to be implemented as pilot nity, an international working group members of the community in order projects. Through a combination of of professionals and academics from to conduct an in-depth situational innovative new solutions and reframed a variety of backgrounds in urban analysis and needs assessment. indigenous solutions, the proposed planning, architecture, economic Utilizing a range of methods includ- interventions seek to address the development, social policy, and law ing aerial mapping, workshops, multiple challenges facing the came together to work with the com- surveys, and focus group sessions, community simultaneously. One such munity in order to meet this request. the research identified a number pilot project is the “Neighborhood Led by a local housing NGO, of key factors that needed to be Hotspot,” developed with the the multidisciplinary team worked addressed within the community. intention of tackling some of the most in partnership with the people of These key areas of concern formed acute risk factors facing Makoko such Makoko to produce an alternative the basis on which proposed solu- as waste, energy, employment, and regeneration plan that addressed tions within the regeneration plan health care, and turning one of these the concerns of the community were structured. The regeneration challenges in particular (waste) into a while meeting the aspirations of plan was developed around six major source of opportunity.

Akinsete et al. JAE 68: 2 241 Figure 8. Hotspot location map: In total 23 neighborhood hotspots are intended for implementation in the masterplan, with a pilot location indicated.

Figure 9. Hotspot ground floor.

242 Sustainable Urban Regeneration Figure 10. Linkages with other opportunities: With sustainable energy provision as a central feature, the neighborhood hotspot has a ripple effect, generating other local opportunities.

Figure 11. Opportunity card: Urban gardening at the neighborhood hotspot.

Akinsete et al. JAE 68: 2 243 Figure 12. Construction: Straightforward, simple, and modular (three types of triangles that can freely and according to needs be combined).

Figure 13. Section of the neighborhood hotspot: Flood resilient design with biogas floatation platforms responsive to rising and falling with water levels.

Figure 14. Existing buildings in Makoko: Indigenous construction techniques of a people adapted to living on water.

244 Sustainable Urban Regeneration The Neighborhood Hotspot community (Figures 9–11). The con- largest slum-upgrading programs In recent years, neighborhood man- struction of the structure is simple and as the Urban Design and Planning agement has emerged as an effective based on sustainable, local, indigenous Program Coordinator at the Social model for the reversal of urban methods of building with wood on Housing and Urban Development decline, particularly in areas such as stilts. This not only creates the oppor- Authority of São Paulo, Brazil. Makoko where the issues are numer- tunity to showcase climate resilient Fabienne has also part-time research ous, complex, and intertwined.7 The construction techniques, but the com- and teaching position at the Institute primary objective of neighborhood bination of traditional construction of Urban Design at the ETH Zurich. management is to create effective methods and local materials engages service delivery within a particular local artisans in the process, thereby Lookman Oshodi is a registered geographic boundary that is tailored generating jobs and building on local town planner with vast experience to address the unique issues faced by capability (Figures 12–14). This ability in land, housing, environment and its local community, thereby improv- of the neighborhood hotspot concept urban development matters. He has ing the quality of life of its people. to embed waste-to-value philosophy, worked extensively in private hous- The approach aims to deliver renewal, within a flexible, robust, easy-to-main- ing, government supported housing, compatible with existing community tain, affordable, and low-technology homelessness prevention, community structures, at a local level by bringing infrastructure, which additionally cre- development, strategic urban and together integrated service provision, ates jobs and delivers much-needed regional development. He is currently appropriate and therefore flexible services, has earned it a place at both Project Manager–Social Housing with infrastructure, community involve- the 2014 International Architecture Urban Spaces Innovation, where he is ment, and leadership.8 Furthermore, Biennale Rotterdam as well as the 2014 collaborating with the urban poor and by viewing community regeneration Venice Biennale. other stakeholders exploring social holistically, a neighborhood man- housing as a viable strategy of expand- agement model of renewal affords Acknowledgments ing access to decent and affordable development professionals and local The authors thank the people of housing in Nigeria. citizens a vantage point from which to the Makoko/ Iwaya Community, see the opportunities among the chal- the Social and Economic Rights Notes lenges. The neighborhood hotspot is Action Centre, the Heinrich Boll 1 Elisabeth Rosenthal, “Nigeria Tested by Rapid a structural embodiment of the prin- Foundation, the University of Lagos, Rise in Population,” New York Times, April 14, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/world/africa/ ciples of neighborhood management. and SK Designs. in-nigeria-a-preview-of-anovercrowded-planet. Waste management formed the seed of html?_r=2&. the neighborhood hotspot concept, as Author Biographies 2 Jim O’Neill, “The MINT Countries: Next an issue that presents environmental Ebun Akinsete is a Nigerian Economic Giants,” BBC Online, January 6, 2014, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25548060. as well as social challenges, but also Research Fellow with the Centre for 3 Lagos State Government, Y2012 Abridge Annual potential economic benefits. Serving Understanding Sustainable Practice Budget, Lagos Socio-economic Profile,” (Lagos: Author, primarily as a biogas plant generating at Robert Gordon University, 2012). energy from organic waste, the struc- Aberdeen. With a background in 4 Lagos State Ministry of the Environment, ture doubles as a community center, architectural technology, her main Responsibilities of Office of Environmental Services and Office of Drainage Services (Lagos: Lagos State which acts as a nucleus for local ser- field of research is sustainable urban Government, 2012), http://www.moelagos.org/ vices (Figures 7 and 8). In addition to regeneration. Her current work resp.php. a biogas plant and kiosk, each neigh- focuses on renewable energy as a 5 Makoko/Iwaya Waterfront Community, Makoko/ borhood hotspot has the potential point of entry into community devel- Iwaya Waterfront Regeneration Plan (Lagos: Urban Spaces Innovation, 2014). to incorporate a range of different opment, and she works with UK local 6 Lagos State Economic Planning Department, activities, providing space for urban authorities as well as other NGOs Lagos State Economic Summit: EHIGBETI 2012 Report gardening, workshop, and cooking and governmental agencies in West (Lagos: Author, 2012). facilities, in addition to doctor’s offices Africa to develop strategic plans for 7 Social Exclusion Unit, National Strategy for and reading rooms. The structure is sustainable development. Neighbourhood Renewal: Policy Action Team Audit (London: Cabinet Office, 2001), www. therefore simultaneously a business cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/cabinetoffice/ incubator, a place for social exchange, Fabienne Hoelzel founded social_exclusion_task_force/assets/publica- a knowledge center for renewable FABULOUS URBAN, an urban design tions_1997_to_2006/pat_audit_renewal.pdf. energy production, waste manage- and planning practice for emerging and 8 Department for Communities and Local Government, Neighbourhood Management Pathfinders ment, urban gardening, and water developing regions based in Geneva, (London: SQW, 2008), http://www.sqw.co.uk/ harvesting—a truly public and social Switzerland in 2013, after working sev- file_download/140. infrastructure that empowers the eral years for one of Latin America‘s

Akinsete et al. JAE 68: 2 245 Scholarship of Design Building for “l’Authenticité” Eugène Palumbo and the Architecture of Mobutu’s Congo

Johan Lagae Ghent University

Kim De Raedt Ghent University

In 1966, President Mobutu initiated his political architects.3 In recent scholarship on these cities as well as on the art and doctrine of recours à l’authenticité in the Congo. architecture of the postindepen- Aimed at erasing all traces of Belgian colonialism, it dence era in Africa and other formerly colonized territories, it is claimed not only led to interventions in social and political that such “non-Western” modernism life but also found expression in a new state was not “based on the assimilation of European modernism in a nonselective culture, embodied in art and architecture. We trace way or merely appropriative fashion, the impact of this doctrine in the work of Eugène but on the conscious dramatization of the position of alterity” into which Palumbo, an Italian architect who designed several these territories had been previously iconic public buildings under Mobutu’s reign. forced.4 Hess, for instance, argues that what results from this is a “process of Palumbo’s projects, we argue, highlight the tension regeneration and unification that drew of an architect seeking to develop an architectural on specific and local artistic and performance traditions and perspectives, language evoking both “authentic” Congolese many of which had been suppressed culture and notions of progress and modernity. or eradicated by colonialism.”5 But embedded in such practices is also what (Nation) Building in process, which he considered “one Enwezor regards as the “insistent para- Postindependence Africa of the most significant events of the dox of all modernities, namely that they In the course of the early 1960s, twentieth century.”1 Scholars like are simultaneously inward-looking and nearly all African colonies gained Nnamdi Elleh and Janet Berry Hess totally open to all influence and percep- their independence. This happened have discussed how architecture was tive to rich dialogues.”6 In this article, sometimes as a result of a libera- played out in this context as a tool we will discuss these issues in relation tion process based on nonviolence to “represent all the people forced to the architecture of the decoloniza- and civil disobedience, but more within colonial boundaries,” thereby tion and nation-building process in the often decolonization took place often employing “comprehensive country that is currently known as the after a period of intense struggle and master plans ... that seek to circum- Democratic Republic of the Congo. violent clashes. In the process of vent internal rivalry and promote the We will do this by first providing an overcoming the colonial past, defin- idea of a unified culture.”2 overview of (planning) projects and ing a new, national identity became The construction of new capital buildings realized by various foreign a real challenge for many an African cities formed a particular expression of architects in the Congo from the 1960s leader. In his seminal 2001 exhibi- such aspirations. Dodoma in Tanzania, onward. Then, with this framework in tion and catalogue, The Short Century: Abuja in Nigeria, or Yamassoukro in mind, we will zoom in on the work of Independence and Liberation Movements Ivory Coast are well-known examples, Eugène Palumbo, an Italian architect in Africa, 1945–1994, Okwui Enwezor illustrating the extent to which this who designed a large number of offi- highlighted the crucial role played nation-building process was still cial complexes as well as projects for by culture in the decolonization largely shaped with the help of foreign Congo’s new elite in association with

178 Fernand Tala N’Gai, the first Congolese platform for the nation. As Kenneth artistic language rooted in the local architect who gained a certain repu- Lee Adelman explained in a 1975 arti- tradition. Exhibitions and cultural tation. By focusing on Palumbo, we cle, it is important to underline the festivals,12 as well as the publication not only aim to bring an overlooked explicit use of the notion of recours as of massive studies on Congolese architect who has worked extensively opposed to retour. Indeed, there was art, became important vehicles to in Africa to the fore but also, and more an implicit act of selection at work promote Mobutism.13 While similar importantly, argue for introducing in establishing the framework to practices were implemented in other another critical perspective on post- draw upon in the postindependence African countries, the strong hold of war architecture in the continent, a nation-state, picturing a coexistence the president on all forms of artistic necessity that is increasingly being rec- of the mutual advantages of moder- expression was peculiar, leaving little ognized in scholarly literature. nity and tradition. Not “returning to” maneuvering space for other cultural but rather “drawing upon” allowed agents or artists wanting to work Building for a “Recours à l’Authenticité” the state to erase all traces of trib- outside of the official guidelines.14 The former Belgian colony gained alism and fetishism, which were Indeed, the bottom line of Mobutu’s its independence on June 30, 1960, allegedly contradictory to the modern cultural policy was as follows: after what seemed a remarkably swift world.8 Using the notion coined in handover by the former colonial 1983 by Ranger and Hobsbawm, we Only the State can lead to fruition power, but which was in fact a hasty, should perhaps better speak of an the Zairian cultural revolution ... a panic-driven move on behalf of the “invention of tradition.”9 In a famous revolution that aims at a profound Belgian government. In the follow- 1974 speech addressed to the United qualitative transformation of Zairian ing years, internal political struggles Nations, Mobutu explained the policy mental structures; in other words, and Moïse Tshombe’s project of of authenticité as consisting of: at a re-discovery of that deepest self obtaining the independence of the de-personalized during the long rich Katanga Province, combined …an awareness of the people of years of colonialism.15 with efforts by foreign powers to Zaïre to return to its own roots, to secure their economic interests in search for the values of its ancestors This policy of a recours à l’authenticité the region, were to have a strong in order to acknowledge those that also had strong repercussions for the impact on the territory whereby contribute to its harmonious and urban landscape of Congo’s cities. national integrity became profoundly natural development. It is the rejec- From 1967 onward, all remaining hampered. Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, tion of the people of Zaïre to blindly traces of colonialism, such as public a military officer and journalist, embrace imported ideologies.10 monuments, were dismantled—the would finally restore order through equestrian statue of Leopold II being a military coup on November 24, The new state was represented the most notable example.16 City and 1965. Remaining in power until 1997, through nationalist symbols such as a street names were changed—Congo Mobutu embodies the exemplary new flag, a new national anthem, and now being named Zaïre and, among case of an African dictator who a new currency. But the rediscovery other examples, Léopoldville becom- defined himself as the personifica- of “our real image as Africans,” as ing Kinshasa—thus erasing the tion of the nation. In Congo, which Mobutu had called it in 1971, found colonial toponymy that, as Valentin he would rebaptize Zaïre in 1971, its most palpable expression in a set Mudimbe has argued, had been a Mobutu was “le guide.”7 of guidelines issued by the president crucial instrument of territorial as Given the turbulent period and that were to have a profound impact well as mental occupation.17 In the separatist movements the country on the everyday life of every citoyen: same logic of throwing off the colonial had witnessed during the first years the “africanization” of first and yoke and defining a future on Congo’s of independence, the project of family names;11 the imposition of a own terms, a new architecture was restoring national unity and defining new dress code, the so-called abacost also gradually introduced, not only a national identity for the country (à bas le costume) for men and the to accommodate several new func- posed a real challenge to Mobutu. pagne or African cloth for women; the tions, people, and institutions, but From 1966 onward, he started to promotion of local cuisine, and so more importantly also to represent develop ideas that ultimately led to on. Culture was seen as a key instru- the new state power. In the first a policy that became known as the ment to “decolonize” the nation. years following independence, the recours à l’authenticité. This doctrine Official art schools received suburban landscape of Congo’s capital was first laid down in 1967 in the so- stantial funding, while a select group city Kinshasa had still been shaped by called Manifesto of N’Sele, which of artists were granted important some Belgian architects who contin- would become the official policy commissions in order to define a new ued to work in the former colony, such

Lagae and De Raedt JAE 68: 2 179 as Marcel Lambrichs, who designed the new architecture of Congo was and entrepreneurs were forced to a project for a National Assembly in in tune with contemporary strands leave, in order to be replaced by 1966.18 From the mid-1960s onward, in modern architecture of the late Congolese. Palumbo, however, was they were gradually replaced by French 1960s and 1970s, while simultane- able to continue working in Congo/ architects. In 1965 Mobutu invited ously referring, as Mobutu’s policy Zaïre. It is likely that his association a French urban planning mission to envisaged, to the “authentic” culture with Fernand Tala N’Gai, an archi- Kinshasa in order to work out a new of this postindependence African tect of Congolese descent who had master plan for the city, a project that nation. We will, however, argue that received his training in Belgium, in would take ten years to complete, Palumbo’s architecture, even if it was the Brussels St. Lucas School, was without ever having a real impact on produced in the service of Mobutu’s an important element in Palumbo’s the ground.19 In that context, French regime, cannot simply be reduced to favor. But the office’s portfolio architects such as Auguste Arsac and a direct embodiment of the leader’s also suggests that, by that time, Henri Chomette also designed several policy of recours à l’authenticité. Palumbo and Tala N’Gai (whose imposing complexes.20 In 1967, the Palumbo’s Congolese adventure Kinshasa-based office was named office of Anibal Bado and Daniel Visart actually began before independence. Architecture—Espace) were closely was asked to propose an alternative After being educated as a topogra- connected to the milieu of Congo’s design for a National Assembly, the pher, he started his training as an power elite.25 This allowed them to dramatic silhouette of which testi- architect first in Milan, Italy, in 1947, design some of the most emblem- fies to the influence of Le Corbusier’s to continue in Lausanne, where he atic public buildings of the Mobutu Capitol Complex in Chandigarh. The graduated in 1952 under the super- era, while they also authored several French-Tunesian architect Olivier- vision of the prominent architect luxurious residences for the new Clément Cacoub, who played a major Alberto Sartoris. Barely graduated, Congolese elite, including the presi- role in the building of Yamoussoukro, Palumbo traveled to the Congo to dent. Furthermore, they designed was recruited by Mobutu to design supervise the construction of service several large-scale commercial and the Monument aux Héros Nationaux cities on the sites of the hydrau- tourist complexes. Playing in the (1970–1974), a 210-meter-high tower lic power dams in Zongo (close to same league as Olivier-Clément structure with belvedere standing on a Kinshasa) and near Bendera, in the Cacoub, Palumbo also sought to platform housing a museum, as well as Eastern part of the country.23 In 1959, extend his geographical working ter- the presidential palace for Mobutu on Palumbo returned to Italy where rain to other African countries. His Mont Ngaliema.21 he briefly worked for the Locarno- archives for instance contain designs based architect Cavadini. Already for projects in Senegal, Cameroun, An Italian in Congo in 1962, he traveled back to Congo, Algeria, and Guinée, while Palumbo A paper on nation building in the after having applied successfully for also opened an office in Lomé, Congo could be written by focus- the job of UNESCO architect-expert Togo, where he built the imposing ing on the work of French designers responsible for shaping and supervis- Hotel Sarakawa (1973) and the Foire such as Arsac or Cacoub. Instead, ing the school construction program Internationale (1976). In the same we propose to draw attention to in the new nation. During his eight period, Palumbo became active again another, completely overlooked years with UNESCO, Palumbo was in Europe, realizing projects mainly figure, Eugenio or Eugène Palumbo responsible for the design of several in Brussels and Rome. (1925–2008).22 In contrast to the educational complexes, ranging from French architects mentioned above, prototype prefabricated structures to Building National Identity Palumbo would develop a long- be implemented all over the territory A number of projects that Palumbo lasting career in the Congo, thus to more prestigious buildings such as designed for the capital city of Congo, allowing for a more substantiate the remarkable Engineering Faculty Kinshasa, during the 1960s and 1970s discussion of how architecture and of the University of Lubumbashi, the provide ample elements to discuss power were intrinsically related first stone of which was laid in 1966 to what extent his architecture was in postindependence Congo. In by President Mobutu himself. at the service of Mobutu’s policy of fact, his last project was a mauso- Upon termination of his recours à l’authenticité: the Ministry of leum to be built in Lubumbashi for contract with UNESCO in 1969, Foreign Affairs, which was originally the late president Laurent Désiré Palumbo decided to open an office designed as the seat for the United Kabila, which he designed in 2001. in Kinshasa at the very moment that Nations (1965); the Cour suprême Furthermore, through his asso- Mobutu was starting to implement (1969); the Palais de marbre, a luxuri- ciation in 1970 with the Congolese his policy of a recours à l’authenticité.24 ous residence (1971); the extension of born architect Fernand Tala N’Gai As part of that doctrine, Mobutu the National Bank (1978); and a theater (1938–2006), Palumbo’s work forms would nationalize the country’s complex on the Congo River (1978). an interesting starting point to inves- economy in 1973, an operation Briefly analyzing the design choices tigate whether and to what extent during which all foreign experts underscoring these projects, in terms

180 Palumbo and the Architecture of Mobutu’s Congo Figure 1. Ministère des Affaires Étrangères (designed 1965, executed 1968–1973). Designed by Palumbo in collaboration with Anibal Bado and Daniel Visart, and Felix Lafore (engineer). (© Archives d’Architecture Moderne, Bruxelles)

of plan layout, formal language, choice itself as a country capable of building ground plan of this project is based of materials, and decorative programs, according to the latest state-of-the- on a skillful arrangement of planes will allow us to unravel how Palumbo’s art constructive principles.26 As the radiating out from a large, circular projects attempted to mediate complex was initially designed in 1965 patio. Luxurious in terms of the between Mobutu’s wish to revital- as the seat for UNESCO in Congo, generous spatial dimensions as well ize an alleged authentic Congolese one can also discern in it an echo to as the use of exquisite materials culture while keeping up with inter- the main seat of UNESCO in Paris, (the marble was allegedly coming national standards of modernization. a highly mediated project designed from a private quarry in Italy that Our discussion will highlight that the by Marcel Breuer, Bernard Zehrfuss, also provided the building material link between architecture and the ide- and Pier Luigi Nervi (1952–1958).27 As for the Vatican),29 the residence is ological program of authenticité is not a such, the project was in tune with the exemplary of the kind of villas that self-evident one, and that Palumbo’s then current form of new monumen- would become popular among the projects ultimately testify to the tality characteristic of the postwar Congolese elite in the decades to complex and multifaceted modes of architecture of public buildings in come. But what makes the project production of architectural projects the West. Only in some of the design peculiar is that, at least in hindsight, designed in the postindependence drawings one can perceive an effort one might read the contour of its period in the Congo, and by extension of anchoring the building locally via plan as an abstracted version of the in Africa more generally. the application on the façades of geo- footprint of the nation’s territory. The complex that today houses metric motives, vaguely reminiscent We can only speculate to what extent the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, of traditional motives, such as those this was a deliberate design choice impressively located on the cross- to be found on the so-called velours du of Palumbo.30 Yet it is telling that ing of the Avenue Monts-Virunga Kasaï. But in that respect, Palumbo’s in the end the Palais de marbre was and the Place de l’Indépendance, design strategy was far from innova- not used for its initial purpose, as makes up for one of Palumbo’s most tive as it ties in with a quite common Mobutu would claim the building for grandiose projects (Figure 1). Built practice among architects during the his personal use, more specifically to between 1968 and 1973, it consists of colonial era.28 host important presidential guests, an elongated, high-rise office slab, a A different approach emerges thus turning it into a key site for the low-rise volume, part of which follows in the design of the Palais de marbre representation of the state.31 the curved contour of the plot, and a (1971–1972), which was intended as While Palumbo’s work of the separate, sculpturally treated volume a residence for the governor of the 1960s (e.g., the educational com- housing an auditorium. With its auda- National Bank (Figure 2). Located in plexes he designed as a UNESCO cious, zigzag concrete roof structure, the elite neighborhood of Ngaliema, expert) was still very much in tune the building seems to mark the far removed from the bustling city with the rationalist principles inher- ambition of the new nation to profile life in the heart of Kinshasa, the ited from his mentor Sartoris, later

Lagae and De Raedt JAE 68: 2 181 Figure 2. Palais de marbre (1971–1972). Designed by Palumbo and Tala N’Gai. (© Archives d’Architecture Moderne, Bruxelles)

projects would draw on a formal The Strategy of Decoration Even though it cannot be estab- language that gradually became A similar fascination with expressive lished from the archival sources to more sculptural. This evolution structures underscores the peculiar what extent this decorative program might be ascribed not only to the design of two other prestigious com- was part of the initial brief, it is inter- liberty offered by the specific build- missions: the Cour suprême, the first esting to dwell a moment on the ing programs of these projects—as drawings of which date from 1969 message it conveys. In the elongated opposed to the stark lines and geo- (Figure 4), and a theater complex on fresco on the main façade we can metric shapes commonly generated the Congo River, designed in 1978 discern the footprint of the country, by an educational program—but (Figure 5). In these designs, neither on which a series of outwardly radiat- also to Palumbo’s fascination with of which was executed, a formal ten- ing lines is superimposed, suggesting contemporary architectural tenden- sion is introduced between straight the country’s embeddedness in a cies, for example, in Latin America, and curved forms, with structural global network. Somewhat to the left where ostentatious architectural elements articulating the different is depicted an abstracted head of a gestures dominated by curved lines volumes that contain the compo- leopard, the animal that Mobutu chose and structural experiments with nents of the building program. But as his emblem.34 But what emerges reinforced concrete abounded.32 The what also connects these projects primarily from this fresco is a dialogue preliminary design for the extension is the application of a large-scale between scenes of Congolese nature for the National Bank, dating from decorative program on the main on the one hand, complete with ele- 1978, is a case in point (Figure 3). façades. In some of the design draw- phants, a river full of fish, a forest with The commission consisted of adding ings for the theater, a suggestion trees, and scenes that evoke modernity a new volume that was to house the of an accentuated use of bas-relief on the other: an airplane, a building counters. The first sketches show motifs can be discerned, some of crane, and some large-scale buildings. a volume articulated by a series them abstract while others are more There is a striking echo here with the of curved structural beams whose figurative. However, the most strik- iconography of colonial propaganda. appearance contrasted radically with ing use of decoration appears in the Indeed, a recurrent visual strategy to the monumental and classicizing model of the Cour suprême, where be encountered in 1950s illustrated appearance of the existing building, the two façades toward the main magazines and books on the Belgian designed between 1953 and 1960 by public space are covered by gigantic Congo, is that of juxtaposing scenes of the architect Georges Ricquier as frescos, with a brise-soleil façade solu- nature and the new urban landscapes part of the monumental axis that tion in between. The abstract formal of Congolese cities. In the colonial era was to embody colonial power in the language of the decoration applied in such juxtaposition was intended to colony’s capital city.33 other projects is replaced here by a evoke the message that modernization figurative iconography. had finally arrived in the colony as a

182 Palumbo and the Architecture of Mobutu’s Congo Figure 3. Preliminary design for the extension for the National Bank (1978, not executed). The original building was designed by the architect Georges Ricquier between 1953 and 1960. (© Archives d’Architecture Moderne, Bruxelles)

Figure 4. Cour Suprème (1969, not executed). Designed by Palumbo and Tala N’Gai. (© Archives d’Architecture Moderne, Bruxelles)

result of Belgium’s “civilizing mission” testify. In an emblematic propaganda see the most modern juxtaposed to and had led, to use the words of the book published under Mobutu’s reign, purely rustic expressions.”35 American writer Tom Marvel, to the entitled 500 visages du Zaïre, one page The project for the Cour emergence of “le nouveau Congo.” depicts a photograph of an educa- suprême was never executed, but The juxtaposition in Palumbo’s design tional institute designed by Palumbo, the strategy of using a decora- should, however, be read in terms of the Institut d’Aviation Civile (which tive program on the façades was to equivalence rather than of the hier- later became the Institut Supérieur become a constituent element of the archical order embedded in colonial des Techniques Appliquées) next to a public architecture under Mobutu. discourse. In postindependence photograph of a modest school in the The Tribunal de première instance, Congo, the country’s natural and cul- countryside erected in local materials designed by Palumbo and Tala N’Gai tural richness was indeed considered (mud, straw, etc.), accompanied by a in 1969 and built in 1971, forms an intrinsic part of national identity, caption reading: “Naturally, in Zaïre, a case in point (Figure 6). Again something to which several official where everything is characterized by applying a circular ground plan, the publications of the 1970s and 1980s contrast, one should be prepared to marble-clad façades of the building

Lagae and De Raedt JAE 68: 2 183 Figure 5. Theater complex on the Congo River (1978, not executed). Designed by Palumbo and Tala N’Gai. (© Archives d’Architecture Moderne, Bruxelles)

Figure 6. Tribunal de première instance (1969–1971). Designed by Palumbo and Tala N’Gai. (© Archives d’Architecture Moderne, Bruxelles)

were decorated with colorful mosa- the innovative, explicitly modern other official buildings, in the presi- ics authored by a local artist of the architecture, the image becomes dential park and on the seat of the Académie des Beaux-Arts,36 depict- more ambivalent. While the build- Organisation de l’Unité Africaine ing a scene that evokes village life ing suggests that the Tribunal is an (OUA), a complex that Mobutu sym- (Figure 7). In front of an abstracted up-to-date institution, the mosaic bolically installed on Mont Ngaliema, version of a hut and a palm tree, suggests that in this modern house the site where Henry Morton Stanley some Congolese wearing what seems judgments are passed that remain had arrived in 1881 (Figure 8).40 to be traditional dress are apparently firmly rooted in a genuine, long- Moreover, they can be found on involved in a palabre, the local form of standing African tradition whereby commercial buildings and banks in a speaking justice.37 Whereas the fresco the chief’s wisdom plays a primary corporate modernist style that were on Palumbo’s model of the Cour role, a form of justice allegedly lost erected along Kinshasa’s Boulevard du suprême still pictured a coexistence during colonial rule.38 Needless to 30 Juin, the main artery of the capital of the mutual advantages of moder- say, such an image did not comply city, the skyline of which was chang- nity and tradition, decorations such with reality. Mobutu’s regime was ing rapidly in those years as if to mark as those for the Tribunal de première indeed reputed for its cruelty and Mobutu’s ambition to turn the capital instance merely depict traditional arbitrariness when it came to issues city into an International Center of scenes of rural precolonial life in of law and order.39 Trade.41 It was these academic artists Congo, thus suggesting a plain retour Similar mosaics, executed by who were to give shape to the new rather than a recours à l’authenticité. artists from Kinshasa’s Académie state. Other artists working in more Yet viewed in combination with des Beaux-Arts, also appeared on popularizing idioms and providing a

184 Palumbo and the Architecture of Mobutu’s Congo Figure 7. Artwork on the façade of the Tribunal by an unknown artist. Photograph by Bernard Toulier.

Figure 8. Artwork on the façade of the seat of the Organisation de l’Unité Africaine. Photograph by Bernard Toulier.

counter voice by depicting sometimes goes” (“Quand la maison va”). Key To give but one example, I will unsettling daily realities in postinde- players in the domain of construc- mention certain mural decorations pendence Congo remained “off radar” tion in the country were interviewed such as those of the Tribunal de 1ère and were silenced in the official dis- on the current situation. The only instance (Kinshasa) or those of the course on culture.42 architect figuring in the article is Church of Très Saint Sacrément in Palumbo; several of his projects are Binza. ... Nevertheless, it cannot yet Architectural Manifestations used as illustrations.43 In the inter- be claimed that a genuine Zairian of Authenticité? view, Palumbo explicitly articulated architectural tendency has arisen. In 1974, the magazine Zaïre: his views on authenticité: We currently witness a period of L’Hebdomaire de l’Afrique Centrale transition that runs the risk of published a cover article on con- If you look for manifestations of enduring eternally. One is construction in the Congo, entitled authenticité in my work or projects, fronted with a hybrid architecture “When the [building of the] house you will be able to trace them easily. that is not African nor European,

Lagae and De Raedt JAE 68: 2 185 for the simple raison that local significant impact on the Italian in Africa after independence, the architects, be they from Zaïre or architect’s design trajectory in that exploration of the case of Palumbo elsewhere, are not being consulted. respect, even if Tala N’Gai is remem- also exposes the limits of such an bered today by his Congolese peers approach. As Zeynep Çelik has At one level, this statement should be as an architect “who did not lack argued in her discussion of the understood as a corporate response imagination nor creativity, two char- work of Hassan Fathy in Egypt, of a locally residing designer to the acteristics that provided him with the very concept of “authenticity” then current practice of inviting for- an undeniable notoriety.”46 If a ten- in architecture is problematic in a eign architects to construct major dency toward more sculptural forms postcolonial context if it is to imply complexes, as had been the case with, can be traced in the production of a return to an assumed unspoiled for instance, Auguste Arsac or Olivier- Palumbo after Tala N’Gai joined the precolonial “purity” or “truth.”48 Clément Cacoub. In that respect, office, was this really a move toward a It is quite telling in this respect Palumbo’s argument is reminiscent more “African architecture” or just a that on several occasions Palumbo of that of the so-called “architectes- growing fascination of Palumbo with “recycled” projects designed specifi- colons,” designers residing in the new trends in international architect cally for the Congo for commissions colony who, since the interwar years, design, such as Brazilian modern- in other African countries when they had started to criticize their Belgian ism, as was suggested above? One were not realized. The theater com- colleagues who operated in the colony should not forget the asymmetrical plex for Kinshasa, for instance, was “from a distance,” often without ever power relation within the archi- proposed subsequently to President setting foot in the Congo.44 The core tectural office, Palumbo being Tala Omar Bongo for Libreville, Gabon, of the statement, however, is that N’Gai’s superior by thirteen years. and even to President Leopold according to Palumbo no “genuine” Tala N’Gai, moreover, had received Senghor for Dakar, Senegal. In African architecture had yet emerged. Western-based architectural training other words, Palumbo attempted to The authenticité of his own work, he in Belgium, while in fact architec- “sell” his designs to whoever could states, lies in the decoration, not in tural training had been available in be interested. The decorative arts the architectural form per se. In this Kinshasa since 1958.47 Thus, the ques- applied to the façade of the theater respect, Palumbo’s projects are not tion remains open to what extent complex were abstract enough to unlike the architecture that French Palumbo’s decision to set up an asso- potentially evoke a link with local architects such as Ducharme, Larras ciation with a Congolese architect tradition in various sub-Saharan and Minost, and Henri Chomette was not first and foremost the result African contexts. Thus, the story designed in the late 1950s and 1960s of mere pragmatic considerations, of Palumbo operating in the Congo for West Africa. On many occa- given that Mobutu’s installation of might perhaps be viewed from the sions their projects, which to a large the policy of recours à l’authenticité perspective of an architectural prac- extent were still based on the use implied the exclusion of foreigners tice that, maybe more than anything of imported materials, composition from the professional market. else, constituted a kind of “corporate rules, and construction techniques, It could be argued, then, that business.” This kind of production were given a “couleur locale” through the official architecture designed by is generally not taken into account the incorporation of artisanal art- Palumbo, like that of his French col- by conventional architecture histo- work and traditional motives in their leagues, remained first and foremost riography, a large part of which still decorative program. Such efforts to inscribed in the then current inter- tends to focus on isolated creative “Africanize” architecture were, how- national architectural tendencies. individuals who supposedly operate ever, not necessarily a requirement On a more conceptual level, the key in a political, social, and economic of the commission brief, let alone question remains whether architects vacuum. Hence, a figure like embraced by the new leaderships in could ever have found a convinc- Palumbo might be a good starting Africa, but often a deliberate choice ing architectural solution to express point to write alternative narratives of the designers themselves.45 This Mobutu’s policy of authenticité. In on postwar architecture, which take reveals that we should be careful any case, the automatic assumption into account the particular modes not to assume that the architectural that authenticity and architecture of production that conditioned it. design of official buildings is always a are strongly intertwined holds an Indeed, looking at Palumbo’s asso- direct and one-dimensional represen- important risk of overvaluing the ciation with local elites and President tation of official discourse. representative power of architec- Mobutu, his involvement in and Palumbo’s association with ture. While in itself it provides an contacts with both the local and the the Congolese architect Tala N’Gai interesting framework within which European building industry, and his also doesn’t seem to have had any to study the architecture produced personal ambitions and motivations,

186 Palumbo and the Architecture of Mobutu’s Congo highlights multiple agendas and Figure 9. Monument actors underlying the making and pour les Héros Nationaux (1970–1974). shaping of the built environment of Designed by the postindependence Congo and Africa, French-Tunisian and as such can help us gain a more architect Olivier- Clément Cacoub. profound understanding of a topic Photograph by Marc that recently has gained prominence Gemoets. in scholarly literature.49

Kinshasa, an Unfinished Capital City Apart from offering us a means of reassessing architectural practice in postindependence Congo/Africa, the work of Palumbo also adds considerably to a mapping of Kinshasa’s post-1960 urban landscape and Mobutu’s project of reshaping its image as the capital city of the new nation. As discussed above, several of the large-scale projects that Palumbo designed within this context remained unbuilt. The same holds true for several striking urban and architectural projects designed from the late 1960s until the mid-1970s by other architects. Of Olivier-Clément Cacoub’s scheme for an International Center of Trade situated on the edge of the Congo River, only one office tower the Stade des Martyrs are indeed but ephemeral images rather than being was built. The major operation of a small part of what was initially envi- imprinted in stone. relocating the city’s commercial and sioned. And even the construction of administrative center toward a more that most symbolic commission of Author Biographies central site in Kinshasa, a proposal all, the aforementioned Monument Johan Lagae is Senior Lecturer of of the French Urban Mission (MFU), pour les Héros Nationales designed by nineteenth- and twentieth-century never came to fruition.50 Today, Olivier-Clément Cacoub, which was to Architectural History with a particular the tower building of the National encompass a museum telling the story focus on non-European regions at Radio and Television Broadcasting of the struggle for independence, Ghent University. He holds a PhD Company, a 1975 design by the archi- was halted in the mid-1970s because in twentieth-century colonial architects Arsac and Dougniac, stands as the country’s economy completely tecture in the former Belgian Congo. the unique witness of that idea and collapsed after Mobutu’s drastic deci- His current research also deals with underlines the importance of national sion to nationalize Congo’s economy African urban history, colonial heri- media in Mobutu’s strategy of rede- (Figure 9). In other words, Mobutu’s tage, and colonial photography. He fining the nation. Neither Marcel dream of reshaping the image of has published widely on these topics Lambrichs’s proposal for an Assemblée Kinshasa via grandiose building and and (co)curated several Congo-related Nationale from 1966 nor the alternative planning projects, in order to put exhibitions. Between 2010 and 2014, he proposal by Anibal Bado and Daniel Congo/Zaïre on the global map, never cochaired a European-funded research Visart of the following year made it fully came to fruition. Until this day, community investigating “European beyond the stage of paper architec- the urban landscape of Kinshasa, Architecture beyond Europe.” ture. Of the grandiose urban scheme Congo’s capital, thus remains largely that Chinese planners devised in the defined by edifices dating from the Kim De Raedt graduated as a civil 1980s for a new city center on the colonial era, testifying to the fact engineer–architect at the University same site that the MFU had proposed, that the legacy of Mobutu’s policy of of Ghent, Department of Architecture only a few elements were imple- a recours à l’authenticité remains, above and Urbanism. Her PhD dissertation mented:51 the Maison du Peuple and all, embedded in words, music, and deals with transnational networks of

Lagae and De Raedt JAE 68: 2 187 d’Africains, tel que l’ont façonné, jour après jour, 19 See René De Maximy, Jean Flouriot, and Marc architectural expertise and practice, les ancêtres à qui nous devons le noble héritage de Pain, in cooperation with Kankonde Mbuyi which emerged through mechanisms notre grande patrie africain” [rediscovery of our and Xavier Van Caillie, Atlas de Kinshasa (Paris: of development aid in postindepen- true image of Africans, as it was shaped, day by day, Institut Géographique national, 1975). For a dence Africa. Her research aims to by our ancestors to which we owe the noble heri- critical discussion of the Sécretariat des Missions account for the broader social, politi- tage of our great African nation]. d’Urbanisme et d’Habitat mission in Kinshasa, see 11 Mobutu himself changed his name from Joseph Luce Beeckmans, “French Planning in a Former cal, and economic conditions in which Désiré Mobutu into Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Belgian Colony: A Critical Analysis of the French architecture was produced in Africa Ngbendu Wa Za Banga. Urban Planning Missions in Post-Independence from the 1960s onward. 12 In 1973, at the initiative of Mobutu, the Third Kinshasa,” Oase 82 (2010): 55–76. Extraordinary Congress of the International 20 For a brief survey of such projects in Kinshasa, Notes Association of Art Critics (AICA) was held in see Bernard Toulier, Johan Lagae, and Marc Kinshasa. For an official overview of the cultural Gemoets, Kinshasa: Architecture et paysage urbain 1 Okwui Enwezor, ed., The Short Century: politics under the Mobutu regime, see Bokonga (Paris: Somogy Editions d’Art, 2010). Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa, Ekanga Botombele, ed., Cultural Policy in the 21 See Michel Ragon, Olivier Clément Cacoub: 1945–1994 (Munich: Prestel, 2001). Republic of Zaire (Paris: UNESCO Press, 1976). Architecture de soleil (Tunis: Cérès Editions, 1974). For 2 Nnamdi Elleh, Architecture and Power in Africa For the particular position of the fine arts, see a discussion of the significance of this monument, (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002); Nnamdi Elleh, Badi-Banga Ne-Mwine, Contribution à l’étude his- see Johan Lagae, “The Hero, the Tower and the Abuja: The Single Most Ambitious Urban Design Project torique ... de l’art plastique zaïrois moderne (Kinshasa: Horse: Re-assessing Two Urban Icons of Colonial/ th (Weimar: VDG, 2001); Janet of the 20 Century Editions Malakyika, 1977). For a somewhat more Postcolonial Kinshasa” (paper presented at the Berry Hess, Art and Architecture in Postcolonial Africa critical stance, see Ndaywel, Histoire générale biennial conference of the German Association for (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2006), 10. (note 7), 706–722. For an insightful discussion African Studies, Mainz, April 7–11, 2010). 3 Apart from the work of Elleh, see also Lawrence from the perspective of literature, see Valentin 22 The archives of Eugenio Palumbo only became Vale, Architecture, Power and National Identity (New Y. Mudimbe, “La culture,” in Du Congo au Zaïre available for research when they were deposited by Haven, CT, and London: Yale University Press, 1960–1980: Essai de bilan, ed. Jacques Vanderlinden his widow in the Archives d’Architecture Moderne 1992). For the lesser-known example of Zanzibar, (Bruxelles: CRISP, 1980), 309–398. in Brussels in 2010. see Antoni Folkers, Modern Architecture in Africa 13 In that regard, see the studies published by 23 The fact that it was an Italian architect who (Nijmegen: SUN, 2010). Joseph-Aurelien Cornet, the director of the was recruited for the job is not that surprising, 4 See, e.g., Duanfang Lu, ed., Third World Modernism: national museum of Congo/Zaïre under Mobutu. as throughout the colonial era Italian building Architecture, Development and Identity (London: A later example is Cornet, Zaïre: Peuples/art/ expertise had frequently been used in the Congo. Routledge, 2011); William S. M. Lim and Jiat Hwee- culture (Antwerpen: Fonds Mercator, 1989). In the In fact, there was quite a strong Italian presence Chang, Non West Modernist Past: On Architecture and preface, Mobutu describes the book as one of the in the Belgian colony; see, e.g., Rosario Giordano, Modernities (Singapore: World Scientific Books, “Grands livres du Zaïre”). Belges et Italiens du Congo-Kinshasa: Récits de vie avant 2011). 14 In this respect, it is telling that Roger Pierre et après l’indépendance (Paris: L’Harmattan, 2008). 5 Hess, Art and Architecture (note 2), 1. Turine’s recent book, Les arts du Congo d’hier à nos 24 Palumbo’s portfolio indicates that he had in 6 Enwezor, The Short Century (note 1), 14. jours (Bruxelles: La Renaissance du Livre, 2007), fact already designed some projects on an inde- 7 For an elaborate discussion of this policy, see almost completely silences the production of the pendent basis during his UNESCO time, the Isidore Ndaywel è Nziem, Histoire générale du Congo: artists of the Académie de Beaux Arts in Kinshasa, most important of which is the Eglise du T.S.

De l’héritage ancien à la République Démocratique du Congo which was considered the breeding place for offi- Sacrament in the Djelo-Binza neighborhood in (Paris: Duculot, 1998). For a more popularizing yet cial art. No surprise then that surviving members Kinshasa (1964). scholarly sound survey, which also gives insight in of the artistic scene of the Mobutu regime, such 25 Tellingly, he designed, e.g., the presidential the way everyday Congolese experienced social, as the sculptor Liyolo, have heavily criticized cabinet, which was built on Mont Ngaliema in political, economic, and cultural evolutions over Turine’s book, calling it a tendentious and incom- Kinshasa. Palumbo had indeed already embedded time, see David Van Reybrouck, Congo: A History plete survey (fieldwork information, Kinshasa, himself strongly in the elite and power milieus (New York: Harper Collins, 2014; original Dutch ed., autumn 2009). of the DRC when he was still a UNESCO school 2010). 15 Botombele, Cultural Policy (note 12), 46. building expert. See Kim De Raedt, “Between 8 Kenneth Lee Adelman, “The Recourse to 16 On this event and the subsequent fate of the ‘True Believers’ and Operational Experts: Authenticity and Negritude in Zaire,” Journal of monument, see Johan Lagae, “Léopoldville– UNESCO Architects and School Building in Modern African Studies 13, no. 1 (1975): 134–139. Bruxelles, villes miroirs? L’architecture et Post-colonial Africa,” Journal of Architecture 19, no. 1 9 Eric J. Hobsbawm and Terence O. Ranger, The l’urbanisme d’une capitale coloniale,” Cahiers (2014): 19–42. Invention of Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge Africains 73 (2007): 67–99. 26 The complex structure was calculated with the University Press, 1983). The Congolese historian 17 Mudimbe develops this idea in his book Les corps help of structural engineers from the internation- Isidore Ndaywel also refers to this notion of glorieux des mots et des choses: Esquisse d’un jardin afri- ally renowned laboratory for Reinforced Concrete “invention” when discussing Mobutu’s seizing of cain à la bénédictine (Paris: Présence africaine, 1994). at Ghent University, founded by professor power and the policies he subsequently issued. 18 But also former members of the OCA, the Office Gustave Magnel. 10 “Une prise de conscience du peuple zaïrois de des Cités Africaines, a colonial parastatal orga- 27 On the Paris UNESCO building, see Alexander recourir à ses sources propres, de rechercher les nization responsible for the construction of new von Vegesack, ed., Marcel Breuer: Design and valeurs de ses ancêtres, afin d’en apprécier celles African neighborhoods on the periphery of the Architecture (Weil am Rhein: Vitra, 2003), 334–358. qui contribuent à son développement harmonieux main urban centers. 28 For a more thorough discussion of the use of et naturel. C’est le refus du people zaïrois d’épouser For more information on the Belgian architects “Africanizing” decorative motives in colonial archi- aveuglement les idéologies importées.” Mobutu’s mentioned in this paper, see Johan Lagae and tecture, see Johan Lagae, “Kongo zoals het is”: Drie speech for the United Nations, October 4, 1974, Bernard Toullier, Kinshasa (Bruxelles: CIVA/Faculté architectuurverhalen uit de Belgische kolonisatiegeschiedenis cited in Ndaywel, Histoire générale (note 7), 676. In Architecture La Cambre Horta ULB, 2013); as 1920–1960 (PhD diss., Ghent University, 2002). another speech given for the Union Progressiste well as different entries written by Johan Lagae in 29 Information provided by Mr. P. M. Squarci, an Italian Sénégalaise in Dakar on February 14, 1971, Mobutu Dictionnaire de l’architecture en Belgique de 1830 à nos jours, draftsman who was working in the office of Palumbo spoke of the “découverte de notre vrai visage ed. Anne Van Loo (Brussels: Fonds Mercator, 2003). at the time (interview with the authors, 2011).

188 Palumbo and the Architecture of Mobutu’s Congo 30 This hypothesis was not confirmed by Palumbo’s exemple que certaines décorations murales telles draftsman, Mr. Squarci. Yet the archive contains que celles du tribunal de 1ère instance (Kinshasa), an intriguing document on the project consisting celles de l’Eglise du Très Saint Sacrement à Binza. of a cutout version of the plan, which seems to ... Néanmoins, on ne peut encore parler d’un underscore our reading. courant architectural zaïrois. Nous vivons dans 31 Conversations with Mrs. Palumbo and Mr. une période de transition qui malheureusement Squarci in the course of 2010–2011, however, sug- risque de s’éterniser. On trouve une architecture gest that a personal argument was at the basis of hybride qui n’est ni africaine ni européenne et the shifting function of the building. In 2001, the cela pour la simple raison que les architectes Palais de marbre was to gain some notoriety, as it locaux, zaïrois ou autres, ne sont pas consultés.” was the site where then-president Laurent Désiré Palumbo cited in Kiefu Biwandu, “Quand la Kabila was assassinated. maison va ... ,” Zaire: L’Hebdomadaire de l’Afrique 32 Palumbo’s personal library attests to this, Centrale 290 (February 25, 1974): 35–42. containing a number of books on the Brazilian 44 For a discussion of this phenomenon, see Lagae, architect Oscar Niemeyer. “Kongo zoals het is” (note 28). 33 On this monumental axis and Ricquier’s project for 45 See Maurice Culot and Jean-Marie Thiveaud, it, see Lagae, Léopoldville–Bruxelles (note 16). eds., Architectures françaises outre-mer (Liège: 34 Mobutu’s official dress code consisted of an Mardaga, 1992). abacost, a bonnet in leopard skin, and a carved 46 See Tshisuaka Kanyinda, “In Memoriam: Il wooden stick, referring to the sign of power of the y a deux ans mourait le Professeur Ordinaire traditional African chief. Tala-Ngai Fernand” [Obituary: Two Years Ago 35 See 500 visages du Zaire (Kinshasa: Bureau du Full Professor Tala-Ngai Fernand Passed Away], Président de la République du Zaire, 1975), 247. Annales de l’IBTP 7 (2008). This lavishly illustrated book was published as a 47 This training started in 1958 within the Saint tribute to General Mobutu Sese Seko. Lucas Art School in Kinshasa, which was run by 36 The name inscribed in the mosaic on the façade Father Marc Wallenda, and was later incorporated of the building has become too eroded to deci- into the Institut du Bâtiment et des Travaux pher. In any case, in order to stay in tune with Publics (a building designed by Palumbo), which Mobutu’s policy of “authenticité,” Palumbo to this day is the only center for architectural edu- regularly appealed to Congolese artists from the cation in the Congo. However, the history of the Académie des Beaux-Arts to design the mural training of Congolese draftsmen and architects decorations of his projects. remains to be written. 37 The garment of the female figure is striking. 48 Z. Çelik, “Cultural Intersections: Re-visioning She is wearing a pagne and a cloth in which she is Architecture and the City in the Twentieth carrying her baby, both bearing an imprint with Century,” in At the End of the Century: One Hundred a motif based on the acronym MPR, referring to Years of Architecture, ed. Richard Koshalek, Mobutu’s Mouvement Populaire de la Révolution, Elisabeth T. Smith, and Russell Ferguson (New the political party that “le guide” had founded York: Abrams, 1998), 190–227. in 1967 and that was the only one authorized in 49 In this respect, prospective research we recently the country. On the MPR, see Ndaywel, Histoire conducted in the archives of the Belgian building générale (note 7), 667–674. firm Blaton, which was very active in Congo and 38 In fact, such forms of “traditional justice” were some other African countries during the postinde- not altogether abandoned during colonial times. pendence era, constructing several of Palumbo’s In fact, in rural areas there still was a form of major projects, opens up promising new perspec- “droit coutumier” in practice. tives for reassessing the architectural practices 39 Many works have documented the cruelties of of this period and the transnational networks of the Mobutu regime, both popular accounts and expertise in which they were embedded. more academic, scholarly work. For an example of 50 See theme issue “Zaire 1975” of the magazine the latter, see Michael Schatzberg, The Dialectics of Europe outremer, no. 545 (June 1975), 51. This issue Oppression in Zaire (Bloomington: Indiana University was published on the occasion of the official visit Press, 1988). A compelling introduction to the figure of President Giscard d’Estaing to Congo. See remains Thierry Michel’s documentary Mobutu: Roi also Toulier, Lagae, and Gemoets, Kinshasa (note du Zaïre from 1999. 20); Beeckmans, “French Planning in a Former 40 For a discussion of the history of Mont Ngaliema Belgian Colony” (note 19). as a seat of power from pre- to postcolonial times, 51 Drawings of this Chinese scheme were discov- see Johan Lagae and Bernard Toulier, Kinshasa ered in the archives of the Bureau d’Etudes et (Brussels: CIVA, 2013), 40–53. Aménagement urbains (BEAU) in Kinshasa in 41 See Toulier, Lagae, and Gemoets, Kinshasa: January 2010. Architecture et paysage urbain (note 20). 42 One can think here primarily of the so-called popular painting, a genre that has been extensively documented and discussed by scholars such as Johannes Fabian and Bogumil Jewsiwiecki. 43 “Si vous cherchez des manifestations de l’au- thenticité dans mes travaux ou projets, vous en trouverez aisément. Je ne vous citerai comme

Lagae and De Raedt JAE 68: 2 189 Scholarship of Design The Failed Utopia of a Modern African Vernacular Hassan Fathy in New Gourna

Miguel Guitart University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

My research on Hassan Fathy’s New Gourna project in Egypt will try to set the appropriate history and the relevant principles on which this key project is based. The main body of the paper consists of a critical analysis of some of Fathy’s theories and practices, as we understand they are essential to reevaluate the architect’s work. Concentrating on this specific part could encourage some interesting new discussions of a legacy that dealt with the transitional relationship between modern and vernacular in Egypt. Through the text, I will try to synthesize Fathy’s achievements and rediscover what his ideas have meant to the architectural discourse in a postmodern context. The exploration Figure 1. Hassan Fathy. of a critical case study in Fathy’s architectural work (© Al Ahram Weekly) leads us to question his practice of architecture why construction was abandoned under economical and social circumstances within a before the project’s completion. This analysis of New Gourna nation that was dealing with its own identity. yields insights into Fathy’s interest in a regionally specific vernacular archi- As a pivotal figure in the rebirth of for the better. Throughout his career tecture and his complex relationship Arab and Islamic vernacular architec- Fathy expressed a vivid and particular with the Modern Movement. Of ture, Hassan Fathy played a key role interest in low-cost housing for the particular interest are the pilot proj- in Egypt’s cultural and nationalistic rural poor (Figure 1). ects launched at New Gourna, such reawakening and wielded influence This essay examines the design, as co-op building, in-service train- throughout the Middle East through construction, and reception of ing, and socioeconomic initiatives. his revival of mud brick construction Fathy’s best-known work, New The text also traces an evolution in and careful concern for local traditions Gourna, which was a resettlement Fathy’s “progressive regionalism” and natural resources. Fathy’s poetic plan for the residents of Old Gourna in the use of mud brick, a readily analogy between music and archi- that began in the mid-1940s. The available material that required no tecture is symptomatic of his work, paper discusses the historical and expensive centering, as well as in the described as a mixture of social realism political context of Egypt, and the master plans he proposed for New and utopianism. For Fathy, tradition architect’s career and educational Bariz and Dar al-Islam, the com- was neither old-fashioned nor stagnant. background, before engaging in a munity projects he designed in New Tradition may have begun recently, and close description of the new village. Mexico and Egypt, respectively. modernity does not necessarily mean It also considers the substantial criti- Fathy’s cultural ambivalence and liveliness. Thus, change is not always cism of New Gourna and explains educational formation contributed to

166 Figure 2. Akil Sami house in Dahshur, Egypt by Hassan Fathy. Exterior façade. Photograph by Christopher Little. (© Aga Kahn Trust for Culture)

New Gourna’s ultimate failure. Paul commissioned Fathy to design New to Cairo in 1963 and entered a period Ricoeur expressed the dilemma that Gourna, a new village that was to rep- where teaching and consulting became Fathy encountered in his work in the resent at that time the most relevant his primary occupations. following terms: “How to become project of his professional career, The publication of his book modern and to return to sources; how where he experimented with a series on New Gourna in 1969 established to revive a dormant civilization and of ideas he had been testing through- Fathy’s legacy. Architecture for the Poor take part in universal civilization.”1 The out his previous body of work. New contained the achievements and essay concludes with a consideration Gourna would also be an attempt to failures of his theories and ideas, of Fathy’s legacy and the attempt to relocate the villagers and provide them physically expressed in his project for revive a vernacular language appropri- with a new kind of economy. The new New Gourna. The book became even ate to a nationalistic discourse. The methods and materials would also more influential in 1973 when it was architecture that Fathy proposed gave be an answer to the lack of industrial first published in English. Fathy was birth, ironically, to a new identity, trade due to the war in Europe. The criticized for the cosmopolitism that while extinguishing the original one.2 project, criticized as a social fail- led him to disseminate his vision in ure but praised as an architectural books published in English and French, Context and History achievement, was abandoned in 1949. which were admired around the world Fathy was born in Alexandria in 1900 In 1957, frustrated with bureau- but excluded those who read only in and was educated as a true aristocrat cracy and continuous administrative Arabic (Architecture for the Poor was only within a westernized elite environ- disappointments, Fathy moved to translated into Arabic in the 1980s). ment. Cosmopolitan in his habits and Athens to collaborate with interna- Cosmopolitism, however, may have tastes, the young Fathy studied under tional planners who were working been central to Fathy’s achievement. the Beaux Arts system. After study- along the principles of ekistical design It gave him a certain distance from the ing architecture at the University under the direction of Greek architect narrower materialism and less generous of Cairo, he started teaching at the Constantinos Apostolou Doxiadis paternalism of the landowning class to College of Fine Arts. (1914–1975). Fathy served as an advo- which he belonged and opened him The 1933 construction of the cate of traditional solutions for passive to the influence of other inventions of second Aswan Dam, in the Nubian energy mechanisms in major commu- the modern vernacular, such as French region of Upper Egypt, forced the nity projects for Iraq and Pakistan. He colonial architecture in Morocco. government to relocate peasants from also undertook extended travel and In 1989 Hassan Fathy died in villages located in areas slated to be research for a “Cities of the Future” Cairo, leaving behind a unique legacy flooded. In 1945, the government program in Africa. Fathy moved back for the modern African vernacular

Guitart JAE 68: 2 167 Figure 3. Akil Sami house in Dahshur, Egypt by Hassan Fathy. Detail of Musharabiye. Photograph by Christopher Little. (© Aga Kahn Trust for Culture)

architecture and for the identity of a whole series of thoughts on how tradition of Egypt through the use his nation. these people could be reinstalled in of construction techniques and spe- new villages through an architectural cific materials, developing an unseen Techniques and Influences language that was particular to Egypt. opportunity for a much-needed Fathy showed an early interest in the After years of British occupation Egyptian architectural identity. improvement of the living condi- and in a time of identity crisis, Fathy Both Fathy and the Modern tions of rural people and developed proposed a look at the past and the Movement were very much concerned

168 Hassan Fathy in New Gourna Figure 4. New Gourna. Detail plan of Town Center. (© Aga Kahn Trust for Culture)

Figure 5. Mass plan of New Gourna. (© Aga Kahn Trust for Culture)

with the conditions of ordinary low-income housing. From Fathy’s Egypt. A considerable portion of the people’s lives. Both worked toward standpoint, those developments nation’s total population belonged the improvement of these conditions, were totally inadequate for shelter- to this religious group that had especially those of the poor. Yet while ing poor Egyptians. Neither natural its origins near the Kharga Oasis the Modern Movement proposed ventilation nor protection from around the sixteenth century. Fathy solutions through a break with the direct sunlight were sufficiently took a number of trips to this area past in European countries, Fathy provided by these projects, which to study its necropolises and funer- believed in the historical continuum neglected the implications for ary architecture, whose geometrical as a required condition to successfully domestic design from local habits. forms made a big impression on him. shape the new identity that he wanted Instead, Fathy developed a series of Fathy incorporated traditional tech- to establish in Egypt through the right techniques based on a careful study niques of mud construction from use of architecture (Figure 2). of traditional models from three key the Kanuz district, which did not In the postwar years Fathy sources: Copt architecture, mud require the use of complex instru- searched for affordable housing brick construction, and Nubian ments and technological knowledge. methods. He opposed the concrete building practices. He adopted the signature catenary boxes that proliferated all over the Copt architecture has its ori- vaults3 and domes of Nubian archi- country as temporary solutions for gins in the Christian Community of tecture. Fathy re-created these

Guitart JAE 68: 2 169 Figure 6. New Gourna. Girl’s primary school. Figure 7. New Gourna. Khan. Photograph by Randa Shaath. (Image via Egypt Architechure) (© Al Ahram Weekly) ancient elements in modules he functional and decorative elements when tourist development halted in would repeat to cover any space that like the musharabiye, a kind of carved the area. The Gourniis were accused he projected.4 From a hotel vesti- wooden filter that worked to allow of tomb robbing, but there is no clear bule to a classroom or a kitchen, all proper ventilation along with a subtle evidence on that matter. Moreover, the spaces acquired the ability to be natural illumination, supported the while it was true that a handful of enclosed with a dome-vault module. ventilation system and reinforced the ancient tombs of Old Gourna had Fathy also considered elements from connection to traditional architec- houses built over their entrances, Nubian vernacular architecture, tural forms (Figure 3). there were many hundreds of other such as the organization of the vil- Fathy intelligently gathered tombs that were not concealed by lage, the layout of the house, the all these systems and influences as houses yet had not been opened up orientation of the rooms, doorways, adequate ideas that had been used to tourism. The relationship between living room and khayma, the mandara for centuries by local peasants. The household and tomb may represent (guest room), the techniques of roof reutilization and enhancement of a question of local heritage more and wall construction, the external these solutions were for Fathy the interesting from a historical point of plastering, the ventilation, the grain right starting point to elaborate a view than many of the empty tombs storage, and the cooking systems of local modern language that would that were cleared out and opened the kitchen, among others. prevent architects from providing up as tourist sites. Early excavations The streets and houses of Cairo a rootless architecture, therefore contained rich evidence of this long provided other sources that Fathy avoiding breaking with the past tra- period of Coptic and early Islamic synthesized in the design of New dition, which, as Fathy could foresee, local life. The communities located Gourna, including courtyard-cen- would fail in Western countries. atop the tombs may have dated back tered planning, passive ventilation four or five hundred years (Figure 4). systems and functional decorative Old Gourna and the New Project Fathy’s client, the Ministry of elements. Courtyards accommo- The old village of Gourna had stood Antiquities, was interested in the dated privacy, social activity, cooling for many years in the ancient cemetery preservation and expansion of tourist conditions, and protection from of Thebes. Lying on the west bank resorts to support a new economy. the harsh sun. Narrow streets were of the Nile River opposite Luxor, It would be interesting to explore used with similar intention. These 400 miles south of Cairo and close to issues related to tourism at the time, open spaces formed a clear sequen- the Valley of the Kings, Gourna was such as the depopulation programs tial system where Fathy re-created located in a key area for the tourist that took place in the area. The goal public, semipublic, and private areas industry of Egypt. This small village of these programs was to increase that provided social space. The of peasants had grown over the years the number of tourists. Investments systems of ventilation, which could atop rich archaeological sites, and the in the area of Gourna led to phe- be traced back to ancient Islamic local economy was said to depend on nomenal growth in tourism during culture, drew air from the prevailing tomb burgling at some point.5 After the 1980s and early 1990s, until the winds through a network of inclined the Great War, the central government Islamic attacks that caused tourism filtering openings located on the decided to relocate these people in to dip again in the 1990s. roofs. The air then passed through a order to preserve the tombs and fur- The new site for the project was number of pools where a process of ther promote tourism in the area. about fifty acres and was located away evaporation lowered its temperature Much had been said about the from ancient remains but close to the enough to cool the home. A series of real responsibility of the Gourniis road and railway line. Fathy selected

170 Hassan Fathy in New Gourna buildings were strategically dispersed on the outskirts of the five residential quarters and provided each of the residential districts with identity and a point of orientation. Each tribal group had a specific characterization that Fathy accentuated by placing that groups’ residences next to functions related to them: the Ghabat (forest) tribe was located next to the park, the Horobat (warriors) were next to the marketplace, the police station, and the village hall, and so on (Figure 6). Figure 8. Market of New Bariz. Photograph by Chant Avedissian. The main entry to the site was (© Aga Kahn Trust for Culture) through one of those buildings, the market, located at the southeast the site to position the village close He saw this opportunity not as an corner of New Gourna, which was to the tourist traffic to ensure activ- end in itself, but as a testing ground divided into two sides by the railway. ity and avoid isolation. Aside from for all his ideas and a prototype for Traditionally a trade and a social space the historical and technical concepts other, larger villages to come.”6 in rural Egypt, the market acted as a directing the project, considerations Fathy presented a humanist filter, a kind of funnel that directed influencing the design of New Gourna approach to the problem at Gourna the movement along an orchard to a ranged from specific social concerns by stressing the variety and indi- large winding main street. The main to purely theoretical ideas. viduality of his clients. He tried to route led to the rectangular-shaped Egypt was just beginning custom-design each house. Twenty public square where most of the com- to come under the influence of houses were erected at an early stage munity functions were grouped. Next the International Style and other to observe families and consult with to the mosque were the village hall, Western concepts after World War them on some matters, but also to the theater, the sporting rural club, II, such as the “New Town” move- show the Gourniis the kind of archi- the crafts exhibition hall, and the ment, which was then coming into tecture to be built and have them khan. The boys’ primary school was full swing in the United Kingdom participate in the constructive and near the park northwest of the village, and the United States. City dwellers planning process. whereas the girls’ school was located were proposed schemes that would Interested in ekistical policies, to the east. Two other main streets supposedly improve their psycho- Fathy began the design process by curved away in crescents and ended at logical and physical well-being: gathering information and particularly the Coptic Church to the south and single family semidetached houses socioeconomic data on the town resi- at the police station, the women’s dis- or town houses were identically dents.7 He identified five social groups pensary, and the Turkish bath to the repeated, apartments and duplexes within the settlement and tracked north. Not all institutional buildings were arranged in “superblocks,” and down their leaders and extended were executed: the schools, the mar- pedestrian and vehicular traffic were families. These characteristics and ketplace, the mosque, and the theater separated to achieve quality of open internal relationships guided the plan were the main relics of Fathy’s vision. space and supply variety within these of New Gourna, which was clearly The mosque still serves today elements. For Fathy, profitable use divided into five districts represent- as the main focal point of the village. could be made of these plans if they ing an organic figure ground plan Well maintained by the inhabitants, were transposed to the Arab city. (Figure 5).8 The city’s dynamic char- its horizontal and vertical massing Furthermore, he had in mind Egypt’s acter was provided by its interlocking was based on Upper Egyptian tra- urgent needs for housing and a law irregular allotments that shaped a dition. The bold, straight outside in effect at that time that required network of angular streets and cre- staircase to the minaret and the that a new building project should ated broken vistas through their arrangement of passages on the main embody standards markedly higher winding, encroaching streets. Several street added to its Nubian character than those prevailing. Fathy knew he architectural gestures highlighted the and helped to make one forget the had to come up with a model project. layout of the new village and conferred presence of the road. The theater, James Steele epitomized the New it with its specificity: the hierarchy however, did not serve its purpose; Gourna project thusly: “The social in the open spaces, an important it fell into decay, was restored, and experiment that Fathy had been amount of planned public institutions remains closed to the villagers. The mentally piecing together for so long and the use of the courtyard and the khan, the third spatial anchor to the was thus to finally become a reality. square as main collective areas. Public main square, suffered the same fate.

Guitart JAE 68: 2 171 The schools were bulldozed and a service staircase. The cattle sheds rebuilt in concrete (Figure 7). were separated by walls and levels Broad streets intended as traf- but were still integrated in the inte- fic routes separated the quarters, rior structure. Bedrooms and a fuel whereas narrower interlocking streets storage bin occupied the upper floor. providing shade and intimacy estab- The bedrooms consisted of a square lished a distance among the houses domed room with vaulted alcoves and gave access to semiprivate court- that reproduced the layout of an old yards. The scarcity of traffic allowed Arab house. The massing consisted for angular and narrow streets and the of simple geometrical forms punctu- rejection of the grid used in modern ated by the bedroom domes. The Western cities. Each house had a roofscape was truly reminiscent of courtyard, and each group of houses regional Mediterranean and North was arranged around a larger semi- African villages (Figure 8).9 public common courtyard or square. Examples of public open space Each square served a family group or connected to institutional buildings badana (a group of ten to twenty fami- in the Saidi villages were uncom- lies). Fathy put his ideas on the human mon. Streets and small interstitial intermediary scale into practice, and protected spaces fulfilled gathering he worked outward in a purely visual- purposes. As proven in New Gourna, Figure 9. New Gourna. Market arcade. ized spatial hierarchy. squares and semiprivate courtyards (© World Monuments Fund) The relation between the resi- were left unused, whereas narrow dential tissue and the public spaces streets witnessed daily social life. A from the old hamlets of Gourna, provided the rich plan of the town. school, a mosque, and a space for whose families opposed the planned The variations on the angled-shaped social interaction were fundamen- eviction and resettlement, had cut the sites were also important to insist tal to Gourniis’ daily life. Although dyke and flooded the low-lying village. on the effects to which this vari- Fathy understood the rural social Of the 900 units, only 130 were built.10 ety of experiences contributed. system, he nevertheless imposed Gourniis never moved in. Nowadays Fathy used a powerful vocabulary Western customs on the villagers. He around 2,000 villagers live in New of primary elements in the interior added a police station to the series of Gourna, mostly squatters from the organization of the dwelling units: institutional functions even though Aswan region.11 Houses were overbuilt domed and vaulted spaces as well as the rural social network was far more with additions, infills, and extra floors. courtyards were important architec- efficient than “modern” methods of New Gourna’s failures were tural elements in Egypt because of control and persuasion. partly related to the contextual cir- their many symbolic values. These Finally, Fathy, inspired by cumstances, partly connected to the elements gave the buildings an intro- the Theban Necropolis’s volumes, architect’s undertakings, and to a verted character and, by doing so, exploited the possibilities of the certain extent associated with design provided privacy, coolness, and pro- domed module for the dwelling decisions. In fact, the use of inap- tection, relating to the internalized units, which resulted in an incom- propriate typologies and architectural cultural character of the local Islamic prehensible gesture for peasants. elements did have an indirect impact spiritual background. He was mistaken in believing that on the Gourniis’ motivations to reject The prototypical peasant’s architects and peasants from Upper the new village (Figure 9). Fathy house consisted of a two-story Egypt would share his aesthetic relied on spatial systems developed in construction articulated by a court- appreciation of simple funerary ele- urban typologies that initially derived yard and two entry points: a main ments throughout time, or that they from Cairo’s sixteenth-century pal- entrance and a service entry. On could actually be imposed upon the aces. Those urban prototypes were the first level, it included house- villager’s notion of aesthetics. intended for wealthy merchants in hold services, a generous storage The “village,” as locals still refer a medieval context. Transposed to a space, large cattle sheds, and the to Fathy’s project, was constructed rural framework, their significance guestroom, all grouped around the over three winters in the corner of and internal functioning differed. courtyard, which was not treated as a large, irrigated tract of sugarcane They first implied means for the pur- an independent element but rather fields. In 1948, with only a fraction chase of land that was to be turned strongly connected to the remaining of the village constructed, Fathy was into open space (New Gourna’s site functions. Vertical connections were forced to abandon the project, partly was only 50 acres).12 Acquiring new achieved through the disposition because of bickering between gov- land to provide open spaces was also of the loggias on different levels at ernment departments, but mostly typical of city dwellings where the the courtyard, a main staircase and because one night that winter, men dense urban fabric did not allow open

172 Hassan Fathy in New Gourna Figure 10. New Bariz, detail of the central area. (© Aga Kahn Trust for Culture)

Figure 11. Plan of New Bariz. (© Aga Kahn Trust for Culture)

spaces around the building. Although by reappropriating the styles and there had been a renascent Arts and Fathy referred to the typologies of materials of a local heritage as well Crafts movement, specifically in the Aboul-Riche, a Nubian village in as reinvigorating the economy and Northern European countries. The Aswan, the latter showed different standard of living in rural areas. architect then realized that the use of configurations from Old Gourna To achieve his goals he introduced cross-ventilation techniques, the rep- itself. Furthermore, the spatial system not only technical improvements etition of architectural modules such of the Ka’a, Dorqaa, and Maqaad13 that but also innovative social and rural as domes and vaults, and the revival of derived from the grand houses of old processes that would be applied mud-brick construction were not only Cairo was implemented regardless of later to his other planning proj- intended for affordable housing. They economic or educational background. ects. Paradoxically, those same new also aimed at reestablishing the tra- ideas found their sources in the ditional disappearing rural crafts of Modernism and Regionalism International Modern Movement Egypt. In fact, by encouraging a new Fathy’s goal was to create an indig- that Fathy had strongly rejected crafts-based economy—reeducating enous environment at a minimal because of its universalism. the villagers in the arts of weav- cost and develop “an aesthetically Fathy had observed that, in ing, pottery, basketry, and stained pleasing popular architecture”14 parallel to the Modern Movement, glass—Fathy had hoped to provide

Guitart JAE 68: 2 173 a lucrative substitute to their alleged Figure 12. House tomb robbery. Advantageously situ- in New Gourna. Photograph by Jane ated on a tourist route, the village Akshar. would represent a halt to the stream of visitors on their way to the Valley of the Kings: therefore, the existence of a crafts school, crafts exhibition hall, and a strategically located marketplace, completely open and accessible to the tourist crowds. Beyond the conversion of their economic activities, another aspect was the contribution to the welfare and betterment of the rural population’s living conditions. Fathy envisaged the modern system of cooperative building that consisted in the direct involvement of the population in the design- building process of their own physical community. The transfer of skills and the building production would be more satisfying and enriching to the human resources of the locality: peasants would lend each other a hand, produce their own material, and express their opinions on some matters. Therefore, locals would all be integrated in the process of construction. Through aided self-help principles, Fathy had also hoped to solve economic issues. The architect mentioned the positive psychologi- cal effect that cooperative building Gourna presented aspects of ver- or musharabiye gave rhythm to the would have on the people; it should nacular architecture under principles facades and provided ventilation and raise the morale and self-respect that derived from modern ideas. lighting shafts into the dwellings. of the society and give it a sense of Fathy followed a social humanist Mud brick surfaces allowed the play common purpose that would be of approach to solve some of the design of shadows and provided a specific spiritual benefit to its members. At issues by applying principles of for- irregular texture to the building. the same time, he introduced the mative participation. Institutional Over time the new settlers would owner-builder system, thus articulat- buildings integrated two new foreign vernacularize the façades and adapt ing a social approach. concepts in rural Egypt, a theater them to their own needs (Figure 10). In the context of the regeneration and a police station, whereas a park A legitimate question arises at of new social housing and develop- and a lake delimited the north- this point: what kind of regionalism ment in rural Egypt, Fathy pursued ern boundary of the village. New was supported by this architecture? the idea of “in-service training.” This Gourna’s façades presented open- Alan Colquhoun acknowledges that concept implied that a training course ings with few shading devices that “regionalism is permeated by modern- in building construction would be consisted of geometrical abstract ist theory,”16 which in the case of Fathy provided to the villagers. Workers forms with a lack of any decorative turns out to be finally a modernism would be educated on the job but not elements—Gourniis had developed permeated by regionalist elements. in technical schools that were “far a refined and aseptic architecture Ricoeur argues “that everything will too elaborate”15 for the needs of the façade. The rectilinear openings depend … on the capacity of regional people. That training would also rep- represented a small proportion of culture to recreate a rooted tradition resent an economic and social advance the overall wall surface. Subtle shad- while appropriating foreign influ- to fully exploit the productive poten- ing additions harmonized with the ences at the level of both culture and tial of the Egyptian nation. façade and underlined essential ele- civilization. Such a process of cross- Mainly through its materiality ments such as roof cornices as well fertilization and reinterpretation is and technicality, the village of New as window parapets. Lattice patterns impure by definition.”17 A romanticist

174 Hassan Fathy in New Gourna in his intuition and a modern in his Gourna, was an experiment with a were followed as the basis for a truly rationalism and practicality, Fathy’s community-oriented planning as democratic developing country? “progressive regionalism” prompted well as aesthetic investigation in the After years of foreign occupation, him to rigidify his plans in the cases domain of the vernacular architecture. Egyptian society was going through a of New Bariz and Dar al-Islam, thus In the case of the Dar al-Islam deep cultural identity crisis. The affir- becoming more estranged from his Foundation in New Mexico, the mation of the superiority of Western initial vernacular ideas. The architect commission consisted of the estab- cultural and democratic principles failed in finding the right balance for lishment of a Muslim community in provoked the liquidation of a unique the planning of his villages. the United States. The project was heritage. The people of the Middle East Comparisons between the com- on a smaller scale but was similar to were trying unconsciously to eradicate munities in New Gourna, New Bariz, New Bariz in its strict geometrical and deny their very own traditions. and Dar al-Islam show evolutions in plan, its use of technical elements, Egyptians wanted to become part of the use of massing and architectural and the location of its public institu- Europe, and so the country’s elite elements as well as in technical pro- tions, which consisted once again embraced Western customs and educa- cedures and social processes. After of a mosque, a school, dormitories, tion. Fathy’s architecture was meant his return from Greece in 1957, Fathy housing, a women’s center, a public to be a nationalistic response to the planned New Bariz in the context of bath, a hotel, and a center for Islamic climatically and culturally inappropriate the new agricultural plan in the mid- crafts. Extensive high-tech modifica- “imports” of the West. He was calling 1960s. The village was to accommodate tions were made because of higher for the value of traditional integrity and 250 families and was to be the last link moisture levels and the difference cultural heritage, and his investigations in a series of new villages. Fathy was to in the heat tolerance of the clients. were attempts at reawakening Arabism design the central village, which would Another main difference was that the in art and architecture. also serve as the administrative and 150 families had no tribal affiliation Fathy presented a dual commercial center (Figure 11). whatsoever. The American com- personality. On the one hand, the The inhabitants of New Bariz, munity was well educated and in this architect was proud of his Arab unlike those in New Gourna, came sense had more in common with heritage, but on the other hand, he from different regions. The plan of Fathy’s private clients than with his was conscious of the limitations the new town represented two dis- public user groups in Egypt. and contradictions of that same tinct nuclei connected through public The three projects demonstrated culture he defended. He belonged buildings. It had a robust geometrical contextual and social differences, but to the ruling elite of Egypt. This shape that was only altered at some they were strongly connected through social stratum had always been peripheral areas by the topography. their powerful affirmation of Arab and different ethnically, linguistically, Fathy kept the winding streets and Islamic identity. The architect’s con- culturally, and racially from those combined them with the principle of scious concerns for authenticity and of the peasants and villagers. He the cul-de-sac. The housing forms identity opposed the idea of climatic wanted to adopt the role of the pariah were also introverted but grouped adequacy inherent in the concept of struggling for the poor against a in tighter clusters that created more regionalism. He deliberately discarded lethargic administration, “a socially intimate and narrower courtyards. the durability of a material in differ- responsible anti-hero battling a James Steele described the town as ent contexts. For instance, as shown growing governmental bureaucracy.”19 “no vast open squares baking in the previously in New Mexico, technical He also presented the struggle sun”18 in comparison to New Gourna, changes had to be made to allow the for New Gourna as a story of prog- where the weather was milder. In New application of mud brick (Figure 12). ress, culture, and intelligence, as an Bariz, institutions were more relevant This twofold approach to archi- architecture for the poor, impeded to the needs of the inhabitants. They tecture was directly related to his by the ignorance and lawlessness of consisted of a mosque, a hospital, educational background, an impor- the natives. In his description of New administrative offices, a souk, and a tant factor in the failure of New Gourna’s events, Fathy consciously Moorish café. New Bariz’s major char- Gourna. Effectively, two questions concealed mentioning important facts acteristic and contribution resided are to be raised in the context of a related to the Gournis’ attitude during in its market’s wind catchers; they single-author planning project. (1) the three years of construction: the combined a scientific principle with The question of identity: can a man malaria and cholera epidemics were the prevailing natural winds and thus define the needs of a community also the chance for him to realize his reduced temperature on the ground objectively without imposing his own architectural vision. Reasons for the level. The construction had started views and interests, even through spread of those diseases were poverty in 1966. But in 1967 the Arab-Israeli ekistical principles? (2) The ques- and inequality, but the government war broke out and the agricultural tion of democracy: to what extent mentioned the unsanitary conditions plan was altered and construction was the planning process democratic (and again the “ignorant peasant” is never resumed. New Bariz, like New even though participatory principles brought up) in which the peasants

Guitart JAE 68: 2 175 were living, and this was due to the agricultural land would have been far people learn to forget certain aspects impetus for the relocation and the more helpful to ameliorate Gourniis’ of their past to gain a common pres- uprooting of the community. Amidst standards of living. Indeed, for a com- ent. Many people also had to learn this suffering (Gourna had already lost munity that lived below the poverty to forget or reconsider their sense of one-third of its population),20 Fathy, line,21 the availability of natural alimen- place: “They were supposed to reduce strangely enough, still questioned the tary resources was far more relevant the significance of those connections, strong rural opposition encountered. than the aesthetics of mud brick or the genealogies, hegemonies, moral sys- Fathy’s attitude denoted an construction of a theater. Government tems, and migrations that had defined alienation from the rural context and officials were also not ready for his a social landscape whose horizons a misunderstanding of the villagers’ approach. The administration opposed reached beyond what became the new considerations. His attitude was prob- Fathy’s project, not only for ideological boundaries of the nation—or even to ably closer to that of Western planning reasons but also for economic justifica- forget their existence altogether.”26 agencies that made decisions about tions that were estimated necessary Yet constructing the past developing countries on the basis of for the country’s growth: “contracts is never a straightforward issue. abstract sociological concepts rather with cement, concrete, and steel com- Ancient architecture does not nec- than an awareness of the concerns of panies made bigger dollars than mud essarily belong to one’s own past. the villagers. Although he expected brick.”22 The administration underlined In order to belong to one’s history, social participation, he was finally com- a contradiction in Fathy’s discourse: architecture must connect with manding his planning decisions and one cannot enter industrial civilization some aspects of one’s social iden- dictating the villagers’ social behavior. and maintain a preindustrial technol- tity. Efforts had been made in Egypt He was imposing specific social spaces ogy. This reflected a general concern to present the Pharaonic past as a associated with definite activities, the about Egypt’s international image: “In source of the modern national iden- sharing of certain facilities, and above order to take part in modern civiliza- tity. However, continuous attempts all a basis for a new economy. The way tion,” Ricoeur argued, “it is necessary had been made by writers with origi- people interacted was being controlled, to take part in scientific, technical, and nal ties to Europe to show Egypt as a and this restriction was likely to be one political rationality, something which modern Western nation. Therefore, of the causes of the failure. For seem- very often requires the pure and simple the significance of the past for these ingly economic reasons, the planning abandon of a whole cultural past.”23 writers was not so much that it gave did not provide them with electricity Fathy, for identity ideologies, rejected the nation a distinct and authentic and running water, obviously a future this discourse. identity, but that it showed that the element in every home. Another aspect nation belonged to the much larger connected to his social background An Architectural Language: community of modern civilization. was his unawareness of the country’s The Identity of a Nation Fathy was aware of this lack of movement of population. To realize For a nation to prove it was modern, identity in Egypt. He believed he could his vision, Fathy should probably have it was necessary almost to prove it start a new language that combined dealt more intensely with a political was ancient, to prove there was a past a “progressive regionalism” with a and social framework that ended up of its own: “A nation that wanted to past that had been utilized by many contributing strongly to the collapse of show it was up-to-date and deserved a Western countries to reinforce a the project. place among the company of modern national identity. Through the language While Egypt underwent an impor- states needed, among other things, developed in New Gourna, Fathy tant migration out of the countryside, to produce a past.”24 Deciding on projected Egypt’s history into the past Fathy was planning the spatial organi- a common past was critical in the and organized that past as the life of zation of a rural community, keeping process of making a particular com- the nation. Fathy’s intention was to in mind a possible extension to other bination of people into a coherent develop an affordable and aesthetically localities. Because of economic moti- single nation. The community can pleasing popular architecture, a scheme vations as well as deteriorating living only understand its present by know- that could grow itself after its success conditions, villagers were escaping the ing its own past.25 Fathy opposed the was proved. The buildings of the village countryside and occupying informal attitude of the Modern Movement, marked the birth of a new vernacular settlements on the outskirts of Cairo. which posed the approach to the style, one that was to become Agricultural land had been transferred architectural discourse as a break with internationally famous for announcing from the hands of an occupying power the past. The idea of “continuum” the rejection of Western Modernism (the Ottoman Empire) to absentee that Fathy proposed was based upon and seeking to reappropriate the landlords unaware of the peasants’ the idea of linking the past with styles and materials of a local heritage. living situation. a present that needs a history to Fathy saw his village as a pilot project Institutional buildings were left become coherent for its people. launching a National Program for Rural unused and the revival of arts and Ernest Renan remarked that Reconstruction27 that would lead to the crafts failed; the supply of sufficient the idea of the nation required that “complete regeneration of the Egyptian

176 Hassan Fathy in New Gourna 4 “If you had seen some of the works of these countryside through rebuilding its Such restaging is not the subversive Nubians when they were building for themselves, 28 villages.” In this way, Fathy had hoped acts of outsiders, but the imaginative you could not have failed to appreciate at least that by promoting an architecture response of those in whose lives the some of the beauty of what they had made. ... similar to that of the most powerful nation is performed.” After all, it was Today everything is evaluated merely in terms of and rich people, the peasants and thanks to the violent history of the its material cost. There seems to be no place for art, no place for creativity.” See Hassan Fathy, poor people would try to mimic these irrigation schemes that the villagers Architecture for the Poor (Chicago: University of characteristics, resulting in a growing had the power to thwart Fathy’s plans: Chicago Press, 1973). typology that worked both as shelter for the village was protected by a dike 5 Mitchell, “Making the Nation” (note 2). the poor and as a national image. that could be opened. In more than 6 James Steele, Hassan Fathy (Hoboken, NJ: Academy Editions/St. Martin’s Press, 1988). The construction of New one way, the vision of preserving and 7 The author mentions the necessity of an ekistical Gourna also marked, as Kees van reviving a vernacular peasant culture approach: “Indeed, we should have subjected the der Spek has noted, “the moment was haunted by the violence that village to a thorough socio-ethnographic and eco- of this new vernacular’s ultimate made it possible. nomical investigation since we wished for reliable death.” Fathy expressed his disap- information on which to base our planning. The social ethnographer ... is an essential contributor.” pointment twenty years later at the Author Biography The book was written after the travel to Greece failure of this plan to “revive the Miguel Guitart is an architect, and work with Doxiadis. In Fathy, Architecture for peasants’ faith in their own culture,” designer and academic from Madrid. the Poor (note 4). and his bitterness toward the “sus- He obtained his PhD in in 2014 at 8 A situation that was already present in Old Gourna. 9 Indeed, the configuration of the Cairene palace picious and strict” inhabitants of the Escuela Técnica Superior de was played out on another scale. It also presented Gourna who had refused to cooper- Arquitectura de Madrid. He obtained different levels of intimacy. Its plan had an irregu- ate. It would be easy here to criticize his Master’s Degree at the Graduate lar shape. The entrance, consisting of a spatial Fathy’s arrogance or paternalism School of Design (GSD) at Harvard sequence, led to the formal courtyard, which had toward villagers who stood in the way University, graduating in 2003. He commonly generous rectangular proportions. It was also the only element on the ground floor of his architectural vision. But more is currently an Adjunct Assistant besides the household services and a formal interesting than this critique are Professor at the Department of reception area. Family life took place on the Timothy Mitchell’s comments, which Architecture at the University upper floors and integrated a number of smaller are far more relevant. In his article at Buffalo, SUNY. He has previ- courtyards and narrow chambers. 10 Steele, Hassan Fathy (note 6). “Making the Nation: The Politics of ously taught at EINA University 11 Mitchell, “Making the Nation” (note 2). Heritage in Egypt,” he found evi- of Zaragoza, UPSAM University, 12 Fathy, Architecture for the Poor (note 4). dence that the events that took place the Boston Architectural Center, 13 The Ka’a is a system constituted by the Dorqaa, in Gourna during the 1940s were an the Escuela Técnica Superior de which is a central formal courtyard area, and two “attempt to define and preserve a Arquitectura de Madrid, GSD, and low-roofed iwans covered by a tower. The Maqaad is the outdoor loggia on the first floor connected national heritage that was simultane- ESNE-UCJC, and has lectured at by a stair to the formal courtyard. ously born and destroyed.” the School of Architecture and 14 Fathy, Architecture for the Poor (note 4). Fathy desired to revive an indige- Planning at the State University 15 Ibid. nous culture as a means of developing of New York at Buffalo and at the 16 See Gulsum Baydar Nalbantoglu and Wong Chong Thai, Postcolonial Space(s) (New York: an Egyptian national heritage. To School of Design and Construction Princeton Architectural Press, 1997). perform this revival he needed the at Washington State University. 17 See Frampton, “Prospects for a Critical people of Gourna, yet he needed them His current research focuses on Regionalism” (note 1). as a community outside their nation, the relationships between anony- 18 Steele, Hassan Fathy (note 6). whose elimination would help bring mous vernacular and contemporary 19 Ibid. 20 Mitchell, “Making the Nation” (note 2). that nation and its past into being. architecture, and he is the main 21 Eleanor Curtis, “The Architect of Mud,” Thus, the people of Gourna could researcher of Vernacular Original Metropolis 20 n0. 1 (2000): 90–96. only enter into national politics by Strategies of the Contemporary in 22 Ibid. submitting to an act of violence. The Architecture. 23 Paul Ricoeur, “Universal Civilization and National Cultures,” in History and Truth, trans. C. preservation of the past required its A. Kelbley (Evanston, IL: Northwestern University actual destruction first so that the Notes Press, 1961), 276–277. past could be rebuilt: Old Gourna 1 Kenneth Frampton, “Prospects for a Critical 24 Mitchell, “Making the Nation” (note 2). was to be pulled down and rebuilt. Regionalism,” Perspecta 20 (1983): 147–162. 25 See Timothy Mitchell, “The Stage of Modernity,” 2 Timothy Mitchell, “Making the Nation: The Likewise, rebuilding the nation in Questions of Modernity (Minneapolis: University Politics of Heritage in Egypt,” in Consuming of Minnesota Press, 2000), 1. required that every one of its rural Tradition, Manufacturing Heritage, ed. Nezar Al 26 Ernest Renan, Qu’est-ce qu’une nation? What Is a nation? inhabitants be declared outside the Sayyad (Oxford: Routledge, 2001), 212–239. trans. W. R. Taylor (Toronto: Tapir Press, 1996). nation, so that in reinventing them 3 The term “catenary vault” comes from the Latin 27 Fathy, Architecture for the Poor (note 4). for linked chain, since the curve of such vaults 28 Ibid. the nation could be made. is the inverted form taken by a chain suspended As Fathy declared, “Nation- between two points. This form of roofing is used making is a performance that remains today in many parts of the Mediterranean, Africa, open to improvisation and restaging. and South America.

Guitart JAE 68: 2 177 Scholarship of Design Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 Published with license by Taylor & Francis © Stylianos Giamarelos. This is an Open Access article. Interdisciplinary Deflections Non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly Histories of the Scientific Revolution in attributed, cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way, is permitted. The moral rights of the Alberto Pérez-Gómez’s Architecture named author have been asserted. and the Crisis of Modern Science

Stylianos Giamarelos Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL

Alberto Pérez-Gómez’s 1983 Architecture and the instigated by the gradual rise of positivism, around the 1970s. At the moment Crisis of Modern Science is used here as a vehicle for when a new wave of positivism haunts exploring the behavior of disciplinary boundaries contemporary architectural theories of parametricism, while other manifesta- in the context of crisis both historically and tions of crisis loom large (from the theoretically. Responding to his contemporaneous ecological to the epistemological plane), the act of revisiting Alberto Pérez- architectural crisis of the 1970s instigated by the rise Gómez’s 1983 Architecture and the Crisis of positivism, Pérez-Gómez uses Alexandre Koyré’s of Modern Science as a historical case study is expected to lead to an essential history of the scientific revolution as a mirror to reopening of lines of interdisciplinary reflect the historical developments of architectural inquiry for the present condition.

theory upon it. Although effectively circumscribed, Architecture and the Crisis of his deliberate exposure to an interdisciplinary Modern Science in the Historical Context of the Architectural Crisis history nonetheless contributes to the opening up of the 1970s of a much richer constellation of perspectives that Architecture and the Crisis of Modern Science has certainly been a milestone illuminate the nature of the disciplinary crisis he in Pérez-Gómez’s academic career. was trying to negotiate. These in turn open up new For instance, it was largely thanks to its original publication in Spanish in lines of interdisciplinary inquiry for the present 1980, titled La genesis y superacion del condition and the new wave of positivism that funcionalismo en arquitectura (Genesis and overcoming of functionalism haunts contemporary theories of parametricism in a in architecture), that he became a novel moment of crisis. fellow of the Mexican Academy of Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 Architecture, an honor granted for While disciplinary accounts of crisis thus blur their vulnerable boundar- his “outstanding contributions in tend to portray it as a strictly “inter- ies, opening up alternative lines the field of architectural theory.” nal” affair in the history of modern of inquiry that in turn enrich our Shortly afterward, the Society of professions, in this article, I opt to vocational understandings. Often Architectural Historians character- treat moments of crisis precisely instigating both reflection and ized the 1983 publication of the book as occasions for vocational cracks inquiry, moments of crisis thus in English as “the most distinguished into interdisciplinarity. Unbound acquire both historical interest and work of scholarship in the history by artificially imposed disciplinary theoretical implications for the of architecture published in North boundaries, phenomena of crisis present. America between Nov. 1, 1981 to Oct. can therefore be understood in their Those broader questions relat- 31, 1983,” granting its author the increased complexity as varying ing to the behavior of disciplinary Alice Davies Hitchcock Book Award. manifestations of common historical boundaries in the context of crisis can The wider disciplinary recognition shifts. By exposing the only rela- be both historically and theoretically implicit in these institutional asser- tive autonomy of each disciplinary elucidated by revisiting one of the most tions may be better understood today field, these moments of uncertainty recent moments of disciplinary crisis, when the book is situated within the

JAE 69:1 17 of Mexico, 1971) to “The Meaning of other’s texts, serve here as a useful crys- Geometry in Late 18th Century French tallization of the debates of the period. Architecture” (MA thesis, University This is precisely the broader context of of Essex, 1975), and from there on to British architectural discourse in which “The Use of Geometry and Number in the University of Essex MA program is Architectural Theory: From Symbols historically situated. But while Jencks, of Reconciliation to Instruments of Baird, and Broadbent turned to lin- Technological Domination” (PhD dis- guistics and semiology in their attempt sertation, University of Essex, 1979). to reclaim the architectural qualities The prevailing concepts in all those that render a space “communicative,”2 alternative theses and book titles of a Rykwert and Vesely proposed a turn to scholarly interest, which is essentially history, phenomenology, and hermeneu- shaped and stabilized in the mid-1970s, tics instead (Figure 1). in turn summarize the understanding Thus, in a period when techno- of the contemporaneous disciplinary logical optimism and instrumental crisis offered by the University of Essex rationalism dominated the field, the MA program: functionalism represents a University of Essex MA program aimed crisis of meaning in architecture, whose to reinscribe architectural history and roots lie in the use of geometry and theory in the tradition of the humanities, number as instruments of technological and the debates around the multifarious Figure 1. Alberto Pérez-Gómez’s Architecture and domination. legacy of the Enlightenment—as well as the Crisis of Modern Science in the crossroads of When Rykwert and Vesely set up its discontents. Rykwert’s “Theoretical Dalibor Vesely’s phenomenological and Joseph the University of Essex MA program Literature of Architecture before Rykwert’s historically oriented teachings at the University of Essex MA Program, in the context of in 1968, they were in fact offering 1800” module proposed a close read- the wider 1970s debates for meaning and a self- their own perspective on an emerging ing of architectural theories “inevitably reflexive theory for architecture. debate instigated by a new generation centre[d] on the Italian treatises of the of British architectural theorists, crit- XVIth and the XVIIth centuries, and historical context of its production. ics, and historians. Irrespectively of their the French literature of the XVIIIth,” In the final instance, what came to subsequently divergent approaches, as it moved forward in time toward be globally known as Architecture and Charles Jencks, George Baird, Geoffrey the Enlightenment. It aimed to estab- the Crisis of Modern Science is a slightly Broadbent, Kenneth Frampton, Alan lish “a new relationship between the reworked version of Pérez-Gómez’s Colquhoun, and Nathan Silvers (to name Ancients and the Moderns ... that ques- 1979 PhD dissertation, supervised just a few) all shared a common ground tioned th[e] scientistic organization of by Joseph Rykwert (but also closely when they acknowledged a deep-seated knowledge.”3 Vesely’s “Phenomenology followed by Dalibor Vesely) at the crisis in the discipline around the 1970s. and Psychology of Perception; Their University of Essex. Not only did they acknowledge a crisis Implications for Methods of Design” Completed right after the of meaning in their contemporaneous module, on the other hand, explored University of Essex MA program architectural production (that could issues of perception—especially in closed its decade-long historical only be intensified by the accompanying relation to memory, orientation, cor- circle (1968–78), the dissertation is discussions of systems analysis, cyber- poreality, and culture. His proposed essentially the culmination of their netics, and an architecture of the great reading list was almost exclusively com-

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 long-standing academic relationship, number), but they were also at odds prised of fundamental philosophical which has clearly shaped Pérez-Gómez with the status quo of architectural his- treatises of phenomenology and herme- as a scholar in architectural history and tory and theory, especially as the latter neutics, ranging from Edmund Husserl’s theory. Originally trained as an archi- was by then taught in British schools Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental tect in Mexico (1971), Pérez-Gómez of architecture. Opposing an increas- Phenomenology and Martin Heidegger’s followed the MA program in the his- ingly positivist technical education, Being and Time to Hans-Georg Gadamer’s tory and theory of architecture at the an architectural theory that aspired to Truth and Method and Maurice Merleau- University of Essex just two years emulate the scientific method, and a Ponty’s Phenomenology of Perception.4 later (1973–74). A mere mention of the linear understanding of architectural Vesely’s module was complemented by titles of his theses and dissertations history as the progressive succession of “The Individual Building and the Total provides sufficient indication of the monolithic styles, they advocated a self- Environment” and “The Nature of Style subsequent focal shift in his interests: reflexive architectural theory instead. and Language in Architecture” semi- Pérez-Gómez moves from the broader The essays collected in the 1969 anthol- nars, initially taught by George Baird, “Concept of Space as an Essential ogy, Meaning in Architecture (edited by and later by Antoine Grumbach.5 In one Element in Architecture” (honors Jencks and Baird),1 discursively including of his later e-mail messages to Helen thesis, National Polytechnic Institute the comments of the authors on each Thomas (April 7, 2003), Vesely explained

18 Interdisciplinary Deflections that his seminars intended to explore trajectory followed by the young PhD retains Husserl’s phenomenological the “situatedness of consciousness”— student seems to have been far more diagnosis of crisis as its main interpre- especially in relation to “the role of the nuanced than this linear and harmoni- tative undercurrent. body, corporeal scheme and space (the ous story implied by Pérez-Gómez’s move from Husserl to Merleau Ponty), retrospective account. This is at Interdisciplinary Reflections: and eventually interest in Heidegger least attested by the difficulties he Alexandre Koyré’s History of and his notion of the structured world faced when submitting his disserta- the Scientific Revolution as a manifested in the most concrete form tion, a tension that was only resolved Blueprint for Pérez-Gómez’s (manner) as situation.”6 when Werner Oechslin was asked to Architectural Account Even such a brief account of intervene, and he did so to Pérez- It is significant to start this peculiar the seminars is enough to raise the Gómez’s benefit, indeed. The account retrieval of interdisciplinary history question of a common ground or of this trajectory suggests that his in Pérez-Gómez’s book by noting methodological consistency between 1979 dissertation actually resembles a that references to studies in the his- Rykwert’s primarily historical interest battleground, with the author anxiously tory of science represent only 0.01% in rereading European architectural struggling to find his own voice amidst in the total sum of the book’s 698 treatises and Vesely’s philosophically the clashing strong influences of both endnotes. With his 1983 English motivated endeavors. Thomas sug- his mentors. While Vesely’s hermeneu- title clearly alluding to Husserl’s gests that their meeting point was to be tic influence seems indisputable—with 1936 Crisis of European Science and found “in their intention to develop an Neil Leach even alluding to Plato’s rela- Transcendental Phenomenology, Pérez- understanding of architecture within a tion to Socrates when he asserts that Gómez obviously insists on both the deep cultural context that connected Pérez-Gómez’s book “eloquently artic- epistemological dimension and the the past to the present.”7 Was that ulates the central thesis behind Vesely’s phenomenological line of interpret- vaguely shared concern enough for outlook”10—Rykwert’s, or, more ing the theoretical developments their different approaches to cohere broadly, the historically informed con- that lie at the heart of his book. into, as it were, a distinctive ‘Essex tribution to Pérez-Gómez’s thesis, does Hence, his narrative is not merely School method’ of architectural history not yet seem sufficiently highlighted. dominated by the return of geometry and theory, though?8 The different, It is precisely in this context that at the forefront of human knowledge and mainly personal, answers to this I propose an alternative reading of about the world. Equally important is question can most effectively be pur- Architecture and the Crisis of Modern Science its gradual emptying from any sym- sued in the work of their numerous that attempts to retrieve the peculiar bolic or other metaphysical charge, disciples, from Robin Evans and David role of history within it. Motivated by as well as its concurrent conversion Leatherbarrow to Mohsen Mostafavi an interest in what this book, as a child into a formal system that may well be and Daniel Libeskind. For Pérez- of its own time, can possibly mean for internally consistent but is thence- Gómez, in particular, “their approach the present concerns of the profession, forth clearly distinct from the lived worked very well together. Joseph I read Pérez-Gómez’s work as that of a world of quotidian experience. More went ‘forward’ from Vitruvius to the scholar who attempts to work across a than anything else, it is precisely 18th century, Dalibor ‘backward’ from disciplinary border (from architecture this dimension in his work that both phenomenology to the 19th century to the history of science) precisely at documents his lessons from Vesely ending with Semper.”9 Following his the moment of a perceived disciplin- and reveals its methodological ori- lessons from Rykwert, Pérez-Gómez’s ary crisis. Attempting to associate gins in the philosophical tradition of book also goes forward from Claude the peculiar rise of functionalism in Edmund Husserl’s phenomenology

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 Perrault’s architectural treatises of the architectural theory with the epochal and Hans-Georg Gadamer’s herme- late seventeenth century to Gaspar changing worldview, initially trig- neutics.11 In this specific context, Monge’s late eighteenth-century gered by the seventeenth-century the fact that Pérez-Gómez selects functionalization of geometry and developments in science and natural Alexandre Koyré’s work as his major Jean-Nicolas Louis Durand’s early philosophy, Pérez-Gómez aspires to reference from the historiography nineteenth-century version of func- no less than a total redefinition of our of the scientific revolution is hardly tionalism in architecture; and, following historical awareness of architectural surprising.12 For his is not only his lessons from Vesely, his argument modernity—which could in turn imply an important work that shares an is hermeneutically informed by the an overcoming of functionalism and approach of the scientific revolution present, that is, his contemporaneous its late twentieth-century discontents. as an episode in the history of ideas, concerns regarding the functionalist My reading will focus on the way in but its author was also mentored by legacy of postwar modern architecture which his architectural account may Edmund Husserl. And while the cen- and the positivist reduction of archi- well reflect a broad historical map- tral figure for his study is probably tectural theory to a methodology of ping derived from the conclusions of Newton, Pérez-Gómez cannot stop scientific building. contemporaneous historians of the referring to the “Galilean revolution” However, the actual intellectual scientific revolution, but it effectively throughout his book—precisely

Giamarelos JAE 69:1 19 because therein lies the most sys- whose value remains unchallenged, and limits between ontologically different tematic origin of the geometrization the conversion of questions concern- areas (topoi) and their accompanying of nature; and this is precisely what ing value and meaning into parameters teleology. This infinite universe is only both Husserl (1936) and his disciple, that can functionally define form, are bound by the common laws of nature Koyré (1939), also do when they place the main features of Pérez-Gómez’s that inexorably govern all its elements Galileo at the turning point of their perceived crisis in architectural theory, via forces of attraction and repul- own approaches to the history of along the lines of Husserl’s diagnosis sion. “Geometrization of space,” on modern science.13 of the crisis of modern science. This is the other hand, stands for the crucial By effectively reflecting the precisely the point where the history of intellectual transition to an equally conclusions of Husserl and Koyré the scientific revolution enters his own homogeneous Euclidean space, in in the domain of architecture, the study, indeed: “modern architecture, which every position can be quanti- main thread of Pérez-Gómez’s own and the crisis it faces, has its roots in tatively defined. This comes in sharp hermeneutic historical narrative con- a historical process touched off by the contrast to the Aristotelian conception sists of the gradual rationalization or Galilean revolution.”15 This process of space (organized around the suc- “functionalization” of architectural involves the gradual foregrounding of cession of qualitatively differenttopoi ) theory. Already ascendant in the mid- number and geometry as fundamental that constituted the ancient world of seventeenth century, these tendencies factors in architectural theories of the quotidian experience. Hence, there is for a rationalized theory of architecture period. Pérez-Gómez argues that this a direct link between these two major culminate in the early nineteenth- is the case indeed, since these are both a priori changes, since the Euclidean century work of Jean-Nicolas-Louis factors that have been endowed with conception of space also implies the Durand. Separated from wider cos- value and meaning by Newton’s natural abolishment of a deeply established mological or philosophical systems, at philosophy, and its underlying Platonic hierarchical ontological (and, in the last this point in time, architectural theory cosmology that leads to a geometriza- instance, value-laden) distinction of the becomes a self-referential and inter- tion of nature16—as already argued by terrestrial from the celestial area. nally consistent system governed by Koyré. Pérez-Gómez repeatedly resorts the laws of mathematics that acquires According to Koyré, science is to a common general interpretative its meaning “internally” by this math- not a predominantly empirical process schema for many of the architectural ematical system itself. At the same relying upon the mere accumulation of theorists that parade throughout his time, this mathematical system lends observational data, and the subsequent study. In almost every case, he usually architectural theory its epistemological generalizations extrapolated from them foregrounds the internal tension devel- legitimation, since it proves success- through induction. Scientific novelty oping between their positivist tendency ful in addressing the modern demands arises instead from a priori changes in toward an absolute formalization of for a scientifically objective theory. In the scientific spirit, which primarily architectural theory, in the image of this epistemological context, any other take place in the field of metaphys- contemporaneous developments in external reference can only be consid- ics (or philosophy). In science, the a mathematics (and, especially, algebra ered inexorably subjective. Durand thus priori element precedes the empirical; and descriptive geometry), and their moves architecture away from art and the latter is actually constructed and need for retaining a residue of symbolic closer to science. Therein lies the gap experimentally tested in response to meaning through an ultimate reference between “the eternal and immutable the claims of a specific theory, and to an external element. This intellectual dimension of ideas [and] the finite in the terms of its language.17 These trajectory is in turn similar to the one and mutable dimension of everyday presupposed a priori changes, which followed by Koyré in his From the Closed Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 life.”14 It is the same gap that Alexandre also render the scientific revolution as World to the Infinite Universe (1957). There, Koyré’s mentor, Edmund Husserl, had a rupture from the scientific practices the transition to the idea of an infinite already highlighted as characteristic of of the ancient and the medieval world universe is realized through the gradual the crisis of modern science in 1936. before it, are “the destruction of the magnification and subsequent explo- By opposing the modern tendencies of Cosmos” and the “geometrization of sion of the bubble of the ancient world identifying theory with a mere meth- space.”18 “Destruction of the Cosmos” in the work of natural philosophers and odology for technical and constructive stands for the gradual replacement protoscientists of the period. efficiency, and a sum of general rules of the ancient Greek world picture Koyré’s work also allows Pérez- for any conceivable purpose (as with that of a modern universe. The Gómez to trace the crucial differences opposed to a specific and meaningful enclosed and hierarchically ordered in the architectural debates between teleology), Pérez-Gómez intends to whole of the ancient world, whose a mainly Newtonian Perrault and a foreground the significance of a histori- elements were driven to their natural mostly Galilean François Blondel.19 cal horizon of meaning for architecture. place in the inferior terrestrial or the According to Koyré, Newton’s pri- The functionalization of architecture, superior celestial sphere, is gradu- mary focus lies on the mathematical the reduction of almost every aspect ally replaced by a homogeneous open description of reality through a series of it to a formal system of relations, universe, in which there is no place for of experiments that will inductively

20 Interdisciplinary Deflections lead to the suggestion of a theory. geometry derives from mechanics; scientific revolution exerts its influ- While such a theory cannot avoid on the other hand, the geometrical ence on architectural theorists of the including hypotheses as fundamen- order of his Platonic cosmology was late seventeenth and early eighteenth tal axioms (concerning the particle a primordial symbol of God’s par- centuries. nature of light, for instance), these ticipation in Being, confirming the (a) Macroscopic epistemological are legitimate and acceptable as long significance of human action in an influence: after the scientific as they result or derive from the spe- infinite universe.”21 In other words, revolution, architectural cific quantitative experimental data. Newton’s work, with its strong a priori theories are developed Perrault’s intention to separate the assumptions, can still guarantee the within a totally different conceptual dimension of number and ties that bind the world of science, epistemological model that architectural proportion on a level which describes the reality of absolute opposes traditional theo- that is different from, and simultane- movement in the language of math- ries. Architectural theorists ously underlies, our common everyday ematics, with the world of everyday adopt the main thesis of experience of buildings casts him as experience and relative movements.22 Newton’s natural philoso- a Newtonian figure. Pérez-Gómez According to Pérez-Gómez, it is phy as a strong conviction argues that the core of the Blondel- precisely these “external” metaphysi- of their own. Assuming the Perrault debate lies in the possibility cal commitments of the Newtonian definite existence of a math- of relativizing the very values that worldview that provide the ultimate ematical law that correlates used to bestow any architectural horizon of meaning to Newton’s quantifiable (geometric) creation with meaning and aesthetic scientific practice. Hence, his math- sums, their scientific task value. Inasmuch as he moves closer to ematics of absolute space and time lies in discovering it through the Platonic tradition of mathemat- is not strictly formal in the positivist empirical research. In a ics, Blondel is also closer to a Galilean sense, since its legitimation derives similar fashion, they attempt figure: “Relying on the traditional from the absolute reality of a world to found the objectivity of belief that our perceptional world where God is still present as the final architectural theory upon an is a projection of the human body, guarantor of the validity, normality, invariable constant underly- Blondel maintained that geometry and harmony of the natural laws.23 ing the superficial succession and proportion, being transcenden- Newton’s subtle metaphysical of historical styles and tal entities, guaranteed the highest assumptions in turn exert an influ- orders. architectural meaning, apart from ence of their own in architectural (b) Microscopic epistemological the specificity of ornament or style.”20 theories of the period. As long as influence: in this case, archi- This is Blondel’s only way out of the the Newtonian model prevails, the tectural theory production relativization of architectural meaning technical can coexist with the aes- is understood as part of the that was incipient in Perrault’s work thetic dimension of architecture in wider cultural fermentations that came before him. In his work the context of a whole that is not of the period. It is the spe- there is no space for a distinction utterly self-referential.24 Pérez-Gómez cific work of distinct figures between mere technical efficiency and contends that this is precisely the from the history of the sci- empirical sufficiency from the abso- accomplishment of neoclassical entific revolution that exerts lutely invariable cause and purpose architecture, which should not be its influence upon architec- of architecture. Hence, not only the conflated with a spirit of eclecticism tural theorists, thus leading book of nature but also the book of between alternating formal styles them to different approaches

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 building is written in the language of and systems. And from that partial and critical debates. The geometry. reinterpretation of a specific archi- aforementioned example of Examples like these constantly tectural style, he concludes with a the Perrault-Blondel as anal- recur in Pérez-Gómez’s account. broader redefinition of architectural ogous to the Newton-Galileo His overview of the developments modernity, claiming that “modern debate is a characteristic in architectural theory of the period architecture did not appear around case in point. consistently highlight a prevailing 1750 and that it was not simply gener- (c) Superfluous influence: in ambivalence regarding the status and ated by the Industrial Revolution. The this case, the mere men- nature of geometry and number, as process of transformation of theory tion of Newton’s name as well as their special contribution in into an instrument of technological an indubitable authority establishing a desirable (e.g., cosmic) domination started with modern sci- lends its gravitas to various harmony. Obviously following Koyré’s ence itself.”25 assumptions of architectural interpretation again, he traces this To sum up Pérez-Gómez’s theorists. See, for instance, ambivalence within Newton him- interdisciplinary foray into Koyré’s Charles-Etienne Briseux, self: “On the one hand, and on a history of science, there are prob- who used Newton’s name as practical level, Newton attested that ably four main ways in which the a means of legitimizing his

Giamarelos JAE 69:1 21 Figure 2. The illustrations of Georgius Agricola’s 1556 treatise on metallurgy, De re metallica (from left to right, 391, 72, and 181) are indicative of the impressive technical achievements of the practitioners of the period. According to Zilsel, key figures of the scientific revolution, like William Gilbert and Galileo Galilei, benefited greatly from their contact with this previously disregarded world of master craftsmen and artisans.

own “insights” concerning from the human project. However, that prevails in Pérez-Gómez’s study, nature, harmony, and the their conviction that the artistic and setting the phenomenological-herme- arts.26 scientific dimensions of architecture neutical tone of interpretation of his (d) Methodological influ- are still reconcilable can only be fully historical material. In Husserl’s light, ence: in this case, it is accomplished in the perfect sphere Pérez-Gómez’s study appears as a the experiment as a main of architectural drawing—and not natural development of this particular feature of the modern sci- through their imperfect realization phenomenological line of thought, entific practice that drives in building.29 Thus, they unwit- through its reflective extension from the appearance of proto- tingly contribute to a widening gap the domain of science to that of archi- experimental methods in between theory and practice, which tectural theory. architectural theory—mani- in turn is a rather unexpected con- However, this process of reflection fest in an increased emphasis sequence of Koyré’s “destruction of works as a double-edged sword. On on collecting empirical data. the Cosmos.” the one hand, it provides Pérez-Gómez Marc-Antoine Laugier, who Yet while Pérez-Gómez’s conclu- with strong conceptual and meth- documented the existence of sions certainly retain their validity for odological tools (from interpretative inherent and essential aes- the field of architecture, they appear categories to a sense of orientation for thetic qualities in architecture rather circumscribed when viewed his historical narrative) that allow him through a peculiar “experi- from the perspective of histories of to understand the work of established mental” confirmation of his science. By constantly returning to figures in the field of architectural thesis (i.e., an empirical study the same concepts and interpreta- theory in the context of a broader of the impressions caused to tions derived mainly from Husserl, cultural shift signaled by the scientific himself and others by specific and often indirectly through Koyré, revolution.30 On the other, the a priori buildings) is a characteristic Pérez-Gómez circumscribes what ini- reflection of a ready-made interpreta- example here.27 Same goes for tially seems like an opportunity for a tive framework hinders other possible

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 Nicola Carletti, who regarded variegated opening to interdisciplinary interdisciplinary deflections, as it were, architecture as a science that histories. Often acting as an intermedi- that remain latent in the multifarious could use Newton’s analytical ate, Koyré’s history of science can only historical accounts of the same period. methods.28 serve as an alibi for an interdisciplin- Readily available to the author at the ary history of architecture, when in time of writing, and already widely Meanwhile, the pure geometrical the final instance it practically echoes debated during the late 1960s, those volumes of the Platonic solids and and reinforces Husserl’s dominant alternative perspectives on the histo- the empty homogeneous spaces in line of interpretation. That is to say, riography of the scientific revolution the architecture of Étienne-Louis as an interdisciplinary history, Pérez- can serve as a useful launchpad for Boullée and Claude-Nicolas Ledoux Gómez’s account is in the final instance further exploration of those possible attempt to render the absolute overtheorized, hence circumscribed. interdisciplinary deflections. The added space and time of Newtonian natu- In other words, while Architecture and challenge to current understandings ral philosophy a tangible everyday the Crisis of Modern Science revisits many and the disciplinary boundaries they reality—reconciling human ends of the architectural treatises discussed entail—alongside Pérez-Gómez’s with an “external” Nature that is in the context of Rykwert’s seminar, significant, albeit predominantly philo- thenceforth regarded as independent it is indubitably Vesely’s teaching sophical, opening to interdisciplinary

22 Interdisciplinary Deflections Figure 3. Subsequent depictions of the figure of the architect gradually leaving behind the tools of manual labor and excelling in the theoretical knowledge of the orders and the proportions of harmony. The illustrations are in line with the agenda of the Parisian Academie d’Architecture (1671– 1717) that intended to move the architect away from the mess of the construction site.

histories of the scientific revolution in understanding of the scientific rational evaluation of the available argu- architecture—opens up a constellation revolution.33 What are the possible ments for and against opposing views. of possible historiographical perspec- implications of all this for novel archi- Nonetheless, Barnes agrees that the tives, which may also allow us to follow tectural histories and theories of the scientific revolution can still be legiti- these threads of an epistemological period, though? mately approached as an episode in the crisis that still runs unbound up to the In response to all of the above, history of ideas, precisely because this present moment. Pérez-Gómez could of course follow is still a period when the boundaries Koyré in arguing that social forces between philosophy and science have Interdisciplinary Deflections: cannot adequately explain exceptional not been institutionalized, nor can they Toward Other Histories of Science figures like Newton. Even if one be retrospectively defined.35 and Architecture accepts this as a valid point, though, In that sense, Pérez-Gómez’s Effectively limited to the realm of without contesting the very concept study retains its indubitable signifi- a history of ideas, Pérez-Gómez’s of the individual genius, it seems that cance as well. However, if one follows study does not discuss the signifi- it is precisely these social forces—and Barnes’s argument further into the cance of “external”/wider social and their complex interactions through field of architectural theory, then an political developments in relation to politics—that explain both the deci- intellectual history of architectural the “internal”/intellectual develop- sive acceptance of Newton’s work as a developments during the scientific ments during the long period of the culturally dominant factor of modern revolution can only be a necessary first scientific revolution. However, dif- life and the wider dissemination and step toward a more comprehensive ferent social groups and their shifting social legitimation it enjoyed afterward. understanding. If the developments relations, as well as those between Or, in the words of Barry Barnes, and in the history of science since 1930 are wider political formations and insti- in a supposed absence of a sociological anything to go by, indeed, then the tutions, inexorably play a crucial role account of the history of science, the latent potential of such architectural in the propagation of the scientific history of ideas alone cannot adequately studies seems enormous. Pérez-

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 revolution as a historical process.31 explain itself.34 That is to say, it cannot Gómez’s study might then anticipate its This “external” history of science explain the way in which those specific successors inasmuch as the fundamen- involves both the tensions associ- changes in the metaphysical assump- tal transition from the “more-or-less” ated with the reconciliation of the tions of each period, which are indeed world of craftsmen to the quantifiable scientific with the religious world- tirelessly diagnosed and mapped by his- precision of the world of academics, image and the specific attitudes torians of ideas like Koyré, actually take retraced by Koyré, could only be read encouraged by the prevailing spirits place. If one would additionally con- alongside a complementary sociological of Protestantism and Catholicism,32 sider the fact that hardly ever are there approach of the same phenomenon, as well as the interactions between conclusive arguments for or against any like the one carried out by Edgar Zilsel, specific social groups that gradually metaphysical thesis, it is rather obvi- for instance.36 shape scientific communities and ous that the question concerning the In his equally influential historical their practices. The social dynamic dominance of certain assumptions on studies, Zilsel intended to highlight that both supports and legitimates the scale of a whole epoch refers to a characteristic social structures that science as a novel mode of knowl- very complex phenomenon. It is clearly could be associated with certain sys- edge production is therefore an impossible to exhaust the latter in a tems of knowledge and their modes equally significant part of a historical process of completely disinterested and of production. According to Zilsel,

Giamarelos JAE 69:1 23 the main features that needed to be allows the academic literati to adopt from the end of the Middle Ages to the combined in order to produce the the artisans’ experimental methods and late sixteenth century. scientific method pertained to dif- recuperate them within their rational- But Zilsel’s crucial historio- ferent social classes, whose special ist ways of thinking. In their hands, graphical challenge is not limited to a education enabled them to develop the practical rules of the artisans can question of an alternative periodiza- only a specific set of those skills. In now be reformulated as laws of nature. tion that would shift the architectural other words, the boundaries that had According to Zilsel, this successful historians’ attention to what has already to be overcome were not only intel- recuperation is characteristically exem- been touted as the “first scientific revo- lectual but also social. The scientific plified in the cases of Galileo Galilei, lution” of the fourteenth-century late revolution was therefore possible only Francis Bacon, and William Gilbert. In medieval world.38 Discussions about when the restructuring of social rela- their major treatises, all three of them an alternative periodization could tions, due to the gradual shift from express their deep appreciation for, have already been instigated without a feudal to a capitalist economy, led and refer extensively to, the remarkable veering off the realm of intellectual to a redefinition of previous class empirical technological feats of their histories of science, indeed. In treat- boundaries. It was this ongoing social contemporaneous naval, metal, and ing the scientific revolution in terms of process that initially created meet- military artisans and engineers (Figure continuity—instead of rupture—with ing points and gradually facilitated 2). Thus, these major figures in the the past advances of science, Pierre the interaction between university history of science practically embody Duhem’s 1908 history of science had scholars and humanistic literati (who the bridging of a social gap, as in the already inscribed the scientific prac- were trained to methodically develop case of Galileo and his lessons from the tices of Galileo and Copernicus into a their abstract thinking, cultivating the Venetian arsenali.37 longer line of tradition that went back intellectual skills necessary for ratio- This social process is embedded to the late Middle Ages.39 By studying nal argumentation), on the one hand, within the progressive development the work of natural philosophers like and artisans (who excelled in empiri- of an early capitalist economy that Jean Buridan and Nicole Oresme at the cal observations and devised original weakens collective mentalities and University of Paris, Duhem highlighted proto-experimental techniques, along discourages prejudice, while reinforc- the reappearance and retainment of with the instruments those required, ing the secular, rational-causal way of fourteenth-century concepts in seven- but lacked a corresponding train- thinking, along with a spirit of individu- teenth-century science, arguing for the ing in rationalist methodologies), on alism. According to Zilsel, the critical medieval practitioners’ contribution the other. There was a social barrier scientific spirit is directly associated to an understanding of fundamental between the artisans, whose manual/ with economic competition; that is concepts that still underlay the sub- material contact with the world enabled precisely why it has never appeared sequent mechanics later elaborated them to empirically deduce rules of within social formations that are not and further developed by the likes of thumb for their practice, and the lite- structured around it, that is, outside Galileo, Descartes, and Newton. A rati who could easily use those rules as the Western European sphere of influ- turn to Duhem’s alternative timeline initial steps for proceeding to abstract ence of the seventeenth century. The of developments is also corroborated generalizations and inductions in the rise of quantification is also difficult in the case of architecture by the short language of mathematics. However, this to be disassociated from the rational time lapse between the constitution was not merely a matter of training but calculus required by the members of and identification of the community of a matter of specific mental habits and capitalist economies. Even the revival architects before that of the scientists. attitudes as well. University scholars of Greek mathematics was made pos- Such an approach would then help the

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 and humanistic literati held manual sible by the increased needs of the new scholar in architectural history associate labor in such a low esteem that they social organization for calculus and the developments in an early architec- could have never developed anything measurement. What gradually came to tural and an early scientific community, remotely like the experimental meth- be known as the “Zilsel thesis” has even putting the architectural repercus- ods cultivated by the artisans. Thus, the further historiographical implications, sions of the scientific revolution into a social and intellectual osmosis that lies though. If the development of modern long-term perspective.40 Last but not at the origins of the modern scientific science coincides with the transition least, and inasmuch as Pérez-Gómez’s method was indeed accompanied, and from feudalism to capitalism, indeed, main concern still revolves around further facilitated, by an unprecedented then historical research needs to move the dissemination of epistemological cultural shift toward a reappreciation away from Koyré’s conventional peri- developments in natural science in of the significant value of manual work. odization of the scientific revolution other disciplines, his study could have Thus, modern science is born precisely (from the publication of Copernicus’s also benefited from the later works of at the moment when a certain level De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium in Eduard Jan Dijksterhuis (1950). Largely of technological progress, combined 1543 to Newton’s Philosophiae Naturalis sharing Koyré’s view that the crucial with an overcoming of derogatory Principia Mathematica in 1687) to an shift during the scientific revolution lies prejudices regarding manual work, altogether different time span, ranging in the processes of mathematization

24 Interdisciplinary Deflections of the world picture, Dijksterhuis have already developed practical solu- interdisciplinarity allegedly prevails in attempted to extend his research from tions to difficult problems following many registers at the present moment, physics in other domains, like chem- their hands-on method of empirical very often induced precisely by diagno- istry and the life sciences.41 However, experimentation, then the image of ses of crisis, the sometimes cryptic and this was also the point where the the intellectual historians of science is only nominal forms of interdisciplin- limits of this interpretative schema reversed: the architects and engineers arity upon which these diagnoses are appeared very clearly. Mathematics of the period become the central focus built need to be as closely scrutinized were not as important in the develop- of attention, with the scientific com- and identified. At the moment when ment of other sciences, where Koyré’s munity following and learning from another dominant form of modern- and Dijksterhuis’s main thesis started their achievements. Who are all those ist discourse, like parametricism, to feel more like a straitjacket than a relatively anonymous figures of artisans presents itself as the autonomous all- historically informed account. Could and master craftsmen, and what are the inclusive universal metalanguage for the this also be the case for architectural crucial microhistorical shifts of their architecture of the future, the interdis- developments of the period? Pérez- rising social status, as they gradually ciplinary legacy of the “Essex School” Gómez’s strongly theorized historical become autonomous professionals? It of architectural history and theory account definitely didn’t leave room for is the task of architectural historians needs to come out of its “historical exploring similar questions. Reflecting to retrace these stories, and in doing cocoon” through a radical deflection.45 rather than deflecting Koyré’s account, so, they can inform our understanding If Patrik Schumacher’s “autopoietic” Pérez-Gómez practically leaves it of the scientific revolution, this time parametricism is only the most recent unchallenged, precisely at the moment from the side of an active disciplinary neopositivist child of the postmodern when architecture could start acquiring contribution to it. In other words, and condition,46 then a novel breed of self- its own peculiar sort of agency through rather paradoxically so, the most useful reflexive architectural theory for the an active contribution to (instead of interdisciplinary study for explor- 2010s needs to reopen such lines of a rather passive reflection of) the sci- ing the historical relations between interdisciplinary inquiry (Figure 4). entific developments of the period. architecture and the natural sciences Such an approach can considerably Offering a radical deflection, Zilsel’s is the one that focuses on the specific help both qualify the epistemological crucial challenge pushes further in this achievements of the discipline itself as claims of parametricism and reveal direction. it is gradually shaped during the same the complex power issues, alongside Inasmuch as architectural his- period. Zilsel’s potential deflection the economic, political, social, and torians are fascinated by intellectual in the historiography of architecture pedagogical agendas behind it. Since histories of science, they tend to would allow historians of science to contemporary scholars have already perceive the historical developments rethink the scientific revolution in started revisiting the work of early in the scientific domain as blueprints a slightly different way, much closer modern philosophers as a reply to the for the subsequent architectural ones. to the logic of “the architecture of architectural challenges left unad- However, the gradual autonomy gained science.”42 What is gradually being dressed by parametricism,47 the need by a community of master craftsmen sketched here is an approach where for a proliferation of such interdisci- who start practicing architecture as a Pérez-Gómez’s study would unexpect- plinary deflections seems ever more liberal art, and their contemporane- edly end up meeting historiographical relevant for the present moment, when ous distinct depictions as figures who approaches of architecture like the similar examples of crisis unbound thenceforth hold only a drawing, a ones propagated by Spiro Kostof, certainly abound. IT and its role in the ruler, and a compass, do indeed predate Mary Hollingsworth, and Elizabeth production of knowledge was already

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 the constitution of the first scientific Mays Merrill on the microscale, and there right from the start in 1979 in communities (Figure 3). If those his- even by Manfredo Tafuri (1992) on the Jean-François Lyotard’s account of torical signs are anything to go by, then macroscale.43 It would also herald the the postmodern condition, anyway. “external” social and political factors moment when histories of science and In other words, the most recent crisis may well play an even more significant architecture both need to open up to of the modern world, the crisis from role in the developments in architec- histories of technology of the same which Pérez-Gómez himself starts tural theory of the period—although period,44 widening the interdisciplinary writing, is diagnosed to pertain once the point in time when natural science potential for further historiographical again to the epistemological plane of adopts the cultural role of serving as reflections and deflections of crisis. knowledge production, this time insti- a model for organizing and produc- Novel interdisciplinary interpreta- gated by the advent of IT.48 However, ing human knowledge still retains its tions of architectural developments in a recent debates about the contribution indubitable significance. Yet, if Zilsel period that still needs to be historicized of big data in contemporary knowl- is right to assume that figures like can only raise contemporary architects’ edge production hark back not only to Galileo and Gilbert benefit from their awareness of an epistemological crisis Lyotard’s 1979 discussion but also much direct social contact with the classes of whose diverse repercussions still rock further back to Francis Bacon’s 1627 the craftsmen and the engineers who the cradle of our modern world. While New Atlantis and the constantly renewed

Giamarelos JAE 69:1 25 Kapodistrian University of Athens 2012 and 2013). He is currently enrolled as a year 3 PhD student in architectural history and theory at the Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL). He is a Teaching Fellow in Architectural History and Theory at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, and the University of East London.

Notes 1 See Charles Jencks and George Baird, eds., Meaning in Architecture (London: Barrie & Jenkins, 1969). Alan Colquhoun’s variant of a self-reflexive architectural theory is further explicated in his Essays in Architectural Criticism: Modern Architecture and Historical Change (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1981). 2 For a comprehensive discussion of this sort of linguistic turn in architectural theory and criticism of the period, see Andreas Kourkoulas, Figure 4. Greg Lynn, Patrik Schumacher, and a new parochialism, interdisciplinary histori- “Linguistics in Architectural Theory and rise of positivism in contemporary architectural ographies can certainly offer thoroughly Criticism after Modernism” (PhD diss., Bartlett theory, whose epistemological assumptions need incisive and insightful diagnoses of our School of Architecture UCL, 1986). to be traced back, qualified, and contextualized in 3 Helen Thomas, “Invention in the Shadow of their long historical trajectory. contemporary manifestations of crisis. History: Joseph Rykwert at the University of While it remains to be seen whether Essex,” Journal of Architectural Education 58, no. 2 legacy of his thoroughly empiricist they can also inspire rigorous ways out (2004): 39–45, 40. methodology of intensive data col- of it, the latent potential for their 4 Although Graham Livesey is right to note the “greater availability of phenomenological writings lection. And if one follows a different development definitely remains the translated into English” in the 1980s and early thread from Bacon’s New Atlantis (1627) most significant legacy of Pérez- 1990s—see his “Changing Histories and Theories and the accompanying vision of man’s Gómez’s and the Essex School of Postmodern Architecture,” Building Research domination of the natural world to method of architectural history and and Information 39, no. 1 (2011): 93–96, 95—some the present, then the current ecologi- theory from the 1970s to the present, of the most important texts of this philosophical tradition were readily available in English in cal crisis could also be illuminated in and from one instance of crisis to the 1970s, including Edmund Husserl’s Crisis of its historical and cultural depth—but another. European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology, also in its more recent social, political, trans. D. Carr (Evanston, IL: Northwestern and architectural dimensions, as they Acknowledgments University Press 1970), Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Perception, trans. C. Smith were developed by activists and artists This article initially came to life as (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1962), Martin of the 1960s and the 1970s, like Rachel a final paper for Kostas Gavroglu’s Heidegger’s Being and Time, trans. J. Macquarrie Carlson and Agnes Denes.49 The list of 2011–12 “History of Science II: and E. Robinson (Oxford: Blackwell 1962), as well similar examples could certainly go on Scientific Revolution” master’s semi- as his “Building, Dwelling, Thinking,” trans. A. and on, by first and foremost including nar at the National and Kapodistrian Hofstadter, in Poetry, Language, Thought (New York: Harper & Row, 1971), 143–161; and Hans-Georg Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 the technocratically narrow concept of University of Athens. I would like Gadamer’s Truth and Method, trans. and ed. G. sustainability through reduced carbon to thank the editors, Timothy Hyde Barden and J. Cummin (New York: Seabury, 1975). emissions usually offered as a reply to a and Marc J. Neveu, as well as the two 5 For a more detailed account of Rykwert’s and larger social, economic, and political set anonymous reviewers of the journal, Vesely’s University of Essex MA program (1968– 78), see Thomas, “Invention” (note 3). Joseph of questions regarding the ecological for their thoroughly constructive Bedford is currently focusing his in-progress PhD crisis. Biomimicry and other recently comments that have consider- dissertation at Princeton University on the same fashionable trends of computer-aided ably reinforced this article’s main MA program. architectural design (that often refer argument. 6 Ibid., 45, note 21. exclusively to similar sources with 7 Ibid., 41. 8 While Thomas is right to highlight both the much different “anti-Cartesian” Author Biography “deliberate intention toward practical applica- 50 conclusions) can also be similarly Stylianos Giamarelos holds a diploma tion” (ibid.) behind Vesely’s seminar and the contextualized and reinterpreted in in architecture and a master’s in “understanding of the design process” that was terms of their much longer cultural architectural theory (NTU Athens considered “integral to the approach to the academic material of the course” by Rykwert (ibid., histories. However, the main point 2007 and 2009), as well as a BA and 42), she is also quick to subsequently ponder should be clear by now. By challenging an MA in philosophy and history of “whether the Essex master’s course unwittingly both our temporal and our disciplinary science and technology (National and enabled the release of architectural theory from

26 Interdisciplinary Deflections the practice of architecture at the moment of its 19 Ibid., 39–40. Architecture in the Age of Divided Representation: The tenuous integration with it,” based on Porter’s 20 Ibid., 45. Question of Creativity in the Shadow of Production 2001 account (ibid., 43). See David Porter, “Letter 21 Ibid., 121. (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2004). to the Editor: Lost in the Backlash,” Architectural 22 Ibid., 77. 41 See Dijksterhuis, Mechanization of World Picture Research Quarterly 5, no. 1 (2001): 5. If that is indeed 23 Ibid., 78–81. However, see also Rykwert’s own (note 12). the case, then it is definitely possible to wonder take on Newton in The First Moderns (note 8). 42 See Margaret J. Osler, ed., Rethinking the Scientific about the specific characteristics of a distinctive 24 Koyré, Metaphysics (note 17), 83. Revolution (New York: Cambridge University Press, “Essex School” method of architectural his- 25 Pérez-Gómez, Architecture and the Crisis of Modern 2000); Antoine Picon and Alessandra Ponte, eds., tory and theory, as I do here, irrespectively of Science (note 11), 83. Architecture and the Sciences: Exchanging Metaphors the originally intended practical orientations of 26 Ibid., 59. (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2003); both Rykwert and Vesely. The main intentions 27 Ibid., 62. and Peter Galison and Emily Thompson, eds., The and concepts behind the design studio offered 28 Ibid., 112–16. Architecture of Science (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, by Vesely at the Architectural Association in the 29 Ibid., 160–61. 1999). same period are further explained in Dalibor 30 It is precisely the wider framework of Pérez- 43 See Spiro Kostof, ed., The Architect: Chapters in Vesely and Mohsen Mostafavi, Architecture and Gómez’s study that allows him to interpret the History of the Profession (New York: Oxford Continuity (London: Architectural Association not only the role of architects, like Boullée και University Press, 1977); Mary Hollingsworth, “The Press, 1982), while Rykwert’s legacy is discussed Ledoux, but also the development of whole archi- Architect in Sixteenth-Century Florence,” Art in George Dodds and Robert Tavernor, eds., tectural currents, like neoclassicism, in a light History 7 (1984): 385–410; Elizabeth Mays Merrill, Body and Building: Essays on the Changing Relation of completely different from other scholars of the “The Trattato as Textbook: Francesco di Giorgio’s Body and Architecture (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, period—such as Emil Kaufmann. See Kaufmann, Vision for the Renaissance Architect,” Architectural 2002). Equally illuminating in the same context Three Revolutionary Architects: Boullée, Ledoux and Histories 1, no. 1 (2013): 20; and Manfredo Tafuri, are Joseph Rykwert, On Adam’s House in Paradise: Lequeu (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Interpreting the Renaissance: Princes, Cities, Architects, The Idea of the Primitive Hut in Architectural History Society, 1952). trans. D. Sherer (New Haven, CT: Yale University (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1972), and 31 Even when he refers to clearly technical fields Press, 2006). Joseph Rykwert, The First Moderns: The Architects of (like fortifications and gardening), or the 44 An important first step in this direction has the Eighteenth Century (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, establishment of institutions (like the Royal already been made in Antoine Picon, French 1980). Academy of Science and the Royal Academy of Architects and Engineers in the Age of Enlightenment 9 Thomas, “Invention” (note 3), 40. Architecture), Pérez-Gómez’s main concern (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991). 10 Neil Leach, “The Limits of Poetics,” Building remains with the changes in metaphysical and 45 Leach, “The Limits of Poetics” (note 10), 385. Research and Information 33, no. 4 (2005): 382–85, epistemological assumptions that are aligned with 46 See Patrik Schumacher, The Autopoiesis of 382. the corresponding changes in the central stage of Architecture, 2 vols. (Chichester: Wiley, 2010–12). 11 See Alberto Pérez-Gómez, Architecture and the Crisis the history of the scientific revolution. 47 See Peg Rawes, “Spinoza’s Geometric and of Modern Science (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 32 See, e.g., Robert King Merton, “Science, Ecological Ratios,” in The Politics of Parametricism: 1983), 3–14. Technology and Society in Seventeenth Century Digital Technologies in Architecture, ed. Manuel 12 While Pérez-Gómez’s references also include England,” Osiris 4, pt. 2 (1938): 360–632. Shvartzberg and Matthew Poole (London: works of somewhat peripheral relevance to the 33 See H. Floris Cohen, The Scientific Revolution: A Bloomsbury Academic, forthcoming). interests of his study (like Yates’s 1964 and 1972 Historiographical Inquiry (Chicago: University of 48 See Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern studies on the occult and the hermetic tradition Chicago Press, 1994), 314. Condition: A Report on Knowledge, trans. G. or Burtt’s 1924 study on the role of Neoplatonism 34 See Barry Barnes, Scientific Knowledge and Bennington and B. Massumi (Minneapolis: in the rise of modern science that is later elabo- Sociological Theory (London: Routledge, 1974), University of Minnesota Press, 1984); and rated in the work of Alexandre Koyré), along with 99–124. Stylianos Giamarelos, “Have We Ever Been Dijksterhuis’s very important 1950 study on the 35 Ibid., 114. In other words, Barnes believes that Postmodern? The Essential Tension within the scientific revolution and the mechanization of the Koyré’s approach is right for the wrong reasons. Metamodern Condition,” in Re-thinking the world picture, he hardly ever refers to, or com- His intellectual history makes sense precisely Human in Technology Driven Architecture, ed. ments upon, them in the main body of his text. because Galileo’s practice, for instance, bears Constantin Spyridonidis and Maria Voyatzaki, Hence, it is only Koyré’s history of science that almost no relation to normal scientific practices Transactions on Architectural Education 55 (2012): substantially informs Pérez-Gómez’s study. See that come before him—at a moment in time 408–19, www.enhsa.net/Publications/AR2011.pdf Edwin Arthur Burtt, The Metaphysical Foundations when science has not yet been institutionalized as (accessed October 24, 2014). of Modern Physical Science (London: Routledge & such. 49 See Peg Rawes, ed., Relational Architectural Ecologies: Kegan Paul, 1924); Frances Yates, The Rosicrucian 36 See Edgar Zilsel, “The Sociological Roots of Architecture, Nature and Subjectivity (Abingdon: Enlightenment (London: Routledge & Kegan Science,” American Journal of Sociology 47, no. 4 Routledge, 2013). Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 Paul, 1972); Yates, Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic (1942): 544–62. 50 See Greg Lynn, Animate Form (New York: Tradition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 37 See Cohen, The Scientific Revolution (note 33), 347. Princeton Architectural Press, 1999). 1964); and Eduard Jan Dijksterhuis, Mechanization 38 See Anneliese Maier, Die Vorläufer Galileis of World Picture: Pythagoras to Newton, trans. C. im 14. Jahrhundert: Studien zur Naturphilosophie Dikshoorn (Oxford: Clarendon, 1961). der Spätscholastik (Rome: Edizioni di Storia e 13 See Edmund Husserl, The Crisis of European Sciences Letteratura, 1949). and Transcendental Phenomenology, trans. D. Carr 39 Duhem’s study originally developed in response (Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, to Ernst Mach’s 1883 positivist thesis of a total 1970), and Alexandre Koyré, From the Closed World rupture between modern science and similar to the Infinite Universe (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins practices of the past. See Pierre Duhem, To Save Press, 1957). the Phenomena, trans. E. Doland and C. Maschler 14 Pérez-Gómez, Architecture and the Crisis of Modern (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1969), and Science (note 11), 4. Ernst Mach, The Science of Mechanics: A Critical and 15 Ibid., 10. Historical Account of its Development, 6th rev. ed., 16 Ibid., 10–11. trans. T. J. McCormack (London: Open Court, 17 Alexandre Koyré, Metaphysics and Measurement: 1960). Essays in Scientific Revolution (London: Chapman & 40 While Pérez-Gómez’s mentor, Dalibor Vesely, Hall, 1968), 75–76, 80. did cover some ground in this direction, the era 18 Ibid., 19–21. is ripe for further historical research. See Vesely,

Giamarelos JAE 69:1 27 Scholarship of Design Looking Like Developed Aesthetics and Ethics in Rwandan Housing Projects

Yutaka Sho Syracuse University

This article examines the relationship between the developed look. At the same time, challenged by the lingering “modern” aesthetics and ethics in the context of effects of the genocide, Rwandans Rwandan architecture and urbanism. In Rwanda, are using physical space to address issues of reconciliation and justice. global capital and the general desire for an In a country where speech is cen- improved life manifest in the built environment, sored and public space is a luxury enjoyed by a select few, open conver- and both urban high-rises and rural villages attempt sation retreats to the relative safety to look like “modern” buildings from the northern of domestic space. As roundabout weddings are evidence of the overlap hemisphere. The “modern” aesthetics take on the between development ideals and difficult task of dealing with memories of the past unexpected practices, rural housing reflects the conflicting forces of violence as an integral process of development. global development pressures, local Using Rwandan housing projects as a case study, needs for establishing peace, and the role of development aesthetics. this article investigates the meanings, expectations, I first visited the country in 2008 and possibilities for modern aesthetics. and have returned annually since. In 2011, I taught at the country’s young and only architecture department for one semester. In 2013, GA Introduction background for wedding photos. In Collaborative, the nonprofit design On sunny Saturdays, the Kimihurura those photos, the buildings’ program, firm I cofounded, planned, designed, Roundabout in Kigali, Rwanda, scale, and three-dimensionality will and built a small prototype house and buzzes with wedding guests in color- be insignificant. trained local people and architecture ful headdresses and neckties (Figure This article examines the students in construction. Although 1). In one of Africa’s densest coun- relationships between spaces of we originally aimed to support local tries where scarce flatland is farmed international development, people’s development efforts, it soon became and people have large extended occupation of and aspirations for clear that Rwandan models and the families, a beautified roundabout them, and their shared aesthetics delivery of development derived is the perfect stage for ceremo- that manifest in Rwandan housing from a complex mixture of Western, nies. Designed to allow the smooth construction. Progressing in paral- Eastern, and indigenous origins, real flow of traffic, on wedding days the lel to the new urban construction and imagined. In this article, based roundabout is nevertheless jammed projects in Kigali is a government on literary analysis and observations with decorated SUVs dropping policy to relocate its twelve million on the ground, I argue that Rwandan off attendees and rubber-necking citizens to rural planned settlements. “modern” housing projects offer a vehicles. A statue of the last Rwandan This fervor in building, urban and site for negotiating between develop- queen carved in white stone stands rural, large and small, is supported ment and peace building in a highly tall in the center like a candle on a by international development aid controlled postconflict space. They do cake. Surrounding the roundabout, that has flooded the country since so by incorporating modern aesthet- a convention center, a Radisson the genocide in 1994. Despite their ics’ concealed opposites—taboos, hotel, and an IT park are under con- apparent disparity, both glassy secrets, ugliness, and absurdities—in struction by a Chinese contractor. hotels and village houses are being the construction process. They will create a suitably “modern” financed or destroyed in pursuit of

JAE 68: 2 199 Figure 1. Kimihurura Roundabout, Kacyiru, Rwanda, 2008. Photograph by Christopher Bartlett.

Looking Developed looks like a state, resultant develop- simulated environmental analyses. Although the critics of international ment products such as buildings, Modern buildings in Rwanda are development projects have declared cities, and people must look developed defined by orthogonal masonry walls. that the development era is over, its and modern, even if they cannot or Roofs are corrugated and galvanized allure persists in many parts of Africa.1 do not care to function like it. In steel sheets. Steel windows and Development ideology, policies, and Rwanda, “modernity” is performed doors look identical but are slightly projects have promised modernization by the people, on Saturdays in the different due to their handmade in the so-called Third World since the Kimihurura Roundabout. nature. It is not the scale, material, 1940s. James Scott argued in Seeing However the Rwandan modern building technique, location, cost, Like a State that the goal of develop- lifestyle and look are distinct from style, or existence of modern equipment is to “help render society legible Western architectural modernism ment that hint at their modernity. to the state via taxation, property or other contemporary architec- The modern looks are independent titles and planned housing in order tural styles. For instance, “modern” of the delivery of development. to control a previously disorganized lifestyle and looks do not originate Regardless of their varied field.”2 James Ferguson has claimed, in the industrialization, urbanity, meanings, modern architectural however, that the field was never and advanced technology that are projects are implemented as rigid disorganized and the goal was never associated with classic modernity or policies. A handful of new high-rises efficiency. Instead of seeing and acting contemporary definitions. Instead, sprouting from the hills of Kigali like an efficient modern bureaucratic modern products such as windows, are visible from the surrounding state, African states are trying to look doors, and furniture in Rwanda are valleys (Figure 2). The gleaming like a state, and their goal has been to mostly handmade in small work- towers are home to banks, multi- get their “hands on more and more shops.4 The main construction national company headquarters, things, but without forming a coor- expenses are not labor costs but for and 24-hour shopping malls. Large dinated and rationalized apparatus materials, equipment, and imported mansions of international NGOs in of planning and control.”3 Here, the specialized expertise. These factors affluent neighborhoods and glass state’s audience is not only its people result in such phenomena as custom- high-rises bear Chinese and Kenyan but also nations and NGOs that are made modern buildings that have names on their protective tarps.5 potential donors, allies, and enemies nothing to do with mass production, The master plan by Colorado-based around the globe. Along the line of technology, low cost, speed, infinite OZ Architects is being aggres- this thinking, then, to the power that design options per parametricism, or sively, if selectively, implemented.

200 Aesthetics and Ethics in Rwandan Housing Projects Figure 2. The hill of downtown Kigali, 2013. Photograph by James Setzler.

Low-income neighborhoods are the president to reach development to development, the choice between demolished according to the plan, goals and must prove their progress urban (assumed to be modern and only to pop up again down the street. in annual televised reporting. Imihigo developed) and rural (assumed to Near the large traffic roundabout in has expanded to the household level, be traditional and underdeveloped) the city center (a different one from and families are held accountable for identities and aesthetics are not auto- the wedding roundabout), armed reaching achievements that “‘will matically determined by context. At guards stand by to cite anyone who [be] base[d] on the government’s the same time, the choice between dares to step on the manicured goals meant to uplift the country’s urban and rural, or modern and lawn. There is the country’s first economy and the people’s welfare,’ nonmodern, is not a free choice: it public toilet, equipped with CCTV. and which will be assessed by the depends on one’s social and economic Compared to other African nations, local authorities.”7 abilities to obtain it.11 African modern modern Rwanda is orderly, clean, Scholarship on urban infor- aesthetics are difficult to pin down: and safe, showcasing the develop- mal settlements has revealed that they appear in the same sentence with ment economy at its best. urbanization does not equate to development, yet they do not require Not only space but “modern” development, however: instead, development in order to be defined. lifestyles and aesthetics are defined industrialization and subsistence In the remainder of this article, I will by the government and imposed farming occur side by side in numer- develop a theoretical framework for in the form of social engineering. ous urban spaces worldwide and Rwandan “modern” aesthetics based The street vendors, many of them certainly in Rwanda.8 The UN’s policy on Sarah Nuttall’s propositions about low-income women, have been out- recommendations are based on the African aesthetics. lawed. To construct toilets, to make prediction that the world’s urban compost pits, to wear shoes, to be population will reach 50 percent in Aesthetics and Ethics in Africa clean, to wear school uniforms, and 2050.9 Such recommendations exac- Nuttall argues in Beautiful Ugly to dry dishes on tables instead of erbate the widening gap between the that aesthetics in Africa have been on grass are all national policies.6 government’s urban-focused policies historically constrained by an People’s bodies too are sites to be and rural reality in Rwanda, where ethical framework defined by Euro- developed, modernized, and urban- 80 percent of the population is sus- American writers. In these writings, ized by the government. The mayor tenance farmers.10 In spaces where beauty/ugly have stood for good/ of each of the thirty districts signs a urbanity resides adjacent to rural bad, white/black, developed/under- performance contract (imihigo) with practices, and urbanity does not lead developed, or modern/traditional

Sho JAE 68: 2 201 Figure 3. Batsinda, 2012. Photograph by author.

and have not been investigated with dissociation between the two con- A government official defended the other contingencies such as culture, cepts also reveals that the seemingly “Bye Bye Nyakatsi” law by saying, form, or sensation.12 This is because respectful categorization of African “As the country develops, the living either African aesthetics are consid- aesthetics as authentically primitive standards of the people should also ered not worth serious theorization results in its isolation, irrelevancy, improve.”16 The official line might be or, “in view of the forms of human and disqualification from being more convincing if high-profile hotels degradation which the African critically examined. Disentangling such as the Hotel des Milles Collines continent is seen to speak, to talk aesthetics and ethics could liber- did not proudly tout thatch as an about beauty has been implicitly ate, redefine, and reclaim both. authentic cultural artifact of Rwanda, encoded as not simply superfluous Similarly, decoupling “modern” or low-income residents were not but indeed morally irresponsible if aesthetics from postgenocide ethics forcefully evacuated. The unspoken not reprehensible.”13 In other words, in Rwanda allows us to examine the reason behind the law may be that the Westerners tend to think that ethical significance and potentials of both aesthetic of nyakatsi contradicts the problems need to be solved before for architecture. modern image the government wishes aesthetics could be discussed in to portray in accordance with Vision Africa. And if African aesthetics are Building in Rwanda 2020, Rwanda’s development master discussed at all, they are historically Bye Bye Nyakatsi plan. As a Kigali city planner said, associated with pornographic depic- The government’s law regarding nyakatsi are banned because they do tions of human suffering such as thatched roofs and mud brick homes not look developed.17 starving children pictured on chari- (nyakatsi) is a good illustration of Despite the government’s table organizations’ newsletters or as Rwanda’s commitment to develop- aggressive national policies on the the indigenous objects of occult ritu- ment and how it uses the development built environment, the moderniza- als, such as Picasso’s famous masks.14 look as policy. The goal of the law is to tion of domestic space is nuanced, These “authentic” African aesthetics eliminate this low-cost building type and the reason for this is rooted have been deployed by non-Africans whose circular plans and windowless in Rwanda’s political climate. In and Africans alike to stand for other- mud walls distinguish themselves from Rwanda it is against the law for the ness: to incite fear and to reaffirm “modern” housing. Government- media to openly question ethnic the supremacy of Western culture or sanctioned houses are made of inequalities. Those who criticize to establish a unique black identity blocks of mud-and-cement mix, with the government are often labeled as such as in Negritude.15 rectangular plans and rectangular supporting the genocide ideology, Divorcing aesthetics from windows and topped with tin-sheet and their organizations have been ethics reveals that aestheticized roofs. Citing public-health concerns closed down or harassed.18 As a result African suffering allows Westerners and the inherent danger of building of ubiquitous surveillance, candid to claim a moral high ground and with flammable materials,nyakatsi are conversation retreats to one of the justifies military, economic, and sometimes forcefully demolished, few safe locations left: the home. humanitarian interventions. The rendering the inhabitants homeless. As sites of reconciliation, homes

202 Aesthetics and Ethics in Rwandan Housing Projects Figure 4. Transformation of Batsinda from 2008 to 2011. Photographs/ drawings by author.

become concealed and conflicted. concentrated housing sites have been Villagization has also been imple- Rwandan practice defies the theory tried in Rwanda since the period of mented in Tanzania’s ujamaa, and in of modern public space as a platform Belgian colonialism. The Paysannats Mozambique and Ethiopia in East for democratic debate. It is amidst program was initiated in 1953 by the Africa.20 All of these programs were this atmosphere of tension that the colonists, continued by the govern- based on ideological foundations country-wide housing policy, imi- ment after independence in 1962, and that neglected existing social struc- dugudu, was signed into law in 1996 reinforced by the World Bank from tures, and most have failed.21 Yet the to relocate all Rwandans to planned 1974 to 1986. Paysannats provided each Rwandan government claims that settlements. I will return to the issue farmer with two hectares of thin rect- theirs will be different, and in any of “modern” aesthetics after an over- angular land with one short end facing case, that there is not another option view of imidugudu. a road. Ethnic favoritism, forced to house the more than two million farming techniques, and the exac- returnees from exile.22 Imidugudu, the National Housing Policy erbation of class gaps are only some Batsinda, a new suburb of Policies to relocate rural people to of the reasons for its unpopularity.19 Kigali, is a typical government

Sho JAE 68: 2 203 settlement built to fulfill the imi- construction), additional amenities one must rent farther from the city. dugudu housing policy (Figure 3). may not be a priority. Batsinda is Displaced to a remote location, away Many of the residents were relocated transforming irrespective of the gov- from economic centers and family from a neighborhood in the city ernment’s vision for modernization. ties, or without means of obtaining center to make way for commercial I have visited a dozen planned food, life in a planned village could and upper-class housing accord- settlements built between the 1970s turn out to “undo” modernity. ing to the award-winning Kigali and today. Many of them were still Although the imidugudu policy Conceptual Master Plan, developed awaiting infrastructure such as water, is strictly enforced and the houses by OZ Architects and implemented latrines, electricity, or reliable bus ser- are aesthetically similar, they vary by Surbana from Singapore. As with vice (Figure 5). One village in Butare in methods of implementation and all projects constructed under the funded by a Chinese corporation was meanings they convey. Two types of imidugudu policy, Batsinda’s rect- by far the best built, with strong mate- imidugudu delivery highlight where angular houses follow an orderly rials and precise construction. Another the government policy fails. The rhythm along the steep contour. government-initiated planned village combination of limited freedom of The project is located near an exist- in Butare used the site-and-services speech and lack of public space makes ing village so residents can take method and was in a desperate state. the Rwandan public sphere incon- advantage of a market and schools. Although site-and-services was ini- ducive to reflecting on the genocide, “Like western homes,” no property tially promoted by John Turner and except along the official narrative of walls were designed (Figure 4).23 A backed by the World Bank to give good versus evil. This fact places the breezeway between the living and design and construction agencies to onus on domestic space to negotiate utility buildings was provided as a residents, this village suggested that between external development pres- shaded work area. Two years after many low-income Rwandans are not sure and internal needs for dealing moving in, some residents have filled able to provide homes for themselves with memories of violence. Rwandan them to create more interior space even if the site and infrastructure housing projects and their “modern” and privacy. Some erected stone or were provided. Given that nearly 50 aesthetics are integral to the process brick property walls with steel gates. percent of the federal budget comes of translating the divided past into The Kigali city planner who accom- from foreign aid, Rwandan spaces are the shared present. The first imidugudu panied me commented on the walls: built in response to a mixture of local construction process, TIG, worked “This is no good. What do they have and global agendas. Rwandan housing well with the government-initiated to hide behind the walls?”24 Four is a testing ground for various foreign security strategy to providing hous- years after the opening of Batsinda, interests to invest in a state that wants ing for all while separating ethnicities well-off residents have expanded to look “modern.” In these spaces (therefore making them legible to the the building volume to twice the residents are excluded from decision- state).27 The second strategy by Sasaki original size to accommodate large making processes yet held accountable and REACH offers an alternative: it families despite the government’s for instilling the modern look per the has taken on the peace and recon- campaign to reduce the average imihigo performance contract. ciliation program and merges it into number of children. Rainwater col- Accompanying the housing housing construction. lectors were a response to unreliable policy is the 2005 land law that regu- and privatized water pumps and lates tenure. It requires farms that TIG and Counter-TIG were perhaps the most welcome are less than one hectare in area to Walking down the hilly paths of rural amenity for these homes. A biogas be combined into cooperatives to Rwanda, one encounters groups of digester, a mechanism that collects prevent property miniaturization men dressed in pink, orange, or blue methane gas from human waste, was and to promote monocrop cultiva- uniforms, holding hoes, machetes, provided in each home. Everyone tion. Despite the tendency of such or shovels. These are the prisoners cooks the old way, however, using policies to expose farmers to market who are deployed in the first con- wood or charcoal instead of with the fluctuation and disease, coopera- struction strategy, Travaux d’Intérêt methane gas stove-top burner. The tive farming does ensure that risks Général (TIG). In TIG, convicted residents cannot be blamed for their are shared between members and genocide offenders tigistes( ) work on lack of compliance with the rules, increases opportunities for a larger building projects and elsewhere in for most amenities, such as electric market share.25 Yet most farm land lieu of imprisonment. When TIG was wiring and gas pipes, were capped at is either nonexistent or located far launched by the Rwandan government the property lines and the residents from imidugudu.26 There is no doubt in 2005, the majority of tigistes returned were responsible for completing the that the houses in planned settle- to their villages to restore what they installation. For those who could ments are better built on average had destroyed during the genocide, not afford to pay the mortgage and that they provide land tenure and some took part in the reconstruc- (the number of vacant homes has security for some residents. But if tion of buildings for survivors. Today, increased in the five years since their one does not originally own the land, most tigistes are held in work camps.28

204 Aesthetics and Ethics in Rwandan Housing Projects Figure 5. Various imidugudu, 2008– 2010. Photographs by author.

Figure 6. Sasaki and REACH housing construction project in the Kirehe district, Rwanda, 2012. Mr. Tadeo is in an Obama shirt. Photographs by author.

The camp model allows the govern- Evangelism and Christian Healing survivors allowed the construction ment to take full advantage of the free (REACH), and since 2007 they have process to be openly documented labor for rural development. built around forty homes, mainly for public scrutiny. Private testimo- In response to the government’s in the Kirehe District in Eastern nies became linkable between the TIG, Dr. Kazuyuki Sasaki, a develop- Province.30 Although the organizers offenders, the survivors, and their ment and postconflict reconciliation are Christians, being Christian is not community via the house construc- scholar-practitioner, organizes a prerequisite, and there are Muslim tion process. The project shows offenders to construct houses for the participants as well. The idea of house that, while new public spaces such victims of their own violence. The construction as reparation was sug- as roundabouts are off-limits and second imidugudu construction type gested by the offenders themselves discussing ethnicity in public is pro- resulted from Sasaki and Bayisenge’s during the initial workshop with hibited in Rwanda, domestic spaces research, which found that both Sasaki and REACH, while they were allow openness in privacy. Instead of offenders and survivors wished that still employed in TIG. A group of keeping enemies outside while pro- TIG was used as a means of repara- offenders subsequently decided to tecting those inside, Sasaki’s walls are tion and reconciliation. One of the continue the work voluntarily after magnetic: they attract the opposite TIG workers said, “After five years or completing their sentences. sides of the war and give them time more, we will go back to our commu- In Sasaki’s project, survivors have during construction and within physi- nities and then we will have to start invited their offenders to build their cal space for a simple talk. from zero for building reconciliation homes, which will bear the marks of An interview with Habiyakare with survivors.”29 Sasaki launched their presence and the memory of the Tadeo, a former offender and vol- his project in partnership with the genocide for as long as the survivors unteer house builder, took place at local organization Reconciliation occupy the houses. In addition, the the construction site for a house

Sho JAE 68: 2 205 for a survivor in Kirehe in July 2012 spatiality of these houses demands the other side of modernity, the side (Figure 6). Tadeo said that the and enables thoughts and actions that international development poli- former offenders chose building that abstract constructs of peace cies try to conceal and contain. The construction as a means of repara- fail to achieve. Beyond visualizing construction process put forward tion because they had no other skills. the reconciliation process, Rwandan by Sasaki and REACH has identi- Anyone could build, he said, and housing creates spaces that allow fied complexities and discrepancies housing construction was one of both survivors and offenders to work as starting points for thinking about the easiest, necessary, and available toward an unknown future. Where practicable peace. They have revealed ways to translate their repentance freedom of speech is restricted, in the “irritating differences and conti- into form. To the question of why the absence of formal public space, guity” among ethnicities and classes, they constructed domestic space, and under the looming threat of between offenders and survivors, and he answered that the offenders had another violent event, rural Rwandan between global capital and internal already worked on public projects domestic space has taken on the aspirations for cohabitation.32 There, while they were serving TIG sen- role of a public sphere neglected in at their construction sites, one can tences for the state. When they “modern” urban planning. Housing imagine the misalignments between decided to work with Sasaki and offers a much wider array of meanings people’s memories, misplaced blames, REACH, it was unanimously agreed and expectations for “modern” aes- fears, resentments, seemingly insur- that the individual survivors should thetics, in contrast to the majority of mountable miscommunication, and directly benefit from the construc- construction that is driven by a nar- emotions possibly and gradually tion projects.31 rowly defined idea of development. changing over the course of the house In Rwanda, where public lan- construction. As Doris Sommer guage on the genocide is strictly Modern Aesthetics in Rwanda articulates, irreconcilable differences controlled, housing by Sasaki and As Nuttall suggests, aesthetics in and the system that allows them to REACH is one of the only mani- Africa have been restricted by ethics cohabit are the very basis of democ- festations of dialogue between the that fill Western designers with anxi- racy, and Rwandan housing translates survivors and the offenders. When ety. At the same time, the meanings this idea into space.33 offenders build for the survivors, of and expectations for “modern” It is also in Rwandan housing, houses become both proof of justice aesthetics are not singular or readily however, where the binary inher- delivered and a space in which the legible, as shown in the urban round- ent in aesthetics breaks down and meanings and validity of justice can about and rural housing examples exposes the faulty moral high ground be questioned, albeit in private. By discussed in this article. Therefore, of diversity argued by Sommer. physically occupying space and time the simple application of modern or In Sasaki and REACH’s project, for discussion, offenders and survi- contemporary architectural styles to for instance, it will be difficult to vors redefine domestic and public Rwandan buildings will not suffice imagine aesthetic diversity for their territories and imagine the reciproc- to widen the discourse. In Rwanda houses. Genocide offenders and ity of their actions. As a promise of and perhaps in other postconflict survivors alike will choose to build reparation and future peace, it is spaces, architectural aesthetics need modern buildings for they are the crucial for all involved that struc- to address issues beyond innovative most powerful spatial symbols of tures summon respect: even if the material use, precision of construc- development. Square plans and walls are mud bricks, the aesthetics tion, or skills training as promoted by imported materials legitimize the must restore survivors’ dignity and a the mainstream development agenda. project for the audience both inside place in society. Here, the aesthetic In response, nonarchitects such who construct and live in the struc- of the house is evaluated not only as Sasaki and REACH have pushed ture and from the outside looking for its pragmatic, economic, and “modern” beyond the existing defini- in. For them, building and living in a cultural values but also for its abil- tions and charged the aesthetics to nyakatsi mud house would be simply ity to restore the humanity violated take an active part in political media- unacceptable. Modern housing has by the genocide. And the houses are tions. Their modern aesthetics are an economic mandate as well. Not “modern” without exception: rectan- attached to some of the only places only are households made account- gular and with a tin-sheet roof. where people can discuss taboos, able for development as per the In Rwandan spaces that con- ugliness, the secrets of past vio- imihigo performance contract, future front the past, the manifestation lence, and current strong-armed and international investment depends of architecture is meager: they are absurd development policies. Taboos, on the development look. Painting a simple houses built of mud. Though secrets, dissonance—these are ele- picture of Rwanda as developed may they may be poorly constructed, the ments of aesthetics that constitute present it as an economic, political,

206 Aesthetics and Ethics in Rwandan Housing Projects and racial equal in the eyes of the In Rwanda, people multiply the and she has researched, taught, and/ West. While modern aesthetics may meanings of modern aesthetics in or practiced in Bangladesh, Ghana, invite further investments and an homes that they build for each other. Japan, Lebanon, Turkey, Uganda, improved life, it is indeed difficult to Subject matter gains new mean- and Rwanda. She is an Assistant divorce aesthetics from ethics. ings and loses others in the process of Professor at Syracuse University. translation. Original definitions and Conclusion spontaneous interpretations become Notes In this article I have attempted equally valid. The act of translation 1 For critiques of development, see, among to sketch a relational diagram of encourages users to restructure the many others, Wolfgang Sachs, The Development Dictionary (Johannesburg: Witwatersrand “modern” aesthetics and their mean- syntax without losing the shared University Press; and London and New York: ings in postconflict architecture in datum. Translation destabilizes Zed Books, 1999); Arturo Escobar, Encountering Rwanda. The multitude of desires, thoughts and actions and demon- Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third fears, and ethical mandates compli- strates their fallibility, while releasing World (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995). For an analysis of persistent development, cates Rwandan “modern” aesthetics. exciting possibilities. Such translation see Peter Geschiere, Birgit Meyer, and Peter Pels, In Rwanda, what is at stake is occurs when aesthetics and ethics “Introduction,” in Readings in Modernity in Africa, not the discovery and stabilization of are decoupled, rejoined, and the ed. Peter Geschiere, Birgit Meyer, and Peter Pels the right understanding of “modern” process is repeated in modern archi- (London: International African Institute in asso- aesthetics. The aim is not even to tecture in Rwanda. Different ways ciation with Indiana University Press, 2008), 1. 34 2 James Scott, Seeing like a State: How Certain Schemes create new aesthetics. In fact, a close of looking, thinking, and occupy- to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed (New study of the myriad complexity of ing could be developed even further Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1998); see also Rwandan housing suggests that the by designers of modern Rwandan the Humanity interview with James Ferguson, new image of “modern” is as much homes. Once freed from development pt. 1: development as “swarming state power” by Editorial Collective, November 22, 2009, a culprit of disappointment as the ethics, modern housing could include http://www.humanityjournal.org/blog/2013/06/ unfulfilled promises of development. taboos and the ugly, such as tradi- humanity-interview-james-ferguson-pt-1-devel- Nevertheless, Rwandans are not stuck tional building technology (weaving), opment-swarming-state-power. with failed modern projects that banned materials (mud and thatch), 3 Ferguson, Humanity interview (note 2). represent “second best” and all they shunned people (genocide offenders), 4 Manual modification of industrial objects extends 35 to automobiles. See Jojada Verrips and Birgit can afford to build. Instead of doing and disenfranchised classes (the poor Meyer, “Kwaku’s Car: The Struggle and Stories away with modern by appropriation, and women). This way the goals of of a Ghanaian Long-Distance Taxi Driver,” in Rwandan housing translates it. modern aesthetics will no longer be Geschiere, Meyer, and Pels, Readings in Modernity Both downtown high-rises and driven solely by governmental agendas in Africa (note 1). 5 China Star Construction Company, rural planned housing projects are but by local needs for shared com- Beijing Construction Engineering Group, driven by the Rwandan aspiration munity. Such decoupling/rejoining New Century Development, China Civil to develop and to gain foreign aid of ethics and aesthetics could invigo- Engineering Construction Corporation, China funds. On one hand, a building must rate the architectural translation of Communications and Construction Company, look modern in order to demonstrate modern not only for its inhabitants and Century Park Hotels and Residences are some of the Chinese construction and develop- its development credibility: thus the but also for those who plan and ment companies that are active in Rwanda. government’s policy to demolish all implement the construction—the Kenyan firms include CN International, Hass mud and thatch buildings. On the local government and foreign funders. Consult, Noah Management, Knight Frank, and other hand, those affected by the In this translation, then, the original Axis Real Estate. genocide use the construction pro- meaning of “modern” becomes one of 6 Albert-Baudoin Twizeyimana, “Rwanda: La propreté à marché forcée,” InfoSud-Belgique, cess and modern aesthetics to deal many other associations that aesthet- June 29, 2006. Quoted in An Ansoms, “Rwanda’s with the consequences of the past ics can unleash. Post-Genocide Economic Reconstruction: The violence and create an opportunity Mismatch between Elite’s Ambitions and Rural to contemplate possibilities of peace. Author Biography Realities,” in Remaking Rwanda: State Building and Human Rights after Mass Violence, ed. Scott The construction process provides Yutaka Sho is a partner at GA Straus and Lars Waldorf (Madison: University of the time and space to negotiate Collaborative, a nonprofit design Wisconsin Press, 2011), 240–251, on 246. and translate difficult memories firm. In 2013 GAC built a prototype 7 “Performance Contracts to Be Signed at Household and absurd policies into a shared home in Masoro, Rwanda, in col- Level,” New Times, November 19, 2002. Cited in Ansoms, “Rwanda’s Post-Genocide Economic society. The final houses must look laboration with the local association Reconstruction” (note 6), 247. “modern” as a symbol of reparation with support from a Brunner Grant 8 Mike Davis, Planet of Slums (London and New and restored dignity. These buildings from AIA NY. Sho researches the York: Verso, 2007); Robert Neuwirth, Shadow are necessarily domestic given the role of architecture and construction Cities: A Billion Squatters, a New Urban World controlled freedom of public speech. in the unevenly developed globe, (London: Routledge, 2004); Garth Myers, African

Sho JAE 68: 2 207 Cities: Alternative Visions of Urban Theory and Practice journalist-held-for-deceiving-20-07-2012,43075. (London: Zed Books, 2011); “Daily Chart: The html; Reporters Without Borders, World Press Urbanization Trap,” The Economist, 2012. Last Freedom Index 2013, http://fr.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/ modified October 2, 2012, http://www.economist. classement_2013_gb-bd.pdf (accessed February com/blogs/graphicdetail/2012/10/daily-chart. 27, 2014); “Exiled Rwandan Journalist Killed 9 United Nations, Population Distribution, in Uganda: Police,” Reuters, December 2, 2011, Urbanization, Internal Migration and Development: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/02/ An International Perspective (New York: ozatp-uganda-killing-idAFJOE7B109520111202. United Nations Department of Economic 19 Rene Lemarchand, The World Bank in Rwanda: and Social Affairs Population Division, The Case of the Office de valorisation agricole et pastorale 2011), http://www.un.org/esa/population/ du Mutara (OVAPAM), African Studies Program publications/PopDistribUrbanization/ (Bloomington: Indiana University, 1982). PopulationDistributionUrbanization.pdf 20 Mathijs van Leeuwen, “Rwanda’s Imidugudu (accessed February 27, 2014). Programme and Earlier Experiences with 10 Throughout the book, contributing authors Villagisation and Resettlement in East Africa,” point out the multiple gaps between the Rwandan Journal of Modern African Studies 39, no. 4 (2001): people’s desires and the government’s vision, but 623–644. especially in Ansoms, “Rwanda’s Post-Genocide 21 Ibid. Economic Reconstruction” (note 6). 22 Catharine Newbury, “High Modernism on the 11 Ferguson, Humanity interview (note 2), 111. For Ground Level: The Imidugudu Policy in Rwanda,” a case in Turkey, see Tahire Erman, “Becoming in Remaking Rwanda: State Building and Human ‘Urban’ or Remaining ‘Rural’: The View of Turkish Rights after Mass Violence, ed. Scott Straus and Lars Rural-to-Urban Migrants on the ‘Integration’ Waldorf (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, Question,” International Journal of Middle East 2011), 232. Studies 30, no. 4 (November 1998): 541–561; for 23 Conversation with V.R., June 2010 (note 17). a case in Ghana, see Deborah Pellow, “Internal 24 Ibid. Transmigrants: A Dagomba Diaspora,” American 25 Kathrin Wyss, A Thousand Hills for 9 Million Ethnologist 38, no. 1 (2011): 132–147. People: Land Reform in Rwanda: Restoration of Feudal 12 Sarah Nuttall, “Introduction: Rethinking Order or Genuine Transformation?, FAST Country Beauty,” in Beautiful Ugly: African and Diaspora Risk Profile: Rwanda (Bern: Swisspeace, 2006); Aesthetics, ed. Sarah Nuttall (Durham, NC, and Chris Huggins, “Presidential Land Commission: London: Duke University Press, 2006), 8–29. Undermining Land Law Reform,” in Straus and 13 Ibid., 13. Waldorf, Remaking Rwanda (note 22), 252–265. 14 For discussion on images of suffering in Africa, 26 Newbury, “High Modernism” (note 22), 234. see Niranjan S. Karnik, “The Photographer, His 27 Ibid., 229. Editor, Her Audience, Their Humanitarians: 28 Kazuyuki Sasaki and Fortunée Bayisenge, How Rwanda’s Pictures Travel Through the Community Service for Reconciliation? Perspectives on American Psyche,” Bulletin 50/51 (Winter/Spring Rwanda’s TIG Program, Public Reforms in Rwanda, 1998), http://concernedafricascholars.org/docs/ PIASS Publication Series, no. 1, (Butare, Rwanda: acasbulletin5051.pdf (accessed February 23, 2014); Protestant Institute of Arts and Social Sciences, Nicholas Mirzoeff, “Invisible Again: Rwanda and 2012), 10. Representation after Genocide,”African Arts 38, 29 Ibid., 13. no. 3 (Autumn 2005): 36–39, 86–95; Binyavanga 30 Interview with Sasaki, December 4, 2011. Wainaina, “How to Write about Africa,” Granta 92 31 The interview was conducted on July 13, 2012, (2005): 91–95; Asim Rafiqui,How to Take Photos of at the construction site in Rugando cell, Kigina Africa: Or, Where Intent and Ideas Collide, March 16, sector, Kirehe district in Rwanda. 2010, http://arafiqui.wordpress.com/2010/03/16/ 32 Doris Sommer, Bilingual Aesthetics: A New how-to-photograph-africa-or-thank-goodness- Sentimental Education (Durham, NC: Duke for-a-semblance-of-intelligence/. University Press, 2004), and Sommer, Bilingual 15 Nuttall, Beautiful Ugly (note 12), 11. Games: Some Literary Investigations (New York: 16 Edwin Musoni, “May, Set as Deadline to Palgrave Macmillan, 2003). Eliminate Nyakatsi,” New Times, January 8, 2011. 33 Ibid, xiv. 17 Conversation with V.R., June 2010. Mr. V.R. was 34 Rodney Place, “Urban Imaging: The Friche then an employee of the Kigali City Planning Waiting to Happen,” in Nuttall, Beautiful Ugly Department and is now with the Rwanda Housing (note 12), 319. Authority. 35 For a critique of the West providing second best 18 See, e.g., Josh Kron, “Rwandan Editor Who services to developing countries and cloaking it as Accused Officials in Shooting Is Killed,”New charity, see Renzo Marten’s art installation in the York Times, June 26, 2010, sec. A7; Andrea Congo, titled Episode III: Enjoy Poverty (2008). Purdeková, “‘Even if I Am Not Here, There Are So Many Eyes’: Surveillance and State Reach in Rwanda,” Journal of Modern African Studies 49, no. 3 (September 2011): 475–497; Reporters Without Borders, Journalist Held for “Deceiving Intelligence Services” and “Inventing Abduction,” July 20, 2012, http://en.rsf.org/

208 Aesthetics and Ethics in Rwandan Housing Projects Scholarship of Design Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 Practicing Reform Experiments in Post-Revolutionary Chinese Architectural Production, 1973-1989

Cole Roskam University of Hong Kong

This article explores the relationship between between the state and society. All of China’s prerevolutionary con- architectural praxis and political economic reform struction companies, private design in China between 1973 and 1989. It looks specifically firms, and academic departments were consolidated into provincial, at how modifications in the practice of architectural municipal, as well as university-level design corresponded to the project of China’s institutes and tasked with realizing architecture through a collectivized economic liberalization. A closer examination of design approach. Following gradua- significant shifts in the methods of design, the tion from university, professionally trained architects, engineers, and operative mechanisms through which designs technicians were each assigned to a were created and implemented, and the degree specific institute where, depending upon their particular expertise, they of international engagement involved in design were designated to specific divisions, production offers new insight into the intertwined or shiwusuo, which were themselves organized around particular design dynamics of architectural practice as both catalyst specializations such as housing or and index in processes of change. public architecture. The government remained the sole client of all built In November 1989, Chinese architect the unavoidable addition of capital.”1 projects, and each institute relied on and academic Zou Denong published Published several months after the the central government for annual an essay in the Chinese journal Jianzhu events of June 4, 1989, Zou’s critique budget allocations. Xuebao (Architectural Journal) entitled is revealing, not only for its use of Beginning in 1964, and continu- “The Lessons of Twice Importing an oft-used trope of the Chinese ing through the Cultural Revolution Architectural Theory: From National Communist Party (CCP) in the face (1966–76), the nature of Chinese Form to Postmodernism.” In it, Zou of political crisis—the injurious building activity changed dramatically. identified several similarities between importation of foreign ideas—but for The social unrest and fiscal con- what he saw as the careless borrow- its failure to assign any blame to the straints prompted by the movement

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 ing of postmodern design theory by major conduit through which interna- made large-scale building projects China’s architectural elite over the tional architectural discourse as well difficult to realize. The country’s course of the 1980s and the 1950s, as practice in China was intended to university examination system was another era of widespread concep- be imported and filtered: namely, the abandoned in 1966, and many profes- tual adoption. Just as Soviet advisers state-run design institute. sionally trained architects were sent then exerted wide-ranging sway over The design institute has been to the countryside for reeducation. China’s nascent Communist leader- the dominant means of architectural New design strategies involving the ship in the promotion of a socialist production in the People’s Republic incorporation of local building mate- realist architecture for China, so did of China since the country’s found- rials and practices were encouraged, Zou perceive undue foreign influence ing in 1949. The design institute along with the implementation of as part of what he termed “post- system was initially formed between a peer-selection process in which modernism’s theory of addition: the 1950 and 1955, amid the broader architectural students were required addition of big roofs, the addition reconsolidation of the country’s to complete two years of manual of ornament, the addition of fake political, economic, and social sys- work in a factory or commune or structural members, the addition of a tems around the work unit, or danwei, army service before being chosen certain taste, and most importantly, which functioned as the key medium by peers within their assigned work

28 Figure 1. Ministry of Railways Third Design Institute. Dar es Salaam Train Station, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 1967–76. Photograph by author.

unit. Such restructuring redefined flows of transnational capital moved The Design of Exchange the Chinese architect as little more by the whims of increasingly market- Over the course of the 1960s and than a technical cog in on-site design based economic procedure. They 1970s, and long before the formal and construction collaborations also engendered vast new physical launching of the reform era in 1978, between architects, officials, and and conceptual terrain for Chinese the interpersonal dynamics of archi- workers known as san jiehe, or “Three architectural discourse as well as tectural practice had already begun Combinations.”2 Only after the death production. to redefine the Chinese architect’s of Mao Zedong in 1976 gave way to In theory, the era proved tremen- relationship to the state. Pre-reform the “Four Modernizations” movement dously liberating to China’s architects, relations with countries in Africa, launched by Deng Xiaoping in 1978 freeing them from the constraints the Middle East, and Eastern Europe did the design institute again figure of Maoist-era dogma and enabling presented one important outlet as the major operational mechanism what most accounts of the period through which Chinese architects through which Chinese architectural emphasize as a fruitful if confused could engage in forms of design production and expertise flowed.3 blossoming of Chinese architectural research and exchange above and This essay explores the realign- expression.5 Reexamined through the beyond those institutionalized by the ment of Chinese architectural practice specific lens of architectural practice, party.6 Projects such as the TAZARA following the Cultural Revolution and however, the era’s legacy remains Railway, begun in Tanzania and in relation to what may be considered unsettled. Built work presented one Zambia in 1967 and completed in the “crisis” of China’s reform era. particularly jarring embodiment of 1976 under the coordination of the Here, I consider the term “crisis” not the party’s new agenda, but the opera- Chinese ministries of the railway as with respect to the widespread revo- tional transformations underlying well as construction, or the Sirimavo lutionary-era disorder that preceded these buildings signified something Bandaranaike Memorial International reform, or to the violent crackdown of else altogether—a subtle and less vis- Conference Hall in Colombo, Sri June 4, 1989, that temporarily threat- ible but equally dramatic diffusion of Lanka, begun in 1963 and eventually

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 ened its implementation, but to the new practices and methods expected completed in 1973 by the Chinese program of reform itself: that is, the to coexist within the shifting ideologi- Academy of Building Research under dramatic policy shifts prompted by cal parameters of post-Maoist Chinese the supervision of Yang Yun and Dai the perceived failure of Mao’s eco- society. As the productive and sym- Nianci, were both party-approved nomic program and negotiated during bolic demands of reform quickly projects driven in large part by the the Chinese Communist Party Work overwhelmed the design institute’s exigencies of Maoist-era doctrine Conference and the Third Plenum ability to accommodate them, a sig- (Figure 1). At the same time, how- of the 11th Central Committee nificant rupture emerged between the ever, the international nature of both between November and December systematic implementation of change projects offered valuable if tempo- 1978.4 Internal party debates over the and the ideological inconsistencies it rary reprieve from the ideological nature of reform ultimately produced presented. This gap, and the broader constraints of home and access to a strain of economic liberalization contradictions it revealed with respect kinds of transnational architectural designed to fuel renewed, state- to the productive and conceptual role praxis, ideas, and trends unavailable sponsored modernization through of architectural praxis in post-Maoist in China.7 Portions of this knowledge, the distinctly postmodern forces of Chinese society, remain both unre- published in Chinese architectural late capitalism, that is, fluctuating solved and relevant today. journals depending upon the political

Roskam JAE 69:1 29 Figure 2. Artist unknown. “The China Ten,” 1979. AIA participants included Elmer Botsai, John A. Bryant, George J. Hasslein, Mark T. Jaroszewicz, E. Keith McPheeters, Charles M. Sappenfield, David M. Scott, John H. Spencer, W. Cecil Steward, and James E. Ellison. Courtesy the American Institute of Architecture Archives, Washington, DC.

climate at the time, helped to broaden the scope of China’s architectural discourse and design practice in the process.8 With the establishment of Sino- American diplomatic relations in 1972, followed by the reengagement of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations in 1973, China also began to strengthen its connections with a number of historical adversaries at the time, including the United States and Europe, as well as Japan.9 Here, too, the exercise of cross-cultural architectural exchange played a vital supporting role. Initial requests for study tours were made by foreign participants but eagerly reciprocated by their mainland counterparts at the Architectural Society of China (ASC), approaching the abstract” proved Subsequent AIA-sponsored trips to an academic society and indepen- difficult, tour members noted evi- China occurred in 1976 and 1979, with dent corporate entity established in dence of more recently constructed Chinese trips to the United States October 1953 and formally registered buildings possessing a “lighter and arranged in 1980 and 1981 (Figure 2). within the Ministry of Civil Affairs.10 brighter and more human” dimension By 1978, the advantages of

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 In October 1973, for example, ASC than those produced under Soviet new, more transnational types of was contacted by a British del- tutelage.13 This trip was followed, architectural dialogue had become egation comprised of Architectural in 1975, by a traveling delegation of clear. Foreign professional linkages Association–affiliated scholars hoping ten Chinese architects to the United helped China’s architectural elite to travel through China collecting States, with stops in New York City, begin to rebuild its architectural material on Maoist-era planning Boston, Washington, DC, Chicago, knowledge base extrinsic to the policies.11 This team was followed, in Los Angeles, and San Francisco, subsequent reconsolidation of the April 1974, by a contingent of fifteen among other cities. The delega- country’s architectural educational American Institute of Architects tion’s AIA-affiliated hosts were very and production systems themselves. (AIA) members led by outgoing AIA impressed by their guests’ collec- Mainland Chinese participants saw president Max Urbahn, I. M. Pei, and tive interest in “American building inherent value in the prospect of Pei’s wife, Eileen.12 The group did technology ... particularly in precast knowledge interchange, particularly not meet with any government offi- concrete construction and mechani- as it concerned China’s urgent need cials and instead spent most of their cal systems” as well as “expansion for “technical experiences” follow- time talking with other architects. factors, wind bracing, noise damp- ing the devastating impact of the Although “communication of any idea ening materials and the like.”14 Cultural Revolution upon domestic

30 Practicing Reform Figure 3. Guilin was the hotel. Over the course of Design Institute. Guilin the 1970s, and in response to grow- Lijiang Hotel, Guilin, China, 1976. Jianzhu ing international interest in China, Xuebao, no. 2 (June a series of starkly monochromatic, 1978). Republished monolithic hotel complexes, each with permission from Jianzhu Xuebao. built by design institutes at the state, provincial, municipal, and academic institutional levels, began to material- ize along skylines around the country (Figure 3). Five- to eight-story travelers’ hotels called luguan catered to provincial and regional-level cadre activity, while larger binguan or fandian, known as international guesthouses or hotels, aimed at a distinctly overseas clientele. Aesthetically as well as program- matically, these projects struggled to respond to the shifts at hand. Exterior matrices of balconies and windows architectural production.15 At the Journal published a series of articles attempted to satisfy the tourist’s and same time, these types of engage- exhorting the country’s architec- businessman’s imagined gaze while ments remained politically sensitive.16 tural establishment to embrace the shielding the building’s interior from Here, the involvement of the Chinese new reformist spirit in architectural prying, exterior glances. Interior ren- diaspora proved particularly crucial. design. Provocatively entitled “Break derings and photographs of empty For one, overseas Chinese architects, Up the Old and Establish the New halls, restaurants, and lobbies, each developers, and investors enabled the to Further Raise the Design Level,” bound by tightly gridded patterns party to cloak the contradictions of “Emancipate the Mind, Endeavor to of aesthetic and formal standardiza- economic reform within broader nar- Do the Design Work Still Better,” and tion and nearly devoid of consumers, ratives of cultural reconciliation and “Crush the Mental Fetters and Raise conveyed similar degrees of anxious patriotic obligation. Official reliance the Design Level,” these essays iden- anticipation over the sudden emer- on otherwise unofficial, individual- tified the major obstacles impeding gence of a nascent industry devoted ized interpersonal relationships also Chinese architects from fully realizing almost exclusively to an idealized helped elide the need to recon- their potential as designers. Architects production of space (Figures 4, 5). figure the party’s own ideological were encouraged to put the excesses Accompanying architectural journal restrictions regarding international of the Cultural Revolution behind articles helped provide an ideologi- engagement with Western Europe them and reminded that just as “old cal logic to the proliferation of these and the United States.17 ASC mem- things serve the new,” so did “for- otherwise illogical spaces by attribut- bers remained important conduits eign things serve China.” Established ing their appearance to socialism’s through which China’s architectural architectural principles as well as unprecedented development since the community could reconnect with scientific standards should trump the Cultural Revolution and the requisite

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 informal pre-1949 collegiate networks, “confused” orders of certain mis- requests for official trips and tours family ties, friendships, and Chinese guided officials, meaning that new that China’s prosperity would soon diasporic connections in Europe and forms of Chinese architectural expres- command.21 the United States.18 Any further liber- sion should adhere to pre–Cultural International demand, however, alization within the field of exchange Revolutionary Maoist-era principles quickly outstripped Chinese supply, required a kind of institutionalization of “appropriateness, economy, and exceeding the government’s ability to that would ensure their continuation if possible, beauty” in service to the control the dynamics of its own trans- without challenging the physical and country’s planned economy.19 formation in the process. Between conceptual integrity of the Chinese Amid party efforts to dictate 1977 and 1980, tourist arrivals doubled nation-state. the aesthetic and formal parameters each year; in 1979 alone, China was vis- of China’s reform-era architecture, ited by 800,000 tourists.22 Recognizing The Architecture of Reform however, physical transformations that socialist-era bureaucratic In November 1979, following a within China’s built environment structures could not support the bal- national conference for China’s build- prefigured by international exchange looning prospects of international ing industry organized around the had already begun to take place. tourism, the government quickly and Four Modernizations, Architectural One notable typological example clandestinely launched plans for a

Roskam JAE 69:1 31 “crash” hotel program to build new, Figure 4. Guangzhou international-standard hotels with Municipal Planning Bureau. White Cloud help from a handful of international Hotel, Guangzhou, design and management corporations China, 1976. Jianzhu in late 1978.23 Xuebao, no. 2 (June 1977). Republished The design institute was targeted with permission from as the main organizational mecha- Jianzhu Xuebao. nism through which the logistical and procedural adjustments required for architectural reform could be both assessed and tested. That July, a joint- venture law was officially approved that allowed foreign architectural firms to partner with state-run institutes, effectively legalizing the injection of internationally influenced ideas and methods into China’s socialist-era design and construction processes.24 Exchange programs were also launched within each of the country’s newly reconstituted architectural departments and justified on the premise of encouraging technological innovation and advancement, and thus broadly constitutive of reform.

Figure 5. Guangzhou Municipal Planning Bureau. White Cloud Hotel, Guangzhou, China, 1976. Interior rendering. Jianzhu Xuebao, no. 2 (June 1977). Republished with permission from Jianzhu Xuebao.

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 As the preferred vessels for opportunity it presented. Within the largest architectural firm in the the state-sanctioned process of the field of architecture, as in other United States, to work on a joint- modernization, both joint ventures industries, there existed wide room venture hotel project to be designed and exchange programs formally for interpretation. in coordination with the 2,500- acknowledged the logistical and ideo- The specific forms of the person state-run Beijing Institute of logical value of more liquid, informal resulting architectural projects are Architectural Design (BIAD). The methods of knowledge exchange not my focus here; rather, it is the purported advantages of foreign within socialist China’s architectural practice-based shifts necessitated design expertise prompted the agency industry. The linguistic vagaries used by reform and the conflicting design to seek an American firm in the first in the joint-venture legislation’s methods they illuminate. In July place, and Warnecke was a participant construction, for example, afforded 1980, the Qiong Hua International in the AIA’s first sponsored trip to an indeterminate degree of legal and Tourist Corporation, one of Chain’s China in 1974.25 ideological flexibility, both for those newly established, government-run According to one of the project’s officials anxious over its ramifica- travel bureaus, commissioned the coordinating architects, Roger Hong, tions and to the foreign and Chinese American architectural firm John China’s shifting “political climate” stakeholders ready to engage in the Carl Warnecke & Associates, then necessitated some degree of urgency

32 Practicing Reform with the West” both within China been addressed during the design and abroad.27 The team eventually development process itself, and fol- settled on an 80-meter-tall hotel lowing schematic design approval.28 that included 1,000 rooms as well as BIAD officials insisted they would a revolving restaurant, to be built in make the necessary adjustments the city’s northeast sector to welcome to the project, and their American guests arriving from the recently ren- partners were sent home. Over the ovated Beijing airport (Figure 6). Over following months, a series of cables the span of two and a half months, was sent to the Warnecke/Dolinsky both teams cooperatively produced team by the Qiong Hua Tourist design documents that included pre- Corporation explaining that the proj- liminary structural, mechanical, and ect had not been approved due to electrical drawings written in both “controversial design features,” such Chinese and English, along with bilin- as its revolving rooftop restaurant. gual presentation boards, brochures, Despite having already completed and a scaled building model (Figure 7). their services, the firm was told that In November 1980, the sche- the project’s failure gave the Chinese matic design proposal was formally government the right to renegotiate presented to a hall of 250 government their fees. Further communication officials in Beijing (Figure 8). Only in a with BIAD staff, meanwhile, was Figure 6. P&T Group. Jinling Hotel, Nanjing, China, 29 1983. Courtesy P&T Group. subsequent series of smaller meetings, prohibited. however, was the project—still in its The Qiong Hua hotel represents with regard to the project’s comple- preliminary form—subjected to the one unsuccessful example in a range tion. Yet the operational mechanism first of innumerable, seemingly minor of early joint-venture projects that by which foreign firms would share design modifications, including the collectively helped to expose the responsibility over the design pro- requested enlargement of a kitchen, new degree of operative ambiguity cess with their Chinese equivalents the lowering of its revolving rooftop present within post-Maoist Chinese remained opaque, as was the means restaurant so that it might appear less architectural practice. Yet even “suc- by which foreign architects would extravagant, and the addition of more cessfully” realized projects like the overcome language obstacles with parking, among other seemingly mun- Jinling Hotel, completed in Nanjing Chinese partners. Ten architects and dane requests. Such extensive vetting in 1983 by the Hong Kong–based engineers from the BIAD were first directly contrasted with American P&T Group, or the Great Wall Hotel, flown to the United States to research design practices at the time, in which initially designed by Welton Becket American hotel design. There, studio such minute criticism would have International and completed in 1984, space was arranged within Warnecke’s encountered daunting language Los Angeles office as well as the office obstacles, time constraints, and of the project’s structural consul- political intrigue that made qualitative tant, Martin & Huang International. assessment of substantial knowledge Hong’s status as director of design for exchange through the design process Warnecke & Associates’ Los Angeles difficult, if not impossible (Figure 9). and San Francisco offices, coupled With all initiatives considered govern-

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 with his Chinese ethnicity, made him ment projects of one kind or another, the most appropriate candidate to foreign partners had little choice but coordinate the international design to acquiesce to the opaque, shift- team. ing political hierarchies occurring at A number of practical challenges the central, provincial, and munici- quickly arose. Hong was third- pal levels. Foreign architects were generation American-born Chinese typically left to focus on the formal who spoke limited Cantonese and no aspects of the design, while their Mandarin Chinese, leaving the team mainland Chinese partners struggled to rely upon what Hong defined as the to shepherd projects through the “language of architecture.”26 BIAD government’s labyrinthine approval 31 representatives were insistent that the Figure 7. Warnecke/Dolinsky. Qiong Hua Hotel process. In the design process for project be a high-rise tower capable of (proposal), Beijing, China, 1980. Architecture the Jinling Hotel, for example, Jim projecting “an image of technological California (October/November 1981). University of Kinoshita, the P&T Group’s proj- California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Library Special accomplishment as well as social and Collections. Republished with permission from ect architect, was assigned to work political openness in communicating Wayne Thom and the Warnecke family. with six architects from the staff

Roskam JAE 69:1 33 by Jiangsu Province’s Governor Gu Xiulian.32 The unpredictable, often frus- trating dynamics of cross-national interaction and interparty strife spilled out into the construction site as well. Although Chinese construction teams were tasked with realizing these innovative new projects, vastly different foreign and Chinese standards with respect to building quality and material processes led to significant construction delays and cost overruns, making each project a unique and extremely challenging exercise in both project management and international diplomacy.33 Chinese construction units lacked the basic mechanistic and technical expertise to complete complex, high-rise construction projects, necessitating the importation of equipment from Figure 8. Warnecke/Dolinsky. Qiong Hua Hotel Figure 9. Warnecke/Dolinsky. Chinese officials Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan, design team, Beijing, China, 1980. Architecture inspect the Qiong Hua Hotel model, Beijing, China, as well as the United States. Foreign California (October/November 1981). UCLA 1980. Architecture California (Oct/Nov 1981). Library Special Collections. Republished with UCLA Library Special Collections. Republished executives often complained that permission from the Warnecke family (above). with permission from the Warnecke family (below). Chinese officials seemed to be inventing building regulations as they went along when, in fact, party representatives were hurriedly establishing legal and tax systems to replace the obsolete Maoist-era policies of the past.34 “The Chinese are not up to date in terms of computerized scheduling of procedures and manpower,” explained G. MacDonald Becket, chairman of Welton Becket Associates, upon announcing his firm’s withdrawal from its initial joint-venture project, the Great Wall Hotel, in mid-1982. “They are substantially behind and can’t adjust to the modern system.”35

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 The massive administrative lapses and overlaps evident in China’s construction industry underscored the enormous challenges posed by the need to accommodate both new, more nimble forms of architectural practice and the massive labor of Southeast University (then the Nanjing that might overshadow the systems still dependent upon the Nanjing Institute of Technology) as capital’s own ambitious design plans. construction process itself. Initially well as four assigned architects from Despite vociferous protests over the promoted as innovative models of Beijing. Although the Beijing faction’s building’s height at both the design international collaboration, architec- role was never explained to Kinoshita, and review stages by Beijing-based tural joint ventures were particularly he quickly interpreted their pres- participants, the hotel was eventually vulnerable to the tensions these ence as evidence of the central completed—becoming China’s tallest operational experiments presented. government’s fears over the possible building at the time in the process— At the same time, they also presented realization of a high-rise tower in with political assistance provided opportunities for an architectural

34 Practicing Reform establishment eager to reconceptu- by eleven major practitioners—six alize its own professional position Chinese and five foreign partici- within Chinese society. pants—including Chen Zhanxiang, an urban planner best known for his Professional Realignment collaborations with Liang Sicheng Confronted by the technical and in post-1949 Beijing; Shou Zhenhua, operational superiority of their for- principal architect at BIAD; Tao Ho, eign professional equivalents and the a well-known Hong Kong–based broader political and economic devia- practitioner; and Macklin Hancock, tions taking place, Chinese architects a Harvard-educated planner who struggled to reconcile the impact of worked on the design of Don Mills, reform upon architectural form as an early model for postwar suburban well as practice. New spaces, insti- design in Toronto.40 The group was tutional frameworks, and discursive officially launched in the Great Hall systems were urgently needed within of the People on January 19, 1985, to which the inherent incongruities Figure 10. Beijing Architectural Group. facilitate greater cooperation between of reform, emblematized through Communication flow chart. Jianzhu Xuebao, no. 8 mainland architects and those living (August 1986). Republished with permission from discrepancies in architectural pro- Jianzhu Xuebao. in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other for- duction and praxis, could be refined eign locales. and eventually reconciled with the innovative institutional entities would Great Earth did not derive its broader interests of the state. In a look like, and how they would func- income from state subsidies, as was series of debates beginning in 1982 tion in light of the new economic, accustomed design institute policy, concerning several notable joint- political, and cultural trajectories but from the profits accrued through venture hotel projects, a handful of increasingly extending both within government- and foreign-funded well-positioned Chinese architects and beyond China’s geopolitical bor- projects both inside and outside and academics debated the merits ders. By the end of the year, several China. It would pay taxes per Chinese and limitations of each project in aes- new initiatives were launched. Each law, and wages would be paid on an thetic and formal terms.36 Postmodern was to be directed by an ethnically adjustable basis dependent upon the notions of identity, heterogeneity, and Chinese architect with extensive amount of work completed by the contextualism had begun to impact international expertise in an effort to firm. If the firm’s revenue exceeded post-Maoist architectural discourse combat the perceived inadequacies of an undisclosed amount, however, it in China, and many of the hotels were the design institute amid the mount- would be regulated accordingly. In evaluated based on their sensitivity ing pressures of reform. At the same order to compensate for its unique to regionally specific building forms time, each necessitated a broadening status and any presumed monetary and styles. Several participants ques- of the party’s still nascent reform-era advantages incurred therein, Great tioned the value of importing foreign ideological agenda to accommodate Earth would contribute 100,000 ren- ideas when China’s own financing the transformative new structures minbi to a foundation devoted to systems, managerial standards, and they comprised. rural architectural development and building practices seemed sufficient, One model, incorporated as the the promotion of rural architectural though most attention was paid to the Great Earth Architects & Engineers expertise.41 new aesthetic conditions of reform.37 International (Dadi jianzhu shiwusuo), A second model known as The

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 Ultimately, however, there existed constituted socialist China’s first “col- Beijing Architectural Group (Beijing little substantive discussion concern- lectively owned” joint Sino-foreign jianzhu sheji shiwusuo) was established ing the potential ramifications of private architectural firm.38 It was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry market-based experimentation within intended to operate independently of Construction. Headed by Wang China’s state-run economic model on within the Construction Bureau and Tianxi, a Tsinghua University gradu- the practice of design itself. was to be headed by Peng Peigen, a ate with overseas working experience In the fall of 1984, a series mainland Chinese–born architect in the office of I. M. Pei, the group of internal discussions were held whose family had moved to Taiwan was intended to function as a kind of within the BIAD concerning poten- in 1949.39 Peng had initially returned design armature within the munici- tial new organizational prototypes to China in 1979 as part of a Canadian pality of Beijing. It was tasked with for architectural practice in China. architects’ exchange; three years “bringing prosperity to China’s archi- Recognizing the need to channel later, he accepted a position to teach tectural production, exploring ways of ever-increasing flows of capital as well architecture at Tsinghua University improving the state of design experi- as knowledge into China into reli- and moved there permanently. Great mentation, and improving the design able institutional assemblages, party Earth was to be comprised of no industry’s economic efficiency.”42 officials began to consider what such more than fifty employees headed The Beijing Architectural Group was

Roskam JAE 69:1 35 Figure 11. Beijing Architectural Group. Joint prohibiting societies from operating rhetorical flourishes to justify their School and Housing Project, Beijing, China, 1985. architectural practices.43 It, too, did existence, effectively devaluing Jianzhu Xuebao, no. 8 (August 1986). Republished with permission from Jianzhu Xuebao. not receive funding from the state and the ideological foundation of such was expected to derive income from rhetoric altogether. “Strictly speak- expected to sustain itself through contracts made with other work units ing, the all-inclusive design institute commissions for building projects in around China. is reflective of a feudal, autarkic China, and its responsibilities were The critical element differentiat- attitude,” argued Wang. “Over the specifically limited to the practice of ing each group from China’s standard course of the twentieth century, design. Promotion within its system design institute model was their reli- a number of factors have changed was openly contrasted with that of ance upon nonguaranteed income social development, necessitating the design institute, which depended through architectural as well as urban new degrees of specialization capable upon demonstrations of expertise, a design work. As experiments not only of facilitating significant develop-

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 degree of loyalty, and overall adher- in the production of design, but in ment.”44 “Only through reform is ence to party dogma as it pertained to the design of production, each was there vitality,” argued Yan Xinghua architectural expression. The Beijing created specifically to challenge the in his own introduction to his firm’s Group relied on more horizontal hierarchical administration of the practices.45 In justifying his own per- transfers of knowledge and expertise institute system as well as the domi- sonal involvement with Great Earth, among its partners (Figure 8). nant monetary policies underlying it Shen Zhouhua argued that “there is A third prototype emerged in the (Figure 10). The anticipated results no worthwhile style in any Chinese form of the Zhong Jing Architectural would transform the nature of archi- architecture today because archi- Design Office. Initially launched by tectural practice in China by enacting tectural style is something that the the Architectural Society of China in a new degree of agility, reflexivity, administrators who govern our pro- coordination with the Beijing Civil and nimbleness into the creation and fession do not understand. All these Engineering Society in February compensation of design work. people are concerned about is to save 1985, Zhong Jing was placed under Such a bold undertaking, how- money and they think the only way to the control of society member and ever, demanded a new language of do this is by using cheap materials.”46 party stalwart Yan Xinghua after legitimization. Each group subse- Rationalizing the value of each national regulations were imposed quently appropriated Maoist-era respective group’s autonomy also

36 Practicing Reform Figure 12. Beijing Architectural Group. Joint that sliced through the courtyard of Architecture, the Shanghai School and Housing Project, Beijing, China, 1985. underscored the fragmented duality Institute of Architectural Design, Jianzhu Xuebao, no. 10 (August 1986). Republished with permission from Jianzhu Xuebao. of both the building’s program and and the Design Institute of the the new design mechanisms behind People’s Liberation Army’s Logistics denigrated the ideological basis and it.47 Zhong Jing design proposals, Department, among others.49 structural integrity of the design insti- ranging from a Chinese revolution- Although these new operational tute itself. New schisms between the ary history museum in Shaanxi to a mechanisms were expected to coexist country’s architectural community Hong Kong and Macau trade center with each other as well as the design and the construction industry within and hotel complex built in coordina- institutes still in place, competition which it remained uneasily positioned tion with the Hong Kong Engineering was inevitable. Wang deemed it a presaged consequential changes in and Design Corporation, evinced healthy development, but it engen- the conceptual production of Chinese similar displays of surprising variety dered new incompatibilities between architecture in relationship to the in terms of project size, function, private architectural practice and

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 physical act of construction. The and location (Figure 12). The hybrid- the state-run institutes still respon- quality of work produced by each ity of the trade center’s program sible for project construction. A new group may be difficult to differentiate captured the international nature political-economic order had taken in relationship to equivalent projects of its design management struc- place around the shifting value of designed and completed by design ture; both addressed the broader knowledge as a kind of currency. No institutes at the time, but the lati- geopolitical oppositions looming as longer did the architect represent an tude afforded them with respect to China prepared to regain political engaged component of the labor pro- questions of scale, program, and the control over both Hong Kong and cess—rather, he/she now figured as division of labor is notable. A Beijing Macau in 1997 and 1999, respectively. a broker of information and expertise Architectural Group scheme for a Great Earth projects, which included in an expanding economy increasingly joint school and housing project, for master plans for Xiamen, Tianjin, shaped by flows of capital. example, was comprised of an unusual and Hangzhou as well as a boutique integrated series of commercial and restaurant in Taiwan, demonstrated Conclusion educational spaces organized around a diverse and complex assortment of The shifting practices of reform-era a central courtyard (Figure 11). The project sites and partners, including architectural design in China need use of a dramatic diagonal corridor Tsinghua University’s Department to be seen as more than incidental

Roskam JAE 69:1 37 aftershocks of the seismic political like Liu Jiakun or Wang Shu—both of Notes and economic changes roiling the whom came of age during the reform 1 Zou Denong, “Liang ci yinjin waiguo jianzhu lilun country over the course of the 1980s. era—echo Cultural Revolution–era, de jiaoxun: Cong ‘minzu xingshi’ dao ‘hou xiandai jianzhu,’” Jianzhu Xuebao, no. 11 (November 1989): In many respects, the allure of new on-site interactions between intel- 47–50. design methodologies and practices lectual and villager while standing in 2 Shuishan Yu, Chang’an Avenue and the Modernization served as a key impetus for change stark contrast to the kind of quasi- of Chinese Architecture (Seattle: University of itself, triggering a rapid implementa- corporate professional privatization Washington Press, 2012), 159. 3 The “Four Modernizations” comprised quantifiable tion of plans and initiatives without that rippled through the industry in advancements in science and technology, national 51 ideological justification or procedural the 1980s. defense, agriculture, and industry. See Richard precedent. These organizational These new formulations may Baum, ed., China’s Four Modernizations: The New realignments, as much as the physi- not signal China’s full-blown trans- Technological Revolution (Boulder, CO: Westview, cal forms and spaces they produced, formation into a postindustrialist, 1980). 4 See Yu Guangyuan, Deng Xiaoping Shakes the World: formulated an architecture of reform. spectacularized, consumer society, An Eyewitness Account of China’s Party Work Conference With reform came crisis, as the het- but they do evoke the kind of abrupt and the Third Plenum (Norwalk, CT: EastBridge, erogeneous methods of design and and sudden violence associated with 2004); see also J. B. Shank, “Crisis: A Useful production initially introduced in an what Fredric Jameson defines as Category of Post-Social Scientific Historical Analysis?,” American Historical Review 113, no. 4 effort to accommodate the market postmodernism—“a radical break, (October 2008): 1090–99. severely curtailed the Chinese gov- both with a dominant culture and 5 Yu, Chang’an Avenue (note 2), 173–77. See also Peter ernment’s ability to control questions aesthetic, and with a rather different G. Rowe and Seng Kuan, Architectural Encounters of architectural making, meaning, moment of socioeconomic organi- with Essence and Form in Modern China (Cambridge, and value. zation.”52 In this respect, they are MA: MIT Press, 2002), 137–45, 86; Wang Mingxian and Zhang Xudong, “Notes on Architecture and The indeterminacy of reform emblematic of systemic contradic- Postmodernism in China,” boundary 2 24, no. 3 as both process and ideology, and tions and semiotic breakdowns still (Autumn 1997): 163–75; Zou Denong, Zhongguo the dramatic reconfiguration of the occurring within the ever-mutating xiandai jianzhu shi (Beijing: Zhongguo jianzhu architectural industry around the political-economic order of social- gongye chubanshe, 2010), 101–45. F. Sizheng Fan, e.g., has argued that “although postmodernism pursuit of profit that has occurred in ist China itself. Recent protestations was a popular topic in China, it was not a main- China over the past forty years, has by Chinese President Xi Jinping stay in actual design.” See Fan, “Culture for Sale: hastened new and uncertain avenues that China avoid building any more Western Classical Architecture in China’s Recent for discursive engagement and pro- “weird architecture” (qiqiguaiguai de Building Boom,” Journal of Architectural Education 63, fessional interactivity that remain at jianzhu) suggest an anxious political no. 1 (October 2009): 66. See also Hao Shuguang, Dangdai Zhongguo jianzhu sichao yanjiu (Beijing: China the heart of the intellectual and pro- regime still eager to employ architec- Architecture and Building Press, 2006), 106. fessional formation of China’s current ture’s imageability to project an aura 6 See G. H. Jansen, Afro-Asia and Non-Alignment architectural elite. Reconditioning of political stability and economic (London: Faber, 1966). China to the economic, political, progress without acknowledging the 7 See, e.g., Ding Guorui, “Zhong Fei zhi hang,” in Jianzhu rensheng, ed. Zhongguo jianzhu sheji yanji- and social vicissitudes of the global ideological contradictions and social uyuan (Beijing: Tsinghua daxue chubanshe, 2004), market has engendered a number fragmentation the country’s physical 79–80. of unique proto-postmodern forms development has entailed.53 What also 8 See, e.g., Liu Yunhe, “Guowai jianzhu jianjie: Alian of architectural praxis within the remain unaddressed are the operative jianzhu,” Jianzhu Xuebao, January 1964, 34–38. overarching discursive and operative systems of design that continue to 9 In 1973, e.g., Japan began to import oil from China’s Daqing fields. By 1977, petroleum made up nearly superstructure of China’s ongo- make such development possible. half of Japanese imports from China. In 1978, the ing modernization. Although the countries signed a long-term trade agreement

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 recent rise of a liberalized, critical Author Biography whereby Japan offered to finance the export of Chinese architecture, emblematized Cole Roskam is an Assistant Professor US$10 billion of its modern plant, industrial technology, and materials to China for an equivalent by the work of Ma Qingyun, Yung Ho of Architectural History in the amount of Chinese crude oil and coal. Chang, and Zhang Lei, among others, Department of Architecture at the 10 The society now exists within the bureaucratic is often traced to China’s reinstitu- University of Hong Kong. His writing structure of the Ministry of Construction. tion of a professional registration has appeared in Artforum, the Journal 11 See “Special issue: China,” Architectural Design 49, system in 1994 following four decades of the Society of Architectural Historians, no. 3 (March 1974): 139–225. 12 Participants included Urbahn; Pei and his wife; of state-run design work, the roots and Grey Room, among other publi- Bill Slayton, executive vice president of AIA; Jim of these “experimental” architectural cations. He is currently editing his Foley, president of the National Architectural practices need to be seen in relation first book,An Improvised City: Civic Accrediting Board (NAAB); Sam Hurst, former to the initial transformative shifts in Shanghai, 1842–1936, which is based dean of the Architecture School at the University of Southern California; Chick Marshall, president- Chinese architectural praxis that took on his dissertation. He has also begun elect of AIA; Wally Meisen, assistant commissioner place before and during the advent work on a second project, which will of the General Services Administration (GSA); Bob of reform itself. More recent disci- address China’s architectural culture Madison; Arch Rogers, AIA president; and Dan plinary interest in amateurism, as between 1973 and 1989. Schwartzman, board member of the International evinced through the work of figures Union of Architects (UIA); John Carl Warnecke;

38 Practicing Reform George White, architect of the Capitol; Harry the eventual construction of the Jinling Hotel in 50 See, e.g., Guanghui Ding, “‘Experimental Weese; Sidney Nyhus; and Walter Wagner, editor Nanjing. Singapore Land representatives spent Architecture’ in China,” Journal of the Society of of Architectural Record 156, no. 3 (September 1974): six months waiting for approval from Beijing, Architectural Historians 173, no. 1 (March 2014): 28–37. 111–124. only to travel to Nanjing to discover that Beijing 51 This position was also prefigured within Japanese 13 Ibid., 113–14. authorities had not reported their approval to the postmodern discourse during the 1980s. See, 14 “Technology Impresses Chinese Architects,” Nanjing municipal government. Singapore Land e.g., Arata Isozaki, “Of City, Nation, and Style,” MEMO, October 27, 1975, 2. was also instructed to avoid using foreign contrac- in Postmodernism and Japan: Post-Contemporary 15 He Guangqian to William Slayton, March 17, 1977, tors despite the inability of Nanjing construction Interventions, ed. Masao Miyoshi and Harry D. American Institute of Architecture Archives, engineers to provide adequately trained staff or Harootunian (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, Washington, DC. equipment to realize the project. C. F. Tao, inter- 1989), 54. Isozaki’s essay originally appeared in 16 Richard Baum, Burying Mao: Chinese Politics in the view with the author, September 18, 2014. Shinkenchiku in November 1983 and was translated Age of Deng Xiaoping (Princeton, NJ: Princeton 31 Jim Kinoshita, interview with the author, January into English in The Japan Architect, January 1984. University Press, 1994), 57. 23, 2014. 52 Fredric Jameson, “Foreword,” in Jean François 17 See Aihwa Ong, “Chinese Modernities: Narratives 32 Ibid. See also James H. Kinoshita, From Slocan Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on of Nation and of Capitalism,” in Ungrounded Empires: to Hong Kong: An Architect’s Journey (Victoria, BC: Knowledge (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota The Cultural Politics of Modern Chinese Transnationalism, Trafford, 2005), 197–206. Press, 1984), vii. ed. Aihwa Ong and Donald M. Nonini (London: 33 See “Building across the Border,” Building Journal 53 Alyssa Abkowitz with contributions from Ma Routledge, 1997), 171–201; Alan Smart and Jinn-Yuh Hong Kong, April 1980, 7; Randall E. Stross, Bulls Si, “Xi Jinping Isn’t a Fan of Weird Architecture Hsu, “The Chinese Diaspora, Foreign Investment in the China Shop and Other Sino American Business in China,” Wall Street Journal, China Real Time and Economic Development in China,” Review of Encounters (New York: Pantheon Books, 1990), blog, October 11, 2014, http://blogs.wsj.com/ International Affairs 3, no. 4 (Summer 2004): 546–47. 196–220. chinarealtime/2014/10/17/xi-jinping-isnt-a-fan-of- 18 MIT’s exchange program, e.g., was launched fol- 34 “Sweet Is Turning to Sour: Foreign Capitalists in weird-architecture-in-china/. lowing a 1980 trip to China taken by Kevin Lynch China Run into a Host of Troubles,” Time, June 2, and Tunney Lee, who was born in the United 1985, 56. States but still had a number of family members in 35 “U.S. Firms Bow out on CM,” Engineering News- the mainland. Tunney Lee, interview with author, Record, July 15, 1982, 34. August 13, 2013. See also Kevin Lynch, Tridib 36 See “Shanghai Longbai fandian jianzhu chuanzuo Banerjee, and Michael Southworth, City Sense zuotanhui,” Jianzhu Xuebao, no. 9 (September 1982): and City Design: Writings and Projects of Kevin Lynch 1–6; “Beijing Huadu, Jianguo liang fan dian sheji (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1990), 226–31. zuotan,” Jianzhu Xuebao, no. 9 (September 1982): 19 Xiao Tong, “Jiefang sixiang, kaidong jiqi, ba kancha 21–23; “Beijing Xiangshan fandian jianzhu sheji sheji gongzuo tigao dao yi ge xin de shuiping,” Yan zuotanhui,” Jianzhu Xuebao, no. 3 (March 1983): Zixiang, “Jiefang sixiang, jiao ta shidi, nuli zuo hao 57–64. kancha sheji gongzuo,” and Gong Deshun, “Dapo 37 “Shanghai Longbai fandian jianzhu chuangzuo jingshen jiasuo, tigao sheji shuiping,” all in Jianzhu zuotanhui,” Jianzhu Xuebao, no. 9 (September 1982): Xuebao, no. 6 (November 1979): 1–10. 1–6. 20 See “Pengcheng fandian,” Jianzhu Xuebao, no. 1 38 Mary Lee, “More by Design,” Far Eastern Economic (March 1977): 46–48; “Guilin Lijiang fandian,” Review, January 24, 1985, 34. Jianzhu Xuebao, no. 2 (June 1978): 38–40; “Dongfang 39 In Taiwan, Peng studied architecture under Wang fandian jianzhu sheji,” Jianzhu Xuebao, no. 4 Dahong, a classmate of I. M. Pei’s in China, before (December 1978): 18–19. moving to the United States to earn a master’s 21 Beijing shi jianzhu sheji yuan wu shi, luguan dia- degree in architecture at the University of Illinois ocha yanjiu xiaoxu, “Luguan jianzhu sheji de ji ge at Urbana-Champaign in 1973. He went on to work wenti,” Jianzhu Xuebao, no. 2 (June 1977): 8. for a number of firms both there and in Canada, 22 Linda K. Richter, “Political Implications of including C. F. Murphy, Bregman and Hamann (B Chinese Tourism Policy,” Annals of Tourism Research + H), and H. H. Robertson. See http://www.great- 10 (1983): 399; “China Puts 1979 Visits at 800,000 earthsz.com/en/About.asp?Id=25&SortId=36. Tourists,” New York Times, January 2, 1980, A11. 40 Liu Xiaoting, “Chen Zhanxiang de chengshi 23 James P. Sterba, “China’s Crash Hotel Program,” guihua sixiang yu shixian” (PhD dissertation, New York Times, February 7, 1979, D1. Wuhan Ligong Daxue, 2012), 30; Macklin Hancock, 24 In addition to joint ventures, the Chinese govern- “Suburban Town Centers,” Appraisal Journal 33, no. 2 Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 ment allowed foreign enterprises to establish (April 1965): 261-71. wholly owned investments in China, though these 41 Jin Oubu, “Sheji gaige shidian liang nian,” Jianzhu came with multiple disadvantages. Wholly owned Xuebao, no. 7 (July 1987): 2; Lee, “More by Design” ventures are treated as local offices of foreign com- (note 38), 34. panies and are thus subject to higher taxes. Chinese 42 Wang Tianxi, “Xinlu chutan: guanyu jianshe bu partners were often considered crucial to navigate Beijing jianzhu sheji shiwusuo,” Jianzhu Xuebao, no. China’s bureaucracy. See Adi Ignatius, “U.S. 8 (August 1986): 2–5. Companies Going It Alone in China Find Road 43 Yan Xinghua, “Zhiyou gaige, caiyou shengmingli,” Bumpy But Have Few Regrets,” Wall Street Journal, Jianzhu Xuebao, no. 10 (October 1987): 3. October 24, 1988, 1. 44 Wang, “Xinlu chutan” (note 42), 5. 25 Roger Hong, “Joint Venture in Beijing,” Architecture 45 Yan, “Zhiyou gaige, caiyou shengmingli” (note 43), California 3, no. 4 (October/November 1981): 21. 2. 26 Ibid. 46 Lee, “More by Design” (note 38), 34. 27 Ibid. 47 “Shizhang yanjiu ban,” Jianzhu Xuebao, no. 8 (August 28 Ibid., 23. 1986): 28–31. 29 Ibid. 48 “Zhong Jing sheji zuopin xuan,” Jianzhu Xuebao, no. 30 Beginning in 1978, the development corporation 10 (October 1987): 4–30. Singapore Land entered into negotiations with 49 “Dadi jianzhu shiwusuo (guoji) sheji zuopin xuan,” central government authorities in Beijing over Jianzhu Xuebao, no. 7 (July 1987): 5–32.

Roskam JAE 69:1 39 Scholarship of Design Systemic Shifts The Case of Abidjan’s Urban Planning, 1945–60

Yetunde Olaiya Princeton University

Planifiées (SETAP) took over from In the span of one decade, Abidjan received two Badani at a time when the city was already suffering a housing shortage urban plans: the Badani plan (1952) and the SETAP and unplanned settlements had begun plan (1959). Both times, a heterogeneous system springing up in low-lying unhealthy areas at its northern and southern was forged through the expertise of urban planning extents. The SETAP plan (Figure 3) in an attempt to create a more efficient city. Both therefore had three main objectives. One was to address the city’s housing times, the urban plan succeeded only briefly while shortage, which meant developing the associative forces holding it together staved off more housing settlements in the Adjamé, Cocody, and Banco areas. The the dissociative forces ripping it apart. This article second objective was to redirect the focuses on this broader movement of forces, that is, city’s development to the east-west axis. Since the Badani plan, the Ivorian the systemic shifts, which manifested in both urban government had built three major plans but had ramifications beyond them. roads on the north-south axis to feed the city’s two southbound bridges: Introduction not significantly alter the city’s orga- one each along the Plateau’s eastern In May 1947, the French architect nization, keeping the Plateau as its and western coasts, and a third cul- Daniel Badani arrived in Côte d’Ivoire administrative and commercial center minating in a large civic square along to begin work on an urban plan for and Cocody, Treichville, Marcory, and the center. The SETAP plan added a the capital city, Abidjan, that would Adjamé as its main residential areas. road on the east-west axis to connect occupy him for the next five years. It made only three interventions: first, new developments in the Cocody and Prior to this date (Figure 1), the city relocating factories from right beside Banco areas. The third objective was had received its first urban plan in residential areas to newly designated to limit the city’s population growth 1926, establishing its main neighbor- industrial and semi-industrial zones to the arbitrary benchmark set by hoods: the Plateau, Treichville, and near the port on Petit-Bassam Island the Ivorian government of reaching Cocody. Then, in 1934, it replaced to the South and in the Banco area 400,000 by 1972.2 Through a series of Grand-Bassam and Bingerville, across the lagoon from the Plateau to expropriations, from the Plateau espe- respectively, as capital, necessitat- the West; second, laying the ground- cially, and enforcement of new floor ing a new round of urban planning to work for a new international airport area ratios for built areas, the SETAP suit its new status. By 1935, work had at the city’s southeastern extents; and plan laid the groundwork for keeping begun on the Vridi Canal, to provide third, expanding existing residential the population in check. But even with access for seafaring vessels to the areas to accommodate a projected these measures, the SETAP plan was calmer waters of the Ebrié lagoon; population spike. Ultimately, the as powerless against Abidjan’s popula- a new deepwater port, where they Banco area proved too difficult to tion tide as the Badani plan before it: could dock more comfortably than develop and had to be abandoned. in 1966, the city reached the 400,000 the previous wharf on the Atlantic But the plan’s underestimation of the limit and, by early 1969, as much as coast; and a terminus of the new rail- city’s population growth was its real 500,000. way line, providing coastal access for undoing: less than a decade after its Both times, the task had been the inland city of Bamako. Badani’s approval in 1952, Abidjan’s popula- to bring the city’s design up-to-date task was to guide the transformation tripled to 185,000,1 rendering the with its demographic and spatial tion already under way from modest Badani plan obsolete. reality; both times, the response was colonial city to regional commercial In February 1959, the Société pour to deploy a new technical expertise center. The Badani plan (Figure 2) did l’Etudes Techniques d’Aménagements in urban planning, based on surveys,

190 Figure 1. Abidjan Before 1945. Based on drawing from Urbanisme 111 -112 (1969): 22 (top left).

Figure 2. Badani Plan, 1952. Based on drawing from Urbanisme 111–112 (1969): 23 (top right).

Figure 3. SETAP Plan, 1959. Based on drawing from Urbanisme 111–112 (1969): 24 (left).

calculations, and research that counterparts.3 Abidjan’s urban plan- correspondence) to forge a func- claimed to be the solution. Each ning was no different. While both the tioning city. This heterogeneous failure chipped away at the convic- Badani and SETAP plans might not system held together for the afore- tion that modern forms of expertise have fulfilled the task set for them, mentioned urban plans only insofar could deliver. But such failures can I want to suggest that there were as associative forces (administrative be understood as part and parcel objectives they did meet or surpass protocols) surpassed dissociative of technical expertise and their and for which a systems metaphor is forces (growing population). When concealment, a critical part of the most appropriate. Urban planning those dissociative forces became reorganization that takes place in can be understood as a system- stronger than the associative forces, the process of techno-politics so building exercise, weaving together the system broke down and left its that the strategic aspects of tech- people (urban planners, govern- components to be reconstituted in nological artifacts, practices, and ment officials, the local population) a variety of other ways as need be. systems trump their more fortuitous and things (urban plans, contracts, This article aims to understand the

Olaiya JAE 68: 2 191 broader systemic shifts of which both ministry recommended Badani to The bigger problem, however, the Badani and SETAP plans were both the governor-general of French was what became of the system’s artifacts, by focusing on three spe- West Africa and the Ivorian governor component parts under such cir- cific shifts: at the operational level, as a potential urban planner for the cumstances. At the top, the minister from “isolated cog” to “self-sustain- capital city, Abidjan. in Paris issued directives through ing unit”; at the administrative level, As a means of centralizing urban governor-generals and territorial from a governmental to an enterprise policy, the new system seemed logi- governors to expedite the process system; and at the state level, from cal. As a means for implementing throughout the overseas territories. colonial to mutual benefit. metropolitan urban policy in a colo- These directives were either lost or nial outpost like Abidjan, however, simply ignored by government offi- From Isolated Cog to Self- the new system had considerable cials along the way. At the bottom, Sustaining Unit setbacks. Foremost among these urban planners became “isolated The Badani plan was part of a first setbacks were the complicated cogs,” unable to proceed with their wave of French interventions in the administrative protocols that tied duties without the necessary input African territories after the Second together the system’s hierarchical from other parts of the system. In World War. Starting in 1945, the organization from the French over- Badani’s case, the only recourse was French Overseas Ministry had set up seas ministry in Paris, through the to undertake private commissions new urban planning laws to incor- general government of the French in the interim.9 This was the classic porate the overseas territories into a West African federation in Dakar, conundrum: those with decision- centralized system with the French to the territorial government in making authority were not directly mainland.4 Where individual ter- Abidjan. Following his recommenda- involved in implementation; those ritories had been solely responsible tion in November 1946, for instance, directly involved did not have the for their own urban planning, they Badani arrived in Abidjan in May 1947 authority to make decisions. What now had both financial and technical to begin work as indicated earlier but needed to happen, therefore, was assistance from Paris. Funding for did not receive his official contract for the very dissociative forces rip- selected projects came in the form until February 1948. The delay ema- ping apart the original system to of the Fonds d’Investissements pour nated from the general government be assimilated into a new, more le Développement Economique et in Dakar, which had the responsibil- resilient system. Where communica- Social (FIDES) and was disbursed ity of preparing not only Badani’s tion breakdowns within the system by the Caisse Centrale de la France contract but also those of other brought all work to a standstill, in d’Outre-Mer (CCFOM). Technical urban planners heading through- particular, decision-making authority oversight, on the other hand, came out the federation.6 Likewise, after needed to be better disbursed. Such from the new committee for urban- Badani completed work in November a shift in turn called for a different ism and housing in the overseas 1949, it would take another three kind of actor from the traditional territories founded specifically to years for the urban plan to go into urban planner like Badani. This is review urban plans before final effect. This time around, the delay where SETAP came in. implementation, and from the new came from the Ivorian govern- Before becoming a separate breed of urban planners, brought on ment, which had neither the tools entity in 1957, SETAP had been to undertake these plans as techni- to appraise the plan before sending a loosely defined research team cal experts. Trained at the École it to Paris for final approval7 nor within Atelier LWD, the architec- des Beaux Arts, Daniel Badani was the ability to put it into action once tural firm of Guy Lagneau, Michel enlisted to the latter ranks follow- approved.8 Of the six years Badani Weill, and Jean Dimitrijevic. In its ing a three-year stint as a provincial was involved in Abidjan’s planning, best-known iteration, comprising urban planner for the Ministry of therefore, his total active period was five of the firm’s employees,10 the Reconstruction. In terms of specific a mere thirty-one months, while team had conducted research on preparation for an African posting, the rest of his tenure was lost to mass-produced housing in extreme he had worked for timber producers delays during which communication tropical climates in collaboration in French Equatorial Africa and had broke down completely between with the industrial designer Jean a brother-in-law who worked as a the system’s different tiers. In these Prouvé. Only two of the team’s colonial officer in Côte d’Ivoire.5 But, unaccounted periods, the system members would continue as full- given the demand for urban planners ceased functioning collectively and time employees of SETAP,11 while throughout the overseas territories, splintered back into its component the others ostensibly reverted to this thin résumé was no deterrent. In parts under the weight of its admin- their original duties within Atelier November 1946, the French overseas istrative protocols. LWD. The firm’s 1957 relaunch as

192 Systemic Shifts Figure 4. Organizational chart in ATEA-SETAP brochure. Adapted from organizational chart in ATEA-SETAP brochure. (© Direction de l’Architecture et de l’Urbanisme funds (113 IFA 12 ATEA), Archives d’Institut Français d’Architecture)

ATEA-SETAP suggested a neat divi- practice; it was the very technical recourse in the face of bureaucratic sion of labor between ATEA (Atelier and administrative infrastructure setbacks and became an isolated d’Etudes Architecturales), which that allowed ATEA to focus on cog in a broken system. SETAP, on took over Atelier LWD’s architec- architecture alone. Put simply, there the other hand, could keep working tural projects, and SETAP, which did could be no ATEA without SETAP. independently as a self-sustaining the supporting research. However, SETAP, however, was envisioned unit in such an event. This difference an organizational chart (Figure 4) as operating “conjointly, simultane- explains how SETAP came to take for the new ATEA-SETAP reveals a ously, and separately”13 with ATEA over the urban planning of Abidjan more complex relationship between and, I would argue, other collabora- from Badani. its two branches. Listed among tors as well. It was conjointly with the types of architectural projects Jean Prouvé and simultaneously with From Government to Enterprise undertaken by ATEA, for instance, Atelier LWD, for instance, that the Badani’s replacement by SETAP was research, which seems better then loosely defined team carried out might also be understood as part suited to SETAP. SETAP may have its previously mentioned research of a broader systemic restructur- handled “regional and urban plan- into mass-produced housing for ing. By the early 1950s, it was clear ning studies, feasibility studies, extreme climates before 1957. But it to French colonial authorities that studies of industrial decentralization was as a separate entity from ATEA their postwar development scheme and of all other technical matters that SETAP was commissioned to was not working. Of the thirty-two relating to architecture,”12 but ATEA revise Abidjan’s urban plan in 1959. towns and cities for which new urban still had to conduct the directed In the best-case scenario, SETAP, plans had been mandated in 1945 research for design projects on its like Badani, would be at the receiv- (Figure 5), only a handful—includ- own. Likewise, SETAP included not ing end of a chain of command ing Abidjan—had been approved only the predictable technical studies from the overseas ministry in Paris, by 1952. Almost all the plans from and planning departments implied through the general government in this first round were obsolete by the by its name, but also administration, Dakar, to the territorial government time they could be implemented which one might have expected to in Abidjan. The difference was how because they underestimated the find under ATEA as Atelier LWD’s SETAP operated when that chain spatial and demographic expansion successor. SETAP was therefore not of command ceased to function and in urban areas across French Black just a research adjunct tacked on communication broke down within Africa. So it was no surprise by the belatedly to ATEA’s architectural the system. Badani, of course, had no late 1950s when colonial authorities

Olaiya JAE 68: 2 193 Figure 5. Chart of colonial urban planning in French Black Africa after World War II.

commissioned new plans to rec- incorporating the various sponta- initiatives rather than the ongoing tify the problems of the first, or in neous settlements that had either restructuring it really was. some cases, to implement them emerged after or been overlooked by Between 1955 and 1965, there for the first time. Urban planners their predecessors, new urban plans would be two significant changes hired to implement the new plans could better direct spatial expan- to the way development was being did not abandon the standardized, sion and accommodate population implemented by the colonial admin- one-size-fits-all urban policy of the growth. It just so happened that istration. The first was a flattening past as a break from the old impe- this new round of urban planning of the chain of command. Starting rial mother country but because took place during the transition to in 1956, decisions about develop- solutions tailored to conditions on self-rule when they could easily be ment projects in French Black Africa the ground were more effective. By mistaken as brand new government no longer had to filter through the

194 Systemic Shifts French Overseas Ministry in Paris past. Intervention, for instance, no was the responsibility of the CDC or, after 1958, through general gov- longer meant seeing a development infrastructure company SCET, ernments like the one in Dakar. project through from beginning to founded in 1955. The second step was Instead, full jurisdiction—from end. Rather, it could consist only of to channel these new services to the the commissioning of urban plan- providing financial aid, of conducting overseas territories where they were ners to the approval of completed studies, or of supervising imple- most needed. plans—went to the territorial gov- mentation. Moreover, in the latter At the head of the CDC con- ernments overseeing such projects case, technical assistance could be glomerate in the overseas territories directly, as had been the case before deployed either as a short-term mis- was SCET-Coopération. Launched the Second World War. This time, sion run from Paris or by embedding in 1959, SCET-Coop (as it was known however, autonomy came without technicians within a client organiza- for short) consolidated SCIC and the financial constraints. The second tion for a longer period, before it SCET’s overseas activities, which change by French authorities con- became necessary to set up a local had been running haphazardly out cerned the funding of development branch running independently of of the SCET technical department. projects in the overseas territories. Paris. Together, these practices came Soon, it came to replace outgoing Already in 1953, state and territo- to phase out the cumbersome admin- colonial administrations in the areas rial contributions to the colonial istrative bureaucracies of the colonial of agricultural development, con- development fund FIDES had gone hierarchy and forge new systems of struction of major infrastructure, up from 55 and 45 percent to 75 their own. and urban planning. Branches would and 25 percent, respectively; by the One such system developed be set up in different countries that time FIDES became FAC (Fonds around the CDC (Caisse des Dépôts reported to SCET-Coop. In 1960, d’Aide et de Coopération) in 1959, et Consignations). Founded in 1816 the Ivorian branch was the first to be the requirement for a territorial con- by Louis XVIII, the CDC’s initial established in French Black Africa. tribution was completely gone. Also purpose had been to repair the Foremost among its duties was coor- in 1958, the colonial development havoc wreaked by the Napoleonic dinating the activities of the national bank CCFOM, which solely dis- regime on the French economy.14 urbanism and construction company bursed colonial development funds, The thinking was that a new com- SUCCI (Société d’Urbanisme et de became CCCE (Caisse Centrale de pany, without the baggage of the Construction de la Côte d’Ivoire) la Coopération Economique), which contemporaneous French Central and infrastructure company SECI could also disburse funds from new Bank, would be in a better position (Société d’Équipement de la Côte sources. Both changes helped forge to protect savings and service the d’Ivoire), which had been set up the a more efficient system from the public debt. The CDC went on to previous year to perform roughly the massive hierarchy and convoluted become the preferred depository same functions as SCIC and SCET, communication loop that slowed for local savings banks, insurance respectively, in France. SUCCI inter- the pace of development in the first company and pension fund outside vened in social housing: between decade after the war. the social security net, and lender for 1959 and 1964, it produced 3,000 But somewhere in the 1950s, a public interests in France. Only in units16 of better quality than the 3,750 major switch occurred that overshad- the 1950s did the CDC begin expand- Côte d’Ivoire’s earlier real estate owed these changes: the transition ing its familiar scope incrementally. company, SIHCI, had been able to to self-rule in the overseas ter- The first step was to channel CDC generate since 1952.17 SECI, on the ritories. French policy toward the funding into various areas of public other hand, implemented large-scale overseas territories changed from interest through subsidiaries such as projects of which the most important direct intervention to a combina- SCIC (Société Centrale Immobilière would be SETAP’s plan 1959–1960. tion of bilateral aid and technical de la Caisse des Dépôts) and SCET For all intents and purposes, the assistance. Bilateral aid would still (Société Centrale pour l’Équipement CDC conglomerate had become the be financed through the old colonial du Territoire) for regional and urban preferred alternative. mechanisms of the CCCE and FAC. development. Founded in 1954, the Technical assistance, however, would CDC real estate company SCIC From Colonial to Mutual Benefit now be administered not just by the financed and managed public hous- The transition to self-rule was only French Overseas Ministry alone but ing projects but did not get involved the tip of political objectives behind also jointly with ministries of foreign directly with construction. That, the systemic restructuring of the affairs and finance. This new approach along with “project analysis, person- 1950s. French colonial policy had called for a smarter and lighter system nel management, the construction always straddled two approaches: than the colonial hierarchy of the and operation of public facilities,”15 assimilation, which treated the

Olaiya JAE 68: 2 195 overseas territories the same way as for reform in the overseas territories be understood as being under state mainland France, and association, implemented by presidential decree control and technical assistance, as which respected their distinctive on June 23, 1956, and allowing French a tool by which France maintained cultures.18 For the most of French authorities to circumvent the lengthy political control over its overseas colonialism in Africa, the latter had constitutional reform process. The territories. But this view of events taken precedence out of conve- loi-cadre differentiated administra- is by no means full proof. Through nience; only with the development tive duties into two categories: the concept of techno-politics, for schemes of the postwar period did Services d’État, duties remaining instance, scholars have drawn atten- the scales begin tipping in favor of under French control; and Services tion to “the unpredictable power the former.19 But weighed against Territoriaux, duties to be devolved to effects of technical assemblages,”22 past appropriations and potential new territorial assemblies elected which are themselves put to politi- benefits, full assimilation proved too on March 31, 1957, and government cal ends. The stakes in tracking the expensive for the French State to councils, headed up by an elected unforeseen consequences from the implement. Postwar French colonial vice president and the French ter- deployment of French technical policy could only dangle the pro- ritorial governor, from May of the assistance to the overseas territories verbial carrot of assimilation while same year. Unsurprisingly, the are not just to uncover the political continuing with association in the Services d’Etat covered all strategic implications but, more importantly, background. The restructuring of the policy areas that ensured French who they benefited. 1950s was only an improvement inso- cultural dominance while the Services Case in point: any political far as it detracted from this status Territoriaux included the hot-button benefits in the case of Côte d’Ivoire quo. What set the new system apart subjects of socioeconomic invest- were mutual. The election of territo- was its reliance on technology in ment and equal civil service benefits rial assemblies, which were meant to achieving these ends. For the SETAP that the colonial administration coordinate among themselves volun- plan, that diversion on one hand was only too happy to get rid of. In tarily in the form of general councils involved a conspicuous resolution of the plot to conceal the association- replacing the general governments the institutional and organizational ist reality behind an assimilationist in Dakar and Brazzaville, created a problems that delayed the Badani mask, the loi-cadre was an invaluable power vacuum at the federal level plan, and on the other the surrepti- tool for the French administration. with varying repercussions for indi- tious replacement of the colonial Nowhere were these ulterior vidual territories. For Senegal, which administration with the more effi- motives more evident than in the had been the seat of the general gov- cient alternative of enterprise. The area of development. Under the ernment in French West Africa, the concealment of this shift was inher- loi-cadre, urban planning and other new arrangement meant the loss of ently political. large-scale projects considered cul- interterritorial clout. For the poorer The 1950s were the culmination turally relevant or at least pertinent territories within the federation, of reform efforts that started right to colonial image making fell under it meant an end to critical federal after the Second World War. For the state control.20 Smaller projects subsidies. However, the new arrange- October 1946 constitution, African that did not meet these criteria ments granted Côte d’Ivoire, one of deputies had lobbied to define the were ostensibly left to individual the wealthier territories because of new French Union specifically as a territories to implement on their its cocoa production, freedom both “freely chosen” association between own. There was, however, the caveat from Senegal’s domination and from France and its overseas territories that when necessary even territo- the financial obligations of subsidiz- that would afford all subjects the rial projects could draw on special ing its poorer neighbors. In this way, same rights but ended up with a designated missions within the state the loi-cadre enabled France to triage watered-down arrangement, which framework for technical assistance,21 its most valuable assets rather than kept power firmly in French hands much like the CDC subsidiaries— holding on to all its overseas territo- even if it was less absolute than SCET and SCIC—discussed in the ries. The October 1958 constitution, before. But a series of setbacks in previous section. Looking at the again rethinking the relationship the early 1950s—the withdrawal Ivorian case alone, it is obvious that between France and overseas ter- of French troops from Indochina, such technical assistance would be ritories, therefore proposed a fiercer engagement in Algeria, in high demand across French Black federal structure to which territories and growing international criti- Africa during these early stages could subscribe of their own free cism—forced a reconsideration of of decolonization. So long as they will and in which they would have tactics. The centerpiece of this new accepted technical assistance, there- autonomy much like African depu- approach was the loi-cadre, guidelines fore, even territorial projects could ties themselves had requested back

196 Systemic Shifts in 1946. The catch was that reform than had been available through the realm of the social, the human, the had to take place on French terms: colonial hierarchies of old. By keep- rational, is privileged. These are the territorial vice presidents became ing its relationship with both SCET sort of shortcomings this article presidents, replacing the territorial and CDC strictly transactional, has attempted to avoid by viewing governor on the government council, referring to them only for technical Abidjan’s urban planning through a only insofar as they had no additional assistance on development projects, systems metaphor. powers and the French president the new Ivorian government was able By tracking three systemic shifts remained at the head of the executive to downplay any French interests in that manifested in both Badani and council for the French Community. its internal affairs and maintain an SETAP plans, the paper highlights Led by its representative in the illusion of independence. the contingency and complexity of French Assembly, Felix Houphouët- the urban planning process in the Boigny, who was then in charge of Conclusion postwar colonial context. First is the loi-cadre’s implementation, Côte Histories of development in the the operational shift in the way the d’Ivoire supported these reforms for Third World, like that of Abidjan’s planners responded to communica- its own self-interest. Côte d’Ivoire urban planning addressed here, are tion breakdowns within the planning had as much to gain as France. by now a familiar trope. A foreign system, from isolated cog to self- The proof for this mutual ben- expert is brought on to implement sustaining unit, which accounts for efit can again be found in Abidjan’s an ambitious project amid much SETAP’s replacement of Badani. urban planning. Significantly, the fanfare; after much investment in Second is the administrative shift, Ivorian loi-cadre government retained time and capital, the project goes from the sprawling colonial hierarchy the public works director Jean nowhere, the victim of unforeseen between Paris, Dakar, and Abidjan, Millier, who had been instrumental circumstances. Repeated enough to the lighter and more efficient to the city’s postwar planning,23 as times, scholars soon surmised that system offered by the CDC, which one of its few French cabinet min- conditions of poverty, illness, or freed the colonial administration to isters. It was Millier who in turn abnormality within underdeveloped delegate the provision of technical approached SCET about implement- nations were constructed by inter- aid in urban planning to enterprise. ing a new plan for Abidjan around national aid organizations more to Third is the political shift of the 1958 when the shortcomings of the warrant their intervention than to 1950s transition to self-rule, which Badani plan became too blatant to assuage any real need. As a one-way allowed the independent Ivorian ignore. By hiring SETAP to carry out flow of technical expertise from government to take advantage of the the urban planning and establish- imperial metropolis to colonial new CDC system in the SETAP plan. ing SECI to implement the finished periphery, development therefore More importantly, the article draws product, both SCET and its parent becomes no more than a mechanism attention to forms of agency that company, CDC, became conduits of control. Most research on tech- remain unaddressed in most con- for French technical assistance. But nology transfer for the past three temporary accounts of development the concealment of French inter- or so decades has striven to avoid because of its systems metaphor. ests behind enterprise in this case this flattening by incorporating the Rather than just the agency of the also held benefits for Côte d’Ivoire. broader spectrum of interactions planners at the helm or the gov- At their introduction in 1958, the and negotiations involved in such ernment officials with whom they SCET-Coop director Léon-Paul development schemes.25 Scholars liaised, for instance, the operational Leroy recalls the frank statement have studied a variety of questions, shift that gives SETAP the advan- by the Ivorian premier Houphouët- from how such projects were adapted tage over Badani can be attributed Boigny that “we need France even at their implementation sites to how equally to the agency of associative though we are now independent these adaptations in turn contrib- forces bringing the system together and what we need, in particular, uted to the technical expertise at and to the dissociative forces ripping is to begin reconstructing, build- the center. But even these revisions it apart. At the administrative and ing, and developing certain areas of are not without their own limita- state levels, likewise, the colonial Abidjan.”24 SCET provided the newly tions. The goal of incorporating a government seeking to maintain independent nation access to finan- broader spectrum of negotiations, control in the overseas territories cial aid and, more importantly, to the for instance, tends to focus on amid the transition to self-rule is not technical assistance its own citizens highlighting the countertraffic from the only agency at stake. The article had not yet acquired at the time. The periphery back to center, and then also addresses how both France and entire CDC conglomerate offered a on the role of local populations in Côte d’Ivoire stood to gain from more efficient development system particular. More often than not, the the colonial reforms of the 1950s.

Olaiya JAE 68: 2 197 governors of individual colonies to hasten the 21 “Dans les services publiques des territoires, pourra To highlight such complexity, con- approval process. Urbanisme en Côte d’Ivoire (4P être utilisé pour les missions d’assistance technique tingency, and heterogeneity in the 191), ANS. le personnel d’un cadre d’Etat spécial qui sera créé history of Abidjan’s urban planning 8 Ibid. As late as August 29, 1952, the Public Works par décret pris après avis du conseil d’Etat.” See is to enrich our understanding of the director of Côte d’Ivoire, Jean Millier, was writ- decree no. 57-480, Journal Officiel de la République development narrative. ing to the Public Works director-general for Française, April 13, 1957, 3953. the French West African federation to confirm 22 Gabrielle Hecht, ed., Entangled Geographies: Empire whether it would suffice to declare the plan a and Technopolitics in the Global Cold War (Cambridge, Acknowledgments public utility through the governor’s order. MA: MIT Press, 2011), 3. Research toward this article was sup- 9 Badani would be the architect of several impor- 23 As an engineer in the public works department ported by a Carter Manny Award from tant government commissions across Côte (1946–1952), Millier had supervised the construc- d’Ivoire, including the Palais de Justice (1950), tion of the Vridi Canal. As Public Works director the Graham Foundation for Advanced Hôtel des Postes et Télécommunications (1956), (1952–1957) and then as the sole French official Studies in the Fine Arts and a predoc- and the Institut Française de l’Afrique Noire to stay on as a minister in the loi-cadre cabinet, toral fellowship from the West African (1956). So lucrative was his private practice that he he set the agenda for territorial development Research Association. was one of the first French architects to open an and brought in professionals like Badani and Abidjan office in 1950. SETAP to implement it. For more on Millier’s 10 The names (Roger Aujame, Daniel Chenut, work in Côte d’Ivoire, see Jacques Bourdillon, Author Biography Philippe Gennet, Alo Heineman, and Lucien Les Ingénieurs des Ponts au Service de l’Afrique: Yetunde Olaiya is a PhD candidate Variney) are listed in the credits of their publi- Témoignages, 1945–1975 (Paris: L’Harmattan, 2010). at the Princeton University School cation, Habitat en Zone Tropicale Humide (Paris: 24 “Et en effet Millet [sic] m’a présenté au président of Architecture, specializing in the SETAP, 1962). Houphouët-Boigny lequel m’a dit: nous avons 11 Gennet is listed as SETAP’s director-general, besoin de la France bien que nous soyons main- history of modern architecture and Variney, as one of its administrators in tenant indépendants et, en particulier, ce qu’il and urban design in sub-Saharan another brochure. AS: ATEA + SETAP, Object nous faudrait, c’est commencer par reconstruire, Africa. She was the recipient of the DAU-0-ATEA, Direction de l’Architecture et voire construire et développer certains quartiers 2012 Carter Manny Award for dis- de l’Urbanisme funds (133 IFA 12), Archives d’Abidjan.” Léon-Paul Leroy, Interview, March sertation research and is currently a d’Institute Française d’Architecture. 1987, quoted in CDC, Trente Ans de Cooperation 12 Ibid. SETAP is described as a “Bureau d’études Internationale (Paris: Author, 1988), 23. fellow at the Princeton Institute for spécialisé dans les études d’aménagements région- 25 Warwick Anderson gives a survey of such schol- International and Regional Studies. aux et urbains, les études économiques, les études arship in his introduction to a special issue on de décentralisation industrielle ainsi que dans postcolonial technoscience in Social Studies of Notes toutes les études techniques liées à l’architecture.” Science 34, no. 4 (2002): 643–658; Duanfang Lu 13 Ibid. does the same for architectural history in 1 See SETAP, “Introduction,” in Mission 1959, vol. Third 14 A brief history of the CDC in English can be 1, Abidjan et sa Région (Abidjan: Ivorian Ministry of World Modernism: Architecture, Development, and Public Works/SECI, 1959), 1. found in the organization’s 1979 brochure. Identity (New York: Routledge, 2011). 2 Ibid., 2. Archives de Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (hereafter cited as ACDC). 3 This is the argument of Timothy Mitchell’s Rule 15 Ibid., 18. of Experts: Egypt, Techno-Politics, Modernity (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 16 La SCET Cooperation (Paris: SCET-Coop, 1966), 2002). folder 2012-19, ACDC, 27. 4 Ordinance no. 45-1423 and decree no. 45-1436 17 “Les Sociétés Immobilières: Réalisations,” of June 28, 1945, placed the regulation of urban- Urbanisme 111–112 (1969): 95. ism in the various overseas territories under 18 For more on these two approaches, see Tony the French Overseas Ministry and outlined Chafer, The End of Empire in French West Africa: the role and composition of a new Committee France’s Successful Decolonization? (Oxford: Berg, for Urbanism and Housing in the Overseas 2002), 29–31; and Gwendolyn Wright, The Politics Territories, respectively. Moreover, decree no. of Design in French Colonial Urbanism (Chicago: 46-1496 of June 18, 1946, established the proce- University of Chicago Press, 1991), 73–75. dures for starting, approving, and implementing 19 For more on the transformation of French colo- urban schemes. nial policy after World War II, see Chafer,The End 5 These are the two entries that Badani lists in the of Empire (note 18); and also Frederick Cooper, final section of his CV under the title, “Études “Empires as Transformative Agents: French Particulières Specialités.” Urbanisme en Côte and British Colonial Empires,” in Colonialism in d’Ivoire (4P 191), Archives Nationales de Senegal Question: Theory, Knowledge, History (Berkeley and (hereafter cited as ANS). Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2005), 6 Also being drafted at the same timewere the 171–190. contracts for Rémy Le Caisne, who was headed 20 “Services du Plan (section générale du to Guinea, Paul Herbé to Niger and the French F.I.D.E.S.)” can be found listed under subsec- Sudan (now Mali), and either Henri Crouzat or tion VI, “Les services et institutions assurant la Henri Calsat to Dahomey (now Benin). solidarité des éléments constituant la République, 7 In a September 24, 1951, letter to the French son expansion économique, sociale et culturelle Overseas Ministry, the governor-general of the et son régime monétaire et financier,” and under French West African federation, Bailly, cites the Article 2, “Constituent, en conséquence, des lack of topographic surveys as the reason for pre- services de l’État.” See decree no. 57-479 Journal sentation delays and promises to intervene with Officiel de la République Française, April 13, 1957, 3952.

198 Systemic Shifts Scholarship of Design Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 Tuning Up the City Cedric Price’s Detroit Think Grid

Kathy Velikov University of Michigan

world-systems analyst Immanuel Crisis, framed through world-systems theory, Wallerstein, who has been using systems theory to understand global can be understood as a period of opportunity to social and politico-economic change, reimagine and redirect contemporary urban and terms the period of systemic instability, the “wild oscillation” prior to institutional conditions through design. This article systemic reorganization, or bifurca- situates Cedric Price’s Atom and Detroit Think tion, as the period of “structural crisis.”5 Although this period can be Grid projects as generative, system-based proposals quite traumatic and, when it occurs designed specifically to operate within the patterns, in human systems, can be accompanied by great fear since there structures, and dynamics of the institutional and is no way of predicting what new urban crises of the late 1960s. These projects were system will emerge after the transition, Wallerstein sees it as a period intended to strategically and with minimal physical of opportunity. He argues that it is means reorganize these systems toward more during this time when seemingly small actions by individuals or groups socially productive ends, mobilizing an expanded have the potential for immense architectural repertoire to rescript the social and repercussions in terms of the direction that resystematization takes, institutional processes through which the urban since it is at this point when events might be produced and reproduced. are not necessarily outweighed by the structural determinism of the Introduction: Structural Crises relates to the study of how emergent system.6 His Utopistics: Historical behaviors are produced by “pat- Choices of the Twenty-First Century is Systems are born, live long lives terns of relationships.”2 Complex an appeal to understand the con- according to some rules, at some self-organizing systems studied in temporary period of instability as point come into crisis, and then the biotic world have been shown to such a moment of opportunity to bifurcate, and transform into operate through positive feedback seriously imagine, propose, and insti-

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 something else. ... [The] period of loops and are described as “open” gate plausible alternatives to current transition is very difficult to predict, systems, characterized by interac- politico-economic systems. Unlike and also very susceptible to individ- tion with their environment and other periods when system behavior ual and group input—an increase in the tendency to operate further and is more deterministic, actions at this the free will factor. This is our cur- further from equilibrium, eventually time might have the agency to pro- rent opportunity, and our moral and coming to a critical point of insta- duce transformational effects. political obligation. bility, at which time the system will Systems thinking first entered —Immanuel Wallerstein1 spontaneously reorganize into a new the experimental and projective and unpredictable organizational space of the design professions in Within the paradigms of systems state.3 It is not only the dynam- the 1960s, influenced by develop- thinking, crisis is considered part ics of the biotic world that can be ments in information technologies of the “natural” behavior and life explained by this science, but econo- and computation, and following cycle of systems. Systems thinking, mies, societies, and cities can also theories advanced in the sciences which emerged from the fields of be understood to operate through regarding cybernetics, cognition, the natural sciences and cybernet- common attributes, emergent forces, artificial intelligence, sociology, ics in the early twentieth century, and behaviors.4 Sociologist and and ecology.7 This was also a time

40 (AD) both focused on new design ideas for educational systems and institutions, with the cover of AD asking, “What about Learning?” Both issues also featured speculative projects developed by teams of notable architects and students the previous summer at the Rice University Design Fete. The Rice University Design Fete was a highly publicized biannual event inaugurated in 1962 that brought together prominent architects, students, and other consultants for an intensive two-week charrette intended to explore new and experimental architectural and planning ideas for emerging social situations. The first three fetes had Figure 1. Cedric Price. Atom: bird’s-eye networks, patterns, and emergent addressed the topics of commu- perspective, 1967 reprographic copy, 46.4 x relations, and with minimal yet nity colleges, fallout shelters, and 70 cm, DR1995:0233:047, Cedric Price fonds, 13 Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal. powerful architectural tools and mental health centers. The topic techniques that conflate the institu- for the 1967 Design Fete, organized of significant social, cultural, and tion with the city itself. This article by Rice professor William Cannady, politico-economic transformation will focus on two of Price’s less well- was “New Schools for New Towns.”14 globally, a time when it appeared known projects, Atom and the Think Its opening premise was Reyner that all facets of life, including Grid, both developed for the context Banham’s proposition articulated at architecture and the city itself, had of American cities, expanding the the end of his Theory and Design in entered a critical period of reorgani- understanding of Price’s already the First Machine Age, which provoked zation. Of the numerous architects well-discussed projects focused on architects to consider that if they and designers who embraced sys- education and institutions, such as expected to remain socially relevant tems-based approaches in their work the Potteries Thinkbelt and the Fun within the context of the tech- and thinking, Cedric Price seemed Palace, as well as the Oxford Corner nological changes in society, they to intuitively understand the inter- House and Generator projects.11 might have to abandon their cultural action dynamics inherent in open traditions, inherited practices, and systems, cybernetics, and games.8 Designing Education: perhaps even their professional He sought to embrace and experi- The Rice 1967 Design Fete identities.15 The participating archi- ment with ways to productively By the time of the infamous stu- tects for the summer 1967 fete were “intervene” within them in order to dent riots of the summer of 1968, Charles Colbert, Paul Kennon, generate what he believed to be more the crisis surrounding the role, Niklaus Morganthaler, Cedric socially relevant and useful architec- form, and structure of institu- Price, Robert Venturi, and Thomas

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 tures that could provide individuals tions of higher education had been Vreeland. with freedom and empowerment and recognized for some time, as the The project brief and program that could correspond more read- swelling postwar youth population, for the fete was written by a pair of ily to changing societal needs.9 His committed to the leveling of hier- educational consultants from south- design proposals from that period archy and the increase in popular eastern Michigan, Dr. John Tirrell can be seen as intent on actively participation, collided with the and Dr. Albert Canfield. At that time, rescripting the rules of play, goals, paradigm shift of the postindustrial Tirrell was at that time also the first and feedbacks from within the game era of mobility, new technologies, president of the recently inaugurated itself.10 and the “knowledge economy.”12 Oakland Community College (OCC), In that historical moment This transition had not only societal located in suburban Detroit, and Dr. of crisis, Price’s series of design implications but also ramifications Canfield was the OCC vice president. proposals for institutions of educa- for the practices and professions of Tirrell and Canfield appeared to be tion and, by direct implication, the architecture, design, and planning. committed to rethinking the delivery city, can be understood as strategic Serendipitously, the April 1968 issue and accessibility of education within and cogent propositions to inter- of Progressive Architecture (PA) and the the context of information tech- vene into failing systems with new May 1968 issue of Architectural Design nologies and an increasingly mobile

Velikov JAE 69:1 41 Figure 2. Cedric Price. Atom: chart listing educational tools 1967? Reprographic copy, 46 x 69.4 cm, DR1995:0233:018, Cedric Price fonds, Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal.

over the head like a futuristic virtual reality helmet designed by Charles Colbert, to public education dissem- inated through highway billboards in Robert Venturi’s proposal, to Paul Kennon’s community services mega- structure based on shopping mall concourses. Price’s project, which he referred to simply as Atom in publications, conceived of a networked learning infrastructure comprised of a decentralized “kit of educational parts” incorporated within existing urban spaces and infrastructures. The design mobilized a network of portable technologies (televisions, radios, calculators), portable spatial educational elements (furniture, adjustable decks, bleacher seating, and portable viewing screens), and semipermanent educational buildings: the “Town Brain” (a data bank and central hub for the production of educational material as well as the servicing of other educational facilities), the “Life Conditioner Box” (a flexible structure that could provide educational facilities for all age groups), and the “Infant Teach Toy” (a portable elementary school).17 What is remarkable about the design drawings is the extent to which Price conceived the entire system of designed and nondesigned elements, Figure 3. Cedric Price, Atom in New Schools for members of the community, and at multiple scales, as integral to the New Towns / Rice University Design Fete, ed. W. to allow students to learn more project. Of equal importance to Cannady, 1970, pages 26–27, depicting integration of learning technologies in busses and the “infant effectively. They identified that this the design and configuration of the Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 teach toy” design. © Woodson Research Center, would also signal the demise of the major structural components, such Rice University. classroom as the privileged location as the Life Conditioner Box (Figure of information exchange; with this 1), are the everyday technologies and population; their brief challenged information technology–enabled elements that are necessary agents the teams to design a technology- distance education (and an early in the scheme. Price took the time based self-instructional education sensibility regarding MOOCs—mas- to incorporate and draw seemingly network for a hypothetical new sive open online courses), the article banal, common elements such as a company town called Atomia. In argued that learning could now take portable calculator, a pencil, a radio their article for the May 1968 issue place almost anywhere and anytime, tower, and electronic cable path of AD, entitled “The End of the in “the home, the factory, the office alongside seating, portable enclo- Classroom,” which included a sum- and the shopping centre.”16 What sures, and display equipment, as well mary of the Design Fete project could this mean for the architecture as more uncommon elements such brief, Tirrell and Canfield argued of the new learning institutions? as “life cells” (Figure 2). Design, for that it was imperative for teach- The projects produced during Price, was not limited to the design ing and education to adopt new the 1967 Rice Design Fete ranged of novel physical structures alone technologies in order to reach more from a portable study carrel worn but necessarily included conceiving

42 Price’s Detroit Think Grid of the gathering, organization, and interested parties to expand these daily lives and should be conceived interaction of an entire company ideas within new “testing grounds.”21 of more like a human service, acces- of necessarily associated everyday Here, Mullin was referring specifi- sible to and run by the community, artifacts and technologies. The Atom cally to the Potteries Thinkbelt, and it should be pervasive and accessible kit of parts would operate as a flex- the subsequent projects that Price as opposed to concentrated within ible learning system, distributed and developed for Atom and the Detroit a specific locale, and it should avoid redeployable throughout the spaces Think Grid. The Design Fete gave “containers ... [that are] dressed up of the city and its infrastructures, Price the opportunity to expand to look like a medieval college with such as parks, buses, and other his exploration of a thesis he had power points, located in gentlemanly transportation facilities, streets, fac- begun to develop in his essays “Life- seclusion.”23 tories, parking lots, and apartment Conditioning” and “PTb: Potteries The essay is couched in a scath- buildings (Figure 3). Thinkbelt,” published concurrently ing critique of the profession’s In a similar manner to the in the October 1966 issue of AD, emphasis on the built form, image, Potteries Thinkbelt, Fun Palace, Oxford Corner House, and Generator, the Atom education system would be cybernetically controlled. Fundamental to the design was the Town Brain, a “master communications center” that both produced the information technology–based educational programming and also coordinated operation and educational servicing among the various distributed components.18 Intrinsic to Price’s conceptual- ization of architecture was the notion of planned obsolescence and transformation to occur based on use and need. As he did for the Potteries Thinkbelt, Price developed for Atom a life span and use cycle chart for all of the components that comprised the scheme, mapping Figure 4. Cedric Price. Atom: Graph of use cycle and aesthetics of architecture over out a spatiotemporal choreography and lifespan, 1967-1968, reprographic copy, 45.7 the dynamically changing activi- 19 x 69.2 cm, DR1995:0233:022, Cedric Price fonds, for the design (Figure 4). Price Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal. ties and social life that would take understood the fundamental laws of place within it. Price extended his open systems, that is, their eventual critique to the profession’s convic- structural crisis and bifurcation. His along with the design proposal for tion in “static fixes” as responses to design proposals sought an archi- the Potteries Thinkbelt itself. This spatial problems, which, according tecture that could come to terms was a thesis about architecture as to Price, were better served through

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 with those dynamics by embracing an urban proposition. Price wrote approaches that could accommodate the emancipatory potential of such that in the same way that “defence, change and obsolescence through transformations. The Atom project, energy and commerce” had in the flexibility and adaptability. In the for example, was conceived with past been generators of cities, that Potteries Thinkbelt, Price explored a “self-destruct mechanism to be the “need to exchange information” this question of a flexible and adapt- triggered by changes in education could be an urban generator in the able education system by developing philosophies.”20 future.22 He believed that education a distributed learning apparatus of could be an agent that would have mobile structures that was physi- Education and the Urban the capacity to pattern and pro- cally connected and infrastructurally According to architect Steve Mullin, duce the urban. Price argued that dependent on the disused railway. who worked for Price for a number of if, according to demographic and In Atom, the “parts” were con- years, one of Price’s working meth- socioeconomic trends, education nected by the far more ephemeral odologies was to develop a “position was going to occupy a larger propor- infrastructure of communications statement” though a “heavy burst tion of more people’s lives in the technologies; radio signals, television of thinking” and then to allow for future, then education should exist broadcasts, and telephone networks commissions and collaborations by far more in contact with people’s were all mobilized as agents within

Velikov JAE 69:1 43 the architectural proposal that can also be read as the sociospatial placed anonymous artifacts such as product of capital, this time in post- radios and calculators in nonhierar- Fordist crisis, reorganization, and chical relation to the architectural regression from the city. In Thomas structures.24 The focus was shifted Sugrue’s compelling account, this away from the objects of architecture urban crisis was shaped by the to the interactions and possibilities systematic political, financial, and they produced within the space of labor instruments that produced the urban, and to the adaptabil- and reproduced the racially biased ity of the system over time. These social inequality of the city, escalated design strategies were then more through the dynamics of positive thoroughly evolved by Price in the feedback loops, and precipitating proposal of the Think Grid that he systemic and seemingly irreversible would develop the following year for social and economic collapse within Detroit and Oakland Community the city.31 The catastrophic uprisings College. of 1967 and the social and infrastructural divestment that followed The Urban Crisis: The City and are framed as an almost inevitable Its Institutions outcome of system dynamics in place It is perhaps Freidrich Engels, in long before those events; “By the his observations of the nineteenth- time [Mayor Coleman] Young was Figure 5. Oakland Community College. Detroit century working-class urbanism of Think Grid: Oakland Community College Annual inaugurated, the forces of economic Manchester, who first connected Report, 1966-67, 1967, printed volume, book decay and racial animosity were far emergent properties with socioeco- (closed): 22.9 x 15.3 cm, DR2004:0280:004, Cedric too powerful for a single elected offi- 25 Price fonds, Canadian Centre for Architecture, 32 nomic relations and urban form. Montréal. © Oakland Community College. cial to stem.” Much to the dismay of In the 1960s, Marxist urban sociolo- Detroit’s community and civil rights gists such as Henri Lefebvre and traced the urban spatial history of activist groups, in the post-1967 Manuel Castells further articulated the city of Detroit. Pre-1960s Detroit period, city officials proceeded to and analyzed the spatial formation has been identified as the spatial misuse federal antipoverty funding of the city as the materialization of product of “Fordist” capital logics toward projects for large commercial a system produced and reproduced and organizational strategies: from downtown developments that ben- through socioeconomic interac- the urban footprint and geographic efited only the business investors, tions, and specifically focused on the dispersion of the plants themselves, as opposed to channeling it toward mechanisms by which capital forces to the city’s suburban planning of the communities the funds were had shaped contemporary cities over low-density single-family homes, intended to address.33 time.26 They also coined the term the which necessitated dependence on Dr. John Tirrell, who had been “urban crisis,” referring to the capital personal vehicles and diminished appointed the first president of appropriation and reorganization of the possibility for community and the recently established Oakland cities into more and more effective neighborhood coherence, to Henry Community College, which accepted apparatuses for capital accumulation Ford’s personal involvement with its first class of students in 1965, through spatial and political tactics the promotion of the federal state believed emphatically that educa-

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 based in principles of engineering highway system under Eisenhower.28 tional institutions could and should and colonization. Besides producing The inner-city freeways are argued take an active leadership role within a homogenization of urban space, to have operated as biased political the social volatility that at that time this process has been identified to tactics, cutting through some of the seemed to be sweeping the globe, systematically maneuver to segregate most densely populated black neigh- and specifically the city of Greater large portions of the citizenry from borhoods of downtown Detroit, and Detroit. In his annual report issued the spaces of the cities that profit even being described at the time as to the OCC Board of Trustees in from their labor, and to subject a “handy device for razing slums.”29 October of 1967, Tirrell made a cities to the violent and disrup- Similar spatial aggression has been case for the establishment of new tive processes of the ebb and flow identified with the “urban renewal” formats of democratic educational of investment, which, in periods of developments of the 1950s, including institutions and outlined a proposal economic downturn, destructively the iconic Lafayette Park, which all for the OCC to take the historic affects the urban environment and razed and displaced extensive low- opportunity of its recent inaugura- its citizens.27 income black neighborhoods.30 tion, and its projected construction Within these frameworks, a The city of Detroit, in the of several new suburban campuses, range of scholars have read and second half of the twentieth century, to rethink postsecondary education

44 Price’s Detroit Think Grid cites a number of studies that identify undereducation as a major barrier to employment opportunities, especially in the ability of workers to undertake “white-collar” jobs that require professional and technical skills, such as mathematics, analytics, and self-expression, not being adequately delivered in Detroit’s schools and post–high school education programs at the time. The proposal states:

The community college is in a unique position to serve as a bridge between the suburbs and the inner city, and to stress the role of the suburb as part of the megalopolis, with reciprocal responsibilities and privileges. The community college can direct not only the interdisciplinary resources of the College but total community resources to an imaginative community attack on problems of urban blight and poverty.38

Figure 6. Sandra S. Dalka, author. Clipping of an presented a radical proposal to the The proposal continues to argue article about Cedric Price from The Daily Tribune board: that the OCC should recon- that, in light of the “riots” that (Royal Oak, Michigan) August 20 1968, relief halftone on newsprint with cloth tape inscribed in sider moving forward with building had recently erupted not only in ink, mounted on paper 25.4 x 20.3 cm (secondary new suburban campus structures Detroit, but throughout the United support), DR2004:0278:002, Cedric Price fonds, and instead embrace a program of States, this was not a time to “build Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal. © McComb Daily. temporary and portable facilities as impressive structures of concrete, well as “decentralized learning-labo- but rather an urgency to develop as a social and urban institution that ratories” equipped with media-based concrete programs to attack the could redirect the future course of the learning technologies aimed at adult ignorance and lack of skills” of the city. He titled his report “The Future: learners, which would serve to “link impoverished citizen body.39 Once Thinkbelt with Think Links” (Figure 5). the college and outer community in the college was freed from perma- In this document, Tirrell cred- a triangle of stability with a resultant nent campus buildings, it could ited the concept of the Thinkbelt chain of communication between become a “viable force in the com- directly to Cedric Price, with whom the various segments of the community,” a “university of the streets”

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 he had of course spent time and munity.”36 Additionally, Tirrell made able to respond flexibly to shifting had clearly developed a relation- reference to the Fun Palace and needs and locations of need, and ship around common visions and Joan Littlewood’s concept of the “allowing educators to combine ideas at the Rice Design Fete three university as “A Laboratory of Fun,” teaching and practice in a meaning- months earlier. He summarized the and suggested that some of these ful way.”40 The funding requested overarching vision of the Thinkbelt, concepts could also be applied to the was to undertake a series of pilot as an innovative idea for an educa- new vision of the OCC’s facilities. projects that would allow the OCC to tion network whose goal was to Tirrell did not stop there. install and operate these temporary involve and engage the whole com- That same October 1967 he also facilities, for example, by reusing munity and the space of the city in led Oakland Community College’s abandoned storefronts and spaces in education; it would be built around submission for a $148,000 grant underserved communities through- existing infrastructural networks, application to the US Commissioner out Detroit and its suburbs. would be technologically integrated, of Education, entitled “A Proposal Additionally, Tirrell, in col- and would be physically structured to Develop THINK-LINKS between laboration with Cranbrook Academy, to allow for flexibility and experi- the College, the Ghetto and the arranged to invite Price to Detroit mentation.35 In the report, Tirrell Outer Community.”37 The proposal and to commission him to undertake

Velikov JAE 69:1 45 Figure 7. Cedric Price. Think Grid, Architectural Detroit, Oakland, and surrounding typewritten document. The drawings Design, Cedric Price supplement series: mock-up industry facilities. The August 20 of the project, published only in the for periodical article, 1970-1972, ink, colored pencil, transfer lettering with collaged images issue of the Michigan Daily Tribune “Cedric Price Supplement” of the and text on, cardboard with two overlays of ink, reported, “Mod Londoner Eyes More June 1971 issue of AD, appear to have colored pencil and transfer lettering, on mylar, 29.5 Swing for OCCC” and that Price had been produced specifically as layouts x 42 cm, DR2004:1418:001, Cedric Price fonds, Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal. been brought in to see if he could for the journal and include a series of come up with ideas for a “more schematic sketches, photomontages,

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 swinging” college campus (Figure and notations, with excerpts from a “Comprehensive Community 6). Unable to report on any details the report itself comprising the text Survey and Planning Project” for of the work in progress, the reporter in the sidebar. The text opens with Oakland Community College the fol- emphasized the alternative vision Price’s evolving thesis on education lowing year. that Price would likely bring, making as a project of design: note of Price’s “Carnaby Street Think Grid: Detroit, 1968 style,” and also reporting that that To enable at any time the maximum Cedric Price arrived in Detroit in he “liked soul music” and “hated advantage to be taken of educa- the summer of 1968 and was housed stereotypes.” tional facilities then such facilities for the months of July and August in Price’s thirty-page report, enti- must be, in content, sufficiently rich Cranbrook’s Edison House while he tled “Oakland Community College, and varied to respond to the con- undertook his research and work on An Investigation into New Forms stantly changing demands made on the project. His activities included of Learning,” was submitted to the them while, in form, location and meetings with the board, the plan- college in September of 1968.41 The duration, they must be readily avail- ning committee, students, and original report did not contain any able to the whole community. Our industry leaders as well as tours of drawings and consisted only of a educational heritage is increasingly

46 Price’s Detroit Think Grid falling short not only of the the confines of the suburban col- demands made on it but in its abil- lege campus and would literally ity to be a generator of modes and take to the streets, traversing the methods for both the community urban, suburban, and rural areas of and the individual to improve the Greater Detroit. According to Price’s condition of life. The “fall-short” is proposal, and echoing Tirrell’s sub- often due to the apparatus of educa- missions to the board and the federal tion rather than its content or its funding grant, the OCC could achieve progenitors.42 this by co-opting existing urban spaces and abandoned buildings Contrary to the lifetime of de-skilled along the major streets of the city to assembly line work that had charac- provide opportunities for learning terized what we now refer to as the accessible to all of the inhabitants of “Fordist” era of production of the Detroit and its environs, operating as first half of the twentieth century, a physical network and enabling com- Price recognized that the contem- munication and cooperation between porary, “Post-Fordist,” era would be multiple urban actors—educators, characterized by physical and employ- community members, industry, and ment mobility and that individuals commerce. In one of the few sketches Figure 8. Cedric Price. Detroit Think Grid: graph would be faced with continual pres- done while in Detroit, Price dia- of pedestrian locations, August 17, 1968, ink with colored pencil on graph paper, 27.9 x 21.8 cm, sures to be reeducated and retrained grammed the paradigm shift in both DR2004:0280:003, Cedric Price fonds, Canadian relative to changing social opportuni- spatial and administrative terms: Centre for Architecture, Montréal. ties for employment in the context instead of concentrating individu- of the growing service and knowl- als into a small number of particular appears to have provided a concep- edge-based economy. In one of the locations where education would be tual framework for how specific and drawings, Price noted that large num- delivered, the new network would projects would operate, alternatively bers of American families relocated allow for education to connect to as “closed,” “open,” or “fragmented” their residence, that an individual a greater number of individuals in grids (Figure 9, bottom). might now be expected to have “three a far broader number of dispersed The Think Grid consisted of a jobs in a lifetime,” and that school- locations (Figure 8). In his design framework of pilot projects, elements, children were already spending twice development notes, Price oscil- and initiatives for experimental learn- the number of hours watching televi- lated between calling the project the ing facilities, all of various scales of sion than they were in class (Figure 7). Think Net and the Think Grid, finally intensity and public engagement He writes, “advances in technologies settling on the word “grid.” This that would be implemented over dif- not necessarily linked with educa- emphasized the literal street grid of fering durations—from one to over tion are likely to have an increasing Detroit as a structuring agent for the ten years of time scope. All would be effect on its usefulness ... not so much project, which had patterned the vast physically networked by the physical in content as in form and mode of territory of Detroit and its suburbs as urban infrastructure of Detroit and exchange.”43 These social conditions primarily low-density sprawl. In his cybernetically networked through were producing both a spatial and an report, Price wrote that the domi- communications technologies. The institutional crisis relative to educa- nant southeast to northwest axis that framework included physical (por-

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 tion that Price argued could not be characterized the urban organiza- table) facilities and infrastructures, solved through the design of another tion of the greater Detroit area could and ones that were more ephem- college building, and especially not “provide both a county and a regional eral and operational, or, as Price one located in the suburbs of the city co-ordinate in a comprehensive described them, occupying the space whose population it was intended to social/educational Think Grid that beyond the “threshold of major public serve. could service both urban, sub-urban visibility” (Figure 9). These would Price proposed for Oakland and rural areas.”44 The Think Grid include all of the communications Community College a “comprehen- would differ from the Thinkbelt in and programming, cooperation with sive social/educational Think Grid.” “that its capacity to service the area regional institutions and industries, Building on many of the ideas and is multi-directional,” with concentra- and the equipment and mobility frameworks developed in Atom, the tion of effort located at a variety of infrastructure necessary to support Think Grid was conceived of as a points, with only a few having per- OCC operations. portable, flexibly networked, and manent locations.45 Its boundaries A key component of the scheme information technology–enabled would be elastic, with the total area was a fleet of rapidly deployable community educational system of facilities being provided conceived “information pods” or “kiosks” that that would break the OCC out of of as variable over time. The grid also would provide public information

Velikov JAE 69:1 47 starting in the 1950s, the population of Detroit had already shrunk from a peak of 1.85 million in 1950 to about 1.5 million residents.47 Another element in the proposal was “Space Mixers.” These were conceived of as a portable frame that would support a tensile roof and inflatable environmental enclosures that could be temporarily installed in empty urban spaces such as the many underused surface parking lots characterizing the low-density urban condition of Detroit and its suburbs, and that would combine drive-in-style projection of educational information (Figure 10, bottom). “Brain Fairs” were to consist of lightweight climate- controlled enclosures connected to CCTV and telephone networks that would include an audiovisual

Figure 9. Cedric Price. Think Grid, Architectural Design, Cedric Price supplement series: mock-up for periodical article 1970–1972, ink and graphite with collaged printed text on cardboard with three overlays of graphite, colored pencil and graphic and screentone appliqués on mylar, 29.8 x 42 cm, DR1995:0222:005, Cedric Price fonds, Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal” (above).

Figure 10. Cedric Price. Think Grid in Cedric Price supplement, Architectural Design June 1971, drawings of “information pods” and “space mixer” components of the proposal” (right).

on OCC activities and opportunities (Figure 10, top). These would be self-contained and battery operated. Double-stacked trucks with a hydrau- lic lift arm would be equipped with recharging facilities and would move the pods on an as-needed basis to various locations throughout the city,

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 such as “a parking lot, the entrance to a bad tenement, a prosperous suburb, a drive-in cinema, a slum street, a bar, a church hall, a factory exit, an old ill- more importantly, to the poor and library and projection equipment, equipped school, a shopping centre underemployed who were subject to study cubicles, and facilities for self- and an open-air recreation area.”46 In unstable timetables and schedules learning. Installed on vacant land at Price’s notes and specifications on the that limit when learning can take strategic, highly visible, and easily drawing, the pods would be equipped place. By 1968, the depopulation of accessible urban sites—suggested with air conditioning and free tele- Detroit and urban abandonment of were sites adjacent to the farmers’ phone service to the OCC and would the city was already well under way; market or Crystal Lake or along the have “room for large mother + shop- between the relocation of manufac- Grand Trunk Western Railroad—for ping + two children who don’t want turing to the suburbs, the disruptive no more than a year, these would to be there.” In the side notes, Price urban practices of freeway construc- provide what Price referred to as emphasized the need for the OCC tion and urban renewal projects, and an initial “‘appetizer’ learning and to be relevant not only to full-time the race-based migration of white information service as well as creating students with fixed timetables but, populations to suburban communities O.C.C. in microcosm.”48

48 Price’s Detroit Think Grid provide specific training to potential employees. Even more emphatically than the Atom project, the Think Grid envisioned architecture as an additive infrastructure, grafted within the existing spatial fabric of the city, and working to rescript or, to use a term Price often used, “tune up” existing spaces so that new social opportunities and uses could be availed. Price saw the city of Detroit as a vast, underutilized resource of space, infrastructure, and physical elements, whose codes and use regimes could be rewritten to allow for multipurpose use, sharing, and cooperation; the key was implementing a framework and mechanism by which this could occur, as well as convincing the actors involved to play. The grand scheme of the Think Grid also included learning and information exchange initiatives that were not specifically geared to employment but were intended to provide inhabitants with information regarding their immediate urban environment, providing new opportunities for engagement with it, as well as opportunities for play and “fun.” Price proposed that “Floating Figure 11. Cedric Price. Detroit Think Grid: sketch, of existing equipment (such as trail- Classrooms” on some of Detroit’s July 1968, red ink on cardstock 12.8 x 7.6 cm, ers, freight containers, temp stands, recreational lakes could be used to DR2004:0280:002, Cedric Price fonds, Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal. mobile lighting, power, etc.) that teach community members how to could be shared with the OCC for the swim. Price also stressed the need It was not only streets and joint education programs.49 to develop collaborations with other abandoned urban spaces that would Price proposed that the vast institutions based on sharing of space be appropriated by the Think Grid; blank surfaces of urban industrial and resources—such as the sugges- in Price’s vision, industry would be buildings that occupied large portion that Cranbrook’s mobile science involved in the project both by acting tions of the inner city and suburban exhibit could be deployed in other as a cooperative partner in developing fabric could become informational sites through the region.

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 education programs and by allowing opportunities for strategies such as Finally, Price made a series of Oakland Community College to make projections to “illustrate operation, proposals for “tuning up” the “rich use of underutilized industrial spaces, function and site,” thereby connecting ‘disadvantaged’ areas” of suburban infrastructures, and equipment. Price inhabitants in a cognitive way to the Detroit that were intended to “more proposed that industry could also industries in the city and rendering effectively” relate them to their physi- eventually fund many of the related its invisible processes more visible cal environment. For those residents, programs offered by the OCC. In the (Figure 11). “Industrial/Commercial he suggested pilot projects such correspondence between Price and Showcases” would be temporary as “semi-controlled open environ- local industries, such as the Detroit facilities located at industrial sites ments for testing alternate futures,” Edison Company, who seemed very that would explain the inner workings meteorological data and pollution eager to be involved, Price requested of the particular industry to those information, mobile facilities that information on vacant, derelict, and interested in either employment or could provide lawn mower opera- underused property and land, periods cooperation and would also enable tion and safety skills, shared garden of availability, cooperation between “two-way exchange between labour toys and tools, horticultural classes, industry/commerce on displays, exhi- and management and O.C.C. faculty and mobile garden parties that would bitions, and courses and availability and students.”50 “Skill Parks” would break down the private ownership and

Velikov JAE 69:1 49 decision-making network of com- be able to cooperate in the OCC’s munications. This ability of the Think future plans.54 Price advised that this Grid to respond and adjust itself over information program should not only time was an integral aspect of the be communicated via media such as conception of the project as an adap- newspapers, radio, and television but tive or, in the words of Christopher should also have a physical presence Alexander at the time, a “generating” within the city via the information system. Alexander had described a pods and the reutilized abandoned generating system as a “kit of parts, storefronts, “situated at key urban with rules about how these parts may and transportation nodes.”55 With this, be combined,” adding “almost every Price’s Think Grid could not only ‘system as a whole’ is generated by a be considered in terms of its goals generating system. If we wish to make to develop a “new form of learning,” things which function as ‘wholes’ but also potentially as a new urban we shall have to invent generating process that Price referred to as “con- systems to create them .”53 Price was sensus action planning” requiring adamant that the Think Grid would “major cooperation of other bodies” not be successful if only one or two and controlled, at least in part, by of the initiatives were implemented the urban citizenry.56 The commu- in isolation; a critical number of pilot nications and control apparatus that projects needed to be initiated simul- Price had described for the Potteries taneously, and the communication/ Thinkbelt had been critiqued to information network that connected seemingly operate as a bureaucratic Figure 12. Cedric Price. Detroit Think Grid: sketch, them had to be in place for the mechanism that would subject its July 1968, red ink on cardstock. 12.8 x 7.6 cm, system to operate. As all of the proj- users to technocratic processing or, in DR2004:0280:002, Cedric Price fonds, Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal. ects and initiatives that comprised George Baird’s words, an “education the Think Grid were considered to be factory.”57 In contrast, the framework use of suburban land. Additionally, experimental and temporary, Price for the Think Grid was conceived of “Controlled Balloon Lifts,” which he outlined that the success or failure as being far more dependent on col- sketched a diagram of on a note card, of each of the initiatives should be laboration with a community of urban would provide suburban residents monitored and recorded. This feed- actors, whose communications and with an aerial perspective and per- back mechanism would evaluate the decision making the informational haps allow them to develop a more effectiveness of each project through- network was in place to facilitate, and complex understanding of the larger out its life span, and they could be governed through the promise of a urban condition of Detroit, especially altered, amplified, recast, or perhaps direct democracy. on the other side of 8 Mile Road, of abandoned in response. The feedback which they were part (Figure 12). and communication provided by the Epilogue, or Toward an information network, in consort with Experimental Utopia Informational and Participation the cooperative governing structure The same summer that Price arrived Frameworks imagined, was intended to produce a in Detroit to undertake the work, generating system that, in our con- Tirrell stepped down as president of

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 The primary requirement for the temporary understanding, is much OCC, and Price’s report was submit- establishment of a Think Grid is more associated with the behavior of ted under the new president, Dr. the prior establishment of a total complex adaptive systems than with Joseph Hill. Based on correspondence internal information, resources and the cybernetic paradigm of communi- between Price, the office of Dr. programming network within O.C.C. cation, regulation, and control. Hill, and Dr. James McCormick of sufficiently flexible to respond to A second framework that Price the Detroit Edison Company, Price variation of demand.52 insisted would be fundamental to the continued to work with the OCC to success of the Think Grid was a major undertake minor advancements on Since his collaboration with Joan public information and participation the project during the following year. Littlewood and cybernetitian Gordon program, initiated even before the To Price’s frustration however, the Pask on the Fun Palace, Price had first pilot projects were rolled out. OCC did not proceed to take any understood the rules by which learn- This program would invite “Industry, initiative on the proposed implemen- ing, or generative, systems operate. Commerce, Local Government, tation or any of the pilot projects. Fundamental to all of his educa- Citizen groups and individuals” to In June 1969 Price was informed by tional projects was the integration understand how the OCC might be the OCC vice president, Vaughan of an informational, control, and relevant to them, and how they might Whited, that there was a delay with

50 Price’s Detroit Think Grid the funding from the Capital Outlay potential to rewrite spatial rules and them with use value, thereby open- Program due to a “technicality in terms of engagement between citi- ing up the possibility of producing a State law” but that they were still zens, urban spaces, and institutions. new social and urban body. It makes a hoping to move forward with some Let’s now return to the topic of compelling case for how institutions, of the projects.58 By mid-July of that the “structural crisis” that was dis- organizations, and groups of indi- year, there was no further correspon- cussed at the beginning of this article. viduals might find agency in shaping dence on the project, and it appears As Wallerstein has pointed out, this the city through the active engage- that none of the initiatives proposed process can be explained as being ment with and empowerment of its by Price were implemented. President consistent with the nature and behav- inhabitants.63 It also points to a way Hill, a distinguished educational ior of systems theory dynamics. Yet it of addressing the crisis through sys- theorist in his own right and known is also within the periods of structural temic mechanisms other than those for his methods in educational cogni- crisis within systems, when it is pos- of urban renewal, which are inextrica- tive style mapping, is credited with sible for new systemic orders to be bly bound to capital investment and successfully developing a flexible instigated, to emerge, and even to subject to the same forces of capital curriculum that allowed students to change the order of the system. The ebb and flow. It is a project that match themselves to learning deliv- proposal of a new systemic process proposes a serious “what if”: what if ery methods.59 Oakland Community in urban society is often understood we could design alternative mecha- College currently operates out of five as a utopian endeavor, since it neces- nisms, instruments, and operational campuses in the greater Detroit area sitates the imagination of rules of rules by which to structure the city and is the largest community college operation, interaction, production, and its processes? For Price, these in the state of Michigan. and reproduction other than those projects were also, fundamentally, At the time when Price finally operating in society today. In his experiments, yet ones that he believed published the Think Grid project, “Right to the City,” Henri Lefebvre were vitally important to undertake. interest in systems theory had also makes a case for an “experimental The projects were inherently open begun to wane. To its detractors, utopia.” He describes this not as an to revision and even failure, making the systems approach had become idealized utopia but a utopia that is no claims to fix the situation, but synonymous with “technocratic “studied experimentally by studying nonetheless proposing alternative, bureaucracy” as opposed to social lib- its implications and consequences on plausible, and desirable futures. eration and by the mid-seventies had the ground.”61 Wallerstein also coins been generally shelved by the archi- a neologism, utopistics, defined as the Acknowledgments tectural discipline.60 Since the turn “sober, rational, and realistic evalua- For their invaluable editorial feed- of the millennium, systems theory tion of human social systems” and the back and advice in the development has, however, seen a renaissance in proposition of “an alternative, cred- and shaping of this article, I would relevance and interest, as the science ibly better, and historically possible like to thank JAE theme editor of complex systems and theories of (but far from certain) future.”62 Timothy Hyde; my colleagues and networks and emergence have argued As a serious, and for a time collaborators, Geoffrey Thun and Dan that everything from communities of entirely plausible, proposition for an McTavish; as well as the two anony- bees, to economies, climate change, alternative urban process for Detroit mous readers from the JAE. viruses, and cities all operate through and its citizenry, the Think Grid can the dynamics of generating system be understood in terms of “experi- Funding behaviors. The increased accessibility mental utopias” or “utopistics” and Research at the Cedric Price Archive

Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 and naturalization of technologies has might also provide a compelling case was supported by a Canadian also changed our attitudes regarding for the consideration of strategies and Centre for Architecture 2013 Study their cultural value and potential for approaches with which architectural Centre Grant and by the University social agency, with mobile technolo- design can work within the context of Michigan Taubman College of gies occupying the double ground as of urban crises today. It proposed a Architecture and Urban Planning. systems of control and consumer- plan for a new urban and social system ism, as well as enablers of new social to be initiated within the spatial and Author Biography movements. We might now look back organizational vacuum produced Kathy Velikov is Assistant Professor at on Price’s proposals with renewed by the urban crisis in Detroit. The the University of Michigan Taubman perspective, focusing less on the system of the Think Grid was con- College of Architecture and Urban novelty of the technological systems ceived to self-generate not through Planning where she teaches design (we all now have “information pods” the dynamics of capital but through studio, thesis, theory of ecology, in our pockets) and more on the way the dynamics of knowledge exchange. and technology and co-coordinates he proposed that physical urban sys- It would operate by appropriating the Master of Science in Material tems could be repurposed toward an the spaces of the city that had lost Systems program. She is a licensed alternative urban process that had the their exchange value, and reinhabit architect and founding partner in the

Velikov JAE 69:1 51 Experience (Houston TX: Rice University, 1964); 36 Ibid., 6–8. speculative-design practice RVTR. and Coryl LaRue Jones, ed., Architecture for the 37 “A Proposal to Develop THINK-LINKS She recently coauthored Infra Eco Logi Community Mental Health Center (Houston, TX: between the College, the Ghetto and the Outer Urbanism: A Project for the Great Lakes Rice University, 1967). Community,” 1967, Cedric Price Archive, CCA File Megaregion (Park Books, 2015), a docu- 14 William Cannady, ed., “New Schools for New DR 2004_0280 (“Think-Links”). The amount is ment of RVTR’s project and traveling Towns,” Rice University School of Architecture, equivalent to approximately $1 million in 2014. 1967, https://scholarship.rice.edu/bitstream/ 38 Ibid., 2–3. exhibition by the same name. She is handle/1911/62611/newschoolsfornew00cann. 39 Ibid. currently working on a project for pdf?sequence=1. 40 Ibid. hybrid access-enabling urban proto- 15 Reyner Banham, Theory and Design in the First 41 “Oakland Community College, An Investigation types as well as a cellular pneumatic Machine Age (1960; Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, into New Forms of Learning,” 1968, Cedric 1989), 329–30. Price Archive, CCA File 93 DR 2004:0280, envelope system. 16 John E. Tirrell and Albert A. Canfield, “Goodbye DR 2004:0282, DR 2004:0283 (“New Forms of to the Classroom,” Architectural Design 38, no. 5 Learning”). Notes (May 1968): 223–25. 42 Ibid., 1. 1 Immanuel Wallerstein, Utopistics: Historical Choices 17 Cannady, “New Schools for New Towns” (note 43 Cedric Price, “Learning,” in Developing Patterns of of the Twenty-First Century (New York: New Press, 14), 24–33. Urbanization, ed. Peter Cowan (Beverly Hills, CA: 1998), 88. 18 “Total Learning Kit of Parts,” Progressive Architecture Sage, 1969), 186–200. 2 James J. Kay, “An Introduction to Systems 49, no. 4 (April 1968): 210. 44 Price, “New Forms of Learning” (note 41), 7. Thinking,” in The Ecosystem Approach: Complexity, 19 For the Potteries chart, see Lobsinger, 45 Ibid., 16. Uncertainty and Managing for Sustainability, ed. “Architecture of Performance,” 29, and Matthews, 46 Ibid., 26–27. David Waltner-Toews, James J. Kay, and Nina Agit-Prop, 224 (both in note 11). 47 See Sugrue, Origins (note 29), as well as Thomas Marie Lister (New York: Columbia University 20 “Total Learning Kit of Parts” (note 18), 210. Sugrue, “From Motor City to Motor Metropolis: Press, 2008), 3. 21 Steve Mullin, “Cedric Price or Still Keeps Going How the Automobile Industry Reshaped Urban 3 Ibid., 6, citing the seminal 1977 work of Gregoire when Everything Else Has Stopped,” Architectural America,” http://www.autolife.umd.umich.edu/ Nichols and Ilya Prigogine, Self-Organization and Design 46, no. 7 (July 1976): 283. Race/R_Overview/R_Overview1.htm (accessed Non-Equilibrium Systems. 22 Cedric Price, “PTb: Potteries Thinkbelt,” October 12, 2014). 4 The body of research and literature on how human Architectural Design 36, no. 10 (October 1966): 484. 48 Price, “New Forms of Learning” (note 41), 24. systems operate as complex adaptive systems is 23 Cedric Price, “Life-Conditioning,” Architectural 49 “Oakland Education Facilities Programme— vast. The Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico is Design 36, no. 10 (October 1966): 484. Industry and Commerce Day Conference—15 dedicated to advancing knowledge in this area. 24 This in many ways anticipates the observations August 1968: A Dialogue with Cedric Price” 5 Immanuel Wallerstein, World-Systems Analysis: An of contemporary fragmented spatiality and urban (Detroit: Cranbrook 1968), Cedric Price Archive, Introduction (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, experience, as described by William J. Mitchell CCA File 93 DR 2004:0280. 2004), 76–77. in his City of Bits: Space, Place, and the Infobahn 50 Price, “New Forms of Learning” (note 41), 34. 6 Wallerstein, Utopistics (note 1), 64. (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1995). 51 Ibid., 30. 7 Fritjof Capra, “Systems Theory and the New 25 Steven Johnson, Emergence: The Connected Lives 52 Ibid., 23. Paradigm,” in Key Concepts in Critical Theory: of Ants, Brains, Cities and Software (New York: 53 Christopher Alexander, “Systems Generating Ecology, ed. Carolyn Merchant (Amherst, NY: Scribner, 2001), 39–41. Systems,” Architectural Design 38, no. 12 (December Humanity Books, 1994), 334–41. 26 See Henri Lefebvre and Eleonore Kofman, Writings 1968): 90–91. 8 Molly Wright Steenson, “Architectures of on Cities (1958; Oxford: Blackwell, 1996); Manuel 54 Price, “New Forms of Learning” (note 41), 18. Information: Christopher Alexander, Cedric Price, Castells, The Urban Question: A Marxist Approach, 55 Ibid. and Nicholas Negroponte and MIT’s Architecture trans. Alan Sheridan (1972; London: Edward 56 Ibid., 11. Machine Group,” PhD dissertation, Princeton Arnold, 1977); David Harvey, The Urbanization of 57 George Baird, “La Dimension ‘Amoreuse’ in University, 2014, http://dataspace.princeton. Capital: Studies in the History and Theory of Capitalist Architecture,” in Meaning in Architecture, ed. edu/jspui/bitstream/88435/dsp01pn89d6733/1/ Urbanization (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Charles Jencks and George Baird (New York: Steenson_princeton_0181D_10875.pdf (accessed Press, 1985); and Edward Soja, Postmetropolis: George Braziller, 1969), 79. July 29, 2014). Critical Studies of Cities and Regions (Oxford: 58 Fax correspondence, June 11, 1969, CCA Price 9 Donella H. Meadows, Thinking in Systems: A Primer Blackwell, 2000). Archive DR 1995:0242:079. (White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green 27 Neil Brenner, Peter Marcuse, and Margit Mayer, 59 Lee Mullally, “Educational Cognitive Style: Publishing, 2008), 145–65. eds., Cities for People, Not for Profit: Critical Urban Implications for Instruction,” Theory into Practice 10 Stanley Mathews, “Fun Palace as Virtual Theory and the Right to the City (London: Routledge, 16, no. 4 (October 1977): 238–42. Downloaded by [Woodbury University] at 09:17 28 August 2015 Architecture: Cedric Price and the Practices of 2011), 3. 60 Andrew Rabenek, “Whatever Happened to the Indeterminacy,” Journal of Architectural Education 59, 28 Patrik Schumacher and Christian Rogner, “After Systems Approach?,” Architectural Design 46, no. 5 no. 3 (2006): 39–48. Ford,” in Stalking Detroit, ed. Georgia Daskalakis, (May 1976): 267. 11 See Stanley Mathews, From Agit-Prop to Free Space: Charles Waldheim, and Jason Young (Barcelona: 61 Lefebvre and Kofman, Writings (note 26), 151. The Architecture of Cedric Price (London: Black Dog Actar, 2001), 48–56. 62 Wallerstein, Utopistics (note 1), 1–2. Publishing, 2007); Mathews, “Cedric Price from 29 Thomas J. Sugrue, The Origins of the Urban Crisis: 63 For an expanded notion of architectural agency the Brain Drain to the Knowledge Economy,” Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit (1996; beyond the typical activities associated with Architectural Design 76, no. 1 (2006): 90–95; Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005), architecture, see Nishat Awan, Tatjana Schneider, Mary-Lou Lobsinger, “An Architecture of the 47–48. and Jeremy Till, Spatial Agency: Other Ways of Doing Performance,” Daidlos 74 (2000): 22–29; Steenson, 30 Ibid., 48–50. Architecture (London: Routledge, 2011). “Architectures of Information” (note 8); and 31 Ibid. Samantha Hardingham and Kester Rattenbury, 32 Ibid., 270 Supercrit #1: Cedric Price Potteries Thinkbelt (Oxon: 33 Andy Merrifeld, The New Urban Question (London: Routledge, 2007) Pluto, 2013), 94–96. 12 Mathews, “Cedric Price” (note 11), 91. 34 “Oakland Community College, the Future: 13 For publications on the previous Rice University Thinkbelt with Think-Links,” 1967, Cedric Price Design Fetes, see Bill N. Lacey, ed. 10 Designs: Archive, CCA File 93 DR 2004_0280 (“The Community Colleges (Houston, TX: Rice University, Future”). 1962); The Rice Design Fete, an Experiment in 35 Ibid., 5.

52 Price’s Detroit Think Grid Journal of Architectural Education Scholarship of Design – Best Essay

The Failed Utopia of a Modern African Vernacular: ☐ Hassan Fathy in New Gourna Miguel Guitart

Building for “l’Authenticité”: ☐ Eugène Palumbo and the Architecture of Mobutu’s Congo Johan Lagae and Kim De Raedt

Systemic Shifts: ☐ The Case of Abidjan’s Urban Planning, 1945–60 Yetunde Olaiya

Looking Like Developed: ☐ Aesthetics and Ethics in Rwandan Housing Projects Yutaka Sho

Interdisciplinary Deflections: ☐ Histories of the Scientific Revolution in Alberto Pérez-Gómez’s Architecture and the Crisis of Modern Science Stylianos Giamarelos

Practicing Reform: ☐ Experiments in Post-Revolutionary Chinese Architectural Production, 1973–1989 Cole Roskam

Tuning Up the City: ☐ Cedric Price’s Detroit Think Grid Kathy Velikov

Journal of Architectural Education Design as Scholarship – Best Essay

Delivering Sustainable Urban Regeneration in Emerging Nations: ☐ Introducing Neighborhood Hotspots Ebun Akinsete, Fabienne Hoelzel, and Lookman Oshodi

Rematerializations: ☐ Prototypical Exploration of Neovernacular Structures in South Africa Daniel Baerlecken, Judith Reitz, Nora Mueller, and Bernadette Heiermann

☐ Building for Peace in New York City Nandini Bagchee

8Mile Baseline: ☐ A Dialectical Image of the Urban Crisis Rania Ghosn

Rising Measures: ☐ Drawing Over the Cités HLM in Greater Paris Pari Riahi Theme Proposals

DEAR Marc J Neveu,

sorry i am a bit late, but my inner voice told me to write you about my proposal :) here it is:

THE NEXT IMPORTANT QUESTION IN THE ARCHITECTURAL DISCOURSE OF PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE AND/OR EDUCATION MAY BE "WHAT THE PEOPLE WHO WANTED REALLY TO BE EDUCATED AS AN ARCHITECT, BUT URGED TO SELECT ANOTHER PROFESSION, THINK ABOUT ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION". IN THE LIGHT OF ANSWERS, WE WILL GET THE INFLUENCE ABOUT THE REASONS WHY ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION STAYED AS A WISH IN THE PAST OF A PERSON. AND AT THE MOMENT, THE ACTIVITIES OF THE PERSON WHO IS FROM ANOTHER PROFESSION WILL LEAD US FOR THE NEXT SURE STEPS TOWARDS TOMORROWLAND OF ARCHITECTURE. IF THE PERSON WHO IS NOT ARCHITECT, IS REALLY HAPPY WITH HER/ HIS PRESENT PROFESSION, WILL WE THINK ABOUT HER/ HIM THAT WE MISSED A SUCCESSFUL ARCHITECT CANDIDATE THROUGH OUR HANDS. EVEN THOUGH THESE KIND OF PEOPLE, WHO ARE NOT ARCHITECTS, MAY HAVE GOOD CRITICS ABOUT ARCHITECTURE, FOR THEIR INTEREST IN ARCHITECTURE, WILL STAY IN ALIVE ALONG THEIR LIVES.

YES, Marc J Neveu, also here is my small cv:

I won the entrance exam to the architectural department as the first place among the 40 students. My entrance grade was 51 more than the second one as mine was around 531, while the second 's was around 480. And after i did complete the 8 terms in 3.5 years. due to the dense timing of the education days, i was graduated as the first person on 36 people and the second one had a grade 3 less than mine as mine was 72/100, the second's was 69/100. For i passed all my lessons during finals, i could enter the entrance exam for being a research assistant at the same department, in structure-construction branch, and i won the exam and i became a research assistant before graduation ceremony. At the moment, i am the head of the same department, where i was a student in 1981, and i was graduated in 1985 and immediuately i became a research assistant in 1985. And also i am a member in the senato at the university. Also i am the member of the Administration Committee of the Architectural Faculty, and also i am the member of the Faculty Committee as a head of the Architectural Department. I won 2 architectural competition. I was the MC member of COST Action C25, as the representative member of TURKIYE, and also i was a member of WG1 of the COST Action C25, supported by EU, in 2006-2011. I have several papers, presented in national and international conferences. Not a book printed yet. I have several elective courses in undergraduate and graduate levels, mainly about Steel Architecture, through structure and construction. i am here to hear your reply, kind regards, Yesim Kamile Aktuglu

Prof.Dr.architect YESIM KAMILE AKTUGLU head of the department, senator, Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Architecture Department of Architecture Izmir TURKIYE

Global Fusion – fusing digital and physical learning environments for global architecture students

Being a world traveler was once a prestigious honor to ascertain, but society is permitting less eminence on tangible personal experiences as cultural relationships swell through constant virtual and digital dialogue. Technology is providing a means for and inertly convincing society web-based research and quick Internet searches are equal alternatives to physically experiencing the built environment. Students often approach education through multimedia devices as sources for instant information, spawning an attitude of reliance upon technology to provide an assurance of global thinking.

Amidst history lessons and precedent studies in classrooms, studios, laboratories, and project sites, technology can be used to gain introductory information and perspective. Believing architectural design is not a myopic field of study, architectural curriculums require immersion in the realms of art, community, locale, tradition, and technology to fuse the virtual classroom with physical occupancy at the pedestrian scale. Location and tradition continue to shape towns, cities, and metropolises, while technology can provide the necessary means to bridge the gap between the physical and the virtual. Architectural students require a global world-view, without reliance upon someone else’s eyes and commentary. Learning environments must provide students a palette of design principles and offer out-of-culture experiences to truly shape students into global architects.

Authors are encouraged to consider and address the following: 1. Aside from the heightened experiences of physically inhabiting varied forms and styles of architecture, what life lessons can students ultimately learn during travel experiences? 2. In today’s world of technology, how can travel experiences provide a new or fresh way to view, dissect, and ultimately discern architectural methodologies in the definition of habitable space? 3. Pedagogical approaches to learning through culture and history. 4. The financial side of traveling dealt with or subsidized by research, scholarships, community organizations, etc. 5. How can schools of architecture develop collaborative working relationships with other locations that will allow consistent communication and exploration of culture, tradition, and heritage beyond physical travel alone? 6. Innovative methods that introduce students to a variety of objects in the built environment, expanding and redefining technology within architectural education curriculum and pedagogies. 7. Bridging “virtual” reality with physical visits to examine global place making beyond simple precedent studies of individual buildings. 8. Blogs, websites, social media, and virtual experiences that provide students with an introduction of historical and modern architecture in conjunction with physical travel. 9. Heightened understanding of historical presence, contextual fabric, scale, structure, expression, and craft of material selections. 10. How enrichment experiences or rooting a hypothetical studio project to a specific location outside campus furthers globalized architecture. 11. How global education opportunities allow development of local design concepts. 12. How traveling opportunities result in increased placement in graduate programs or firms often outside students’ comfort zones.

Ernest Hemingway once proclaimed, “prose is architecture, not interior decoration…” The powerful words from the celebrated novelist and 1954 Nobel Prize for Literature recipient sets the stage for the relationship between architecture and words. Prose is the approach, the style or manner in which ideas are conveyed to an audience. If a picture is worth a thousand words, how valuable are a thousand words? Regardless of education, experience, or social standing, most people - including the designers entrusted to the task of designing - have preconceived notions as to how architecture, or at least the outward aesthetics of the built environment, should be defined. Breaking from preconception can be imperative for successful projects. Words can assist students and faculty in conveying the sea of possibilities, from the poetic and conceptual to the technical and code related components.

Words are influential and have been anchored in history through various art forms and professions. Single words, phrases, and sentences have defined numerous generations in novels, poetry, textbooks, magazines, newspapers, musical lyrics, and speeches. Words, their arrangements, and their delivery have consistently characterized people, generations, and societies.

What if designers simply began with writing as a brainstorming method of distilling observations, necessities, and project goals? Various topics such as scale, enclosure, spatial relationships, transparency, directionality, and procession can be effectively defined and debated in writing. Words can translate abstractions into tangible and discernible design criteria as ideas develop and are influenced by other decisions. The written word is powerful, but not always comfortable. When used effectively, the written word is capable of defining needs, weeding out opinions, and substantiating significance prior to any visual and/or tangible representations. Writing breaks down preconceived ideas into a hierarchical list that puts questions and programmatic needs above what someone may like or dislike about another building, a previously commissioned design, or the latest magazine cover.

Can instructors mold students to not only discover value in but also enjoy writing as both a design tool and an artistic expression, assigning the entire design process to a datum of information that serves as a point of reference and genesis for the built environment? Can prolific writers and articulate designers be one in the same? Can writing yield more articulate designers, articulation of thought, presentation, and material expression? How can writing help sift through all the different avenues of design and solutions fighting for attention?

Submitted articles should pose an argument for prose – as a method of translating emotions and reactions into tangible constructs. Examples of successful architects who support writing as inspiration and discovery should be explored. Correspondingly, authors should consider technology’s role in the current and anticipated trends in architecture through academic and professional dialogues. As an architect and Assistant Professor of Architecture at a state university, the author is responsible for instructing 125+/- students annually within design studios, materials and sustainable technology courses, and architectural acoustics electives. Research focuses on materials, sustainability, and acoustics with numerous grants, collaborative publications, notable awards, and a scholarly book contract. Professional background includes design phases, client management, and construction administration with nationally known architecture and construction firms. Relearning and Retooling : adapting architectural pedagogy to/with 21st century technology

Technological innovations fuel intellectual and societal advancement while also nurturing future exploration in both the discipline and profession of architecture, influencing how architects and engineers are learning and being taught in the twenty-first century. While the world may be at the leading edge of the most advanced and resilient building materials and systems with constant development and evolution, sustainable building concepts are educating all walks of life through energy conservation, recycling, and assimilation of local materials. Embracing environmental stewardship with technological advances benefits future generations through evaluating spaces designed for people and methods in which they live, play, work, and worship.

Educators teach students the need for environmental stewardship while fostering investigation of how architecture truly addresses and supports human occupants. Architecture is not just a pretty drawing or a building that doesn’t leak. It is the culmination of sociology, anthropology, construction, problem solving, material longevity, and promotion of the human scale – to list a few parameters and influencers. In a world of instant information and social media, academia must adapt to encourage students to use technology as a tool for addressing these various parameters without simply being reliant upon it. Educators are fortunate to embrace the power of research and practice, communicating and training future architects toward thinking and doing.

A healthy tension between architectural research and practice fuels not only advanced and aggregate knowledge but can also spawn new methods of teaching. Architecture is subsequently shaped by innovation within traditional discipline parameters, collaboratively with other disciplines, and completely outside traditional discipline lines. The intersections of academia and professional practice are deriving and adapting new approaches to how functional design is the result of innovation and trial – the crossroads of technology and resiliency.

One question appropriately poised: what should architects be learning and subsequently teaching in the 21st century? Perhaps a portion of the answer is rooted in the past or through an appreciation for historical innovation. Not from a nostalgic viewpoint that everything was better in the past, but looking to the master builder concept where architects understood their role as artist, problem solver, social commentator, and builder. A master builder or master craftsman understood how buildings go together and how those buildings held a special place in society, balanced between the micro and macro scales. Students need exposure to the various interdisciplinary elements of architecture for integration into studio projects. Collaboration and full implementation of what architecture involves suddenly becomes the new and improved sustainability.

Harnessing technological advances and material innovations inform and influence architectural pedagogy. Articles should focus on pedagogy returning to the master builder approach of design and construction where students learn and demonstrate decisions rooted in the tangible benefits of technology, material selection, and sustainability/resiliency through practice and research to inform and define overall building perception and usage.

Sound is ever present, yet not all designers devote much thought or appreciation toward how a space will sound once it is inhabited. All too often, the architects of tomorrow are wearing earbuds and headphones today. They appear to be constantly listening to music or talking on the phone – which is preventing, restricting, and diminishing connection to the natural aural environment. If these students are generally not experiencing and paying attention to the sounds that surround them, why would they consider acoustics necessary in experiential design? This realization derives the question - what can educators do to inform not only society but also future architects about the importance and intensity of the auditory environment?

Aside from acousticians, musicians, or visually impaired, does the general public consciously acknowledge aural conditions and how those conditions ultimately affect behavior, production, and retention? Within health, safety, and welfare of occupants, students must be introduced to the importance and integration of architectural acoustics. As educators encourage students to consider the acoustical nature of designed space, they begin understanding materials, shapes, room volume, and programmatic adjacencies in a fresh approach. When acoustics is taught and physically demonstrated as a vital part of architectural design, students explore both the science and artistry of acoustics. Subsequently, their curiosity leads to further discovery.

Students quickly recognize the acoustical nature of programmatic spaces begins in the schematic design phase through evaluation of occupancy type, material selection, and specified control systems. Every design and construction decision contributes or detracts from acoustical isolation, absorption, reflection, diffusion, and overall perception of the finished space(s). Conceptual thoughts of materiality and functional space develop into the tangible manifestation of inhabitable space through the meticulous attention to materials and physical connections. A healthy tension between architectural research and practice fuels not only advanced and aggregate knowledge but can also spawn new methods of teaching. Architecture is subsequently shaped by innovation within traditional discipline parameters, collaboratively with other disciplines, and completely outside traditional discipline lines. The intersections of academia and professional practice are deriving and adapting new approaches to how functional design is the result of innovation and trial.

How can varied opportunities for students to interact with acousticians, acoustical design professionals, and acoustically sensitive spaces challenge students to produce comprehensive projects that primarily incorporate natural acoustics? Students become inclusive architects when they understand the future potential of functional, sustainable, and productive space is interwoven with and codependent upon acoustics. Articles will celebrate acoustics (and any subsequent thermal and lighting characteristics) as an integral part of architectural research and interaction within academic projects and professional practice. Authors will explore development of architectural pedagogy to include and inform acoustical significances to material selection and arrangement. As an architect and Assistant Professor of Architecture at a state university, the author is responsible for instructing 125+/- students annually within design studios, materials and sustainable technology courses, and architectural acoustics electives. Research focuses on materials, sustainability, and acoustics with numerous grants, collaborative publications, notable awards, and a scholarly book contract. Professional background includes design phases, client management, and construction administration with nationally known architecture and construction firms. design cocktails: transfiguration of materials and technology

Architects and collaborative design teams invest considerable effort toward specific material knowledge as a design acumen outwardly manifested through influential elements within the built environment. Likewise, our planet requires design and construction methods that are energy efficient, environmentally regenerative, and socially responsible all within a specific context and cultural fabric. Designers, clients, and educators develop global accountability and resource consciousness toward depleting resources and vast quantities of irretrievable waste. As the EPA reports, “building construction, renovation, use, and demolition together constitute about two- thirds of all non-industrial solid waste generation in the U.S.” What design processes and construction methods could benefit from hybridizing new, recycled, and rehabilitated ideas into a meaningful concoction of materials and technology?

The orchestration of materials and their assembly become physical manifestations of creative and calculated concepts. Unless design is planned for sequential adaptive reuse, those same assemblies must be downcycled, becoming remnants and ultimately waste. Design firm Werner Sobek articulates “Zero Waste Building,” but first how can deconstructed elements also serve as inspiration – the found object as catalyst? The planned appropriation of waste and recycled materials represents stewardship of a material economy. Design must continually demonstrate novel ways of using repurposed materials adapted and reformed in concert with modern technology. Research and experimentation, abstraction and deconstruction of tradition and symbolism, are promoters for hybridized design. Innovative uses of both precious virgin and renewable resources inspire design, material selection, and assembly. The union and resultant aesthetics of design principles, materials, and technologies define a specific pedagogical framework for underscoring the inspirational potential of materials through which architects should not only be learning but also teaching society.

The healthy tension between architectural research and practice fuels not only advanced and aggregate knowledge but can also spawn new methods of teaching. Architecture is subsequently shaped by innovation within traditional discipline parameters, collaboratively with other disciplines, and completely outside traditional discipline lines. The intersections of academia and professional practice are deriving and adapting new approaches to how functional design is the result of innovation and trial. Assemblies and technology, as a hybrid of culture, tradition, and function, leverage the architect’s unique position as both perpetual student and built work as manifesto. Articles will explore recent developments in design, construction, and the creative process considering the following:

1. Design projects of various scales demonstrating innovative methods of employing salvaged materials with modern technology. 2. Hybrid design practices covering culture, tradition, function, and sustainability through materials and the technology of assembling those materials. 3. Research and experimentation on abstraction and deconstruction of tradition and symbolism as a catalyst for hybridized design. 4. Innovative uses of natural/earthen resources coupled with bio-mimicry principles as design inspiration and/or material selection. 5. The union and resultant aesthetics of combining various design principles, materials, and technologies. 6. Pedagogical approaches as frameworks for understating the inspirational potential of materials. 7. Concepts rooted in art, culture, and heritage can spark visions for future hybrid design.

Students are introduced to various topics by various professors via various mediums. Where do the topics all tie together? When and how do students begin to comprehend and demonstrate ability to assimilate the various topics into functional architecture? Comprehension is not just the surface component of understanding; it’s the grasping and expansion of intellectual ability. Comprehension is vital for successful architecture.

Educating a generation of students who typically confront traditional educational practices challenges educators to apply new techniques in architectural education that will facilitate interdisciplinary learning. Students are somewhat complacent toward comprehensive design and are primarily focused on getting a grade in each class without applying the cumulative knowledge to all courses. How can a design student begin to understand all that is expected and required as an architect when most classes are separate and merely recommended to be interdisciplinary? Can curricular framework center on a series of collaborative courses which teach and promote an environment of engagement, critical thinking, and accountability between the academic and professional environment? Pedagogy can invigorate the educational challenges of the current generation and reassert the core of architectural education - the studio. How can this approach of implementation and demonstration within a design studio setting promote interdisciplinary communication and collaboration?

In a world requiring environmentally responsive designs, can collaboration and full implementation of what architecture involves suddenly become the new and improved sustainability and resiliency? Comprehensive projects yielded from an intentional integration of theories, design elements, materials, and methods span beyond the aesthetic nature of architecture. As curriculums construct professions of mixed responsibilities and distinctions, a contemporary/relevant pedagogy and curriculum must be forthcoming. Authors are encouraged to amplify architecture as the culmination of various subjects, with such diversity as sociology, anthropology, construction details, problem solving, material longevity, and promotion of the human scale. Proposed articles will address physical and pedagogical examples where collaboration becomes actively demonstrated in design, moving toward and reacting to the profession outside the academic doors.

As an architect and Assistant Professor of Architecture at a state university, the author is responsible for instructing 125+/- students annually within design studios, materials and sustainable technology courses, and architectural acoustics electives. Research focuses on materials, sustainability, and acoustics with numerous grants, collaborative publications, notable awards, and a scholarly book contract. Professional background includes design phases, client management, and construction administration with nationally known architecture and construction firms. The co-author is an Associate Professor of Architecture and Associate Director of Curriculum Development who holds a BS in Architecture (1993) and a MArch (1995) degrees from the University of Texas at Arlington. The teaching of architecture is an extension of a personal inquisitive nature, evident in his pedagogical approach to the design studio. In addition, he believes in a hybrid way of teaching, an approach to develop a student’s critical thinking process through design.

teaching learning: before the beginning

Aside from the three most common learning styles: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic, educators are continually adapting and responding to generational, racial, ethnic, gender, and cultural qualities of students. Various studies have defined six generations (GI, Mature/Silents, Baby Boomer, Gen X, Gen Y/Millennium, and Gen Z/Boomlets) currently alive while only the later four comprise the breadth of academic instruction. The generational differences span forms of technology, religious beliefs, family dependence, politics, upbringing, maturity, and countless other factors. People are unique, but educational requirements tend to group certain eras together in an attempt to generalize a pedagogical approach to not only instruct but also prepare for relations with future generational characteristics not yet defined. Are incoming students being perceived as having less problem solving skills? With the emphasis of NAAB requirements placed on the professional side of academia, how do educators revisit methods of teaching to engage the various generations?

What are the current problems or concerns with a modern architectural education? If so, who is responsible? Is it the approach of the educator or the needs and expectations of the student body? Students entering college may not have the same skill sets or the training of how to learn as previous generations or academic models. The final results for NAAB requirements are critical, but the question remains as a dramatic proposal: where do educators start? How do educators teach skills? What is being done to build up necessary skills when they are changing quickly?

Why and how should pedagogy respond to current events and social aptitude? Is architecture poised as a field of intellectual and creative expression or inherently and historically charged with a specific disposition? Proposed articles will address various methods of teaching the act of learning, which may focus on broad curricular topics or specific year level exercises to facilitate rationale and computation in lieu of simple data in / data out regurgitation.

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT From the International Style to the Ephemeral Style in less than a century by David Campos

In 1932, The "International Style" exhibition at MoMA catalysed tendencies present in Europe since the turn of the century into a coherent, identifiable and legible architectural agenda. It also served as preparing ground for its undeniable hegemony during the following three decades and its use in the European post-war reconstruction effort and the American postwar industrial boom. The International Style in its late manifestation (as represented by the American phase of Gropius, Breuer and Mies or the evolution into corporate practices as represented by SOM and HOK) strived for efficiency and purity through a hyper rational use of mass produced building components in the industrialized western world. By the end of the 1950s this rational drive reached its peak through the claim that every building typology, architectural need and construction effort could find a suitable answer through the standardised and formulaic application of its precepts regardless of environmental, historic, social, economic or demographic contexts. Ultimately, all users could also be standardised to a lowest common denominator. By answering to the needs of a stereotypical user, architecture could be used as a tool to bring a logistic solution to the needs of building and shelter of post-war societies. At the same time, by thinking of its ultimate user as an idealised, archetypical user it was possible to materialise the ideals of equality, fairness and universality.

Towards the end of the 1960s several symptoms hinted towards a deep crisis in the relevance of the International Style. By then, it had become unquestionable its inability to solve contemporary building problems in relevant and significant ways. Perhaps as a consequence of its dogmatic approach, the International Style was not able to reinvent itself in the face of deeply revolutionising factors experienced by society. During that decade several pivotal developments like the rise of consumerism, electronic mass media and telecommunications demanded an appropriate and engaging dialogue that the International Style was simply incapable of generating. Through the publication in 1966 of "Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture" Robert Venturi grouped and synthesized many of these concerns while challenging several precepts that the International Style held as guiding principles. One of Venturi's strongest points criticizes Modernity's oversimplification of its architectural agenda. According to him, architecture had lost an essential degree of tension and meaning by narrowing down and selecting the scope of problems that it sought to answer. (1) He openly embraced a return to complexity and the layering of meaning present in historically relevant architecture from the past. But he not only argued for recovering invaluable aspects of historical architecture. He was also ready to embrace the newfound potential of mass media technology and its potential to recapture architecture's relevance as a communication channel. In "Learning from Las Vegas" Venturi makes a brilliant analysis of a city already fully immersed in that dynamic. (2)

The idea that architecture embodies in itself a communication device through the use of legible and semantic elements was one strongly pursued by Postmodernism and Deconstruction. That idea alone (or at least a variation of it) fuelled architecture discourse through the longest part of the 1980s and 1990s. Important theoreticians like Peter Eisenman explored the territory opened by the dislocation of meaning accumulated by building components and the free association that emerged from juxtaposing them without their traditional sign and signified relationship. For Deconstruction the role played by charismatic practitioners and their strong, individual creative input was as important as its theoretical foundation. This marked a return to a discipline propelled by the energy of authorship while openly justifying architecture as a platform to channel expression and self-indulgence. This paradigmatic shift could be understood as a response to a context dominated by the International Style and its formulaic and reductionist approach to architecture. Postmodernism (and Deconstruction in particular) laid a new foundation where the customized was valued over the standarized, the complex over the simple, expression over simplicity, meaning over function, contradiction over rationality. But as Mark Wigley notes in his introduction to the "Deconstructive Architecture" exhibition at MoMA in 1988; Deconstruction "...does not constitute an avant-garde. It is not a rhetoric of the new. Rather it exposes the unfamiliar hidden within the traditional. It is a shock of the old. It exploits the weaknesses in the tradition in order to disturb rather than to overthrow". (3) The supposed break from tradition wasn't necessarily as radical as many of its main representatives assumed. What was unquestionably achieved was an effective and new platform for architecture where a communication agenda could be explored.

The International Style had followed a strategy of homogenization and standarization in the hope of establishing a connection with universal values and evoke the linking tissue running through mankind. The result was anonymous, indifferent and sterile. In the face of a clear defeat and disciplinary irrelevance, Deconstruction found the appropriate context to push an agenda to mobilize architecture as an expressive, shocking, questioning, engaging and ultimately, relevant communication device. It is within this architectural framework that architecture became confident once again of its capacity to carry and propel messages, to represent and reach out to constituencies and to contain simultaneous layers of meaning. Ironically, this period of time also coincided with the rise of late capitalism and the hegemony of what Rem Koolhaas calls the ¥€$ regime. The trade off was clear: architecture would gain exposure and control of resources and a level of wealth accumulation never experienced in the past. In return, architecture's broadcasting capacity would be put at the service of those same mechanisms of wealth accumulation. Within two decades what started as a seemingly radical movement preoccupied with recovering dialectical agency for the sake of the discipline and re-establish a dialog with its audiences very soon evolved into something perversely different. Architecture became convinced that centre stage showcase was more important than autonomy, content control and editorial independence. It was not only global capital or the financial and banking system that attracted and became patrons of several of Deconstruction poster boys (Deutsche Bank by Frank Gehry, the European Central Bank by Coop Himmleblau, the Rotschild HQ by OMA), all over the world, regimes engaged in questionable political and ethical practices sought to bring legitimacy to their governments through the use of architecture (People's Conference Hall in Tripoli by Zaha Hadid, CCTV HQ by OMA, City of Culture of Galicia by Peter Eisenman).

Digital technologies were introduced to the discipline in the wake of this system of patronage and servitude. The digital agenda can be understood as an extension of Deconstruction in its interest of continuing the emphasis of architecture as a creator of consumable iconography and it reached its climax with the development sustained by the financial peak of 2003-2006. A period of irrational exuberance not only for the financial markets but also for the geometry and digital tool oriented practices of the time. The Digital promised to renew and reinvigorate the discipline through a break from the vices and limitations of pre-computational practice. The hope was that with new tools and new ways of processing, replicating and controlling geometry the discipline would be free to reinvent and reformulate its ambitions. It is true that the Digital revolutionised weaknesses and anachronisms present in old practice models but fundamentally its main impact remained concentrated in two fields: on the one hand, the unquestionable operational and logistic improvements did a lot to push the architect into becoming a building technocrat, on the other hand, its alignment with the icon agenda generated hypertrophied versions of Deconstruction's initial built results but completely devoid of its theoretical and ideological aspirations. In the wake of infinitely panellized, differentiated, numerically controlled, algorithm based geometries, the discipline embarked on a self-absorbed agenda, fully investing its energies in the problem of envelope surfaces. Within academic circles, Alejandro Zaera-Polo with his "Politics of the Envelope" (4) argued for a full and unrepentant investment in the potential of the envelope to embody enough agency to articulate a projective agenda. When put in the context of the frenzy surrounding the creation of architectural icons in the first decade of the millennium it is understandable that the envelope became a topic of intense debate and academic research. Around the world patrons alongside architects extended an arms race to complete the next city-defining, nation-building icon. But the truth is that by fully endorsing the reality of the building industry, where the architect has been relegated to be a curtain wall expert, the discipline has directly abdicated the political and social agency it could achieve. The result is a discipline disenfranchised and at the service of interests that are more and more disconnected from the public and from itself. When the range of action of the architect is constrained to a surface and volumetric treatment devoid of internal space articulation the architect capitulates from influencing the material scale that has sustained the dialectic of the discipline for thousands of years. By trying to regain significance through the use of iconography, media and advertising, architecture displays ingenuity and amateurism. And it embarks on a battle that is bound to loose. The Bilbao effect hasn't been replicated anywhere else outside Bilbao.

At the time that Venturi and Scott Brown studied Las Vegas the relationship between billboard and architecture as backdrop was the norm. The ultimate result of an envelope theory is that architecture itself becomes the billboard. A billboard at the service of the communication needs of private capital and its thirst for a visible presence in the urban landscape. Architecture as a marketable icon subject of commodification and insertion into consumer society. It is that recent permissiveness of architecture to be used as billboard that explains, at least in part, the deep credibility crisis it currently finds itself in. Coincidentally, the level of uncertainty raised by the economic recession and the self-induced level of marginalisation explained previously have all contributed to deepen the crisis and to exacerbate what appears the rise of a new generation more interested in building with their own hands than in generating a conceptual framework to justify the relevance of what they build.

Since 2011 Rowan More has written articles attempting to track the footsteps of what he believes to be "the brightest of the newest generation of British architects". (5) One of the common trends present within his crop of young architects seems to be the conscious willingness to step away from a disenfranchised model of established architecture practice, a justifiable reaction no doubt, given the moral and ethical morass that the discipline seems to be stuck in at the moment. Their approach seems to favour initiative and full engagement in the process of making, often concentrating their efforts in projects with short life spans. However, it is as important to highlight the contributions that this new fresh and young approach brings to the discipline as it is to point the areas that it leaves unexplored and the growing vacuum that its omissions create. There are inherent risks within the very nature of their work and the lack of interest in a long term dialogue and engagement with a constituency. From these implicit risks, ephemerality is perhaps the most dangerous one since it makes the work extremely vulnerable to the assimilation of plain consumerism and incapable to articulate a solid and robust message to communicate to society (let alone establish a dialogue). In 2010 a group of young students who later became known as Assemble created the Cineroleum, a pop-up, self-built structure, a "cinema formed out of a former petrol station in Clerkenwell, London, for 15 screenings last autumn, before disappearing again". Moore praised this impromptu structure by claiming their "...short lives leave an impression on the memory"(6). Architecture's ambitions should go beyond ephemeral impressions on the memory. When this impression is located within the context of the mass media world and the constant influx of competing "impressions" architecture is relegated to be one of many inputs fighting for attention. These lax parameters to assess the effectiveness and relevance of architecture brings to mind the symptoms of a society brought up by the immediacy of global networks and the consumer society; the automated results we have come to expect from it and the ever shorter attention span we suffer by being embedded in it. That we find ephemerality so attractive and appropriate is a reflection of these symptoms manifesting itself in the discipline. And it is already clear that these fast-paced, ephemeral results carry the inherent risk of triviality, immediacy, transience and lack of complexity.

Jeff Kipnis has spent the best part of the last two decades trying to articulate an architectural agenda based on the discipline's capacity of manipulating the perceptual qualities of affects. According to him a building that is concerned with responding to these 7 values; safety, cost, convenience, comfort, pride, pleasure and familiarity, engages architecture as a service profession approach rather than a disciplinary one. That is to say, a real architectural agenda cannot be defined or articulated only through the compliance with any of these values. Architecture must first and foremost fulfil these parameters (in order to produce what in certain circles is called "good design") and only then attempt to articulate meaning, significance and dialogue. Another common trend in the work of these young practices is their strong commitment and faith in the effectiveness of work tested and measured exclusively by these 7 values. The mistake that they seem to be making is to reject established practice and disciplinary practice as if both were equal and the same. That is an unusual mistake for a young practice to make. More often than not young practices traditionally experience an initial phase where their work doesn't have the exposure or the capacity of being tested in the real world. This process allows the time of a highly theoretical and conceptually charged period where ideas and ethos are formed, rooted and grounded. This defining period would help them thread towards a firm and focused goal once engaged in professional practice. If these young practices never got the time of maturing an architectural agenda their work would very likely suffer from a lack of disciplinary relevance in the future. Eventually these young architects will move on to firmer, more grounded territory as it appears Assemble is now doing (8). Time will tell how their work will evolve once faced with the constraints imposed by standard architectural commissions.

However, the path of engaging architecture through a hands-on approach doesn't necessarily have to produce irrelevant results when the thinking behind it looks forward and beyond a mere engagement with constructability. The work done by Caroline O'Donnell on her project "Party Wall" for the MoMA YAP Program in 2013 is noteworthy on that respect. (9) The nature of the project (a temporary pavilion to be built in a refurbished public school on Brooklyn, NY and eventually dismantled at the end of the summer months) makes it suffer from the same ephemerality described before. However, there is one specific aspect about its execution that constitutes a relevant contribution to the discipline despite it being successfully tested just to disappear again. This moment of true architectural invention arrived when O'Donnell decided to use the waste products of skateboard-making (from a NY based manufacturer of eco friendly products) as cladding material for the skin of her pavilion. In one single gesture she managed to articulate a variety of messages for different constituencies and bring a level of social relevance that is urgently needed in the profession. By using wood recycled from skateboard manufacture she addressed one of the main competition brief points about sustainability but it also made legible to any of its visitors the idea that good architecture can be born out of the use of material wasted and disregarded by our consumption driven society. And by using it creatively and skilfully she was also speaking to a large part of the discipline that embarked for the better part of the last two decades on the digital driven processes of skin and surface panelization.

Another illustrative example of the potential behind a hands-on approach is the work carried out by Alison Crawshaw on her project "The Politics of Bricolage" in the outskirts of Rome as part of her Rome Prize residency in 2011 and then expanded to a practical intervention in 2012. (10) Crawshaw initially researched unlawful building practices on marginal, peripheral, self-built neighbourhoods in Rome and identified entire neighbourhoods sprawling with a lack of urban planning and deprived of urban infrastructure. This being the result of the ongoing negligence of local authorities and the real need of affordable housing which is being accommodated through informal and unregulated building. She chose a derelict and abandoned construction in the middle of one of these enclaves to perform an intervention with clinical precision that would transform the building and in time turn it into a catalyst for social interaction. This effort wasn't about merely building but doing it in a consequential way, following a calculated strategy where only the most economical and significant gestures were allowed. And above all, doing it in such a way that the results are not meant to evaporate after a successful sold out ticket run or after the newspaper cameras are gone.

Architecture is a discipline which thrives on the feedback loop created by work done by its practitioners and the creative engagement that springs out from discussing it. When there is no theoretical or conceptual agenda but to simply build we are dismantling one of the fundamental tools we have as a discipline. What is also true is that an architectural agenda can indeed be propelled through the engagement with building, whether ephemeral or small scaled. What is important is to promote a practice mode that despite its immediate outcome is capable to carry and mobilize a dialogue within the discipline. It is clear that the rejection of a stagnated, copped out and compromised practice is part of a generational shift. By choosing not to align themselves with the existing architectural establishment this new generation is sending a clear message about the need for renewing and exploring new practice models. The profession should be sensible enough to understand and assimilate the message.

References

(1). Robert Venturi. Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture. The Museum of Modern Art Press, New York. (1966)

(2). Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown and Steven Izenour . Learning from Las Vegas. Cambridge MA: MIT Press. (1972)

(3). Mark Wigley, Philip Johnson. Deconstructivist Architecture. The Museum of Modern Art Press, New York. (1988)

(4). Alejandro Zaera-Polo. The Politics of the Envelope: A Political Critique of Materialism. Volume magazine issue 17 (March 2008).

(5) (6). Rowan Moore. Meet Britain's brightest young architects. The Observer. 9 January 2011. http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/jan/09/young-architects-cineroleum-franks- hastings

(7). Rowan Moore. Assemble: from pop-ups to grown-ups. The Observer. 6 July 2014. http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/jul/06/assemble-from-pop-ups-grown-ups- cineroleum-2010-london

(8). Caroline O'Donnell. CODA. Party Wall. MoMA Young Architects Program. Summer 2013 http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/yap/2013ny_coda.html

(9). Alison Crawshaw. The Politics of Bricolage. The British School at Rome. 2011 http://www.alisoncrawshaw.com

David Campos Bio

Graduated in 2003 from Facultad del Habitat in SLP, Mexico. Graduated in 2004 from Columbia University in NY. Since 2004 collaborated with architectural practices in NY and London including Daniel Libeskind, Zaha Hadid, Richard Rogers and Norman Foster. Served as invited jury at Design Reviews at the Architectural Association in London and New Jersey Institute of Technology. Participated with Honorary Mentions at Design Competitions; Feidad (2004), Van Alen Institute (2005) and invited design exhibitions; Metamorfosis-MEIAC (2006) Currently based in London contact info: [email protected] 078 0957 3432

JAE 70:2 REPRESENTATION

Theme Editor: Joseph Choma, Assistant Professor of Architecture, Clemson University

"The forces coming from within transform the point into a line, can be very diverse. The variations in lines depends upon the number of these forces and upon their combinations." (Wassily Kandinsky, 1947)

Historically, architecture has been directly linked to its mode of representation. To draw means to make a mark on a two dimensional surface. The act of constructing a drawing is fundamental to the operation of the normative architectural practice. Drawings are lines on paper, representing materials and modes of construction. Architectural drawings can be seen as a series of diagrams which convey design intentions and spatial consequences. What is the role of drawing in contemporary architectural practice and education? How is the act of drawing changing when it is no longer solely a standard, pragmatic, communicative convention?

This issue will re‐evaluate contemporary techniques and theoretical ideas within the discourse of architectural representation. More specifically, the primary discussion will be on drawing as an agency for design. Each contributor will engage in at least one of the following four schemas.

 Instrumentation: the use of drawing as a recording device. Possible contributors: Frank Ching, Eric Jenkins and Saleh Uddin

 Design Machine: the use of drawing as a constraint to design within and generate ideas. Possible contributors: Preston Scott Cohen, Nader Tehrani and Atelier Bow‐Wow

 Autonomous: the use of drawing to make a drawing ‐a means to an end in itself. Possible contributors: Perry Kulper, Bryan Cantley and Jimenez Lai

 Inhabitable: the use of drawing not as representation but as part of the built environment. Possible contributors: Elena Manferdini, Florencia Pita and Joseph Choma

Additionally, the issue will solicit content according to two polyvalent dimensions. The first, emphasizing specific technical drawing techniques ‐within practice and pedagogy / digital and analog. The second, will investigate, research, and challenge modes of architectural representation as an intellectual discourse. How do different types of drawings and techniques suggest and contribute to theoretical positions within the boarder discourse of architecture and architectural education?

About the Theme Editor:

Joseph Choma is an Assistant Professor of Architecture at Clemson University and the founder of the Design Topology Lab, an interdisciplinary design research practice. His research interests lie at the intersection of perception, computation, epistemology and pedagogy. He is the author of Morphing: A Guide to Mathematical Transformations for Architects and Designers (Laurence King Publishing, January 2015). Other recent publications include an essay titled: “T‐H‐I‐C‐K‐E‐N‐I‐N‐G” in the Cornell Journal of Architecture 9: Mathematics and a project titled: "Contested Boundaries" in Performative Materials in Architecture and Design (Intellect, the University of Chicago Press).

Simultaneous to his research, he is investigating the blurring of perceived spatial boundaries with large inhabitable drawing installations. His work has been exhibited internationally, including a solo exhibit at the MIT Museum as part of the 2010 Cambridge Science Festival, the fourth Architectural Biennial Beijing and the ninth International Beyond Media Festival in Florence.

In 2013, Choma was awarded the Emerging Voices citation by AIA Atlanta for his contribution to the field of architecture through research and experimentation. He completed his graduate studies in design and computation at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Paul Emmons, Ph.D. Professor, Virginia Tech Andreea Mihalache, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Mississippi State University

JAE Theme Proposal

CRITERIA

What are the criteria – both explicit and implicit – by which we assess architecture? The scientific paradigm produces data to measure the efficiency of a building, its performance, behavior, or level of sustainability. Market-driven economy situates architecture in the realm of offer and demand. The current fascination with disembodied digital technologies and parametric design as the happy meeting between rigor, playfulness and innovation promises precise, yet open-ended criteria. Aesthetic judgments look at the skin and appearance of architecture, while ethical pursuits value social responsibility and engagement with the public interest. The act of critique, central to architectural education, is implicit in our set of criteria, as criteria and critique share the same Greek etymological roots (kritēs = judge).

To critique is to dissect the most intimate relationships at work in a body of knowledge. Born into an architect’s family, the ancient Greek physician Galen had described the common roots of anatomy and philosophy as the act of cutting through a body or through knowledge itself. To cut through a body – architectural or otherwise – is to dissect and unfold the intricate layers of fabric that make that body. When the 1598 edition of the Florio Italian-English dictionary translated critica as an “arte of cutting of stones,” it suggested a material grounding of an act – critique – commonly construed as a pursuit of the mind. More recently, philosopher Bruno Latour has described the two contradictory positions prevalent in contemporary criticism as the fairy and the fact: situated in the former, the critics show people that they project onto objects their own desires, while situated in the latter, they show people that their behavior is determined by exterior forces. Latour has argued that the role of the critic, (and, implicitly, critique), is not to divide, but rather to bring matters together and “offer the participants arenas in which to gather.”

Building upon the role of criticism as a simultaneous act of cutting open and stitching together, we invite contributions that critically reimagine criteria for gauging architecture. Paul Emmons, Ph.D., RA (Professor, Virginia Tech) has co-edited The Cultural Role of Architecture (London: Routledge: 2012), and Confabulations: Storytelling in Architecture (Ashgate, forthcoming 2015). He has been an ACSA Board Member and has authored book chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles in national and international publications. His most recent publications include: “Reading what is written between the lines: The esoteric dimension of Ebenezer Howard’s Garden Cities of To-Morrow,” in Architecture’s Appeal, Festschrift for Alberto Pérez-Gómez, edited by Marc Neveu and Negin Djavaherian (London: Routledge, 2014) 33-46. “Architectural Encounters between Material and Idea” in The Material Imagination: Reveries on Architecture and Matter, edited by Matthew Mindrup (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2014) 89-106; “A Window to the Soul: Depth in Early Modern Section Drawing” in Architecture Post Mortem: The Diastolic Architecture of Decline, Dystopia and Death, Donald Kunze, David Bertolini and Simone Brott, editors (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2013) 153-178; “Bodies, Books and Buildings: Encountering the Renaissance Frontispiece” in Chora Seven, Intervals in the Philosophy of Architecture, edited by Alberto Pérez-Gómez and Stephen Parcell (Montreal: McGill Queen’s University Press, forthcoming 2015); “The place of odour in modern aerial urbanism” The Journal of Architecture, Special Issue: City Air edited by Amy Kulper and Diana Periton (London: Routledge for the Royal Institute of British Architects), 19. 2 (April, 2014) 202-215.

Andreea Mihalache, Ph.D., ABD (Assistant Professor, Mississippi State University) is currently completing her dissertation with a focus on the issue of the boring and the interesting as aesthetic criteria prevalent in the architectural discourse since the second half of the 20th century. She has presented papers at ACSA and other national and international conferences, and has published book chapters and journal articles, most recently: “The Guilded Ears of Television: Venturi and Boredom,” in Marcia Feuerstein and Margarita McGrath (eds.), CSI: Construction Scenes Investigations (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, forthcoming 2015); “Re-Inventing the Center: Urban Memory, Political Travel and the Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest, Romania,” in Arijit Sen and Jennifer Johung (eds.), Landscapes of Mobility: Culture, Politics and Place-Making (London: Ashgate, 2013), 105-132. Emmons and Mihalache have co-authored “Architectural Handbooks and the User Experience,” in Kenny Cupers (ed.), Use Matters: An Alternative History of Architecture (London: Routledge, 2013), 35-50.

Boundaries: Transgressions, Entanglements and Decouplings

More than half of the world’s population now lives in cities and this number continues to grow. Through technological means, we have expanded the site, reach and pace of human habitation. At the same time, we have seen profound transformations in the natural cycles, systems and structures around us. As tensions between development and available resources escalate, how do we reconcile nature, the built environment, and technological innovation?

One line of thought suggests the co-joining of ecology and urbanism. As diverse writers1 have observed, we are “ever more entangled with things – that is, with technological, ecological, cultural, urban, and ecological networks and diverse hybrid materialities and non-human agencies.”2 Celebrating collisions and entanglements, this view proposes to redraw and to blur the boundaries between seemingly separate categories or realms. An opposite approach is suggested by the recent “Eco-Modernist Manifesto,”3 which argues that the quest for harmony between nature and technology perpetuates climate change and socioeconomic inequalities. Rejecting the current position on what constitutes sustainable development, the manifesto instead calls for ways to delineate, intensify and shrink the footprint of human activity. In other words, it argues for the creation of precise boundaries of difference and speculates that, only by “decoupling human development from environmental impacts,” can we achieve both “economic modernization and environmental protection.”

These opposite viewpoints challenge us to question where we (should) draw current boundaries between human activity and nature. For some, the boundaries are hybrid and porous. For others, the boundaries are territorially specific. For thinkers engaged in sustainability and urbanism, contested borders include the line between the building and neighborhood; between part and whole; between one system and another. Other boundaries are in flux, like the line between urban and rural in China or Vietnam. Others yet consist of several superimposed lines: legal, spatial, cultural. Boundaries within rapidly-growing cities demarcate demographic and material difference.

How might the establishment of new boundaries or the redrawing of existing ones enable us to further rethink edges, systems, and places today? How should we restructure current and future forms, functions, or social practices? How should we rethink policy and practice to enable the restructuring of the edge?

This issue of JAE explores new and existing boundaries between human habitation, development and the environment. We encourage submissions that seek to redraw or reimagine diverse edges, borders and boundaries. Proposals can focus on the literal and pragmatic – for instance, actual physical or geographical boundaries within cities or between urban and natural structures; or the conceptual and theoretical – political, social, cultural or disciplinary models, attitudes and responsibilities. Projects can explore both current conditions and future possibilities and ask, what is the role of architecture and planning as we look towards an increasingly urban world?

1 Authors from diverse disciplines include: Donna Harraway, Bruno Latour, Moshen Mostafavi, among others. 2 Damian White and Chris Wilbert, “Introduction” to Technonatures, 6. 3 http://www.ecomodernism.org/manifesto-english/ Bios:

Mari Fujita is an Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Mari’s research is focused on the spatial and cultural effects of globalism. Her design studios and seminars explore emergent forms of urbanism with a focus on Vancouver and other regions experiencing rapid growth. Her research is focused on cities in newly industrialized countries such as China, Malaysia and Brazil. Recent book chapters have been published in Shanghai New Towns: Searching for Identity and Community in a Sprawling Metropolis by 010 Publishers and The Emerging Asian City: Concomitant Urbanities and Urbanisms by Routledge Publishers. Mari Fujita maintains a design practice, FubaLabo, which pursues diverse projects including material studies, wearables, gallery installations, interiors, building designs, and urban proposals. Mari has worked as an architect in both New York and Berlin.

Mari received her B.A. from Columbia University in 1998 and her M.Arch from Princeton University in 2003. She is the 2003 recipient of the Suzanne Kolarik Underwood Prize for Excellence in Design from Princeton University.

Qualifications: Mari has 1 year of experience as a JAE Editorial Board member. Useful editorial experience Mari has includes: the co-editing of a book on Vancouver titled Vancouver Matters, and the co-editing an issue of A+I: Architecture and Ideas with Adrian Blackwell and Eduardo Aquino titled “Cities at the Threshold”.

Irina Verona is a registered architect and principal of IVARCH / Irina Verona Architecture, an architectural practice based in New York City. She is also an adjunct assistant professor at Barnard and Columbia Colleges, where she has taught since 2008. Her recent classes include design studios; Curating Architecture, a seminar that investigates current relationships between exhibitions, publications, on the one hand, and architectural discourse and practice, on the other; and “Architecture, Nature and Technology,” a seminar that looks at changing relationships between nature / technology and traces recent ideas emphasizing environmental awareness and responsibility. In the fall of 2011 and 2012, Irina has also taught graduate design studio at the School of Design, University of Pennsylvania, focusing on the urbanism of Havana, Cuba.

Irina received her B.A. from Princeton University in 1994 and her M. Arch. from Columbia University in 1998. From 1994-1995, she was a Fulbright scholar in Barcelona, Spain, studying the impact of the Olympic Games on the city’s image and urbanism.

Qualifications: Irina Verona is a founding editor of Praxis: a journal of writing and building, a publication that explores the relationship between theory and practice in the architecture of the Americas. Since 1999, Irina has been associate editor and contributor on topics including housing, museums, technology, and landscape. Particularly relevant for this proposal is the issue entitled Ecologics, which turned to the logic of ecologies as a way to rethink the architectural intervention on multiple scales. Irina also participated in the publication US Office: Agenda, for the US Pavilion at the 2014 Venice Biennale. cultural-isms: cross, inter, intra, mono, multi

As evidenced by the 2010 census data, the number of people classifying themselves as multi-racial grew by a larger percentage than those individuals indicating a single race identity. Similarly, since 2008 NAAB-accredited programs have steadily reported a decrease in enrollment by individuals indicating ‘white’ as their ethnicity while the fastest growing ethnic group is ‘nonresident alien’. However, the predominantly ‘white’ ethnicity of faculty members at NAAB-accredited programs has steadily remained over 70%. So, how are / can architecture programs address this changing context of cultural-isms, especially given the fact that multiple cultures exist within singular races and singular cultures contain multiple races. Therefore, the proposed theme for JAE Issue 70:2 aims to provide a forum for initiating a dialogue regarding the current state of culturally-based architecture. Does it exist? Can it exist? And more importantly, how can / should the changing cultural, ethnic, and racial landscape of educators, practitioners, and students be addressed within architectural education?

In an effort to identify new forms and modes of architectural thinking, relative to the theme of cultural- isms, practitioners, scholars, and students are encouraged to submit essays, projects, and built works of an interdisciplinary and international nature. As such, questions posed, raised, and discussed may include, but not be limited to the following: • How is culture defined within the context of architectural education? • How do / have cultural-isms changed or impacted the formal, spatial, aesthetic, or symbolic language of architecture? • How can / should architecture transcend tradition in order to become more inclusive? • How are current trends for exploring and producing innovative architecture and urban design solutions affecting the global future of culturally and socially sustainable built environments? • What role can / does architecture play in creating or mediating cultural conflicts?

As the globally-oriented practice of architecture and urban design continues to advance it will become increasingly important to address how future academics and practitioners should be educated. For example, the current 2014 NAAB Conditions for Accreditation limits the specific use of the term culture to two criteria in Realm A: Critical Thinking and Representation. Is this to say that students need not be prepared to practice in a world where building practices, technical skills, knowledge, integrated architectural solutions, and professional practice [Realms B, C, and D] increasingly involve the complex development and integration of multiple cultural contexts?

The categorization of cultures according to race and ethnicity for statistical purposes neutralizes the rich cultural complexities inherent within and among these groups. By the same token, to limit the mention of culture in architectural education to the realm of critical thinking and representation implies a more theoretical-based, rather than reality-based, application. Therefore, the proposed theme of cultural-isms: cross, inter, intra, mono, multi aims to not only provide educators, practitioners, scholars, and students an opportunity and venue to reflect on the current trends, but also propose new ways to formulate design thinking in architectural education.

Jane Britt Greenwood AIA retired as an Associate Professor and former Associate Dean of the College of Architecture, Art + Design at Mississippi State University in Starkville after a 20 year tenure. During that time she researched and wrote articles on design pedagogy and vernacular architecture. In 2007 she received a three-year grant from the EarthWatch Institute to research and document the vernacular residential architecture of Gyumri, Armenia. In 2010 she received a Fulbright Scholarship to teach and perform research on architecture and curriculum development at the Yerevan State University of Architecture and Construction in Yerevan, Armenia and Yerevan State Linguistics University after V. Brusov. Upon her retirement from MSU in 2013 she taught and served as Chairperson of the Architecture and Interior Department at Prince Sultan University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She is currently a Visiting Professor at the Poznan University of Technology in Poland where she will be teaching design studios and courses on cross-cultural communication in architecture.

As evidenced by this brief bio, she has considerable experience working and teaching in a variety of cultural venues. She has interacted with several American embassies to develop student projects and to review research and teaching proposals. She is a member of professional organizations that work to promote teaching and research collaborations across cultures and has helped organize international conferences and symposia. She has also helped edit English language websites on architecture and tourism in Armenia. Her past teaching in Saudi Arabia and current teaching at Poznan University of Technology puts her in a unique position to be able to solicit articles and essays from academics and practitioners working in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

’A Place to Sit’ Tectonic Student Exercise Course Responsible: Marie Frier Hvejsel

’Teaching Novel Tectonics’

Theme Issue Proposal for Journal of Architectural Education Theme Editors: Professor Michael U. Hensel, Oslo School of Architecture & Design ([email protected]), Professor Fredrik Nilsson, Chalmers University of Technology ([email protected]), Associate Professor Jonathan A. Hale, University of Nottingham ([email protected]), Professor Anne Beim, Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture ([email protected]) & Assistant Professor Marie Frier Hvejsel, Aalborg University ([email protected])

The discipline of architecture is currently characterized by an increasing split between the critical-theoretical orientation of academia and the commercial conditions of the globalized building industry. Architects of both worlds are thus met with a series of uneasy ethical challenges: scarcity of resources, economically driven tender processes, and an increasing dominance of systemized and standardized building practices. However, as designers, researchers and educators we are still preoccupied with the tension between the pursuit of beauty and a sense of social responsibility, but often detached from the realities of day to day building practices.

The theme proposed for JAE is ‘Teaching Novel Tectonics’. Tectonics, understood in its original etymological meaning as, ‘an ethical unification of aesthetics and technique’ offers a useful way to describe the nature of this current challenge. At present there is a boom in the advancement of technologies applicable to the building industry especially driven by the rise of digital technology. Yet, there is still a lack of an adequate critical framework for applying these technologies within the general realm of the building industry. By referring simultaneously to the physical object and the process of creation the notion of tectonics suggests a highly potent link between theory and practice. Within the last decade we have seen a revival of research interest in tectonic theories at an academic level, resulting in the coining of new notions such as ‘digital tectonics,’ ‘environmental tectonics,’ ‘local tectonics,’ ‘new materialism,’ etc. These ideas have been influenced by the writing of, among others: Gilles Deleuze, Bruno Latour, Giorgio Agamben, Tim Ingold, and Josef Reichholf, alongside a powerful strand of techno-feminist thinkers from Donna Haraway to Jane Bennett. With this call for papers we seek a mapping of the potential application and effect of these theories on the role of tectonics in architectural education – for example, by questioning the typical separation of technology, humanities and professional practice teaching within many institutional curricula, as well as the long-standing tension between the (critical) academic and professional (instrumental) understandings of technology. Hence, we pursue novel interpretations of tectonics that build on historical discourses reaching back to the 19th Century – from Gottfried Semper to Kenneth Frampton - while exploring new opportunities to inspire students and young architects to impact on the day to day realities of contemporary practice.

The aim is to assemble a collection of research and educational reflection that spurs, envisions and evaluates new ways of bridging technology, aesthetics and environmental ethics within architectural education, grouped under three broad headings:

 Themed discussions that address the relationships between historical and contemporary understandings of tectonics (digital, environmental, local, etc.).  Detailed discussions of how both teachers and researchers are able to respond to these new approaches.  Detailed case-studies of novel teaching approaches that address these contemporary themes in a way that both challenges and advances their implementation in practice.

This proposal has been prepared in consultation with – and with the support of – JAE Board Member Dr Franca Trubiano. Editor Biographies:

Prof. Dr. Michael U. Hensel is an architect, researcher, writer and educator. He gained his PhD at the University of Reading and is tenured professor at AHO - the Oslo School of Architecture and Design where he directs the Research Center for Architecture and Tectonics. Previously he taught at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London (1993-2009) and held visiting professorships and innovation fellowships in Europe, America and Australia. He is founding and current chairman of the OCEAN Design Research Association and founding and current chairman of SEA - Sustainable Environment Association. From 2007 to 2011 he was board member of BIONIS - The Biomimetics Network for Industrial Sustainability. Since 2007 he is editorial board member of AD Wiley. From 2007 to 2009 he was editorial board member of JBE - Journal for Bionic Engineering, Elsevier Scientific Press. Since 2011 he is editorial board member of the peer-reviewed online journal FORMakademisk. He wrote extensively about research by design, performance-oriented architecture, and other topics in architecture and urban design and has published, lectured and exhibited in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, and the Americas. He is the author and editor of numerous books and journal issues including: Performance-oriented Architecture – Rethinking Architectural Design and the Built Environment. London: AD Wiley, 2013; Hensel, M and Menges, A. Eds. Space Reader – Heterogeneous Space in Architecture. London: John Wiley and Sons, 2012. Hensel, M., Menges, A. and Weinstock, M. Emergent Technologies and Design: A Biological Paradigm for Architecture. London: Routledge, 2010; Ertas, H., Hensel, M. and Sunguroğlu Hensel, D. Eds. Turkey: At the Threshold. AD Architectural Design Vol. 80, 1, 2010; Hensel, M. and Gharleghi, M. Eds. Iran – Past, Present and Futures. London: AD Wiley, 2012; Hensel, M. and Hermansen Cordua, C. Eds. Constructions - An Experimental Approach to Intensely Local Architectures, AD Wiley, 2015.

Dr Fredrik Nilsson is an architect and Professor of Architectural Theory at Chalmers University in Sweden, where he leads the strong research environment ‘Architecture in the Making’ in a national collaboration between the schools of architecture. He is also Chief Research Strategist at White Arkitekter, where he was Head of Research and Development 2007-2014. Nilsson’s research is directed to developments in contemporary architecture, architectural theory and philosophy with special interest in the epistemology of architecture and interaction between theory, conceptual thinking and design practice. Important aims are contributions to reinforced exchange between research and architectural practice. Nilsson has been engaged as opponent and external evaluator of PhD and senior research internationally. He is author and editor of several books and frequently publishes articles, architectural criticism and reviews of books.

Dr Jonathan Hale is an architect, Associate Professor & Reader in Architectural Theory at the University of Nottingham, Department of Architecture and Built Environment. His research interests include: architectural theory and criticism; phenomenology and the philosophy of technology; the relationship between architecture and the body; embodied experience in museums and exhibitions. Recent publications include a book for the Routledge series Thinkers for Architects on the philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty, (forthcoming 2016). Previous books include Museum Making: Narratives, Architectures, Exhibitions, (Routledge 2012) co-edited with Dr Laura Hanks and Dr Suzanne Macleod of University of Leicester); Rethinking Technology: A Reader in Architectural Theory, (Routledge 2007) co-edited with William W Braham (University of Pennsylvania); and Building Ideas: An Introduction to Architectural Theory (Wiley, 2000) also published by China Architecture and Building Press, 2015. He is currently Head of the research group ‘Architecture, Culture and Tectonics’ (ACT) at the University of Nottingham, and was previously founding Chair of the international subject network: Architectural Humanities Research Association (AHRA). Website/blog: www.bodyoftheory.com

Dr Anne Beim is Professor of Architecture and head of CINARK – Centre for Industrialised Architecture at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture (RDAFA) in Copenhagen. She has been chairing the cross-institutional research project “Towards a Tectonic Sustainable Building Practice” (2010-2014). Anne Beim holds a PhD in architecture from RDAFA and has conducted part of her PhD studies at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design. She is author/co-author of several books including: Building the Future – Visions in Industrialised Housing 1970 – 2001 (2012), Three Ways of Assembling a House (2009), Tectonic Visions in Architecture (2004) and Ecology and Architectural Quality (2002

Dr Marie Frier Hvejsel is an architect and Assistant Professor in Architecture at the Department of Architecture, Design & Media Technology, Aalborg University in Denmark, and a partner in the design practice Frier Architecture based in Aarhus. She is the author and editor of a number of publications including: A Place to Sit - Tectonics as Method in Architectural Education, (Department of Architecture, Design & Media Technology, Aalborg University, 2014) which reflects upon three years of teaching tectonic method in architecture using the furniture scale as a basis for learning; and INTERIORITY - A Critical Theory of Domestic Architecture (Department of Architecture, Design & Media Tecnhology, Aalborg University, 2011). She is also a member of the OCEAN Design Research Association. _____ OBJECTS OF SCHOOLING ON VISUAL PEDAGOGIES IN ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION

CFP

The idea that academia needs to perform an “accurate archaeology” of the process of architectural production and education is not new. (Till 2005) Yet, until now, studies on the history of architectural theory in the postwar period never fully embraced this idea. They mostly stressed the presence of coexisting or even contradictory paradigms in the post 1945 world. And their ordeal was simple: the postwar period had a fluid and open-ended character. (Nesbitt 1996; Leach 1997; Crysler et al. 2012) Consequently, these volumes ignored the question of how theory was produced and used in different settings. This special issue wants to respond to this lacuna. It will explore how theoretical knowledge was formed and transmitted through texts and objects in architectural education during the recent past. It will hereby demonstrate that these learning environments are crucial palimpsests for contemporary designers.

When studying the educational and discursive roles of objects in the classroom or studio, researchers can benefit from the ‘material’ or ‘pictorial turn’ in humanities and social sciences. The recent interdisciplinary material turn after all can offer an answer to the ‘haunting silence’ of teacher’s work in historical documents and consequently to the inaccessibility of past classrooms. Over the last few decades, historians of education have undertaken considerable efforts to restage these former classroom practices and rituals of school life, by establishing the material as a source for reshaping past learning environments.(Depaepe and Henkens 2000; Grosvenor and Lawn 2001, 2005) The aim of this issue is to gain insight into the multiple functions of the objects implemented in architectural education in the second half of the 20th century. Which kind of knowledge was cultivated through for instance course notes, study books, architectural models, drawings, isometries, axonometries, schemes, graphical representations and diagrams? In particular, we hope to illuminate how these objects became pedagogical devices through which practitioners engaged and developed architectural knowledge.

We especially welcome case-studies which scrutinize post-war visual pedagogies by analyzing the way in which objects were given meaning, their use in processes of knowledge transmission and their role in the heterogeneous active network constituting school life.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Albarn, Keith and Jenny Miall Smith. 1977. Diagram: The Instrument of Thought. London: Thames and Hudson. Carpo, Mario and Frédérique Lemerle. 2007. Perspective, Projections and Design : Technologies of Architectural Representation. London: Routledge. Crysler, Greg, Stephen Cairns and Hilde Heynen. 2012. The Sage Handbook of Architectural Theory. London: SAGE publications. Depaepe, Marc and Bregt Henkens. 2000 “The History of Education and the Challenge of the Visual”, Paedagogica Historica: International Journal of the History of Education 36, 1: 10– 17.Deriu, Davide. 2012. “Transforming Ideas into Pictures: Model Photography and Modern Architecture”. In Camera Constructs: Photography, Architecture and the Modern City. Surrey: Ashgate Publishing. Elser, Oliver and Peter Cachola Schmal. 2012. Das Architektur Modell: Werkzeug, Fetisch, kleine Utopie, The architectural model: tool, fetish, small utopia. Zürich: Scheidegger & Spiess. Evans, Robin. 1995. The Projective Cast: Architecture and Its Three Geometries. Cambridge Mass: MIT press. Evans, Robin. 1997. Translations from Drawing to Buildings. Cambridge Mass: MIT Press. Grosvenor, Ian and Martin Lawn. 2001. Ways of Seeing Education and Schooling: Emerging Historiographies. London: Taylor and Francis. Fenwick, Tara and Paolo Landri. 2012 “Materialities, textures and pedagogies: socio-material assemblages in education”, Pedagogy, Culture and Society, 20, 1: 1-7. Healy, Patrick. 2008. The Model and Its Architecture. Rotterdam: 010. Lawn, Martin and Ian Grosvenor. 2005. Materialities of Schooling: Design, Technology, Objects, Routines. Oxford: Symposium books. Leach, Neil. 1997. Rethinking Architecture: a Reader in Cultural Theory. New York: Routledge.

Moon, Karen. 2005. Modeling Messages: The Architect and the Model. New York: Monacelli. Nesbitt, Kate. 1996. Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture: an Anthology of Architectural Theory, 1965-1995. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. Pérez-Gómez, Alberto and Louise Pelletier. 1997. Architectural Representation and the Perspective Hinge. Cambridge Mass: MIT press. Riedijk, Michiel and Else Marijn Kruijswijk. 2010. Architecture as a Craft: Architecture, Drawing, Model and Position. Amsterdam: SUN. Till, Jeremy. (2005) What is Architectural Research? Architectural Research: three Myths and one Model. London: RIBA

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Rajesh Heynickx (1977) is an Associate Professor of architectural theory and intellectual history at the University of Leuven (Department of Architecture), Belgium. He edited the following studies with Leuven University Press: in 2012 (together with Tom Avermaete) Making a New World. Architecture and Communities in Interwar Europe and (together with Thomas Coomans e.a.) Loci Sacri. Understanding Sacred Places ; in 2010 (together with Jan De Maeyer) The Maritain Factor. Taking religion into Interwar Modernism. In articles published in Modern Intellectual History, Modernist Cultures or Environment&History, he dissected the impact of epistemic cultures on art and the (re)distribution of architectural theory. That focus allso stood central in a volume on the history of the architectural school Sint Lucas he edited in 2012 (together with Sven Sterken and Yves Schoonjans). He is the guest-editor of the latest issue of Interiors. Design/Architecture/Culture (september 2015) devoted to the temporalities of interiors. For a more elaborate view on his publications: https://lirias.kuleuven.be/cv?u=U0038537

Elke Couchez (1987, BE) studied Fine Arts (Sint-Lucas Academy, Ghent) and Art History (KU Leuven). She is a Ph.D. Student at the KU Leuven Department of Architecture, where she works on the FWO-project “The Formation of Architectural Theory in Belgium (1965-1995)”. Project promoters are: Hilde Heynen, Rajesh Heynickx and Yves Schoonjans. Also active as a freelance art critic, she published in periodicals such as H ART, Metropolis M and This is tomorrow. She is author of different catalogue-texts about contemporary arts and participated in the writer- in-residence programs of Lokaal 01 (Antwerp) and Frans Masereel Centrum (Kasterlee).

9.1.15

Online/Nonline: The digital evolution of architectural education

In a time when higher education is undergoing massive change through the adoption of online and distance pedagogy, architectural design studios stand apart in their retention of traditional teaching methods.

Many schools of architecture devote substantial effort and funding to the use of technology, even where little change has occurred in the venue or method of the design studio. In the new world of academia, the design studio is both educationally advanced [ problem based learning, communities of learning complex and wicked problems, etc.] and anachronistic [ expensive, place bound, synchronous, and dogmatic ]. Raising a larger set of questions about design education in the 21st century can advance the field of architectural education and the effective use of online teaching methods.

Evidence for this coming digital transformation is clear, and so is the pressure for adoption of the new pedagogies and technologies. The number of students taking online or distance courses has grown substantially over the past ten years. It is estimated that in 2013 over 27% of all students were taking at least one online course. Academic leaders report they consider online learning critical to the strategic plans reached a new high of 71%. Architectural education is and will be pressed to change by both students and administrations. [ from onlinelearningconsurtium.org & nced.ed.gov]

We know all of our students are digital natives, and when they complete their architectural education, they will work in a field that is online, wired, global, and digital. Massive plotters, laser cutters, 3D printers, VR goggles, and animated fly-throughs are tools of architecture, but none address the function of education - teaching and learning. Architecture education is often learning about the technology and not learning with the technology. The substantial use of digital communication tools [email, text, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and more] has not shifted architectural education to a more fully online environment.

How do you teach a studio in a fully or partially online environment? What elements of the curriculum should be available online? What blends of online and onsite can provide the best learning outcomes? When is distance a virtue? How can engagement be more intentional? With this issue of JAE, we 9.1.15 will begin to listen to the diverse discussions and experiments in architectural education. Contributions to the special issue could include: • Advances and examples in online education in architecture • Transitions in architectural education to the online environment • Contrary opinions and rebuttals to the concept of online architectural education.

Our premise is that architectural education must continue to evolve in the changing context of higher education and to meet the needs of our students. We must develop and integrate online education and digital tools into architectural educational, revising traditional methods without degrading educational value. This discussion is urgent and important. This special issue will encourage engagement and communication toward the evolution of architectural education in the digital world in which our students live and will practice.

9.1.15

Bios We have a unique set of experiences in architectural education that will shape the dedicated issue; we have worked both as architects and as educators; we are all investigating how education can and should change in the future; and we bring experience in multi-authored publications. We look forward to working with the editorial board.

Brad Hokanson is a professor in the College of Design at the University of Minnesota, with degrees in architecture [Minnesota], urban design [Harvard], and a doctorate in instructional technology [Minnesota]. Widely written in educational technology, he has led two research symposia in the field, resulting in the publication of two multi-author volumes. Both were published through Springer-Verlag, with the first, Design in Educational Technology: Design thinking, design process, and the design studio, published in 2013 and the second, The Design of Learning Experience: the future of educational technology, published in 2015. That model of solicited contributions, in-person discussion, and extensive digital interaction lead to what one participant called "…the most collegial and engaging experience of my university career."

He also was the co-editor of a special edition of Educational Technology [42(5)], on our learning software completion in 2002.

He is also preparing his third massive online course on creativity for the University of Minnesota through Coursera. Previous courses each enrolled over 52,000 learners. Additionally, he has recently been named President-Elect of the Association of Educational Communication and Technology, the leading international organization on instructional design.

Michael Haggans is a Visiting Scholar in the School of Architecture at the University of Minnesota and Visiting Professor in the Center for 21st Century Universities at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He teaches Planning and Design of the University simultaneously at both institutions through synchronous and asynchronous formats. He studies the future of the campus and the facilities implications of the digital transformation of higher education [campusmatters.net]. A licensed architect, Michael has a Master of Architecture from the State University of New York at Buffalo and Bachelor of Environmental Design from the University of Kansas. He has led architectural 9.1.15 practices serving campuses throughout the US and Canada, was University Architect for the University of Missouri System and University of Arizona and has taught at the University of Kansas and North Carolina State University. He is currently working on a book on the evolution of campuses in the digital age.

Jody Lawrence is a doctoral student at the University of Minnesota. Holding masters degrees in architecture and education as well as teaching experience in both K12 schools and architecture programs. Her current research focuses on the use of VoiceThread in studio critique. On-site

Proposed JAE issue 70:2 theme topic submitted by Doug Jackson and Jonathan Foote, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Zaha Hadid’s recent contention that her office bears no responsibility for the safety and welfare of those engaged in the on-site work of her buildings revealed a hidden, contested field in which disciplinary boundaries are currently being tested. While Hadid might advocate for strict legal and conceptual limits for the site of architecture, others are scrutinizing the site as an underutilized space of design engagement, material and programmatic innovation, and locally activated, responsive architecture.

Historically speaking, the term “on-site” has denoted both a locational and temporal specificity— defining not only the realm within which a design is to be physically realized, but also suggesting that this realization occurs after the act of design has essentially concluded. Such a connotation arises from the long-held equation of design (disegno) with ideality, and the resulting assumption that the various aspects of architecture’s authorship—its conception, iterative exploration, materialization, and refinement—benefit and indeed rely on such a categorical separation between on- and off-site.

The traditional location of the design activity “off-site,” therefore, suggests that the site is understood as simply a realm where a fully-formed design is made manifest, and that it is consequently presumed to be devoid of any capacity to host all or part of the design process itself, or to allow the idiosyncratic aspects of its character, context, or inhabitants to be harnessed as agents of unpremeditated architectural affect. However, the profound impact of the technological, social, and cultural transformations from the last few decades has led to the decoupling of activities from specific temporalities and locales. As these activities have become free to take place within new contexts, they have become more situational—transformed by the sites within which they occur.

This paradigmatic shift has likewise affected architecture, dislocating some or all of its procedures from the hermetic confines of the office or studio and allowing them instead to take place within other contexts outside of the specific agency of the architect. Accordingly, new forms and practices of design have emerged that engage the architectural site in novel ways—postponing the closure of the design process so that it remains open to the site’s more situational influences.

“On-site” provides a forum where these recent trends can be interrogated and evaluated. It hopes to examine such work in relation to relevant historical precedents and to sponsor informed speculation about future practices. “On-site” solicits scholarship and research that focuses on shifting concepts of production, in which the process of architectural design or the full realization of architectural affect is displaced or expanded from the exclusive priority and autonomy of the traditional “off-site” architect, and is instead located in the situational milieu of the architectural site. Relevant topics could include, but are not limited to: labor and the production of buildings, ad hoc design or other on-site design/build practices, site-activated materials, self-building architecture, self-perpetuating or self-healing architecture, user-generated, networked, or kinetically responsive architecture, operative landscapes, and other forms of evolutionary design.

About the submitters for

On-site

JAE issue 70:2 theme proposal

Doug Jackson is an Associate Professor of Architecture at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, CA, where he coordinates the 5th year program and also teaches the 5th year Thesis Studio as well as seminars on architectural theory. He has previously taught at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln (as the Hyde Chair of Excellence) and the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc). In addition, Doug was a principal at the award-winning and internationally recognized office of Jones, Partners: Architecture, and is now the founding principal of the Doug Jackson Design Office, whose constructed and speculative design work has been published and exhibited both nationally and internationally.

Doug’s work focuses on reconciling the architectural discipline’s expertise in regulating form, space, and experience with new cultural practices that value a deregulation of those qualities. His current work examines forms of architectural deregulation within the areas of network culture as well as ecological design, with specific research threads that include kinetic and transformable architecture, the possibilities for post-construction architectural “content creation,” and spatializing environmental disturbances.

Doug’s work on transformable architecture and architectural “content creation” outlines an area of expertise that relates directly to the “On-site” theme’s examination of the site as a generative realm within which architectural qualities can be produced or transformed in addition to the original authorial contribution of the architect. Doug has produced speculative design work as well as written scholarship on these topics that has been featured in publications ranging from GA Houses to the Journal of Architectural Education.

In addition, Doug has experience working with collaborators on multi-authored publications. He is the editor, co-author, and graphic designer of the forthcoming book titled SOUPERgreen! (Souped-Up Green Architecture) (Actar, 2015), for which he was also awarded a grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. This work, which features essays by 5 different authors and an in-depth review of 8 constructed and speculative design projects, critically examines an approach to green architecture that is less rooted in quantifiable performance and more focused on architecture’s ability to sponsor environmentally-conscious performances of daily life through the creation of work that dramatically expresses and spatializes the dynamic and technologically-mediated relationship between humanity and the larger planetary ecology.

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Jonathan Foote, Ph.D., currently teaches at Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo, California, and is founder of Atelier U:W, a design research firm. He taught architecture at Virginia Tech's Alexandria Campus and served as Director of Graduate Studies at the Wentworth Institute of Technology. He was recently appointed as Associate Professor of History and Theory at the Aarhus School Architecture, Denmark, beginning in January 2016.

Jonathan’s current research agenda concerns theories of architectural translation between ideas and materials, including investigations into building site workflow, scales of production, and the material imagination. He has also advanced related, concurrent research into design/build pedagogy and the significance of the workshop as a site for imagination in architectural education.

Related to the proposed theme of “On-site”, Jonathan has accumulated several publications and teaching interests that attest to this as an area of expertise. To begin, his upcoming book to be published by Ashgate, Michelangelo, Templates and the On-site Imagination, examines Michelangelo’s unusual relationship with architecture as a work in progress. He has taught internationally in workshop-based learning and has lectured and published in the area of design/build pedagogy, including a 2012 essay in JAE entitled, “Design Build : Build Design.” As well, Jonathan has published on topics related to “On-site” in several edited volumes. Two recent essays examine certain aspects of Michelangelo’s imagination on the site of construction: "Extracting Desire: Michelangelo and the forza di levare as an Architectural Premise,” in The Material Imagination: Reveries on Architecture and Matter, edited by Matthew Mindrup; and “In medias res: Michelangelo’s Wall Drawings at San Lorenzo,” in Confabulations: Storytelling in Architecture, edited by Paul Emmons, Marcia Feuerstein, and Carolina Dayer. And finally, an essay on L.B. Alberti’s relationship to the construction site through his drawing practices was published in Architecture and Culture, edited by Adam Sharr, in 2012.

August 26, 2015

Professor Marc J. Neveau Executive Editor of the Journal of Architectural Education

Re: Theme proposal for JAE Issue 70:2

Dear Professor Neveau,

Please see below our Theme Proposal for the JAE Issue 70:2

Sincerely,

Yehuda E. Kalay

Computing, People and Architectural Design: Paradigms, Problems and Paradoxes Ubiquitous access to computing has changed the way it is understood as the medium of architecture. Computational information models, procedural grammars, mass customizable pre-fabrication, intricate interdisciplinary collaboration and many other modes of modeling architectural problems have been made possible by these advances. Computing has also advanced our ability to evaluate the performance of buildings, especially in their physical aspects. However, our ability to model human behaviour and potential use of architectural design proposals is not as advanced. What is the current state of the art of the use of computing in architectural design where understanding and modeling how people might use buildings and how buildings might shape the lives and work of the people who use them are concerned? As a medium for the representation of architectural models and problems, does computing open new avenues of inquiry, which may advance our understanding of the way, the built environment is used? Does it demand that architects learn new ways of thinking about design problems? This special issue invites contributions from scholars across disciplinary specializations in architectural and urban research, which address these broad questions from critical, empirical, historical or theoretical perspectives.

Short Biography Yehuda Kalay is Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning at the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, and holder of the Henry and Merilyn Taub Academic Chair. Prior to assuming the deanship at the Technion, for 18 years he was professor of Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, where he cofounded and directed the Berkeley Center for New Media. Prior to his tenure at Berkeley, for 10 years Professor Kalay taught in the department of architecture at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Professor Kalay holds B.Arch and MSc degrees in Architecture from the Technion, and PhD from Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, USA). He is a founding member and past president of ACADIA (Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture), and former co-Editor-in-Chief of Automation in Construction, an international refereed journal (Elsevier, UK). He is a licensed architect in the State of Israel. Kalay’s research focuses on digital and collaborative design. Professor Kalay has published more than 100 scholarly papers and eight books, the most recent of which are: Collaborative Working Environments for Architectural Design, with Prof. Carrara of the University of Rome, Italy (Palombi, 2009); New Heritage: Cultural Heritage and New Media (Routledge, 2008), with Prof. Kvan of the University of Melbourne, Australia; and Architecture’s New Media (MIT, 2004).

JAE 70:2 call for theme proposals

Lydia Kallipoliti and Chris Perry School of Architecture, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

An Architectural Folly for the Anthropocene, Ben Schneiderman (MArch Thesis Project, 2014), Rensselaer School of Architecture

PROPOSED ISSUE THEME

Strange Weather: Architecture and Design in the Anthropocene Age In 2000, Nobel Laureate Paul Crutzen announced that human civilization has entered a new geological age, the Anthro- pocene. We are running through an Earth epoch whereby the products of human invention and production, including the making of buildings and cities, have unwittingly reformed the planet’s geophysical properties. Perpetual floods, ice melts, tropical outbursts, dryness and other climatic phenomena reflect what we so often refer to as climate change or what sociologist Andrew Ross refers to as “strange weather.”

As the threat of an impending environmental cataclysm is escalating, so is the need to understand the role of architecture in the Anthropocene and its impact on culture and society. Yet, the goal of this proposed issue of JAE is not simply to engage architecture as a combative tool against aggravating climatic conditions. Technology, as weaponry and as defense, is not our sole search; neither is an exclusive engagement with teleology. The new geological era of the Anthropocene does not only raise material problems, but also cultural and aesthetic problems. Our perception of the environment and orientation in the world is irreversibly displaced, as the fantasy of our habitation outside of nature, or even the very existence of nature itself, is no longer tenable. Unlike its anthropocentric predecessor, this new world, as Timothy Morton suggests, does not tolerate the separation of humans from nonhumans. It rather imposes an asymmetrical confrontation between the human and the nonhuman, as the pervasion of nonhuman elements with human ones is seamless even in our own physiology.

Considering the literature of radical environmental thinkers like Jane Bennet, Slavoj Zizek, and Timothy Morton, new terms surface in their writing including hyperobjects, hoards, piles, pervasive liquids, clouds, sublimely toxic aquifers, and others. These terms are not simply the result of chemical interactions and statistical data, but new objects of environmental representation; they are part of our world and inevitably part of our discipline. Thus, how can we design buildings not only as aesthetic and formal artifacts, but also as new natures? Not only in physiological exchange with the existing environment, but also as new environments which challenge and affect the existing climate? How can we understand context and site not only as the given built urban surrounding, but also as the physiological and ecosystemic condition of this surrounding? And in this context, how can we understand the design process as an organizational platform, where different creators, collectives, ideas, and technologies can mix and remix, assemble and reassemble? This proposed issue of JAE will attempt to engage these and other questions as they relate to the existential crisis of our time, and to solicit architectural projects and research as both a catalyst for and representation of the “collaboration between humans and nonhumans” in a time of cultural and environmental anxiety. ISSUE AUTHOR’S NAMES & BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Lydia Kallipoliti Lydia Kallipoliti is an architect, engineer and scholar, currently an Assistant Professor of Architecture at Rensselaer Poly- technic Institute. She holds a Diploma in Architecture and Engineering from A.U.Th in Greece, a SMArchS in design and building technology from M.I.T, as well as a Master of Arts and a PhD from Princeton University. Prior to teaching at RPI, Kallipoliti was an Assistant Professor at Syracuse University and an Assistant Professor Adjunct at Columbia University [GSAPP] and at the Cooper Union, where she also served as a Senior Associate at the Institute for Sustainable Design, and as the Feltman Chair in Lighting leading an off-grid lighting installation for New Museum’s Ideas City Festival and the World Science Festival in New York. Kallipoliti teaches seminars on material culture, history of technology and theories of waste and reuse, as well as closed and self-reliant systems and urban environments. Her research focuses on recycling material experiments and the intersection of cybernetic and ecological theories in the twentieth century.

Kallipoliti is the recipient of numerous awards including a silver medal in the W3 international awards for digital innovation in environmental awareness, an honor at the 14th Webby Awards from the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a Grant from the Graham Foundation, the Marvin E. Goody award for the creative use of materials, a Fulbright scholarship, the Lawrence Anderson Award for the creative documentation of architectural history, the Benjamin Menschel Faculty Grant, the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship and the High Meadows Sustainability Fund.

Her design work has been exhibited widely and published internationally in magazines and books including Log, Archi- tectural Design, Praxis: Journal of Building + Writing, Domus, ArchPlus, Future Anterior, The Cornell Journal of Architec- ture, Thresholds, 306090, Pidgin, TJE, Architecture in Greece, Buildings and Landscapes, The Journal of Architectural Education and Routledge’s Urbanism Reader. Kallipoliti is the founder of EcoRedux, an innovative online open– source educational resource documenting the history of ecological experimentation in the twentieth century [www.ecoredux.com]. She is also the curator and designer of the exhibition “EcoRedux: Design Remedies for a Dying Planet”, which has been traveled globally including the Byzantine Museum of Art in Athens Greece, Columbia University, the Cooper Union and the Disseny Hub of Barcelona in Spain. EcoRedux is also a special issue of Architectural Design magazine (AD) published by Wiley & Sons in January 2011, edited by Kallipoliti.

Kallipoliti is the principal of ANAcycle design+writing studio based in Brooklyn, New York [www.anacycle.com]. Previously she has worked as a project architect for dECOi architects/MIT Digital Design Group, as a principal project architect for the Athens Olympics. She is a registered architect in Europe and a member of the Technical Chamber of professional architects in Greece, where she has built a number of residences and outdoor spaces, parks and environments. Recently she received a Graham Foundation Grant and a New York State Council on the Arts Grant to develop her new exhibition “Closed Worlds; The Rise and Fall of Dirty Physiology.”

Kallipoliti has presented papers in several annual and regional ACSA meetings including the annual meetings of 2008, 2012 and 2013, as well as regional meetings at the University of British Columbia and the University of Detroit, Mercy in 2005. She chaired a panel entitled “The Environment Schism” at the 2015 ACSA annual meeting, as well as participated as a panelist in an ACSA panel on the status of the curriculum today and JAE’s panel on our perception of nature and the environmental crisis. In the spring of 2015, she hosted a conference at Syracuse University titled “Catalog of the Anthro- pocene Age”.

Chris Perry Chris Perry is co-principal of the experimental design practice, pneumastudio, and Assistant Professor of Architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where he is Head of Graduate Studies, director of the Geofutures post-professional graduate program, and coordinator of the undergraduate thesis sequence, Final Project.

Prior to joining the faculty at Rensselaer, Perry was the Louis I. Kahn Visiting Assistant Professor at the Yale School of Ar- chitecture, an endowed chairmanship, and since 2000 has taught at Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, Rice University, the University of Toronto, Parsons School of Design, Pratt Institute, the Architectural Association in London, and RMIT in Melbourne.

Perry is a recipient of the Architectural League of New York’s Prize for Young Architects and Designers and The Mac- Dowell Colony Fellowship. He is co-chair of the forthcoming ACADIA 2015 Annual Conference, co-editor of AD: Collective Intelligence in Design (Wiley-Academy), co-editor of a special issue of PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art (MIT Press), and has published essays in various architecture journals and books, including: ARPA Journal (Columbia), The Digital Turn in Architecture: 1992–2012 (Wiley-Academy), Architecture In:Formation (Routledge), Bracket 2: Goes Soft (Actar), Yale Perspecta (MIT), and AD (Wiley-Academy).

Perry’s previous design practice, servo, exhibited widely from 1999-2010, including the Venice Architecture Biennale, the Centre Pompidou, SFMoMA, PS1/MoMA, the Wexner Center for the Arts, the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, and Artists Space in New York. Publications of the group’s work include servo: networks and environments, a monograph published by DAMDI Press in Korea, 10x10_2 (Phaidon), The New Mathematics of Architecture (Thames & Hudson), and Interactive Architecture (Princeton Architectural Press). servo’s work is also part of the permanent collections of SFMoMA and the Frac Centre in Orleans, France.

Perry’s current design practice, pneumastudio, established in 2011 with landscape architect Cathryn Dwyre, has exhibited at the Design Museum in Barcelona, NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, and the Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York. Forthcoming exhibitions include a group exhibition at ACADIA 2015 and a solo exhibition at OMI International Arts Center in Ghent, New York. Recent publications featuring pneumastudio include ARPA Journal (Columbia), Global Design (Prestel), Architecture Inserted (Yale School of Architecture), and Bracket 2: Goes Soft (Actar). Forthcoming publications include a small print edition monograph of the group’s work to be published by Press LMP and Post-Sustainability: New Directions in Ecological Design (Actar). In 2014, pneumastudio was commissioned by OMI Inter- national Arts Center to design and build an architectural folly for their sculpture grounds in Ghent, New York. The project is currently in the fund raising stage.

Lydia Kallipoliti | Profile

Lydia Kallipoliti is an architect, engineer and scholar, currently an Assistant Professor of Architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She holds a Diploma in Architecture and Engineering from A.U.Th in Greece, a SMArchS in design and building technology from M.I.T, as well as a Master of Arts and a PhD from Princeton University. Prior to teaching at RPI, Kallipoliti was an Assistant Professor at Syracuse University and an Assistant Professor Adjunct at Columbia University [GSAPP] and at the Cooper Union, where she also served as a Senior Associate at the Institute for Sustainable Design, and as the Feltman Chair in Lighting leading an off-grid lighting installation for New Museum’s Ideas City Festival and the World Science Festival in New York. Kallipoliti teaches seminars on material culture, history of technology and theories of waste and reuse, as well as closed and self-reliant systems and urban environments. Her research focuses on recycling material experiments and the intersection of cybernetic and ecological theories in the twentieth century.

Kallipoliti is the recipient of numerous awards including a silver medal in the W3 international awards for digital innovation in environmental awareness, an honor at the 14th Webby Awards from the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a Grant from the Graham Foundation, the Marvin E. Goody award for the creative use of materials, a Fulbright scholarship, the Lawrence Anderson Award for the creative documentation of architectural history, the Benjamin Menschel Faculty Grant, the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship and the High Meadows Sustainability Fund.

Her design work has been exhibited widely and published internationally in magazines and books including Log, Architectural Design, Praxis: Journal of Building + Writing, Domus, ArchPlus, Future Anterior, The Cornell Journal of Architecture, Thresholds, 306090, Pidgin, TJE, Architecture in Greece, Buildings and Landscapes, The Journal of Architectural Education and Routledge’s Urbanism Reader. Kallipoliti is the founder of EcoRedux, an innovative online open– source educational resource documenting the history of ecological experimentation in the twentieth century [www.ecoredux.com]. She is also the curator and designer of the exhibition “EcoRedux: Design Remedies for a Dying Planet”, which has been traveled globally including the Byzantine Museum of Art in Athens Greece, Columbia University, the Cooper Union and the Disseny Hub of Barcelona in Spain. EcoRedux is also a special issue of Architectural Design magazine (AD) published by Wiley & Sons in January 2011, edited by Kallipoliti.

L y d i a K a l l i p o l i t i e-mail | [email protected] || tel: +1-617-852 8191

e d u c a t i o n

2004 – 2012 Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in History & Theory of Architecture, School of Architecture, Concentration in the History of Technology, Ecology & Material Culture.

2004- 2007 Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA Master of Arts (MA) in History & Theory of Architecture, School of Architecture.

2002- 2004 Massachusetts Institute of Technology [ M.I.T ], Cambridge, MA, USA Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Studies (SMArchS), Concentration in Emergent Materials and Digital Methodologies, Dual Area of Study: Building Technology & Design, Thesis: Dross: Re-genesis of diverse matter (Marvin Goody Thesis Award), GPA: 5.0 / 5.0.

1995-2001 Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, [ A.U.Th. ], Thessaloniki, Greece Professional Diploma in Architecture & Engineering, School of Engineering, Department of Architecture, Grade average: 9.8/10 – Distinction (Highest GPA granted by A.U.Th, Top Rank in the School of Engineering), Thesis: Travelers’ Home, graded 10/10.

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d e s i g n & r e s e a r c h a w a r d s

>> Awarded a 2015 New York State of the Arts Grant to develop the exhibition and publication “Closed Worlds: The Rise and Fall of Dirty Physiology.” Sponsored by the Architectural League of New York.

>> Awarded a 2014 Grant from the Graham Foundation of the Arts to develop the exhibition and publication “Closed Worlds: The Rise and Fall of Dirty Physiology.” The production grant was awarded to Lydia Kallipoliti.

>> Awarded with a Special Honorable Mention: Built Ecologies in the international design competition d3 for Unbuilt Architectural Visions (2013), an annual design acknowledging critical debate in architecture and urbanism.

>> Awarded as Finalist in the international design competition One Prize (2012), an Annual Design and Science Award to Promote Green Design and transform cities with innovation, organized by Terreform One. The shortlisted project “Cloud Ecologies” was designed in collaboration with Ezio Blasetti, Andreas Theodoridis, Stella Nikolakaki and Katie Okamoto.

>> Awarded a Silver Medal at the 2010 International W3 Awards organized by the International Academy of Visual Arts, in the category of Environmental Awareness. The award was given for the development of the EcoRedux website www.ecoredux.com, an ecological online resource with ecological design experiments, as one of the most significant educational contributions in the web for 2010 in the field of digital arts and sciences.

>> Awarded First Prize at Domus magazine’s 2011 competition for the design and fabrication of an architectural costume. The competition was organized in conjunction with the Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York during Halloween with the theme “Critical Banality.” The costume was designed and fabricated in collaboration with Chrysokona Mavrou and Laia Celma.

th >> Awarded an Honor at the 14 International Webby Awards (2010), for the development of the website www.ecoredux.com, an ecological online resource with ecological design experiments, as one of the most significant educational contributions in the web for 2010 in the field of digital arts and sciences.

>> Awarded the 2009 High Meadows Sustainability Fund, Princeton University. Research grant to develop an ecological online resource with ecological design experiments from the 1960s and 1970s.

>> Awarded the 2006 Lawrence B. Anderson Award in the creative documentation of architectural history, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T). Research grant to develop design/scripting diagrams of underground material experiments in the 60s & 70s.

>> Awarded a 2006 Grant from the Graham Foundation of the Arts to develop the exhibition “Clip, Stamp, Fold: The Radical Architecture of Little Magazines, 196x to 197x”. The grant was awarded to the PhD program of Princeton University (Beatriz Colomina with Craig Buckley, Anthony Fontenot, Urtzi Grau, Lisa Hsieh, Alicia Imperiale, Lydia Kallipoliti, Daniel Lopez-Perez, and Irene Sunwoo).

>> Awarded First Prize in the International Design Competition for the “FEIDAD Award” in Digital Architecture with dECOi architects. Project-“Miran Gallerie” by Mark Goulthorpe, Lydia Kallipoliti, Alexandros Tsamis, Stylianos Dritsas & Raphael Crespin, submitted in January 2005.

>> Awarded an Honorable Mention in the Professional Category of the International Architectural Competition for the “Design of Ephemeral Structures, for Athens Olympics 2004”, Organized by the Cultural Olympiad for the Athens Olympics 2004 and the International Union of Architects (UIA). Project -

page_ 2 “Fecund Cityscapes” submitted in November 2002. Design team: Lydia Kallipoliti, Alexandros Tsamis, Ioannis Zavoleas, John Fernandez.

>> Awarded the 2004 Marvin E. Goody Award by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Interdisciplinary award for excellence in the building arts and the creative use of materials.

>> Awarded a Mention in the International Architectural Competition of experimental, unbuilt architectural work “e-Competition: Possible Futures”. Project -“Travelers Home”- submitted in September 2001. Design team: Lydia Kallipoliti, Alexandros Tsamis.

a c a d e m i c a w a r d s

2014 Research Faculty Grant, Syracuse University, School of Architecture in support of the exhibition and publication “Closed Worlds: The Rise and Fall of Dirty Physiology” at the Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York.

2013 Benjamin Menschel Faculty Fellowship, Faculty Grant in support of Lighting Research Seminar to design and fabricate an off-grid lighting installation for the 4th Street Cultural District. The installation will be displayed at the Idea City Festival in New York.

2009-2010 Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies (PIIRS), Research Scholarship for Dissertation Research, Princeton University.

2007-2009 Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, Research Scholarship for Dissertation Research, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

2007 Canadian Center of Architecture Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, Research Grant, Montreal Canada, June 2007.

2006 Shanley Memorial Prize’ 17, Research Award for Dissertation Research, Princeton University, School of Architecture.

2005 Howard Crosby Butler Traveling Fellowship in Architecture, Traveling Fellowship, Princeton University, School of Architecture.

2005-2006 Morgan Stanley Fellowship, Princeton University, School of Architecture.

2004-2008 J.F Coustopoulos Prize, Princeton University, Award for outstanding academic performance by the Hellenic Studies Program.

2003-2004 Alexander Onasis Foundation Fellowship for excellence in Graduate Studies.

2002-2003 Fulbright Fellowship, Scholarship for Graduate Studies in the United States.

2002-2004 2 MIT Special Merit Recognition Awards, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture, Awarded for outstanding academic performance.

2002-2004 National Scholarship Foundation of Greece (N.S.F), Scholarship for Graduate Studies awarded to one graduating architect yearly after Panhellenic examinations in Theory of Architecture.

page_ 3

2001 Gold Medal, Certificate of Graduation with the highest rank in the School of Engineering (six departments) of Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece.

1998 National Scholarship Foundation of Greece (N.S.F), Scholarship to study in Portsmouth University, U.K. as an exchange student.

Fellowships and Academic Awards from both the National Scholarship Foundation of Greece (N.S.F) and the Technical Chamber of Greece (T.C.G) for outstanding academic performance:

1997-1998 Top-ranking student in the A.U.Th School of Engineering -6 Departments- (9.93/10) 1996-1997 Second highest GPA in the Department of Architecture of A.U.Th. (9.75/10). 1995-1996 Top-ranking student in the Department of Architecture of A.U.Th. (9.42/10). 1995 Fellowship A.U.Th, Panhellenic Qualification Examinations for Universities in Mathematics, Physics & Chemistry, Honored for achieving the third place in the School of Architecture of A.U.Th.

p u b l i c a t i o n s

Editorial Work

>> Kallipoliti, Lydia (2010) (ed.), “EcoRedux: Design Remedies for an Ailing Planet”, Special Issue of Architectural Design magazine (AD), (London: Wiley and Sons, 2010).

Publications in books and magazines

>> Kallipoliti, L (2014), “Plastic Soup” in Michael Bell and Craig Buckley (Eds), Permanent Change: Plastics in Architecture and Engineering (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2014).

>> Kallipoliti, L (2014), “Cloud Crystallizing” in Troy Conrad Therrien and Janette Kim (Eds), A/R/P/A Journal, Issue 02: The Search Engine, http://www.arpajournal.net/cloud-crystallizing/.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2014), “ANAcycle: Cloud Ecologies” in PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art, Volume 37, Number 1, January 2015 (Cambridge: MIT Press, PAJ 109).

>> Kallipoliti, L (2014), “Cloud Colonies: Electronic Urbanism and Takes Zenetos' City of the Future” in John Stuart and Mabel Wilson (Eds), Globalizing Architecture: Flows and Disruptions, 102nd ACSA Annual Meeting Proceedings.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2014), Commentator in the book Behind the Green Door: A Critical Look at Sustainable Architecture through 600 Objects, edited by Lionel Devlieger (Oslo: Rotor/ Oslo Architecture Triennale, 2014).

>> Kallipoliti, L (2013) It is our obligation to translate the emerging ecology of the cloud, Log, No.28 (Stocktaking, Summer 2013) Any Corporation.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2013) Turtles Do Not Successfully Mate with Giraffes: Pluralism Versus Cloud, in N. Hume, A. Coover, P.Ruppert (Eds), Fresh Punches: Experimental Architecture Exhibition Catalogue (Brooklyn, NY: SuckerPunch Daily, 2013).

>> Kallipoliti, L (2013) Terra Insola Interview, in c-o-l-o-n, No.1, Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation, Columbia University (New York: GSAPP, 2013).

page_ 4 >> Kallipoliti, L, Tsamis, A (2013) Vacuum Wall, in Pablo Lorenzo-Eiroa, Aaron Sprecher (Eds), Architecture in Formation: On the Nature of Information in Digital Architecture (New York: Routledge 2013).

>> Kallipoliti, L (2013) Vertical Liferaft, Journal of Architectural Education (JAE), Vol.67, No.1, peer- reviewed.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2012) I have a lump stuck in my throat! Log, No.25 (Reclaim Resi[lience]stance, Summer 2012) Any Corporation.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2012) The Bienalle Chronicles, Abitare, No.526 (October 2012).

>> Kallipoliti, L (2012) Déjà Vu: Environmental Architecture from “Object” to “System” to “Cloud”, PRAXIS: A Journal of Writing + Building, Issue: Eco-Logics, No.13.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2012) From Shit to Food: The Eco House in South London (1972-1975), Buildings and Landscapes, Spring 2012, Vol.19, No.1, peer-reviewed (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press), pp.87-106.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2011) Clearings in a Concrete Jungle (Multimedia Review), Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol.70, No.1 (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press).

>> Kallipoliti, L and Young, M (2011) The Envirobubble, S.L.U.M Lab newspaper (Sustainable Living Urban Model), Spring 2011.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2011) EcoRedux Manifesto, S.L.U.M Lab newspaper (Sustainable Living Urban Model), Spring 2011.

>> Kallipoliti, L, (2011) Return to Earth: Feedback Houses, The Cornell Journal of Architecture, Issue 8: RE (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 2011).

>> Kallipoliti, L (2010) No More Schisms (Introduction to the issue), Architectural Design magazine (AD), Profile No.208 (London: Wiley & Sons, November-December 2010).

>> Kallipoliti, L (2010) The Soft Cosmos of AD’s Cosmorama (1967-1973), Architectural Design magazine (AD), Profile No.208 (London: Wiley & Sons, November-December 2010).

>> Kallipoliti, L (2010) Dross City, Architectural Design magazine (AD), Profile No.208 (London: Wiley & Sons, November-December 2010).

>> Kallipoliti, L (2010) Dry Rot: The Chemical Origins of British Preservation, Future Anterior, Vol.7, No.1 Summer 2010, peer-reviewed (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press).

>> Kallipoliti Lydia, “Interviews with Antfarm, Robin Middleton, Peter Crump and Peter Murray in Beatriz Colomina and Craig Buckley (eds.), “Clip/Stamp/Fold: The Radical Architecture of Little Magazines 196x- 197x (Barcelona: Actar Press, 2010).

>> Kallipoliti, L, (2010) Spam City, “Vima Ideon,” Inset to the Greek Newspaper “Vima”, Sunday Edition.

>> Kallipoliti, L, (2010) At Home in Utopia (Book Review for Self-Sufficient Housing), “The Architect’s Newspaper,” (New York), No.5, 03.17.2010.

>> Kallipoliti, L, Tsamis, A, Tentokali, V. (2009) Urban Voids in Sasa Lada (Ed), Dislocations: Gender, Difference and Urban Space (Athens: Futura Publications, 2009).

>> Kallipoliti, L (2008) Feedback Man, Log. No.13/14, Any Corporation.

page_ 5 >> Kallipoliti, L, Tsamis, A (2008) Felt Vacuum Wall, Pidgin, No.6, Princeton Architectural Press.

>> Kallipoliti, L, (2008) Ducks Versus Joules: Electric Visions of Las Vegas in the Energy Crisis, Thresholds, No. 33, Issue: Formalism, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

>> Kallipoliti, L, (2008) Dross in Kit McCullough and Douglas Kelbaugh (Eds), Writing Urbanism: A Design Reader (New York: Routledge, 2008).

>> Colomina, B, Buckley, C, Grau U, Kallipolliti, L, Moreno, J, Imperiale, A, Lopez-Perez, D (2008), Clip/Stamp/Fold: The Radical Architecture of Little Magazines, ArchPlus 186/187.

>> Kallipoliti, L, (2008) Recirculatory Households, or “How to Grow Tomatoes out of Household Effluents” in L.B.Perresut, I.Forino, G. Postiglione, F.Scullica (Eds), Places and Themes of Interiors (Milan, Italy: Franco Angeli, 2008).

>> Kallipoliti, L, (2007) "Growing the Wobbly Dome" in Judith Bing and Catherine Veikos (Eds), Fresh Air: Proceedings of the 95th ACSA Annual Meeting (Philadelphia, PA: 2007).

>> Kallipoliti, L, (2006) Materials off the Catalogue, Thresholds, No. 31, Issue: Ephemera, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

>> Kallipoliti, L, Tsamis, A, Sinisterra, A, Zavoleas, Y, Fernandez, J, (2006) Fecund CityScapes, Thresholds, No. 31, Issue: Ephemera, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

>> Kallipoliti, L, Tsamis, A, (2006) The Teleplastic Abuse of Ornamentation, 306090, No.10, Issue: Decoration, Princeton Architectural Press.

>> Kallipoliti, L, (2005) Garbage Architecture; reflections on the 70s discourse of reusing industrial dross, TJE (Transdisciplinary Journal of Emergence), Issue 3, No.2, Theme: Cultural Expression and Transmission in Post-Industrial Societies, Biannual Transdisciplinary Electronic Journal published SDA Bocconi, Milan, Italy, Fall 2005.

>> Kallipoliti, L, (2004), Dross; Re-genesis of diverse matter, Thresholds, No. 29, Issue: Inversions, Biannual International Architectural Journal published by the Architecture Department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

>> Kallipoliti, L, (2003) Re-using Techno-Garbage: Meaning in an architectural Post-Praxis, Architecture as Applied Art, No. 9, Issue: Physical - Artificial, Quarterly Architectural Greek Journal published by the Architect’s Association of Thessaloniki, Greece.

>> Kallipoliti, L, Tsamis, A, Tentokali, V. (2003) From the poetic Image to the Virtual Iconic Myth, Architects Vol.42, Monthly Architectural Journal published by the Greek Architects’ Association.

>> Kallipoliti,L, Tsamis,A. (2002) Travelers’ Home, Architecture in Greece, Annual Review, Presentation of best diploma thesis in Greek Universities. >> Kallipoliti,L, Tsamis,A. (2002) Travelers’ Home, Structures Vol. 01, Monthly Architectural - Technical journal, Presentation of the Greek Participation in the Bienal Miami + Beach 2001.

>> Kallipoliti, L. (1998) Spiral Lines of Thought in the Architectural Center of Thessaloniki, Architectural View No.15, Monthly Architectural Greek Journal, Presentation of the architect C.Diavatis and his work.

>> Delis, N, Kallipoliti, L, Tsamis, A. (1998) EASYspace, Housing for the Elderly, Architectural View No.14, Monthly Architectural journal, Presentation of selected student design projects in Greek Universities.

page_ 6 Architectural Publications (Books, Journals etc.) including my architectural work

>> Fernandez John (2004), From Kaolin to Kevlar: Emergent Materials for Inventing New Architecture in Journal of Architectural Education (JAE), Vol.58, No.1, Issue: Construction and Context, Presentation of the WindoWall project by Lydia Kallipoliti, Alexandros Tsamis and Anas Alfaris, p.54-65. >> Mark Goulthorpe (2004), Precise Indeterminacy in Praxis: Journal of writing + building, No. 6, Issue: New Technologies, New Architectures, Presentation of the Miran Showroom project by dECOi Architects where I was a member of the design team, p.28-45.

>> Maria Theodorou (Editor) (2003), DOES Series:“Revelation” Book III, Award Winners in ‘Ephemeral Structures Competition’, Cultural Olympiad 2001-2003 publications, pp253.

>> Dragonas, P (2003), Ephemeral Disruptions, Design + Art in Greece, Annual Review, Presentation of experimental design proposals regarding radical transformations of the public space in Athens.

>> Kotsaki, A (2003), Greek Awards in the International Architectural Competition for the ‘Design of Ephemeral Structures in the City of Athens, Architects Vol.38, Monthly Architectural Journal published by the Hellenic Architects’ Association, p.28-30.

>> Karamanou, Z, Gavra, E (2003) The proposal for an Urban ‘Gateway’ to the city of Thessaloniki, Greece, Buildings, Vol. 27, Quarterly Edition, Greek Journal of Architecture & Structures, p.50-59, Presentation of Experimental Regional Olympic Projects where I was a Co-Architect of the Project.

Articles in Journals and Online Media Regarding my Design Work

>> “Cloud Ecologies” was featured online at Archdaily [See http://www.archdaily.com/469561/winners-of- d3-unbuilt-visions-2013-competition-announced/ ] and Archinect [See http://archinect.com/news/article/91464562/winners-of-the-d3-unbuilt-visions-2013-competition] and Bustler [See http://www.bustler.net/index.php/article/winners_of_the_d3_unbuilt_visions_2013_competition/] as winner of a Special Mention: Built Ecologies in the d3 international architectural competition for Unbuilt Visions.

>> William Menking, A report on the exhibition “Lessons from Modernism” for the Architect’s Newspaper Blog, See http://blog.archpaper.com/wordpress/archives/56280

>> EcoRedux, A book design report from Archisearch Blog, http://www.archisearch.gr/article/466/ecoredux-manifesto-by-lydia-kallipoliti.htm

>> The Envirobubble, A design report from Archisearch Blog, http://www.archisearch.gr/article/429/the-envirobubble--clean-air-pods-redux-_-by-lydia-kallipoliti.htm

>> The Envirobubble, A design report from SuckerPunch Daily Blog, http://www.suckerpunchdaily.com/2011/08/31/the-envirobubble-clean-air-pods-redux/#more-15654

>> Ethel Baraona Pohl, EcoRedux 02: Design Manuals for a Dying Planet, A design report from Barcelona, Domus magazine, April 2011. See http://www.domusweb.it/en/design/ecoredux-02-design-manuals-for-a- dying-planet/

>> Raúl Sánchez, Ecoredux 02. Manuales de diseño para un planeta moribundo (Review of the EcoRedux 02 exhibition at the Disseny Hub in Barcelona), Cyan magazine, April 07 2011. See http://www.cyanmag.com/diseno-foto/ecoredux-02-manuales-de-diseno-para-un-planeta-moribundo/

>> Delmestri, G. (Università degli studi di Bergamo), Moulding Disciplines; Dross as a fruitful metaphor for organization design, TJE (Transdisciplinary Journal of Emergence), Issue 3, No.2, Theme: Cultural

page_ 7 Expression and Transmission in Post-Industrial Societies, Biannual Transdisciplinary Electronic Journal published SDA Bocconi, Milan, Italy, Fall 2005.

>> Toulas, G. (2002) People of Tomorrow, Close up Vol. 58, Monthly journal, Presentation of distinguished Greek young artists.

>> Kouzinopoulou, M. (2001) One House Two Participants, Agelioforos Newspaper, Presentation of the Greek participation in the Bienal Miami + Beach 2001.

>> Papathemelis,S. (2001) Athens of our Future, “E” inset journal in Eleftherotypia Newspaper Sunday Edition, Presentation of the project “Travelers’ Home” as an original design-research proposal for Athens 2004.

e x h i b i t i o n s

Curatorial Work

February 2016 Closed Worlds: The Rise and Fall of Dirty Physiology, Head Curator and (forthcoming) Researcher, To be exhibited at the Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York City.

January-April Lessons from Modernism: Environmental Considerations in Early Modern 2013 Architecture, Chief Researcher of the Cooper Union Institute for Sustainable Design, Exhibition displayed at the Houghton Gallery of The Cooper Union, New York, NY.

March –June EcoRedux 02: Design Manuals and Cookbooks for a Dying Planet. Chief 2011 Curator in collaboration with Anna Pla Catala, The Design Hub (D-Hub), Barcelona, Spain.

May 2011 Festival of Ideas for the New City organized by The Architectural League of New York, Session Leader and Curator for Workshop 02: The Built Environment at the New Museum of New York.

October- EcoRedux: Design Remedies for a Dying Planet. Chief Curator with the November 2009 assistance of Amie Shao and Lydia Xynogala. Columbia University, School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Avery Hall, New York. The exhibition was also displayed at the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at the Cooper Union in April 2010.

December 2008 EcoRedux: Design Remedies for a Dying Planet. Chief Curator with the assistance of Amie Shao and Alicia Imperiale. Byzantine Museum of Athens, Greece.

November 2006- Clip/Stamp/Fold: The Radical Architecture of Little Magazines, 196x to 197x. December 2010 Curators: Beatriz Colomina with Craig Buckley, Anthony Fontenot, Urtzi Grau, Lisa Hsieh, Alicia Imperiale, Lydia Kallipoliti, Daniel Lopez-Perez, and Irene Sunwoo. Exhibited at the Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York City, the Canadian Center for Architecture In Montreal, the Architectural Association London, at the Norwegian Centre for Design and Architecture: Norsk Form in Oslo and the Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver.

page_ 8 Architectural work exhibited in venues

April 2015 Chimera, Exhibition of Selected faculty Works, Syracuse University, School of Architecture, Syracuse, New York.

January 2013 Middle East Technical University of Ankara, Turkey, Department of Architecture Gallery, Exhibition: Unbuilt Visions, project exhibited “Cloud Ecologies.”

May 2013 World Science Festival. Grid Off; Lights On, Energy-generating lighting installation constructed for the Innovation Square of the World Science Festival in Brooklyn, New York.

May 2013 Ideas City Festival. Grid Off; Lights On, Energy-generating lighting installation for the Ideas City Festival organized by the New Museum in New York.

October- Past Futures, Present, Futures. Extraterritorial Vacuum Cleaner, design scenario December 2012 and project exhibited at the Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York, NY.

March –June EcoRedux 02: Design Manuals and Cookbooks for a Dying Planet. Felt 2011 Vacuum Wall, prototype exhibited in the contemporary work section, The Design Hub (D-Hub), Barcelona, Spain.

March –June The Envirobubble, Design Installation on indoor air quality in collaboration with 2011 Michael Young (Cooper Union), Anna Pla Catala (IE Madrid) and Marianthi Liapi- Kostis Oungrinis (Technical University of Crete). Exhibited at the Design Hub (D- Hub), Barcelona, Spain.

March-May 2010 Domicatec Metropolitan Expo (Athens, Greece), “Panorama of Greek Contemporary Architecture 2007-2009”, Built work of “580 Park Avenue Renovation” in New York City received a mention and was selected for display in the exhibition. Organized by the “Domes” international architectural magazine.

rd October 2008 3 Beijing Bienalle (China), “Felt Vacuum Wall” presented in the “School Section”.

September 2006 5th National Exhibition of Architectural Work in Greece, Selected among 30 architects to represent Greece in the art events for the cultural capital of Europe 2006- Patra. Organized by the Ahaia Architects’ Association, Cultural Center of Patra.

October 2005 Thessaloniki Cultural Center (Greece), O.L.Th Organization of the City’s sealine infrastructure, “50 years celebration of the Academic Work of the in the Engineering School”, Exhibition of Selected Work throughout six departments.

October – Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland, (Maine, US), “Catastrophic December 2004 Sustainability: After Nature”, Exhibition of selected architectural work examining concepts of sustainability ‘after nature’, Organized by Spurse Collaborative group.

November – Fondation Hellenique, Paris (France), “Ephemeral Structures in the City of January 2004 Athens”, Architectural Exhibition organized by the Cultural Olympiad of the Athens Olympics 2004 and the International Union of Architects.

page_ 9

November 2004 Biennale of Young Greek Architects, Technopolis: Gazi Athens Cultural Center (Greece), Competition for the selection of architectural work by Greek architects, Organized by the Hellenic Institute of Architecture.

th September – Venice Bienalle (2004); Metamorph, 9 International Architecture Exhibition, November 2004 Arsenale International Pavilion, Miran Showroom, as a member of dECOi Architects.

May 2004 ARCO Madrid (2004), International Meeting of Contemporary Art and Architecture, Representing Greece in the “Greek Suspense” - Exhibition of 16 emerging architects, Organized by the Cultural Olympiad & the Ministero de Fumento.

December 2003- Non-Standard Exhibition, Pompidou Center, Paris (France), International February 2004 Exhibition of Contemporary Architectural work on the emergence of a digital discourse, Miran Showroom as a member of dECOi Architects.

September 2004 Evagoras Lanitis Center, Limassol (Cyprus), “Ephemeral Structures in the City of Athens”, Architectural Exhibition organized by the Cultural Olympiad of the Athens Olympics 2004 and the International Union of Architects.

April-May 2003 RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects), “AthensCityScape and the Metabolism of the City”, Exhibition of selected Design Work for the Athens Olympics 2004.

February 2003 Byzantine Museum of Athens, “Design of Ephemeral Structures”, Architectural Exhibition organized by the Cultural Olympiad of the Athens Olympics 2004 in the Byzantine Museum of Athens.

October 2001 Bienal Miami + Beach 2001. Participation nominated to finalists and semi-finalists of the ‘E-competition: Possible Futures’: Open International Competition of “Conceptual and Experimental” Unbuilt Architectural Work via the Internet.

September 2001 Mediterranean Architectural Center, Chania, Crete Island, Greece, Retrospective Exhibition of selected first-year studio projects designed at Greek Universities.

June 2001 U.I.A, ‘International Ideas Competition: Architecture and Water’, Exhibition of selected Participations in Tunis.

May 2000 Mega-cities: From the Real to the Virtual City, Design exhibition in the framework of Thessaloniki International Film Festival “City and Time”.

June 1999 Architects Association, 4th Exhibition of Architectural Work in Northern Greece, Participation in a selected project.

page_ 10

l e c t u r e s

>> Kallipoliti, L (2015) The History Lump, Lecture at the conference “Non-Discrete Architectures: Networks, Digital Prosthetics and Augmentation,” University of Pennsylvania- UPenn Design, Philadelphia, PA.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2015) Dark Data, Definition Series: Search Vs Research, On the occasion of the OFFICEUS Atlas Book Launch, Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York, NY.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2015), Panelist at the Core Curriculum super-session 103rd ACSA Annual Meeting, “The Expanding Periphery and the Migrating Center,” Toronto, Canada.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2015), On Balloons, Parachutes and Other Floating Bodies, White Box Art Gallery, New York, NY.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2014) Closed Worlds: The Rise and Fall of Dirty Physiology, Cornell University, New York Program, New York.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2014) Garbage Housing Versus Spiritual Naturalism, Conference: “How to Make Waste Public,” Woodbury University, Los Angeles, CA.

th >> Kallipoliti, L (2014) Soft Machines: Cellular Synthetic Environments, 67 Annual Meeting of the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH), Austin, TX.

nd >> Kallipoliti, L (2014) Cloud Colonies: Takes Zenetos’ Electronic Urbanism , 102 ACSA Annual Meeting: Global Flows and Disruptions, Miami, FL.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2014) Closed Worlds: The Rise and Fall of Dirty Physiology, Yale University, History and Theory Curriculum Lecture for the MArch Graduate Program, New Haven, CT.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2013) Mission Galactic Household, Emerging Voices Lecture at The University of Michigan, Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning, Ann Arbor, MI.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2013) Cloud Crystallizing, Lecture at the conference “The New Normal: Experiments in Contemporary Generative Design,” University of Pennsylvania- UPenn Design, Philadelphia, PA.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2013) Dross Soup, Waste Panel at the Ideas City Festival in New York organized by the New Museum, New York, NY.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2013) Undigested Aquatic Histories, Beyond Waterproofing New York, Conference organized by the Spitzer School of Architecture and the Landscape Program of the City College of New York, NY.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2013) How Do We Recycle Ideas?, Princeton’s Alternative Architectural Practices: Rethinking Technology, Princeton University School of Architecture, Princeton, NJ.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2013) Capital as Dehydrated Filth, Definition Series 03: On CAPITAL, Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York, NY.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2013) The Envirobubble: Clean Air Pods Redux, 101 ACSA Annual Meeting: New Constellations/ New Ecologies hosted by the California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2013) The 6S Hypothesis, Round-table panelist and presenter in the symposium Measured Expectations: Post Occupancy Evaluation of Sustainability in Built Work, organized by

page_ 11 the Architectural League of New York and the Cooper Union Institute for Sustainable Design, New York, NY.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2013) Waterproofing New York, Panel Moderator in the session “Waste & Water,” Conference organized by the Spitzer School of Architecture and the Landscape Program of the City College of New York, NY.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2012) Environmental Architecture from Object to System to Cloud, Lecture at Syracuse University hosted by the Syracuse/NYC program, New York, NY.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2012) Deja-Vu; How Do we Recycle Ideas? Lecture at MIT hosted by the SMArchS Colloquium, Cambridge, MA.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2012) The Eco-House, Presentation in the book launch event organized by Building and Landscapes journal at the Van Alen Institute Books, New York, NY.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2012) Deja-Vu, Presentation in the event “Interrogating Green” organized by Praxis journal of writing and building at the Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York, NY.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2012) Counterculture in the Desert, Conference organized by the Cooper Union Institute of Sustainable Design and the Buckminster Fuller Institute, The Cooper Union, New York, NY.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2012) Mission Galactic Household: Feedback Systems from Outer Space Down to Earth, Over, Under, On: Architecture and the Earth, Conference organized by the PhD Program as part of Cambridge Talks VI, Harvard Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, MA.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2012) 101 Cloud Ecologies, Yale School of Architecture, New Haven, CT.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2011) The Plastic Soup: Gun-Shot Foam Shelters, Permanent Change: Plastics in Architecture and Engineering, Columbia University, New York.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2011) Clean Air Pods Redux, Design Hub (D-Hub), Barcelona, Spain.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2011) The Resurgence of Synthetic Naturalism, 4th Nature: Mediated Landscapes, International Conference at the University of Waterloo, Toronto, Canada.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2011) On Small Weapons and Remedies, Manifesto on Infrastructural Opportunism, The Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York, NY.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2011) EcoRedux, Manifesto on the EcoRedux book launch edited by Lydia Kallipoliti, The Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York, NY.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2011) At the Intersection of Architecture, Nature and Technology, NEAR Conference: Network for Emerging Architectural Discourse at Pratt Institute, Graduate Architecture and Urban Design, Brooklyn, New York, NY.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2011) Feedback Houses, Interrogation Series for the Cornell Journal of Architecture, The Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York, NY.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2011) EcoRedux, Ohio State University, Knowlton School of Architecture, Columbus, Ohio.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2011) Resource Redux, Gallatin School of Individualized Study, New York University (NYU), New York, NY.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2010) From Shit to Food: The Eco-House in South London 1971-1976, Annual Meeting of the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH), Chicago.

page_ 12

>> Kallipoliti, L (2008) Ecological Remedies for a Dying Planet, Unbuilt: International Research and Architecture events 2008, Byzantine Museum of Athens, Greece.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2008) Recirculatory Households, Interiors World Forum, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy.

st >> Kallipoliti, L, Tsamis, (2008) Teleplasty: The chemo-synthetic Basis of Design, 1 International Conference on Critical Digital, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.

>> Kallipoliti, L, (2008) Houses of Humours, Media and Modernity Program, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.

>> Kallipoliti, L, (2008) Drips and Moulds; Procedural Material Experiments, Symposium on Design and Computation “Option Explicit: Scripting Design Environments, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.

>> Kallipoliti, L, (2008) Cloud Colonies; Architecture and Science Fiction in the 1960s, New School for Social Research, New York, NY, USA.

>> Kallipoliti, L, (2007) AD’s Cosmorama, “Little Magazines Then and Now”, Interdisciplinary Conference organized by the Media and Modernity Program, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA. >> Kallipoliti, L, (2007) Desert Drop-Outs, “Fresh Air”_ ACSA (American Collegiate Schools of Architecture) Annual Meeting; US National Architectural Conference _ University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA.

>> Kallipoliti, L, (2007) Fantastic Spider Cities of the Greek Dictatorship, Graduate Symposium_ Yale University, New Haven, USA.

>> Kallipoliti, L, (2006) Electronic Urbanism, 1952-1977: Takes Zenetos' Aeriform Colonizations in the Asphyxia of Athens' basin, Lecture Series of the Hellenic Studies Program, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.

>> Kallipoliti, L, (2006) Whole Earth Visions of the Cyber-Counterculture, SESAH Annual Meeting, Conference organized by the Southeastern chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA.

nd >> Kallipoliti, L, Tsamis, A, (2006) Teleplastic Transparency, 2 International Architecture & Technology Conference on Transparent Materials, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (A.U.Th), Thessaloniki, Greece.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2006), Growing the Wobbly Dome; an investigation on the oxymoron materialization of the 70s counter culture domes”_ Art History Symposium on “Rebels and Renegades” _ Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2005), Materials off the Catalogue, “Interventions and Experimentation”_ ACSA (American Collegiate Schools of Architecture) Central Regional US-Canada Architectural Conference _ University of Detroit Mercy, Detroit, Michigan, USA.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2005), Dross; Re-genesis of diverse matter_ A design post-praxis, “The Art of Architecture; The Science of Architecture”_ ACSA (American Collegiate Schools of Architecture) Annual Meeting; US National Architectural Conference _ Chicago, Illinois, USA.

page_ 13 >> Kallipoliti, L (2004), Adhoc Ecologies, “Catastrophic Sustainability”, Interdisciplinary Symposium examining concepts of sustainability after nature_ Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) Portland, Maine, US, Organized by Spurse Collaborative Group.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2004), “Garbage Architecture; reflections on the 70s discourse of reusing industrial by- th products”, 10 Annual Art History Graduate Symposium _ City University of New York, New York City, NY, USA.

>> Kallipoliti, L (2004), Dross; Re-genesis of diverse matter_ A design post-praxis, “Other Shades of Green; Examining Alternate Ecologies”_ ACSA (American Collegiate Schools of Architecture) West Regional US-Canada Architectural Conference _ University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada _ awarded best paper of the conference.

>> Kallipoliti, L, Tsamis, A, Dritsas, S (2004), Voxel Space; Material Distributions, “Non-Standard Praxis”_ International Architectural Conference in the Use of Digital Media_ Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.

>> Kallipoliti, L, Building out of abject substances: Introduction and Panel Moderator for R&Sie Architects (Francois Roche & Stephanie Lavaux), “Non-Standard Praxis”, International Architectural Conference in the Use of Digital Media_ Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.

>> Kallipoliti, L, Tsamis, A, Dritsas, S (2004): Participants in round table discussion on the legitimacy of an emergent digital praxis, Non-Standard Praxis”, International Architectural Conference in the Use of Digital Media_ Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.

>> Kallipoliti, L, Tsamis, A, Zavoleas, Y, Sinisterra, A, Fernandez, J (2003), Fecund CityScapes, Lecture at the Department of Architecture, _ Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA, Presentation of the award winning entry at the international architectural competition for the ‘Design of Ephemeral Structures’.

>> Kallipoliti, L. (2003) Displacement, Recycling, and Transmutation: Medium of Representation, ‘Issues on Representation’ _ US Graduate Symposium, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, US.

>> Kallipoliti, L, Tsamis, A, Tentokali, V. (2003) Palimpsest in Flux, “Gender Bound: Representation of Difference in Environmental Design”, International Architectural Conference_ Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, US.

>> Kallipoliti, L, Tsamis, A, Tentokali, V. (2002) Urban Voids as Connecting Vessels, ‘Social Semiotics. Genealogy and Practice of Communication”, 8th International Conference Early Fall School of Semiotics_ New Bulgarian University, Sofia, Bulgaria.

>> Kallipoliti, L, Tsamis,A. (2002) Aristofanes’ version of love in Plato’s Symposium, Lecture within the framework of the design studio “Design through a game of destabilization and dismantling” conducted at the Department of Architecture_ Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece (A.U.Th).

>> Kallipoliti,L, (2000) Representation of Architecture as an Autonomous Artifact Deriving from st Metropolitan Image-Making, ‘Metropolis : 21 century’ _ I.A.P.S. International Conference of Architecture, Paris, France.

Conference & Panels Chairing & Organization

rd >> Panel Chair of the Environment Schism at the 103 ACSA Annual Meeting, “The Expanding Periphery and the Migrating Center.” Toronto, Canada (March 2015).

page_ 14 >> Conference Chair and Organizer with Lori Brown for Catalog of the Anthropocene Age, a conference by the Graduate Program at Syracuse University, School of Architecture. Syracuse, New York (April 2015).

>> Conference Chair and Organizer for Urban Planet: Emerging Ecologies, a conference by the Cooper Union Institute of Sustainable Design and the ETH Zurich. The Cooper Union, New York, NY (April 2012).

t e a c h i n g e x p e r i e n c e

September 2015- Assistant Professor (tenure-track), Undergraduate history & theory survey course and seminars, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.

September 2014- May Assistant Professor (tenure-track, on maternity leave for the fall 2014 2015 semester), graduate architecture studio & history/theory graduate seminars, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY.

May 2014 Assistant Professor (tenure-track), Environmental Technology Research Seminar, New York Fisher Center, Syracuse University, New York, NY.

September 2013- May Assistant Professor (tenure-track), 3rd year undergraduate architecture 2014 studio, 4th year integrated building studio & history/theory graduate seminars, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY.

January- May 2013 Assistant Professor Adjunct, MArch Core II Studio, Graduate Level, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University GSAPP, New York, NY.

September 12- Feltman Lighting Chair, Environmental Technology Course, sponsored May 2013 seminar on Light Studies, The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at the Cooper Union, New York, NY.

September 12- Assistant Professor Adjunct, Building Integrated Design Studio, 3rd year May 2013 Undergraduate Level | Elective Seminar on Urban Studies, Graduate Level.

September 11- Assistant Professor Adjunct, Thesis Design Studio Undergraduate May 2012 Level, & Seminar on the History of Sustainability, Graduate Level, The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at the Cooper Union, New York, NY.

September - Assistant Professor Adjunct, MArch I Core Studio, Graduate Level, December 2011 Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University GSAPP, New York, NY.

July 2011 Director and Coordinator, Graduate Design Workshop Abroad, Global Networking Program in Thessaloniki, Greece, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University GSAPP, New York, NY.

page_ 15 January-May 2011 Assistant Professor Adjunct, Advanced Elective Studio, Graduate Level, Graduate School of Architecture and Design, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY.

September - Assistant Professor Adjunct, Advanced Elective Studio in collaboration December 2010 with Benedetta Tagliabue, Graduate Level, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University GSAPP, NY.

September 10- Assistant Professor Adjunct, 2nd year Design Studio, Undergraduate May 2011 Level, & Seminar on the History of Sustainability, Graduate Level, The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at the Cooper Union, New York, NY.

August 2010 Visiting Professor, Technical University of Crete, Greece, Coordinator of the EcoRedux v.02 Design and Fabrication Workshop.

September 09- Assistant Professor Adjunct, 2nd year Design Studio & Thesis, May 2010 Undergraduate Level, School of Architecture, The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at the Cooper Union, New York, NY.

January- May Teaching Assistant with Jeanne Gang, Building Integrated Design 07 Studio, Graduate Level, School of Architecture, Princeton University, Spring 07.

September 06- Teaching Assistant with Spyros Papapetros, History & Theory course on January 07 Architecture and the Visual Arts, School of Architecture, Princeton University, Fall 06.

January- May Teaching Assistant with Jesse Reiser (Reiser/Umemoto RUR), Design 06 Workshop on materials and digital media, School of Architecture, Princeton University, Spring 06.

September 05- Teaching Assistant with Stan Allen, Design Studio Graduate Level I, January 06 School of Architecture, Princeton University, Fall 05.

January – June 04 Teaching Assistant with Mark Goulthorpe (dECOi), Design Studio Graduate Level II, Department of Architecture, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T), Spring 04.

September 03- Co-Instructor with Pierre Thibault, Design Studio Undergraduate Level, January 04 Department of Architecture, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T).

p r o f e s s i o n a l e x p e r i e n c e

ANAcycle design + writing studio, Brooklyn, New York [ http://www.anacycle.com/ ]

>> Grid Off; Lights On (2013) | Energy generating Lighting Design Installation in collaboration with Martha Giannakopoulou and Katerina Kourkoula. Design and fabrication of the project with the assistance of engineering students from the Cooper Union in New York. Exhibited at the Ideas City Festival organized by the New Museum in New York and the World Science Festival in Brooklyn, New York.

page_ 16

>> Cloud Ecologies (2013) | Competition Entry for Fresh Kills Park/Landfill in Staten Island, New York. Awarded with an Honorable Mention at the d3 for Unbuilt Architectural Visions (2013) and selected as a finalist at the One Prize competition (2012). In collaboration with Ezio Blasetti, Andreas Theodoridis and Stella Nikolakaki.

>> Daphne; Weather Beacon in Faliron Bay Park, Athens (2012) | Selected by the Greek Government to design and construct an outdoor programmed infrastructure/park at the master plan sealine development of Renzo Piano (ongoing). The project was solicited project through a national tender and designed in collaboration with Ezio Blasetti, Andreas Theodoridis and Stella Nikolakaki.

>> The Envirobubble: Clean Air Pods Redux (2011) | Design Installation on indoor air quality in collaboration with Michael Young (Cooper Union), Anna Pla Catala (IE Madrid) and Marianthi Liapi-Kostis Oungrinis (Technical University of Crete). Design and Fabrication project with the assistance of students from the Technical University of Crete, Greece. Exhibited at the Design Hub (D-Hub), Barcelona, Spain.

>> KARV: 580 Park Avenue, Apartment 10D (2008-2009) | Interior design, construction documents and construction management, in collaboration with Aurel von Richthofen, for the renovation of a 4,000 square feet apartment (completed).

>> Sightlines (2010) | Design of Exhibition Installation, Wallach Hall, Columbia University.

>> Dot Soft (2009) | Designing the 21st Street Life, Design Competition in collaboration with Terreform One. >> EcoRedux (2008- 2011) | Design Remedies for a Dying Planet. Installation design and construction of the exhibition, in several museums in Athens, New York and Barcelona (completed).

>> Clip/Stamp/Fold: The Radical Architecture of Little Magazines 196x to 197x (2006-2009) | Installation design and construction of the exhibition, Storefront of Art & Architecture, New York. Project conducted in collaboration with Urtzi Grau and Daniel Lopez-Perez (November 2006 -). Installation design and construction of the exhibition, Canadian Center for Architecture, Montreal, Canada. (April – September 2007). Installation design and construction of the exhibition, Architectural Association, London, UK. (November-December 2007).

>> Parachute Suspense (2007) | International architectural competition for a “Parachute Pavilion” in Coney Island. Organized by the Van Alen Institute.

>> Fecund Cityscapes. International architectural competition for the “Design of Ephemeral Structures” for the Athens Olympics 2004. Organized by the Cultural Olympiad and UIA. Awarded an Honorable Mention.

Employment

December 2011- Cooper Union Institute for Sustainable Design, Senior Associate as an September 2013 advisor and coordinator on all research and design projects related to Sustainability.

May - June 2005 Princeton University, Research Project, School of Architecture, headed by Guy Nordenson. Research Assistant in the project: Information patterns mapping of garbage and waste in Geographic Information Systems (ArchGIS).

June- August 2004 dECOi Architects_ MIT / DECOI Digital Design Group. Miran Gallerie, Member of the Design, Fabrication & Advanced Geometry Team, Production of 1/1 prototypes and models for the Venice Bienalle 2004.

page_ 17

September- dECOi Architects_ MIT / DECOI Digital Design Group. Miran Gallerie, December 2003 Member of the Design Team.

May-July 2003 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Building Technology Program. Design – Research Project, Adaptability in Time Using Gradient Materials, Project Designer.

February 2002- Olympics 2004 Regional Research Grant. Design – Research Project, June 2002 Experimental Proposals for Coastal Interventions along the “sealine” of Thessaloniki, Greece, Principal Project architect.

May 2001- Olympics 2004 Regional Research Grant. Urban Design – Research February 2002 Project, Re-designing the Eastern Entrance of the city of Thessaloniki, Greece, Principal Project architect.

March 2000- Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Research Grant. Design Project, February 2001 Infrastructure for Athletics and Well - Being at Mount Olympus, Member of the Design Project Team.

April1999 - Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Research Grant. Design Project, December1999 Administrative Center of the Municipality of Kalamaria, Thessaloniki, Member of the Design Project Team.

December1998 - Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Research Grant. Design-Research July 1999 Project, Designing the Landscape – Light Weight Structures for four Discrete Sites in the Area of Litochoro, Mount Olympus (constructed), Member of the Design Project Team.

September1997- “Ermidis & Partners” Construction Company. Design-Construction February 1998 Project, Re-designing of the Interior Space of an Office Building in Thessaloniki, Project Designer and Supervisor of the Construction along with the Principal Civil Engineer (constructed).

April1998 - “Arteco” Design Group - Architectural Firm. Product Design Project, May 1998 Restricted Entries Competition for the Construction of Preveza International Airport in Greece, Designer of the interior space equipment & furniture.

June1996 - “Ermidis & Partners” Construction Company. Design-Construction September1996 Project, Design of two Industrial Buildings at the industrial area of Thessaloniki, Designer of the Project (constructed).

April1996 - Thessaloniki, European Cultural Capital 1997 Organization_ 2p+E May 1996 Architects, Restoration Project, 3 Historical Houses at the Upper City (old district) of Thessaloniki, Member of the Survey Team of the three houses.

page_ 18 r e s e a r c h e x p e r i e n c e

January –May 2014 Research on an Urban Environmental Cloud Atlas investigating architecture’s agency between social reality and creative fiction throughout a series of real and imagined environments narrated and drawn as manifestos in times of intense political and economic uncertainty. The atlas was documented in an online database at http:// environmentalcloudatlas.syr.edu.

January 2013-May Research on off-grid lighting to create an emergency lighting installation 2014 powering a street in New York City following hurricane Sandy. The research is conducted in collaboration with engineering students at the Cooper Union and was funded by the Benjamin Menschel Faculty Grant, the Feltman Lighting Fund and the Rockefeller Innovation Grant to create a product for the Idea City Festival in New York.

January 07- PhD Dissertation Research focusing on the emergence of recirculatory December 2012 households and self sufficient systems in the 1970s and the intersection of cybernetic and ecological theories as witnessed in the space program, Princeton University.

May-September 2011 Research on biological life and ecological habitats in wetlands and the history of national parks. Research funded by the Cultural Society of Entrepreneurs of Northern Greece and Columbia University under the auspices of the Columbia Studio X Summer Workshop in Greece, which I directed in July 2011.

January 07- Research on the history of ecological material experiments of the 1960s April 2011 and 1970s (garbage housing, recycling housing components, vacuumatics, pneumatics from used parachutes, hand-crafted domes et-al.). Research funded by the MIT Lawrence Anderson award for the creative documentation of history and the High Meadows Sustainability Grant. Online ecological wikipedia launched in September 2009 www.ecoredux.com

June 2010- Research on the Sick Building Syndrome, air purification techniques April 2011 and HAVC systems in closed environments. The research was funded by the Design Hub of Barcelona, the IE School of Architecture in Madrid and the Technical University of Crete in order to support the design and fabrication of an experimental air purification facility as a design installation at the Design museum of Barcelona in Spain.

September 04- Research on Little Magazines of the 1960s and 1970s, for the curatorial November 07 work of the exhibition Clip/Stamp/Fold: The Radical Architecture of little Magazines (headed by Beatriz Colomina), Media and Modernity Program/School of Architecture, Princeton University.

February 04- Research for Material Reuse, Masters Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of August 04 Technology, Spring-Summer 2004.

September – Research for Digital Fabrication Techniques, MIT Workshop. December 03 May- July 03 Research for Textiles & Woven Fabrics, Design & Research Project, MIT, Research Assistant for Building Technology Program.

page_ 19 February 03- May03 Research for Reinforced Polymer Composite Materials, Emergent Materials Workshop, MIT, Research Assistant for the Building Technology Program.

January 02-June 03 Changeable Architectures; Research in Mobile and Kinetic structures MIT Research Project, Research Assistant for the Building Technology Program.

January - May 2003 Research Assistant to the Associate Dean, Spring Semester 03.

February 2002- Research for Floating Structures, “Experimental Proposals for Coastal June 2002 Interventions along the “sealine” of Thessaloniki”, Regional Olympics 2004 - University Research Project A.U.Th.

May 2001- Research in Wire meshes and Malleable light materials, Regional February 2002 Olympics 2004 - University Research Project A.U.Th, Thessaloniki, Greece.

a f f i l I i a t i o n s

>> Assistant Professor of Architecture (2015-), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY. >> Assistant Professor of Architecture (2013- 2015), Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY. >> Assistant Professor Adjunct of Architecture (2008-2014), The Cooper Union, New York. >> Assistant Professor Adjunct of Architecture (2009-2013), Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University GSAPP, New York, NY. >> Senior Associate (2010-2012), Institute of Sustainable Design, The Cooper Union, New York. >> Feltman Lighting Chair (2011-2013), The Cooper Union, New York. >> Registered professional architect and engineer (2001-) , Technical Chamber of Greece. >> Alumni, MIT (2004-) and Princeton University (2013-) Alumni associations. >> Alumni and Member of the Advisory Committee, Anatolia, (The American College of Thessaloniki) Alumni Association & Advisory Committee. >> Member, Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York, the Architectural League of New York, the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) and ACSA (American Collegiate Schools of Architecture).

l a n g u a g e s

>> English (fluent-same level as mother language) >> French (fluent) : Certificat Pratique de Langue Francaise (1er Degre), Universite de Paris-Sorbonne, Paris IV. Diplome d’ Etudes en Langue Francaise (D.E.L.F.), Ministere de l’ Education Nationale, Republique Francaise. Certificat de Langue Francaise, Institut Francais de Thessalonique. >> Italian (fluent): Intensive Italian Courses in Italidea, Rome, Italy, July 2005. Advanced Italian, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, Fall 2005. >> Greek (native)

page_ 20

Peer reviews

>> Peer reviewer for the Journal of Architectural Education, issue SMLXL (April 2015) >> Peer reviewer for the Journal of Modern Greek Studies (May 2015) >> Peer reviewer for the ACSA regional conference 2015 “Between the Autonomous and the Contingent Object” at Syracuse University, School of Architecture. u a g e s

graphic | web design & misc

>> Media and Modernity Program, Princeton University: Graphic design work, Fall 2007- Spring 2009, Responsible for the production of posters and flyers about events and lectures organized by the program, Princeton, NJ.

>> Hellenic Studies Program, Princeton University: Graphic design work, Spring 2006- Spring 2009, Responsible for the production of posters and flyers about events and lectures, organized by the Hellenic Studies Program, Princeton, NJ. >> Media and Modernity Program, Princeton University: Web and graphic design, Designer of the main webpage of the Media and Modernity Program at Princeton University, May-August 2011, Visit: http://mediamodernity.princeton.edu >> EcoRedux, non-profit organization: Web and graphic design, Designer of the webpage of EcoRedux, (a non-profit organization I founded in Brooklyn, New York) with the assistance of Cecilia Ramos, May- September 2009, Visit: www.ecoredux.com >> From 1997 to 2000, I was a member of the General Secretariat for Youth “Thessaloniki Youth Center”, participating in many events and offering volunteer work in social projects. In August 1998, I lead the North Greece Delegation at the International Youth Festival in Lisbon, Portugal.

r e f e r e n c e s

>> Anthony Vidler Professor, The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture, The Cooper Union, School of Architecture. Vincent Scully Visiting Professor, Yale School of Architecture Email: [email protected]

>> Beatriz Colomina Professor in History and Theory of Architecture Princeton University, School of Architecture. Director of the PhD Program and the Media and Modernity Program. Email: [email protected]

>> Julia Czerniak Associate Dean & Professor, Syracuse University, School of Architecture. Email: [email protected]

page_ 21 Additional References

>> Alfredo Brillembourg, Principal of Urban Thinktank, Professor and Chair of Chair of Architecture and Urban Design, ETH Zurich.

>> Mark Wigley, Professor, The Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University GSAPP. >> Ann Pendleton-Jullian, Professor of Architecture, Knowlton School of Architecture, Ohio State University >> Spyros Papapetros, Associate Professor History and Theory of Architecture, Princeton University, School of Architecture >> Benedetta Tagliabue, Principal of EMBT Miralles/Tagliabue Architects, Barcelona, Spain. >> Edward Eigen, Associate Professor History and Theory of Landscape Architecture, Harvard Graduate School of Design >> Eva Franch i Gilabert, Director of the Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York, NY. >> Jesse Reiser, Associate Professor, Princeton University, School of Architecture, Principal of Reiser/Umemoto, RUR Architecture >> Mark Goulthorpe, Associate Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture, Principal of dECOi Architects >> Mark Linder, Associate Professor, Syracuse University, School of Architecture. >> Elisabetta Terragni, Principal of Studio Terragni and Associate Professor of Architecture, City College of New York >> Kurt Forster, Professor Emeritus, Yale University, School of Architecture >> Evan Douglis, Dean & Professor, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute [RPI], School of Architecture.

page_ 22 CHRIS PERRY 256 Warren Street Hudson, NY 12534 Phone: 917-945-1031 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]

Chris Perry is co-principal of the experimental design practice, pneumastudio, and Assistant Professor of Architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where he is Head of Graduate Studies, director of the Geofutures post-professional graduate program, and coordinator of the undergraduate thesis sequence, Final Project.

Prior to joining the faculty at Rensselaer, Perry was the Louis I. Kahn Visiting Assistant Professor at the Yale School of Architecture, an endowed chairmanship, and since 2000 has taught at Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, Rice University, the University of Toronto, Parsons School of Design, Pratt Institute, the Architectural Association in London, and RMIT in Melbourne.

Perry is a recipient of the Architectural League of New York’s Prize for Young Architects and Designers and The MacDowell Colony Fellowship. He is co-chair of the forthcoming ACADIA 2015 Annual Conference, co-editor of AD: Collective Intelligence in Design (Wiley-Academy), co-editor of a special issue of PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art (MIT Press), and has published essays in various architecture journals and books, including: ARPA Journal (Columbia), The Digital Turn in Architecture: 1992–2012 (Wiley-Academy), Architecture In:Formation (Routledge), Bracket 2: Goes Soft (Actar), Yale Perspecta (MIT), and AD (Wiley-Academy).

Perry’s previous design practice, servo, exhibited widely from 1999-2010, including the Venice Architecture Biennale, the Centre Pompidou, SFMoMA, PS1/MoMA, the Wexner Center for the Arts, the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, and Artists Space in New York. Publications of the group’s work include servo: networks and environments, a monograph published by DAMDI Press in Korea, 10x10_2 (Phaidon), The New Mathematics of Architecture (Thames & Hudson), and Interactive Architecture (Princeton Architectural Press). servo’s work is also part of the permanent collections of SFMoMA and the Frac Centre in Orleans, France.

Perry’s current design practice, pneumastudio, established in 2011 with landscape architect Cathryn Dwyre, has exhibited at the Design Museum in Barcelona, NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, and the Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York. Forthcoming exhibitions include a group exhibition at ACADIA 2015 and a solo exhibition at OMI International Arts Center in Ghent, New York. Recent publications featuring pneumastudio include ARPA Journal (Columbia), Global Design (Prestel), Architecture Inserted (Yale School of Architecture), and Bracket 2: Goes Soft (Actar). Forthcoming publications include a small print edition monograph of the group’s work to be published by Press LMP and Post-Sustainability: New Directions in Ecological Design (Actar). In 2014, pneumastudio was commissioned by OMI International Arts Center to design and build an architectural folly for their sculpture grounds in Ghent, New York. The project is currently in the fund raising stage.

Perry participated in the ACSA 103rd Annual Meeting in Toronto where he was a presenter in the opening night keynote plenary, Mission Statements, served as session chair for the panel Disciplinary Centrism, and participated in the panel related to the launch of JAE 69:1 Crisis. He and his pneumastudio partner, Cathryn Dwyre, will present a paper at the ACSA Fall Conference at Syracuse University and serve as session chairs for a panel titled Knowledge Fields: Between Architecture and Landscape at the ACSA 104th Annual Meeting in Seattle. EDUCATION Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation Master of Architecture, 1997 Honor Award for Excellence in Design Teaching Assistant, Core Graduate Studios I + II taught by William MacDonald Teaching Assistant, American Architecture lecture course taught by Robert A.M. Stern Assistant Editor, Columbia Documents of Architecture and Theory

Colgate University Bachelor of Arts, 1991 Major in Philosophy Director of Production Design, Kinetic Theatre

ACADEMIC WORK | Teaching 15-16 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Assistant Professor, School of Architecture Head of Graduate Studies Director, Geofutures Post-Professional Program in Architecture and Urbanism (MArch II) Coordinator, Final Project (undergraduate thesis sequence) Arch 4980 BArch Final Project 1 (undergraduate thesis studio) Arch 4990 BArch Final Project 2 (undergraduate thesis studio) Arch 6980 Masters Project (MArch I+II graduate thesis studio)

14-15 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Assistant Professor, School of Architecture Head of Graduate Studies Director, Geofutures Post-Professional Program in Architecture and Urbanism (MArch II) Coordinator, Final Project (undergraduate thesis sequence) Arch 4980 BArch Final Project 1 (undergraduate thesis studio) Arch 4990 BArch Final Project 2 (undergraduate thesis studio) Arch 6980 MArch II Design I (advanced design studio) Arch 6350 MArch II Design II (advanced design studio)

13-14 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Assistant Professor, School of Architecture Director, Geofutures Post-Professional Program in Architecture and Urbanism (MArch II) Coordinator, Final Project (undergraduate thesis sequence) Arch 4980 BArch Final Project 1 (undergraduate thesis studio) Arch 4990 BArch Final Project 2 (undergraduate thesis studio) Arch 4981 Methods in Design Research (lecture course) Arch 6980 MArch II Design III (advanced design studio) Arch 6962 MArch II History, Theory & Criticism Colloquium

12-13 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Assistant Professor, School of Architecture Director, Geofutures Post-Professional Program in Architecture and Urbanism (MArch II) Coordinator, Final Project (undergraduate thesis sequence) Arch 4980 BArch Final Project 1 (undergraduate thesis studio) Arch 4990 BArch Final Project 2 (undergraduate thesis studio) Arch 4981 Methods in Design Research (lecture course) Arch 6980 MArch II Design III (advanced design studio) Arch 6962 MArch II History, Theory & Criticism Colloquium

11-12 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Assistant Professor, School of Architecture Coordinator, Final Project (undergraduate thesis sequence) Arch 4980 BArch Final Project 1 (undergraduate thesis studio) Arch 4990 BArch Final Project 2 (undergraduate thesis studio) Arch 4965 Elective History/Theory Seminar

10-11 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Adjunct Assistant Professor, School of Architecture Arch 4980 BArch Final Project 1 (undergraduate thesis studio) Arch 4990 BArch Final Project 2 (undergraduate thesis studio)

Pratt Institute Adjunct Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, Graduate + Undergraduate Department Arch 602 Advanced Design Studio Arch 500 Core Design Studio Arch 484p Thesis Seminar Arch 485p Thesis Design Studio

09-10 Yale University Louis I. Kahn Visiting Assistant Professor, School of Architecture 1114b Advanced Design Studio 3235b Elective History/Theory Seminar

Parsons School of Design Lecturer, Graduate Department of Architecture Arch 602 Elective History/Theory Seminar

Pratt Institute Adjunct Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, Graduate Department Arch 602 Advanced Design Studio Arch 500 Core Design Studio

08-09 Rice University Jackson Visiting Assistant Professor, School of Architecture A 600 Advanced Vertical Design Studio

University of Toronto Visiting Assistant Professor, School of Architecture A 620 Advanced Design Studio A 510 Elective History/Theory Seminar

07-08 Cornell University Visiting Assistant Professor, College of Architecture, Art, and Planning Arch 600 Advanced Design Studio Arch 601 Advanced Design Studio Arch 338/638 Elective History/Theory Seminar

06-07 Cornell University Visiting Assistant Professor, College of Architecture, Art, and Planning Arch 600 Advanced Design Studio Arch 601 Advanced Design Studio Arch 701/702 Elective History/Theory Seminar

05-06 Cornell University Visiting Assistant Professor, College of Architecture, Art, and Planning Arch 701/702 Advanced Design Studio Arch 600 Advanced Design Studio Arch 720 Elective History/Theory Seminar

04-05 Cornell University Visiting Assistant Professor, College of Architecture, Art, and Planning A 101 Core Design Studio Arch 701/702 Advanced Design Studio Arch 730 Digital Fabrication Seminar

RMIT University Visiting Tutor, School of Architecture and Design A 600 Advanced Design Studio

03-04 Columbia University Adjunct Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation A 4001 Core I Design Studio

University of Pennsylvania Visiting Lecturer, Graduate Department of Architecture Arch 601 Second-year Design Studio

02-03 Columbia University Adjunct Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation A 4001 Core I Design Studio A 4002 Core II Design Studio A 1003 Introduction to Architecture Summer Design Studio

University of Pennsylvania Visiting Lecturer, Graduate Department of Architecture Arch 601 Second-year Design Studio

01-02 Architectural Association Visiting Workshop Leader, Design Research Laboratory Elastic Archive Two-week Graduate Design Workshop

Pratt Institute Adjunct Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, Undergraduate Department Arch 602.03 Advanced Design Studio

Barnard College Adjunct Assistant Professor, Undergraduate Department of Architecture ARC V 3901 Senior Seminar ARC V 3201 Architectural Design I

Columbia University Adjunct Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation Arch 1003 Introduction to Architecture Summer Design Studio

00-01 Pratt Institute Adjunct Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, Undergraduate Department Arch 400.11 Advanced Design Studio Arch 102.19 Core Design Studio

Barnard College Adjunct Assistant Professor, Undergraduate Department of Architecture ARC V 3901 Senior Seminar ARC V 3201 Architectural Design I

Columbia University Adjunct Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation A1003 Introduction to Architecture Summer Design Studio

98-00 Columbia University Adjunct Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation Arch 1003 Introduction to Architecture Summer Design Studio

ACADEMIC WORK | Published Articles + Conference Papers 2015 PAJ: A Journal of Art and Performance Cathryn Dwyre and Chris Perry, guest eds., MIT Press “Expanded Fields: Architecture, Landscape, and Performance” Cathryn Dwyre and Chris Perry

ACADIA International Conference Proceedings - Computational Ecologies: Design in the Anthropocene Lonn Combs and Chris Perry, eds., ACADIA Press “Introduction - Computational Ecologies: Design in the Anthropocene”, Lonn Combs and Chris Perry

Work in Public Rachel Alliston, ed., Press LMP, Berlin “A Folly for the Anthropocene: Aesthetic Performance in an Age of Shifting Human-Nonhuman Relations “, Chris Perry

Arpa Journal Janette Kim, ed., Columbia GSAPP “An Architectural Folly for the Anthropocene: Not for ‘Us’ Alone”, Chris Perry

Visioning Technologies: The Architectures of Sight Graham Cairns, ed., Ashgate “Geofutures: Visioning Architecture in the Anthropocene”, book chapter by Chris Perry (forthcoming, 2015)

Acople: From Pulsation to Feedback Eric Goldemberg, ed., Evolo Inc. “Architecture in the Anthropocene: Human-Nonhuman Feedback”, Chris Perry (forthcoming 2015)

2013 Phyllis Lambert Annual Conference: Milieu, Environment, Umwelt University of Montreal, School of Architecture “Neo-Picturesque: A Mediated Milieu,” Cathryn Dwyre and Chris Perry

Bracket Goes Soft: Architecture, Environment, Digital Culture Neeraj Bhatia and Lola Sheppard, ed., Actar “Fast Company: Architecture and the Speed of Technology,” Chris Perry

Architecture In:Formation Pablo Lorenzo-Eiroa and Aaron Sprecher, ed., Routledge “Architetcure and Mobility,” Chris Perry

2012 Architecture Inserted: Louis I. Kahn Visiting Assistant Professorship at the Yale School of Architecture Nina Rappaport, ed., Yale School of Architecture Featured design work, studio design work, and essay “Anticipatory Architecture: CERN 2054,” Chris Perry

The Digital Turn in Architecture: 1992 - 2012 Mario Carpo, ed., Wiley-Academy “Introduction to Collective Intelligence” (reprinted essay), Christopher Hight and Chris Perry

2010 30th Annual ACADIA Conference: Life In:Formation The Cooper Union School of Architecture “Anticipatory Architecture | Extrapolative Design,” Chris Perry

2009 Autogenic Structures Evan Douglis, ed., Taylor & Francis Books “Material Potency: Fabrics of Distributed Authorship,” Chris Perry

2006 Yale Perspecta 38 “The Manifold Potential of Bionetworks,” Christopher Hight and Chris Perry

Collective Intelligence in Design Christopher Hight and Chris Perry, ed., Wiley-Academy Press “Collective Intelligence in Design: Introduction,” Christopher Hight and Chris Perry

Collective Intelligence in Design Christopher Hight and Chris Perry, ed., Wiley-Academy Press “Responsive Systems | Appliance Architecture,” Branden Hookway and Chris Perry

2005 Modulations: Kennon Symposium 4 Rice School of Architecture “The Multitude: New Forms of Molecular Practice,” Chris Perry

2004 Non Standard Praxis Conference MIT School of Architecture “Bionetworks: Non-Standard Forms of Architectural Practice,” Chris Perry

92nd Annual ACSA Conference: Archipelagos: Outpost of the Americas Miami, Florida “Distributive Forms of Collaborative Practice in Architecture,” Chris Perry

Architectural Review “Material Potency: Media and Mediation,” David Erdman and Chris Perry

2003 Lubricous Architectures: Studies in Hybridity Bill MacDonald, ed., Columbia Books on Architecture (cba) “Chreodic Manifolds,” Chris Perry

2001 Scroope 13 (Cambridge University Architecture Journal) “servo browser,” Chris Perry, Piggott Printers

ACADEMIC WORK | Edited or Authored Publications 2015 PAJ: A Journal of Art and Performance Cathryn Dwyre and Chris Perry, guest eds., special issue titled Performance and Architecture, MIT Press

ACADIA International Conference Proceedings - Computational Ecologies: Design in the Anthropocene Papers + Projects Proceedings (separate publications), Lonn Combs and Chris Perry, eds., ACADIA Press

2006 Collective Intelligence in Design Christopher Hight and Chris Perry, ed., Wiley-Academy Press

ACADEMIC WORK | Lectures 2015 Universidad Torcuato Di Tella School of Architecture and Urban Studies The Anthropocene Folly Evening lecture series, Buenos Aires, Argentina

ACSA 103rd Annual Meeting Keynote Event: Mission Statements Design Research at RSoA Mission Statements Keynote Event - seven “academic leaders from a new generation” selected to present a “mission statement” for architectural education in the twenty-first century, Toronto 2014 Bard College Department of Art History Dark Ecology and Geofutures: Architecture in the Anthropocene Special lecture, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York

2013 The New School Eugene Lang College Architecture and Mobility Evening Artist Talk series, New York

2010 Yale University School of Architecture Networks + Environments Evening lecture series, New Haven

2009 University of Waterloo School of Architecture Networks + Environments Evening lecture series, Cambridge, Ontario

2008 Rice University School of Architecture Networks + Environments Evening lecture series, Houston

University of Toronto School of Architecture Networks + Environments Evening lecture series, Toronto

2006 Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning Architecture InFormation Evening lecture series, Ithaca, New York

2005 Ohio State University Knowlton School of Architecture Bionetworks Evening lecture series, Columbus, Ohio

RMIT University School of Architecture Material Potency Evening lecture series, Melbourne

2004 University of Texas at Arlington School of Architecture Bionetworks Evening lecture series, Arlington 2002 Architectural Association Elastic Archive Evening lecture series, London

Pratt Institute School of Architecture, Graduate Department Archipelogics Graduate Department New Research lecture series, Brooklyn

2001 Architectural League of New York servo browser v1.0 Young Architects evening lecture series, New York City

2000 Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning servolines Evening lecture series, Ithaca, New York

Syracuse University School of Architecture servolines Evening lecture series, Syracuse, New York

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute School of Architecture servolines Evening lecture series, Troy, New York

Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation Convergence Summer session lunchtime lecture series, New York City

Royal Institute of Technology Department of Architecture Active Archiving Evening lecture series, Stockholm

ACADEMIC WORK | Conference Presentations 2015 ACSA Fall Conference: Between the Autonomous and Contingent Object Presenter: Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York

AICAD (Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design) Annual Conference: Exploring Science in the Art and Design Studio Presenter: California College of the Arts, San Francisco

ACADIA International Conference: Computational Ecologies: Design in the Anthropocene Technical Co-Chair: University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati

ATINER (Athens Institute for Education and Research) Annual Conference Presenter: Athens, Greece

ACSA 103rd Annual Meeting: The Expanding Periphery and the Migrating Center Keynote Speaker, Session Chair, and Presenter: University of Toronto, Ryerson University, University of Waterloo, Ontario

PAJ: Performance and Architecture Co-organizer and presenter, Whitebox Gallery, New York City

2013 Phyllis Lambert Seminar (annual conference): Milieu, Environment, Umwelt Presenter: University of Montreal, School of Architecture, Montreal

Resiliency and the Built Environment Presenter: Center for Architecture, Science, and Ecology / Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York

Bracket Goes Soft: Architecture, Environment, Digital Culture Presenter: Studio-X, Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, New York City

2012 Architecture and Contemporary Urbanism Now Presenter: Pratt Institute School of Architecture, Brooklyn 2011 Eco-Redux: Manifesto Series 03 Presenter: The Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York City

Elsewhere Envisioned Presenter: GLOBAL Design / New York University Gallatin School of Individualized Study, New York City

2010 ACADIA 2010 Presenter: The Cooper Union School of Architecture, New York City

2009 Toward ‘Anarchitecture’ Presenter: The Center for Architecture, New York City

2007 Collective Intelligence in Design Organizer / Presenter: Cornell AAP / NYC, New York,

2006 Collective Intelligence in Design Organizer / Presenter: Architectural Association, London

Emerging Talents, Emerging Technologies: Beijing Architecture Biennial Presenter: Bejing University, Beijing

2005 Modulations: Kennon Symposium 4 Presenter: Rice University School of Architecture, organized by Christopher Hight

2004 Non Standard Praxis Presenter: MIT School of Architecture, organized by Mark Goulthorpe

FLOC Presenter: Pratt Institute, School of Architetcure, Graduate Department, organized by Catherine Ingraham

2003 Non-Standard Architectures Presenter: Centre Pompidou, Paris, organized by Frederic Migayrou

Archilab Presenter: Fifth International Conference, Orleans

Sign as Surface Presenter: Artists Space, New York City

Next Presenter: University of New Mexico Graduate School of Architecture, Albuquerque

Archilab Presenter: Fourth International Conference, Orleans

2002 Latent Utopias Presenter: Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz, moderated by Michael Speaks

2001 Launcher 01 Participant: Trans Magazine Telesymposium, moderated by Hani Rashid

Stockholm-The World 2000 Presenter: Museum of Modern Art, Stockholm

DESIGN WORK | Projects 2011 - present pneumastudio Principal

(not) OUT THERE Group exhibition at the Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York City, 2015 Anthropofolly v2.0 Solo exhibition at OMI International Arts Center, Ghent, New York, forthcoming 2015 Anthropofolly v1.0 Group exhibition at the Clermont State Historic Site in Clermont, New York, organized by the contemporary arts project space, CR10, forthcoming 2015 Cumularium Design project sponsored by The MacDowell Colony Fellowship, 2013 Spirabilis v1.0 Schematic design for an urban air spa, commissioned for the exhibition Eco-Redux 2 at the Design Museum in Barcelona, 2011 Spirabilis v2.0 Schematic design for an architectural life-support system, commissioned for the exhibition Elsewhere Envisioned at GLOBAL Design, New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, 2011

1999 - 2010 servo Principal

Hydrophile Speculative design proposal for the exhibition Envelopes at the Pratt Manhattan Gallery, 2010 spoorg v2.0 Full-scale interactive installation for the exhibition Youniverse at the International Biennial of Contemporary Art of Seville, 2008 spoorg v1.0 Full-scale interactive installation for the exhibition Gen(h)ome at the MAK Center for Art and Architecture, Los Angeles, 2006 Dark Places Exhibition design for Dark Places: Mapping Enigma, curated by Joshua Decter, Santa Monica Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 2006 Genealogy of Speed Exhibition design for The Genealogy of Speed, sponsored and commissioned by Nike, Los Angeles, 2004 Lobbi-Ports v2.0 Expanded development of the Lobbi-Ports project for the Venice Architecture Biennale, curated by Kurt W. Forster, 2004 Kintz Residence 1500 sf private residence, Niskayuna, NY, 2006 PS1 Warm Up Finalist in a competition sponsored by PS1/MoMA for the design of an architectural installation at PS1 for the summer of 2004 Urban Toys v2.0 Interactive digital design interface for IASPIS at the Venice Art Biennale, 2003 Lattice Archipelogics Design installation for the exhibition Latent Utopias: Experiments Within Contemporary Architecture, curated by Zaha Hadid and Patrik Schumacher, Steirischer Herbst, Graz, Austria 2002 Lobbi-Ports v1.0 Hotel proposal for the exhibition New Hotels for Global Nomads, curated by Donald Albrecht, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York, 2002 In the Lattice Design installation for Archilab’s annual exhibition, Orleans, France, 2002 Thermocline Furniture prototype for the exhibition Mood River, organized by Jeffrey Kipnis and Annetta Massie, Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio 2002 Lichen_Net Manufactured planter system for a residential garden in New York City, 2001 Urban Toys v1.0 Interactive digital design interface for N2Art Nordic Net Art gallery, Stockholm, 2000 Cloudwall Display case for UCLA Department of Architecture, Los Angeles, 2000 Cloudbox Experimental prototype, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York, 1999

1997 - 1999 Stan Allen Architect Project Designer

LB House 2000 sf private residence, Los Angeles, California,1998-99 Museo del Prado Competition entry re-worked for Stan Allen’s book Points + Lines, Princeton, 1999 Korean-American Museum Competition entry re-worked for Stan Allen’s book Points + Lines, Princeton, 1999 White Columns 2500 sf gallery renovation, New York City,1998 Diao House Addition to a 1949 Marcel Breuer house in upstate New York,1997-99 VZ House 1200 sf house addition in East Hampton, NY,1997-98

DESIGN WORK | Exhibitions 2015 The Storefront for Art and Architecture Storefront 2115: (not) OUT THERE Featured work by pneumastudio, group exhibition, New York City

ACADIA International Conference: Computational Ecologies: Design in the Anthropocene Featured work by pneumastudio and the Geofutures post-professional program at Rensselaer SoA, group exhibition, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati

OMI International Arts Center Anthropofolly Featured project by pneumastudio, solo exhibition at OMI International Arts Center, Ghent, New York

CR10 Anthropofolly Featured project by pneumastudio, group exhibition at Clermont State Historic Site in Clermont, New York, organized by the contemporary arts project space, CR10

2014 WT SmartCity Award Geofutures Selected work of Chris Perry’s graduate students in the Geofutures post-professional program at Rensselaer’s School of Architecture. Design work featured as part of Milan’s Design Week, Milan, Italy

Decad, Berlin Work in Public Featured work by servo, group exhibition, Berlin

2012 Pratt Institute School of Architecture, Brooklyn Culture Now Selected work of Chris Perry’s undergraduate thesis students at Rensselaer’s School of Architecture

2011 Design Museum, Barcelona EcoRedux 2 Commissioned project by pneumastudio, group exhibition curated by Lydia Kallipoliti and Anna Pla Catala, Barcelona

Gallatin Labowitz Gallery, New York University Elsewhere Envisioned Commissioned project by pneumastudio, group exhibition curated by Peder Anker, Louise Harpman, and Mitchell Joachim, New York

2010 Pratt Manhattan Gallery Envelopes Commissioned project by servo, group exhibition curated by Christopher Hight, New York

2009 MoMA/PS1 YAP 10th Anniversary Review Proposal by servo (2004), 10th anniversary group exhibition of winners and finalists

2008 International Biennial of Contemporary Art of Seville Youniverse Installation by servo, group exhibition curated by Marie-Ange Brayer, Seville

2007 Maison de l’Architecture et de la Ville Architecture Beyond Forms: The Computational Turn Featured work by servo, group exhibition, France

A+D – Architecture and Design Museum New Blood - Next Gen Featured work by servo, group exhibition, Los Angeles

International Trade Fair of Thessaloniki syn_athroisis Featured work by servo, group exhibition, Greece

2006 MAK Center for Art and Architecture Gen(h)ome Commissioned project by servo, group exhibition, Los Angeles

Iakov Chernikhov International Foundation Challenge of the Time: Iakov Chernikhov International Prize for Young Architects Featured work by servo, group exhibition, Moscow

Beijing Architecture Biennial Emerging Talents, Emerging Technologies Featured work by servo , group exhibition, Beijing

2005 FRAC Centre Machines Atmospherique Featured work by servo, group exhibition, Orléans, France

The Swedish Museum of Architecture Visat i Venedig Featured work by servo, group exhibition, Stockholm

2004 Venice Biennale: 9th International Architecture Exhibition Metamorph Featured project by servo, group exhibition curated by Kurt W. Forster, Venice, Italy

MoMA/QNS Young Architects Program (YAP) Featured project by servo, group exhibition, PS1 Warm Up competition finalists, Queens San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Glamour: Fashion, Industrial Design, Architecture Installation by servo, group exhibition curated by Joseph Rosa, San Francisco

Beijing Architecture Biennial Hot Spots: New York Featured project by servo, group exhibition, Beijing

Mori Art Museum Archilab: New Experiments in Architecture, Art and the City Featured work by servo, group exhibition of the FRAC Centre Collection, Tokyo

Rice School of Architecture Softspace Featured work by servo, group exhibition, Houston

The Building Center Digital Fabricators Featured work by servo, group exhibition, London

2003 Centre Pompidou Non-Standard Architectures Featured work by servo, group exhibition curated by Frederic Migayrou, Paris

Archilab An Architecture Laboratory: The FRAC Centre Collection 1993-2003 Featured work by servo, group exhibition of the FRAC Centre Collection, Orleans, France

Artists Space Sign as Surface Featured project by servo, group exhibition curated by Peter Zellner, New York

UCLA Graduate Department of Architecture Effervescence Solo exhibition of work by servo, Los Angeles

University of New Mexico School of Architecture Next Featured work by servo, group exhibition, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Israel Association of Architects Soft(Ware) Boundaries Featured work by servo, group exhibition, Tel Aviv

IASPIS (International Artist Studio Program in Stockholm) Reshape Featured project by servo, group exhibition, Venice, Italy

2002 Landesmuseum Joanneum Latent Utopias: Experiments Within Contemporary Architecture Commissioned installation by servo, group exhibition curated by Zaha Hadid and Patrik Schumacher, Graz, Austria

Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum New Hotels for Global Nomads Commissioned project by servo, group exhibition curated by Donald Albrecht, New York

Wexner Center for the Arts Mood River Commissioned project by servo, group exhibition organized by Jeffrey Kipnis and Annetta Massie, Columbus, Ohio Archilab Earth Economics Featured project by servo, group exhibition curated by Marie-Ange Brayer and Beatrice Simonot, Orleans, France

IASPIS (International Artist Studio Program in Stockholm) In the Lattice Commissioned installation by servo, Stockholm

Museum of Modern Art, Stockholm Urban Goods Featured work by servo, group exhibition, Stockholm

2001 The Architectural League of New York City Limits: Young Architects 3 Featured work by servo, group exhibition, Architectural League Prize for Young Architects and Designers, New York

2000 Storefront for Art and Architecture servolines Solo exhibition of work by servo, New York

Cornell University College of Architecture servolines Solo exhibition of work by servo, Ithaca, New York

UCLA Graduate Department of Architecture servolines Solo exhibition of work by servo, Los Angeles

n2art Nordic Net Gallery servolines Featured project by servo, group exhibition, World Wide Web

CRAC (Creative Room for Art and Computing) servolines Commissioned installation by servo, group exhibition, Stockholm

1999 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute School of Architecture Cloudbox / Nurbia Solo exhibition of work by servo, Troy, New York

Urban Issues Gallery Cloudbox / Nurbia Solo exhibition of work by servo, Berlin

DESIGN WORK | Exhibition Catalogs 2014 Work in Public Featured project by servo, Decad: Press LMP, Berlin

2012 EcoRedux 02: Design Manuals for a Dying Planet Featured project by pneumastudio, Design Museum, Barcelona

2008 Youniverse Featured installation by servo, International Biennial of Contemporary Art of Seville

2007 syn_athroisis Featured project by servo, International Trade Fair of Thessaloniki, Greece

2006 Gen(h)ome Commissioned installation by servo, MAK Center for Art and Architecture, Los Angeles

Dark Places Commissioned exhibition design by servo, Santa Montica Museum of Art, Los Angeles

Challenge of the Time: Iakov Chernikhov International Prize for Young Architects Featured work by servo, Iakov Chernikhov International Foundation, Moscow

Emerging Talents, Emerging Technologies: Beijing Architecture Biennial Featured project by servo, Beijing

2004 Metamorph: 9th International Architecture Exhibition, Venice Biennale Featured project by servo, ed. Kurt W. Forster, Marsilio Press

Glamour: Fashion, Industrial Design, Architecture Featured installation by servo, ed. Joseph Rosa, SFMoMA + Rizzoli

New Hotels for Global Nomads Commissioned project by servo, ed. Donald Albrecht, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum Press

Fast Forward>>Hot Spot, Brain Cell Featured project by servo, The Architecture Biennial, Beijing, Map Book Publishers

Reshape Featured project and essay by servo, ed. Sara Arrhenius, Propexus Press 2003 Non-Standard Architectures Featured work by servo, Frederic Migayrou, Centre Pompidou Press

Experimental Architectures: 1950-2000, The FRAC Centre Collection Featured work by servo, ed. Marie-Ange Brayer and Frederic Migayrou, HYX Press

ArchiLab’s Earth Buildings: Radical Experiments in the Architecture of the Land Featured work by servo, ed. Marie-Ange Brayer and Beatrice Simonot, Thames & Hudson

2002 Latent Utopias: Experiments Within Contemporary Architecture Commissioned installation by servo, ed. Zaha Hadid and Patrik Schumacher, Steirischerbst Press

Mood River Commissioned project by servo, ed. Jeffrey Kipnis and Annetta Massie, Wexner Center for the Arts Press

Archilab’s Urban Experiments: Radical Architecture, Art, and the City Featured work by servo, Marie-Ange Brayer, Frederic Migayrou, and Fumio Nanjo, eds. (Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2002)

Sign as Surface Featured project by servo, ed. Peter Zellner, Artists Space Press

DESIGN WORK | Books 2016 Post-Sustainability: New Directions in Ecological Design Featured work by pneumastudio, ed. Mitchell Joachim and Mike Silver, Actar (forthcoming)

2015 Acople: From Pulsation to Feedback Featured work by pneumastudio, ed. Eric Goldemberg, Evolo Inc.

ACADIA International Conference Proceedings - Computational Ecologies: Design in the Anthropocene Featured work by pneumastudio and the Geofutures post-professional program at Rensselaer SoA, Lonn Combs and Chris Perry, eds., ACADIA Press

Work in Public Featured work by pneumastudio, ed. Rachel Alliston, Press LMP, Berlin

The Atlas of World Housing Featured work by pneumastudio, DAMDI Publishing Co., Korea

2014 Global Design: Elsewhere Envisioned Featured work by pneumastudio, ed. Peder Anker, Louise Harpman, Mitchell Joachim, Prestel

2013 Bracket Goes Soft: Architecture, Environment, Digital Culture Featured work by pneumastudio, ed. Neeraj Bhatia and Lola Sheppard, Actar

2012 Architecture Inserted: The Louis I. Kahn Visiting Assistant Professorship Nina Rappaport, ed., Yale School of Architecture Featured interview with and essay by Chris Perry in addition to selected work by pneumastudio, servo, and the advanced design studio Perry conducted at the Yale School of Architecture in 2010.

Panel Layout for Competition Featured work by pneumastudio, DAMDI Publishing Co., Korea

Architectural Theories of the Environment: Posthuman Territory Featured work by pneumastudio in an introductory essay, ed. Ariane Lourie Harrison, Routledge

2010 The New Mathematics of Architecture Featured work by servo, eds. Mark Burry and Jane Burry, Thames & Hudson

The Architecture of Patterns Featured design studio work at Cornell University by Chris Perry, eds. Paul Anderson and David Salomon, W.W. Norton & Company

Retrospecta: Yale School of Architecture Excerpts from an evening lecture by Chris Perry in addition to student work from Perry’s advanced design studio conducted in the spring of 2010, ed. Nina Rappaport, Yale School of Architecture

2009 Digital Architecture Now: A Global Survey of Emerging Talent Featured work by servo, ed. Neil Spiller, Thames & Hudson

Storefront Newsprints 1982-2009 Featured exhibition at the Storefront for Art and Architecture by servo, Joseph Grima, Storefront Books

Interactive Architecture Featured project by servo, Michael Fox and Miles Kemp, Princeton Architectural Press

Provisional: Emerging Modes of Architectural Practice Featured practice by servo, Elite Kedan, Jon Dreyfous, and Craig Mutter, Princeton Architectural Press

Digital Fabrications: Architectural and Material Techniques Featured project by servo, Lisa Iwamoto, Princeton Architectural Press

Hatch: The New Architectural Generation Featured work by servo, ed. Kieran Long, Laurence King Publishing, London

Advanced Public Design Featured work by servo and design studio projects by Chris Perry, DAMDI Publishing Co., Korea

2008 servo: networks and environments Monograph of servo’s work with essays by Christopher Hight and Helene Furjan, organized and edited by Chris Perry as part of the Design Document (DD) architectural monograph series by DAMDI Publishing Co., Korea

2007 Network Practices: New Strategies in Architecture and Design Featured practice and work by servo in an essay by Christopher Hight, ed. Anthony Burke and Therese Tierney, Princeton Architectural Press

Softspace: From a Representation of Form to a Simulation of Space Featured work by servo in an essay by Marcelyn Gow, ed. Sean Lally and Jessica Young, Routledge

Abstract Space: Beneath the Media Surface Featured work by servo, Therese Tierney, Taylor & Francis

2006 AD: Collective Intelligence in Design Featured work by servo, ed. Christopher Hight and Chris Perry, Wiley-Academy Press

2005 10 x 10_2: 100 Architects, 10 Critics Featured work by servo, text by Frederic Migayrou, Phaidon

2004 Digital Tectonics Featured project by servo, ed. Neil Leach and David Turnbull, Wiley-Academy Press

Abstract: 03-04 Selected work from design studios Chris Perry conducted at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture during the academic year 2003-04, Columbia Books on Architecture

2003 Next Generation Architecture: Folds, Blobs, and Boxes Featured work by servo, ed. Joseph Rosa, Rizzoli

City Limits: Young Architects 3 Featured work by servo, Princeton Architectural Press

Abstract: 02-03 Selected work from design studios Chris Perry conducted at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture during the academic year 2002-03, Columbia Books on Architecture

Index Architecture Selected design work as a graduate student at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture. Bernard Tschumi and Matthew Berman, eds. Columbia Books of Architecture / MIT Press

2002 AD: Contemporary Techniques of Architectural Design Featured work by servo, ed. Ali Rahim, Wiley-Academy Press

1998 Tokyo Bay Experiment: Reiser + Umemoto Studio Featured design work as a graduate student at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture. Columbia Books of Architecture

1997 Abstract: 96-97 Featured design work as a graduate student at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture during the academic year 1996-97. Columbia Books of Architecture

1996 Abstract: 95-96 Featured design work as a graduate student at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture during the academic year 1995-96. Columbia Books of Architecture

1995 Abstract: 94-95 Featured design work as a graduate student at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture during the academic year 1994-95. Columbia Books of Architecture

DESIGN WORK | Journals + Magazines 2015 Arpa Journal An Architectural Folly for the Anthropocene, featured project by pneumastudio, Janette Kim, ed., Columbia GSAPP

2010 Constructs: Yale Architecture Interview with Chris Perry, Louis I. Kahn Visiting Assistant Professor, conducted by Nina Rappaport and featuring several projects by servo, Spring 2010

2007 Interior Architecture of China Pratt Institute, section guest-edited by Evan Douglis featuring academic and professional work by Pratt design faculty, featured studio projects by Chris Perry and work by servo, December issue

2006 Yale Perspecta The Manifold Potential of Bionetworks, featured work by servo, essay by Christopher Hight and Chris Perry, Yale Perspecta 38: Afterall, MIT Press

Art Review Grey Areas, John Rogers, featured work by servo, February/March issue

Frame Infostructure, Shonquis Moreno, featured work by servo, May/June issue Fancy Footwork, Shonquis Moreno, featured work by servo, January/February issue

FORUM Alien, text by Sindre Kartvedt, featured work by servo, issue n.2

2005 Metropolis Magazine Featured work by servo, July issue

2004 Metropolis Magazine Featured project by servo, November issue

a+u Featured work by servo, Issue n.4

Praxis Work by servo in an essay by Greg Lynn, ed. Ashley Schafer and Amanda Reeser, Issue n.6: New Technologies, New Architecture, Praxis Inc. 2003 Architectural Record Featured work by servo in the annual Vanguard issue, ed. Clifford Pearson, December

a+u Featured work by servo with an interview by Michael Speaks, Issue n.6

2002 JAE (Journal of Architectural Education) Featured studio work and essay by servo, ed. Keller Easterling

2001 Scroope 13 (Cambridge University Architecture Journal) Featured work by servo in a visual essay by Chris Perry, Piggott Printers

Trans 9/10 Launcher Telesymposium, Passim Inc. Publishers

Oculus Young Architects at the League, featured work by servo, Kentaro Tsubaki, American Institute of Architects

DESIGN WORK | Newspapers 2015 The New York Times Measure Investigates the Art of Quantifying, featured work by pneumastudio, Martha Schwendener, August 27

2006 The New York Times The Thing That Curated Los Angeles, featured work by servo, Jori Finkel, February 12

Los Angeles Times Competing for Attention, featured work by servo, David Pagel, February 7

Los Angeles Weekly Dark Victory Designing a Mueum Exhibition, featured work by servo, Holly Willis, January 13-19

2003 The New York Times Goodbye Fountainhead; Hello Kibbutz, featured work by servo, Christopher Hawthorne

Los Angeles Times Making Connections, featured work by servo, Hugh Hart

2002 The New York Times Checking into Escapism, featured project by servo, Herbert Muschamp Design’s Mood Swings: From Bliss to Rage, featured project by servo, Herbert Muschamp

The Washington Post Hotels with Staying Power, featured project by servo, Linda Hales

PROFESSIONAL BOARD + PEER REVIEW COMMITTEE INVOLVEMENT 2016 ACADIA Board of Directors Board Member (forthcoming, 2016)

2015 ACADIA International Conference - Computational Ecologies: Design in the Anthropocene Technical Co-Chair: University of Cincinnati

ACSA 103rd Annual Meeting: The Expanding Periphery and the Migrating Center Session Chair: University of Toronto, Ryerson University, University of Waterloo

2014 103rd ACSA Annual Meeting Member of peer review committee for conference paper submissions

Historic Preservation Commission Mayoral appointment for the City of Hudson, New York

2013 Journal of Architectural Education (JAE) Member of peer review committee for an issue of JAE entitled Dissipative Architecture: The Informed Nature of Atopia 2012 101st ACSA Annual Meeting Member of peer review committee for conference paper submissions

2011 100th ACSA Annual Meeting Member of peer review committee for conference paper submissions

2007-08 The Architectural League of New York Member of the Architectural League’s Program Committee for public lectures and events

2002 The Architectural League of New York Member of the Architectural League’s Selection Committee for 2002’s Architectural League Prize for Young Architects and Designers

ACADEMIC BOARD + COMMITTEE INVOLVEMENT 2012 - present Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Member of Rensselaer’s Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee for institute-wide decision-making on curricular matters

2013 - present Rensselaer School of Architecture Member of the School of Architecture’s Curriculum Committee charged with reassessing and retrofitting the School’s undergraduate and graduate curricula

2015 - 2016 Rensselaer School of Architecture Member of the School of Architecture’s Search Committee for one tenure-track faculty position

2013 - 2014 Rensselaer School of Architecture Member of the School of Architecture’s Search Committee for five tenure-track faculty positions

2013 - 2014 Rensselaer School of Architecture Member of the School of Architecture’s doctoral committee for PhD candidate Kelly Winn, Center for Architecture, Science, and Ecology, 2013 - present

2012 Rensselaer School of Architecture Member of the School of Architecture’s committee for devising an official alcohol use policy

2007-08 Pratt Institute School of Architecture Member of the School of Architecture’s Search Committee for one tenure-track faculty position

FELLOWSHIPS + GRANTS + AWARDS 2014 The 2014 Trustee Celebration of Faculty Achievement, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Society Editorial award for co-editing a special issue of PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art, MIT Press

2013 The MacDowell Colony Recipient of The MacDowell Colony Fellowship for a 3-week residency

2012 The 2012 Trustee Celebration of Faculty Achievement, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Society Editorial award for being a recipient of The MacDowell Colony Fellowship

2008 Swedish Design Foundation servo Three-year design research grant

2005 American Institute of Graphic Arts servo Design Award

2004 Konstnärsnämnden, Sveriges Bildkonstnärsfond servo Project grant

PS1/MoMA servo Finalist, Young Architects Program

2003 Architectural Record’s Vanguard Issue servo selected and Perry interviewed by Architectural Record for their annual Vanguard issue featuring up and coming architects and designers, ed. Clifford Pearson, December IASPIS (International Artist Studio Program in Stockholm) servo Project grant

2002 IASPIS (International Artist Studio Program in Stockholm) servo Six-month artist residency grant

2001 The Architectural League of New York servo Architectural League Prize for Young Architects and Designers

2000 CRAC (Creative Room for Computing) servo Project sponsorship grant

Cornell University Council For Art servo Small projects grant

n2art Nordic Net Gallery servo Project sponsorship grant The perfect storm that shut down the pipeline to Architecture.

1. The 2007 Recession.

2. A demographic downturn in high school graduates, sons and daughters of the baby boomers.

3. Constricted state aid to high schools, crippling offerings beyond the core subjects. (note: Project Lead The Way (PLTW) prepares students to be the next generation of problem solvers, critical thinkers, and innovators for the global economy. Since 1997, PLTW has grown to become the nation’s leading provider of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs for students in grades K - 12. The reason is that PLTW works. PLTW’s world-class curriculum and high-quality professional development have earned the recognition of education and nonprofit organizations, state and national governments, and Fortune 500 companies.

PLTW’s beginning dates back to 1986 when high school teacher Richard Blais began offering pre-engineering and digital electronics classes to encourage his upstate New York students to study engineering.

In 1997, Blais received the support of the Liebich family’s Charitable Leadership Foundation (CLF), which helped establish PLTW’s high school Engineering program and broaden it to 12 schools in upstate New York.

Today, PLTW is the nation’s leading provider of K-12 STEM programs. More than 6,500 schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia offer PLTW courses to their students. https://www.pltw.org/about-us/history

History | Project Lead The Way Read more...

PTLW offers CEA - Civil Engineering and Architecture to High Schools students.

These three issues worked in concert to restrict the pipeline into Architectural Schools nationwide. The result:

1. Less students apply.

2. More students are accepted with poorer test scores, high school gpa and class rank.

3. This generation of students will be the next generation of Architects

I have been teaching Architecture for 35 years at three major institutions. I have been teaching the introductory courses at UWM since 1991. We are confronted with our lowest Architecture major freshmen population in our 45 years. And we are the sole program in the state of Wisconsin.

I would like to see an issue of JAE dedicated to enrollment, with research of data, best practices in recruitment, national programs of outreach, K-12 initiatives and the like.

Respectfully submitted,

Prof. Mark Keane

MARK KEANE

Full Professor Department of Architecture – University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee School of Architecture and Urban Planning, 1991-present

Director Frank Lloyd Wright Initiative, UWM-SARUP

President www.N E X T.cc – non-profit design education website

Education University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: M Arch 1980

AWARDS AND GRANTS

Excellence in Teaching Award, UWM Alumni National Environmental Education Green STEM Innovator Union of International Architects Architecture Golden Cubes Award Wisconsin Arts Board Creative Communities Grant USGBC Excellence in Green Building Education Grant American Architectural Foundation Merit Award National Endowment for the Arts Design Education Grant American Architectural Foundation Merit Award Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in Art and Architecture Grant National Institute for Architectural Education Grant National Endowment for the Arts Design Communications Grant Chicago WTTW Image Union Film Award Regional Oscar for Film Associated Collegiate Schools of Architecture -Young Faculty Teaching Award PBS Emmy for Animated Architecture

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

UWM, Professor 91-present The Art Institute of Chicago 85-91 Illinois Institute of Technology 88 University of Illinois at Versailles, France 80-85

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Partner, Studio 1032, 4200 Lake Drive, Shorewood, WI 53211, www.studio1032.com

Recent Work: Prairie Custom Homes Traditional Neighborhood Developments Commercial and Retail Adaptive Reuse Environmental Planning

RESEARCH

Rich media combined with research from directorship of the Frank Lloyd Wright Initiative at UWM.

Computer technology used to examine the underlying geometric principles for secondary and higher education of both Geometry and Architecture

Introductory Principles in Architecture http://aaii-online.herokuapp.com/users/sign_in

Development of reference material for the fields of Architecture, Interior Architecture and Design.

K-12 Design Education www.NEXT.cc, an art + design+ environment eco web learning community.

PUBLICATIONS (SELECTED)

Architecture: An Interactive Introduction, CD-ROM with book, McGraw-Hill 1998

WRIGHTSCAPE: The Geometry of Wright, UWM Press 2000

Paris: Design Education, UWM Press 2002

www.NEXT.cc , An Art + Design + Environment Eco Web Learning Community, 2007

Studio 1032, UWM Press 2013

MEDIA PRESENTATIONS

Program for Art on Film, Architecture on Screen, a listing of seven animated films Film Showings at University of Notre Dame, North Carolina State, National Buildings Institute, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Archicenter of Chicago, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Cranbrook Academy, Milan Triennale International Design Exposition, Italy

DESIGN EDUCATION WORKSHOPS

2013 Froebel USA, Ann Arbor, MI Creative Alliance Milwaukee , Milwaukee, WI The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL The Internet of Things, London, England After School Matters, Chicago, Illinois TEDxMILWAUKEE VISIONEER DESIGN CHALLENGE, Milwaukee, WI, Peck School of the Arts, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee ACSA National Conference, San Francisco, California Wisconsin Innovative Schools Network, Appleton , WI 2012 ARTS@Large Meet and Greet, Thursday, Milwaukee, WI IDSA K12 Design Education Symposium Cultivating Creative Learners Video from Henry Ford Academy Dearborn, MI SCALE: READ.WRITE.ACT Virtual Conference Wisconsin Art Education Association Common Ground: Challenges of the 21st Century Conference Sheboygan, WI ART AND DESIGN HAND IN HAND: CHICAGO AFTER SCHOOL MATTERS, Chicago, IL ARTS ALIVE CHICAGO: Columbia College, Chicago, IL GREEN CITIES, GREEN SCHOOLS: MRAE ENERGY FAIR, Custer, WI VISIONEER DESIGN CHALLENGE, Peck School of the Arts, UWM, Milwaukee, WI NAEA NATIONAL ART EDUCATION ASSOCIATION New York City Hilton Ballroom Arts@Large, Milwaukee, WI Arts Educators Exchange, Chicago, IL LaCrosse Design Institute, LaCrosse, WI Nelson Institute Earth Day Celebration, Madison WI Wisconsin Arts Educator Exchange, Milwaukee, WI Wisconsin Charter Schools, Grand Geneva, WI 2011 AAO A+DEN Association of Community Designers, Philadelphia, PA AIM Elegant FIT, Columbia College, Chicago, IL Art Institute of Chicago Art Curriculum Fair Creativity Education Alliance, Milwaukee, WI Illinois Art Education Association, Normal, IL Jane Goodall Institute Chicago IL Roots + Shoots High School Program Glazer Children’s Museum, Hillsborough School District LaCrosse Design Institute, LaCrosse, WI Milwaukee Public Schools, Milwaukee, WI Nelson Institute Earth Day Celebration, Madison, WI UIA Design 2050 World Congress, Tokyo, Japan Visioneer Art and Design Day as part of National Environmental Education Week Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI in conjunction with GOOD Design Stories From Herman Miller Travelling Exhibit 2010 Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL Arts@Large, Milwaukee, WI Chicago Architecture and Design Career Day, IIT, Chicago, IL International Design Principles and Practices Conference, Chicago, IL Jane Goodall Institute Chicago IL Roots + Shoots High School Program, Chicago, IL Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI National Environmental Education Foundation, Washington, DC Niles North Township Schools, Niles, IL Design As Nature, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL Visoneer Art /Design Challenge, UWM Peck School of the Arts, Milwaukee, WI United States Green School National Conference, Minneapolis, MN UWM Peck School of the Arts, Milwaukee, WI Wisconsin Association of Environmental Educators, WI Wisconsin Charter Schools, Madison, WI 2009 Muskegon Art Museum, Good Design Workshop in conjunction with the Herman Miller Good Design Show, Muskegon, MI Art Institute of Chicago Museum Education Workshop on Green Roofs + Green Building Urban Ecology Center, Milwaukee, WI Jane Goodall Institute Chicago IL Roost + Shoots High School Program, Chicago, IL School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL WI Charter Schools, Madison, WI 2008 Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL US Green Charter Schools, Madison, WI North American Association of Environmental Education with Earth Day, Kansas A+DEN 2, Chicago, IL 2007 INTUIT Gallery, Chicago, IL Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL The Catholic University of America, Gaithersberg, MD New Charter School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Milwaukee, WI

SERVICE Frank Lloyd Wright - Wisconsin, Board of Directors Director, Frank Lloyd Wright Initiative, UWM-SARUP Conference Point Center, Williams Bay, WI, Advising Board of Directors Academic Misconduct Committee, UWM Community Design Solutions, Quick Response Team Faculty - UWM President, www.NEXT.cc

JAE 70:2 Proposal Obverse Histories, Coexistent Truths

Robert Kirkbride, Ph.D. Associate Dean, Parsons School of Constructed Environments Associate Professor of Architecture and Product Design Director, studio ‘patafisico

During the second installment of Women in Architecture, a recent symposium at Parsons SCE1 that aimed at expanding diversity in architectural pedagogy, strong concerns were voiced about the discipline’s continuing reliance on a canon of iconic buildings designed by “hero architects.” Regardless of their individual merit, these structures represent an extremely narrow cross- section of architectural history and practice. Unfortunately, efforts to broaden the scope of edifying examples tend to run aground on a commonplace scenario: as one panelist recounted, when history-theory instructors update their lecture or seminar courses with more diverse examples, incredulous design studio instructors decry that students should know the “basic architectural canon” inside and out, as though their future capacities depend upon well- rehearsed plotlines. In a professionally driven discipline seeking to sustain its own relevance, a well-rounded approach to teaching history and theory in architecture is often eschewed for an easily digestible linear narrative, and the expectations of studio culture tend to trump expansion beyond the usual suspects of the history-theory canon.

Obverse Histories, Coexisting Truths, my proposed title and theme for JAE 70:2, would explore alternative practices of design and historical research, recognizing the following:

• Buildings embody and accumulate complex and conflicting histories that are often overlooked in favor of a single, “coherent” narrative. Yet there is no single, monolithic history; there are many concurrent histories, unfolding from vantages that often compete and coalesce. • Close readings of buildings, texts and historical contexts can inspire empathy, revealing haunting similarities and stark differences with others five hundred years in the past, and five hundred miles away, in the present.

This collection is intended to assist readers to gather ideas and the confidence to advance diversity in their own teaching and promote interplay among the lecture hall, seminar and design studio. How might methods ordinarily identified with historical research inform the design process, and vice/versa? Articles are welcome to propose/assess pedagogical exercises that transpose practices in historical research, design and construction. There will be three thematic zones to the Call for Papers:

§ Change the canon. Articles in this category expand pedagogical diversity by identifying individuals and groups whose significant contributions to the field may not yet be adequately recognized.

1 The symposium was held at Parsons School of Constructed Environments and hosted by Brian McGrath (Dean and Professor, Parsons SCE), Peggy Deamer (Assistant Dean and Professor, Yale University) and Ioanna Theocharopolou (Assistant Professor, Parsons SCE).

1 JAE 70:2 Proposal Obverse Histories, Coexistent Truths

§ The secret lives of an icon. These articles reconsider iconic buildings from unexplored vantages, particularly untold stories about their everyday workings. How did food arrive at Fallingwater and who prepared it? How is the Palace of Assembly at Chandigarh maintained – how often, by whom and by what methods? How many lives does an iconic building live? Essays are not obliged to pursue an explicitly revisionist agenda, but should complement and challenge prevailing narratives with fresh perspectives that open iconic buildings to new points of access and understanding. § Building: a multicursal process. Every artifact and building manifests the intersecting relationships required for its fabrication. These essays offer case studies that consider the creation process of a building, looking upstream and down, and the interweaving and often overlooked roles of its many participants, including but not limited to underappreciated contributions by architects. How do buildings manifest the influences and exchanges of clients, architects, engineers, contractors, inspectors and inhabitants? What are the internal workings of an architectural office and the flows of construction, from the selection, specification, production, acquisition and delivery of materials to a site? What traces remain of the ephemeral architecture, such as scaffolding and formwork, by which a building is built? Do clients, or users, matter? While the growing field of product design has deliberately reframed the relationship of designers and users as a collaboration, some architects characterize the methods of “user scenarios” and “the process tree” as a “dark and unproductive path.” One wonders if this is simply because it problematizes the unquestioned will of the hero architect, while introducing uncomfortable degrees of uncertainty to the design process? With the boundary between architecture and product design rapidly disappearing, that path requires more illumination.

For this project, I would be delighted to work with Marc Neveu, who participated in this symposium, and/or with Amy Kulper or another interested member of the JAE editorial board. If deemed appropriate, in addition to (or as a part of) an introductory essay, I could contribute a case study for one of the themes.

Robert Kirkbride’s Bio and experience relevant for this proposal

I am director of studio ‘patafisico and Associate Dean of Parsons School of Constructed Environments in New York City, where I’m also Associate Professor of Architecture and Product Design. Recently I became the Spokesperson and a founding Trustee for PreservationWorks, a national advocacy organization for the adaptive reuse of Kirkbride Plan Hospitals. I have an abiding interest in forms of knowledge and know-how that don’t quite fit, things that have been lost or overlooked, including everyday habits and their impressions on the constructed environment. My research on physical and mental infrastructures of memory, identity and learning has been recognized for its methodology and innovative use of digital media.

2 JAE 70:2 Proposal Obverse Histories, Coexistent Truths

I recently designed the Morbid Anatomy Museum, in Brooklyn, NY, with collaborator Anthony Cohn, AIA, and authored the multimedia online book, Architecture and Memory, which reconstructs pedagogical and rhetorical uses of two Renaissance memory chambers. Architecture and Memory was awarded the Gutenberg-e Prize, and a second version has been launched online by the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) as part of its Humanities E- Book series. I have continued to explore exchanges of architecture and memory in the volume, Geometries of Rhetoric, which I guest-edited for the Nexus Network Journal (from CFP through final edits), and contributed a chapter on architecture and rhetoric in the Renaissance to The Oxford Handbook of Rhetorical Studies. Recently, I established the Giuseppe Zambonini Archive at The New School, which evidences early incarnations of design-build in New York City and influences of Carlo Scarpa in North American architectural pedagogy.

I have been a visiting scholar at the Canadian Centre for Architecture, architect-in-residence at the Bogliasco Foundation in Genoa, Italy, and an editorial board member of the Nexus Network Journal (Birkhäuser), and Alphabet City (MIT Press). My design and research projects have been exhibited and published in The National Academy of Science’s ISSUES magazine, Vogue, The Financial Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Chora 4, Mark Magazine, C3, Alphabet City’s FUEL, WATER, and AIR, among others. I received my Ph.D. in the History and Theory of Architecture from McGill University, and a Master of Architecture and Bachelor of Arts in Design of the Environment from the University of Pennsylvania.

Proposal for JAE themed issue September 1, 2015

Michele Lamprakos, PhD and Garth Rockcastle, FAIA School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation University of Maryland, College-Park, Maryland

Adaptation (Design as Editing)

All design is, in some sense, “making again.” Yet as a culture, we have tended to privilege the conception and making of new things or places, over the modification or remaking of existing ones.1 This themed issue of JAE is devoted to exploring strategies and processes of re-making, and how they can be cultivated in design pedagogy. A central aim is to develop a language to illuminate these unique processes – something Rodolfo Machado called for four decades ago.2

As co-editors, we come to this topic from different generations and from different, but complementary, backgrounds. We are passionate about the process that is often labeled “adaptive reuse” but which encompasses a wide range of strategies for working-across-time. We have collaborated in teaching, thesis advising, conferences, and professional practice – and we find that the more we do this, the richer the topic becomes. JAE will allow us to broaden and deepen this exploration – bringing together founding thinkers and new voices from around the world.

This issue of JAE comes at a critical transition, as reuse projects constitute an ever larger proportion of architects’ work. It is often assumed that adaptive reuse is a strategy like any other design process – but it requires a special sensibility and unique operations. It remains under-theorized, and we lack compelling pedagogical methods to teach it. This special issue of JAE will start a conversation among makers, thinkers and teachers, with the aim of moving reuse, recovery, and other transformative strategies to center stage in design discourse and education.

We propose to solicit contributions in four main areas:

• Environmental Reuse is often described as “green” because it conserves matter and energy. But reuse is much richer: it can be radically regenerative, reconstituting and sustaining places and systems. Reuse also is inherently trans-disciplinary, and involves a range of scales, from objects to buildings to recovered landscapes.

• Cultural Reuse has been valued for preserving cultural memory. But throughout history, reuse has been a creative and dynamic process: transforming the old to make something new. It involves multiple authors and voices, working in time and over time, to create a shared and ever-evolving culture.

1 G. Rockcastle, “Why Re-Place?” Places, vol. 20, no. 1, summer 2008, pp. 4-9. 2 R. Machado, “Old Buildings as Palimpsest,” Progressive Architecture, 1976, pp. 46-49.

1 • Constructive Existing buildings are often seen as compromised assets (in terms of age, appearance, utility), their rehabilitation requiring excessive investment and time. While existing buildings present challenges, they also present opportunities; both must be more fully explored and mapped.

• Pedagogical Reuse is more like iterative editing than inventive design. In contrast to program and function, students start from the tangible: they must understand the circumstances that brought existing fabric into being (creative, technological, environmental, social) and then intervene and amend, add and subtract.

The editors will encourage contributions from multiple generations of practitioners and scholars (architects, landscape architects, historians, artists) who critically address reuse in their practice, teaching, and/or research. Since we are in the Washington area we propose to meet with the full JAE Board to develop the themed issue. Accepted papers will be presented at an international conference, to coincide with the release of the issue.

Co-Editor Biographies

Michele Lamprakos, PhD, is Assistant Professor at the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at the University of Maryland-College Park. Trained as an architect and historian, she is interested in the layers of buildings and cities and their transformation over time. She has a regional specialty in the Middle East and the Mediterranean world. Michele received her MArch at U.C. Berkeley (under Mark Mack) and was mentored in urban history by Spiro Kostof. After years of practice in architecture and design-build, with a focus on renovation and reuse, she returned for a PhD at MIT (History, Theory, and Criticism/Aga Khan Program in Islamic Architecture, 2006).

Michele’s career has combined teaching, research, and practice in architecture, as well as two years as a project manager with an international aid organization in Cairo, Egypt. In addition to Maryland, she has taught for the University of Pennsylvania, Duke University, and the Maryland Institute College of Art. Courses have included studios and seminars in architectural design, adaptive reuse, architectural/urban history, and heritage studies. She also developed a graduate seminar called “Adaptation”; and has advised award-winning Architecture Masters’ theses that focus on reuse and change over time. Michele is founder of PALIMPSEST LLC, a design and consulting firm that focuses on older buildings and sites. Her consulting work includes technical review for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (2010 and 2013 Award cycles).

Michele’s research focuses on adaptation, building practice, and memory, especially in cross- cultural contexts. She is author of Building a World Heritage City: Sanaa,Yemen (Ashgate 2015) as well as numerous articles. She has co-organized two international symposia. Conserving the City was held at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design in April 2012. She subsequently guest-edited the proceedings in a special issue of Change Over Time (April 2014); and wrote the lead essay for that issue, “The Idea of the Historic City”, an historiographical review and critique of strategies for old urban cores. The second conference, Heritage and the Arab Spring, was held at the Freer Gallery of Art in February 2014. Her current research on the afterlife of the Great Mosque of Cordoba looks at the changing fabric and meaning of the building over the centuries: as Catholic cathedral, historic monument, and symbol of the Islamic past in Spain. 2

Garth Rockcastle, FAIA is Professor and former Dean at Maryland, and for 30 years prior was Professor and former Head of Architecture at University of Minnesota. Garth received his MArch in Urban Design from Cornell University (under Colin Rowe and Mathias Ungers) and before that a BArch (tutored by Michael Pyatok). He has maintained the often difficult balance of being both a full-time academic and active practitioner, co-founding the national practice of MSR Design in 1981 with partners Thomas Meyer and Jeffrey Scherer. The firm is recognized as one of the early and leading practices advancing inventive adaptive reuse work across the country with projects such as the Urban Outfitters campus in the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Mill City Museum in Minneapolis, and Drexel University’s College of Media Art and Design (an adaptive reuse of the former Venturi/Scott Brown ISI Headquarters). Numerous award-winning adventurous, smaller-scaled projects informed Garth’s early work including Open Book, Media Loft, 801 North Washington, Ellingson/Bend residence, and Second Partnership (all in Minneapolis), and the Zorinsky Federal Building (Omaha, NE) and Riverside Museum Park (Rockford, IL). See the firm website for more detail: msrdesign.com. On a smaller scale, Garth continues to practice his passion for re-making and exhibiting his collage constructions of re- appropriated fragments from nature and culture.

Garth has edited three volumes of collected essays featuring scholarship, experimentation and creative work on related topics, including a 2008 issue of Places entitled “Re-Placing”, and two issues of Midgard Monographs (one with Princeton Architectural Press entitled “Type and the (Im)-Possibilities of Convention”, 1992), both of which emerged from national conferences which he co-organized while at Minnesota. He has also authored articles and reviews on topics such as: “The Lost Art of Gordon Matta-Clark” (2009); “The Politics and Practices of Culture and Architecture in Las Vegas” (2001); “Monastic Lessons for Contemporary Architecture” (2001); “The Two-Faces of Confidence” (1992); and “Art as Architecture” (1984).

3 Theme editors: Andrea J. Merrett, PhD candidate Columbia University Shea Gullivan, Architect, Designer, Activist; Co-editor, sub_teXXt Sarah Rafson, Independent Researcher and Writer; Co-editor, sub_teXXt

At Parson’s Feminism and Architecture conference last April, Carla Corroto and Lucinda Havenhand stated that “Feminists have made important contributions to architecture but we have yet to transform the basic conceptual frameworks of the field.” Beginning in the early 1970s, feminist activism in architecture contributed to increasing the number of women studying, practicing, and teaching architecture. Female architects overcame isolation and blatant sexism by organizing professional associations, conferences, practices, and even an alternative school. They delved into recovering the stories of architects overlooked in histories of the field. In the 1990s, an outpouring of scholarship challenged the gendered construction of the profession, of textual and of representative strategies, and the lack of attention to issues of race, and class. Despite these contributions, the field retains its hierarchical structures which continue to reward a star system. The culture of the design studio, both in academy and practice, creates an exploitative environment of long hours and low pay. How can we transform architecture to recognize other value systems, including collaboration, process, empathy, community, holism, and emotion? Specifically, what is the role of pedagogy in enacting these changes? Given the rich history of alternative pedagogical experiments and feminist institutional critique, we propose a thematic issue of the Journal of Architectural Education on feminism in architecture, focusing on feminist approaches to architectural pedagogy past and present.

The term feminism is still controversial, but we use it to refer to a disruptive method of analysis and activism. Feminism, at its basis, seeks equality for all in architecture, and, at its most radical, questions the construction of disciplinary boundaries, the role of architects in practice and society, and the relationship between practice and the academy. As architect and scholar Lori Brown has previously claimed, not all feminist practices recognize themselves as feminist, and we draw on this inclusive definition of feminism to examine a plurality of pedagogies and practices that challenge established power dynamics in the field.

We invite contributions on a variety of issues including: historical contributions of feminism to the teaching of architecture; feminist experiments in architectural pedagogy and practice; alternative pedagogical practices which contribute to the disruption of architectural education, regardless of whether their instigators identify as feminist; self-reflective teaching which helps to identify hierarchy and analyze the role that gender, class, race language and other ‘normative’ systems play in design education; pedagogical projects that cross into practice and vice versa; challenges to the boundaries of the discipline and the historical canon; the role of social media and new technology in transforming architecture academy and its relationship to practice.

Andrea J. Merrett is a PhD candidate in architecture at Columbia University, writing her dissertation on the history of feminism in American architecture. She has received support for her work through a Buell Center Oral History Prize, a Schlesinger Library Oral History Grant, and the Milka Bliznakov Prize from the International Archive of Women in Architecture. Merrett is a graduate of the professional program in architecture at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Before studying at Columbia, she practiced at the Montreal firms of Marosi + Troy Architects and Atelier TAG, and the Dublin firm Blackwood Associates Architects. She teaches for the Center for Architecture as a Learning by Design instructor in several New York City public schools. She has regularly taught the writing workshop for incoming master’s students in Columbia University’s Advance Architectural Design program. As an undergrad, Merrett worked as a contributing reviewer and an editor of The Fifth Column: the Canadian Student Journal of Architecture. Currently, Andrea is co-editing an issue on women and architecture for de-arq: Journal of Architecture, Universidad de Los Andes. She has presented papers at various conference, including at the Society of Architectural Historians annual conference, University of California Berkeley, Parsons School of Design, Washington University in St. Louis, and University of Pennsylvania. She has contributed reviews and texts to Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Cultural Studies Review, Azure, and the Beverley Willis Foundation’s Women of 20th Century American Architecture. She has a chapter on the Women’s School of Planning and Architecture in the forthcoming University of Pennsylvania Press book on architectural pedagogies.

Sarah Rafson received her BA in Architecture Studies from the University of Toronto and Masters from Columbia University’s Critical, Curatorial and Conceptual Practices program, where she was awarded the Buell Center Oral History Prize for her thesis supervised by Mary McLeod on Chicago’s feminist architecture collective, CARYATIDS. She is an editor of sub_teXXt, the online journal of ArchiteXX, the New York-based advocacy group for women in architecture, and helped launch the inaugural WikiD campaign to write more women architects into Wikipedia on International Women’s Day. Rafson’s writing has appeared in ArchDaily, The Architect’s Newspaper, Princeton’s Pidgin magazine and the Beverley Willis Foundation’s Women of 20th Century American Architecture. She was a curatorial assistant for Bernard Tschumi’s 2014 retrospective at the Centre Pompidou and editor of the recent publication Parc de La Villette (2014, Artifice). Rafson has also coordinated architecture exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, and most recently was editorial assistant for the MoMA catalogue Latin America in Construction, incorporating the writing of over 20 contributors from North and South America. Currently, Rafson is a freelance editor, writer and researcher developing multiple books on contemporary architecture for publication.

Shea Gilligan is a Portland, Oregon based architect, activist, writer and editor. In addition to being a full time practicing architect, she is a founder and co-editor of sub_teXXt, the online journal of architeXX, which aims to transform the profession of architecture through challenging the status quo, questioning unsustainable practices, and promoting through publication the up-and-coming, as- yet-unheard-of designers. Gilligan studied and worked in New York City where she earned her professional degree from the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University. She was awarded the Lucille Smyser Lowenfish Memorial Price for the best final semester design solution. Her undergraduate degree is in English, with a concentration in Cultural and Ethnic Studies. Before returning to school to study architecture, Gilligan trained and taught yoga, and she is certified in various holistic practices including: Aromatherapy, Reiki Level 1 & 2, massage therapy and energy work.

JAE Issue 70:2 Theme proposal prepared by: Kyle Miller

Authority Figures

“In the land of the unknowing, originality is king.” – Peter Eisenman

Upon receiving the AIA/ACSA Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education at ACSA’s 103rd Annual Conference, Peter Eisenman presented some thoughts organized under the title, “Originality and Authority.” Eisenman presented a personal narrative of how the development of his architectural Project followed a specific trajectory that began with adoration and emulation of the architects that came before him – at first, Frank Lloyd Wright - and has since arrived at what he would deem to be original work. He argued that in order for one to produce original work he or she must first follow the lessons of the masters before finding a reasonable departure point that potentially leads to what could constitute original production and yield new architectural knowledge. With the diffusion and subsequent genre-fication of the discipline of architecture, we now have multiple disciplines that reside somewhere between the absent core and the hazy periphery. This contemporary condition presents us with an opportunity to access the value of shoring up our disciplinary boundaries and agreeing upon a shared history – a compendium of scholarly texts, built projects, unbuilt provocations, and salient authority figures that provide a foundation upon which our discipline can grow.

Preceding Eisenman’s presentation are numerous recent events and publications dedicated to assessing the value and possibility of the history of architecture - and its associated vetted authority figures - as a medium for architectural production within contemporary culture. Among them are the 2012 Future of History conference at the University of Michigan, the 2012 Under the Influence symposium at MIT, and more recently, Log 31: New Ancients, published in the summer of 2014. A conclusion to be drawn from these efforts is that the conflation of past and present, old and new, knowledge and technique, and preservation and speculation provides optimistic architectural projections that ensure the presence and vitality of a shared discipline for years to come. On the heels of these events and publications, this session problematizes architectural precedent and the existence of architecture’s authority figures and calls for papers that present convictions regarding the relevance and need for authority figures within contemporary architectural production. If we agree that originality is a valued characteristic of contemporary architecture, what constitutes the orthodox, usual, and conventional from which the original can be established and to what extent must original work acknowledge an authority figure? Additionally, how does contemporary architectural design constitute itself as an act of scholarship by specifically acknowledging and engaging the critical context of the discipline of architecture and its resident authority figures? Likewise, to what extent must architectural design pedagogy invoke architecture’s authority figures to ensure proper transmission and evolution of the most fundamental aspects of architecture?

Biography

Kyle Miller is an Assistant Professor at the Syracuse University School of Architecture and Co-Founder of Possible Mediums. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning and the University of California – Los Angeles Department of Architecture and Urban Design, where he earned his professional degree and was awarded the AIA Henry Adams Medal and Certificate. His design research has been supported by the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts and has been included in the Possible Mediums and AIA Emerging Professionals exhibitions. Miller is the co-author and co-editor of the forthcoming publication, Possible Mediums and has been published in Project, Offramp, PLAT, and Fresh Punches. Miller previously taught at the University of Kentucky College of Design and the University of California - Los Angeles Department of Architecture and Urban Design, and worked professionally in Milwaukee, Los Angeles, and most recently for Ben van Berkel and Caroline Bos with UNStudio in Amsterdam.

Green Buildings: Design, analysis, evaluation and education

The combination of extreme weather events due to climate change affects the outdoor environmental conditions. Buildings are the interface between the outdoor environment and the indoor environment that has to be maintained within comfortable range for users.

The design and construction of green buildings has the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other negative environmental impacts. However, the performance of buildings largely depends on the scientific principles on which they are designed and new buildings are now being designed with climate in mind. The practice of designing green buildings presupposes environmental responsibility and resource efficiency over the lifetime of the building. However, the effect of climate change is hardly factored in, hence, in the long run the buildings that were initially designated as green actually fail much sooner especially with increasing extreme weather events.

This session calls for papers that review/ discusses the scholarship of teaching/ designing green buildings/ green certification, low-carbon design and construction; simulation/modeling processes as adaptation strategy to address climate change events/ factors. This could be through questions such as what is the contribution of green buildings to adaptation of the built environment among others? We would like to hear from educators how they teach environmental stewardship to their students. Dr John Odhiambo Onyango is a faculty member at the School of architecture, having joined from Queens University Belfast in August 2011 as an assistant professor. He was born in Nairobi Kenya in a family of 24 children, most of who have managed to attend university. He is a minority not only within the profession, but also within the university. He holds a doctorate from the University of Glasgow (viva 2011), UK; a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Notre Dame (1999); a Certificate in Professional Practice and Management in Architecture, (RIBA III) at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London (1998), and a Bachelor of Architecture honors degree from the University of Nairobi (1992), Kenya.

His research work primarily focuses on Sustainability both at the building and urban design levels. His work falls within two areas: adaptation as a response to effects of climate change on society; and the link between energy efficiency, indoors and outdoors comfort and sustainability in urban areas. John has unique training in architecture and research methodology associated with the built environment having completed his Bachelor of Architecture degree from University of Nairobi; Master of Architecture degree at the University of Notre Dame in USA and PhD in Architecture from the University of Glasgow. He has a good mix of international experience in architectural professional practice and academia.

John is an experienced PI having been awarded grants as PI and CoPI such as: the $240,744 and from the Barr Foundation and the $150,000 Kellogg Foundation to work on a project titled “Haiti: Developing Sustainable Traditions & Innovations in Architecture and Urbanism for the Region, Towns and the Rural Villages of Akayè (Arcahaie). Learning from the Past. Forging the Future. Empowering the Population”. He was awarded an Overseas Research Student Award Scheme, (ORSAS) for his doctoral studies (Project value $115,700, stipend, fees and research activities). He was the PI for a short study on “Building performance evaluation: The case of McClay Library” while working at Queens University Belfast (Project value $3,200) and the PI for a project entitled “The relative merits of the Charrette process to future Community Engagement in Scotland: The case of Tornagrain Settlement in the Highlands” for Turnberry Consultants on behalf of Moray Estate Development Company and Scottish Executive (Project value $16,000).

In the last 12 months John has submitted as PI and as CoPI 5 grant applications: $297,000 on “Biomimetic Of Greening Through Resource Use Enhancement Using Epidemiological Neural System (BIO-GREENS)” to the National Science Foundation, NSF; $803,170 on “The influence of the physical environment and living arrangements on mobility and independence of the oldest old” to the National Institute for Health, NIH; $149,000 on “Environmental determinants that support comfort for older people” to the Alzheimer’s Association; $2,233,673 “MRI: Development of a Mobile Structural Testing and Education Module (M-STEM)” to the National Science Foundation grant under the Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI) Program, CoPI on $12,000,000 “SRN Sustainable adaptation of the built environment in urbanized coastal” to the National Science Foundation, NSF and will addition be submitting two grant application of $1,600,000 as CoPI on “Towards A Flexible Decision Making Framework for Sustainable and Climate Change-Responsive Adaption Planning at Neighborhood and Building level” to be submitted in October 2015 to the National Science Foundation grant under “Coastal SEES, Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability” Program.

John continues to publish work on user awareness and energy conservation measures, the potential of recovering waste energy from everyday activities such as cooking and laundry work; passive ground cooling/ heating systems as mean to reduce energy use among others. John is a founding member of the Zero Energy Mass Customization Network (ZEMCH) whose aims are: the establishment of an intellectual forum of interactive discussion on design, production and marketing issues surrounding the delivery of low to zero energy/CO2 emission mass- customizable homes being built in developed and developing countries, (http://www.zemch.org/). It currently consists of 18 academic institutions and housing bodies from Americas, Asia and Europe.

1 John’s work is well respected nationally and internationally as seen by the request to review papers for Journal of Facilities Management; International Journal of Green Energy; International Journal of Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management; Journal of Green Buildings; Journal of Open House International; International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education; International Journal of Sustainability; Journal of Energy & Buildings among others. He is a reviewer for the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program, and the Alzheimer's Association research grants. In addition he has successfully hosted an International conference at the University of Miami in 2013 that brought over 32 international experts on Zero-Energy from around the globe. John was also nominated as the Co-Chair of the Scientific Committee for the 2014 ZEMCH International Conference Londrina, Brazil. He has been a jury on an International Architectural Design Competition for 2014 African Union Assembly Meeting Conference Center, Gabon.

John has leadership skills and experience: he is currently the Director of Master of Science in Architecture and is responsible for scholarship and teaching budgets for the five programs within the cluster. He also sits on the School of Architecture Executive Committee that discusses and decides on policies and budgets of the school. He was on the search committee for the Dean of School of Architecture in 2013-14; has led curriculum review committees. He has held position of a Vice-President and senior architect, in different organization, positions that required leadership in professional activities and control of construction budgets.

John has over 11 years experience as a full time teaching faculty, a job he does very well judging by successes and student feedback. He understands and applies the latest teaching methods in his work such as blended/ hybrid styles of teaching. He is extremely patient with students and very passionate about his work striving to ensure students get the right scaffolding for their success.

Even though the School of Architecture at the University of Miami does not have a doctoral program, John has succeeded in that he currently an advisor and co-advisor to 4 doctoral students at the School of Engineering at the University of Miami. In addition he has developed the Master of Science in Architecture that is research focused.

I know from experience that John is committed to collegial working practices with colleagues demonstrated by his activities such as collaborative grant submissions, publications; offering seminars/ lectures to colleagues to boost skills and support their classroom teaching; attending design studio reviews of colleagues, leading discussions on student evaluation issues during faculty meetings in addition to attending seminars that were offered on Faculty Learning Community at UM. His extensive international network and experience both in professional practice and academia further demonstrates his collegial working practices and his commitment to being an academic citizen.

2 ______1 • May 5th 2015

PERSONAL • Name: John Odhiambo Onyango • Home Phone: 786-348-0762 • Home Address: 8101 SW 72nd Ave., Apartment #407W Miami, FL 33143 • Contact Information: School of Architecture, Building 49, Room 323 University of Miami, 1223 Dickinson Dr. Coral Gables, FL 33146 +1 (305) 284-5187 +1(305) 284-3731 E-Mail: [email protected] Website: http://arc.miami.edu/people/faculty/john-onyango • Current Academic Rank: Assistant Professor • Primary Department: Architecture • Secondary or Joint Appointment: None • Citizenship: Kenya • Visa Type: H-1B

HIGHER EDUCATION • Ph.D. University of Glasgow, 2013, (Architecture) Dissertation: BECOMING PLACE: Analysis of impacts of urban laboratories on places making in western tradition of urban design. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Glasgow, 2011, 430pp. M.Arch. University of Notre Dame, 1999 (Architecture); Certificate in Professional Practice and Management in Architecture, (RIBA III) University College London, 1998 (Architecture registration examinations, United Kingdom) Prince of Wales Institute of Architecture, (London), 1995-1996 (Architecture), did not complete, opted to transfer to University of Notre Dame (USA) B.Arch. University of Nairobi, 1992 (Architecture) CEC University of Idaho, Integrated Design Lab 2013;(EnergyPlus and Radiance Training) Certificate University of Miami, 2013; (Advanced Spanish) Certificate University of Miami, 2012; (Level 2 Spanish) Certificate Universidad de Costa Rica, 2004 (Level 2 Spanish)

• Non-Institutional: None

• Licensed Architect UK [ARB 064536B], since 1998 and Kenya, [1229], since 1994

EXPERIENCE AND EMPLOYMENT • Academic Assistant Professor, University of Miami; USA, 2011- Lecturer, Queens University Belfast, UK, 2008 - 2011 PhD Researcher/ Teaching Assistant, Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow School of Art, UK, 2006 - 2011

______2 Lecturer, United Arab Emirates University; 2002 - 2006

• Non-Academic Senior Architect, Renfrewshire Council, UK; summer 2007; (Part-time ) 2007 - 2008 Vice President and Project Manager, Nile Inc. Environmental and Construction, Jonesboro, GA, USA, 2001 - 2002 CAD Architect/ Project Manager, Yong Pak & Associates; Atlanta GA, USA, 2000 - 2001 CAD Architect, Niles Bolton Associates, Atlanta, GA, USA, 1999 – 2000 Michael Blash Architects, Ketchum, Idaho, USA, Summer and Winter 1998 CAD Architect, Julian Bicknell and Associates, London; UK, 1996 - 1997 Architect, Architerion Architects & Interior Designers, Nairobi, Kenya, 1994 - 1995 Architect, Symbion International Architects & Interior Designers, Nairobi, Kenya, 1992 – 1994. Triad Architects Ltd, Nairobi, Kenya, Summer 1990 Shelter Systems International Architects & Project Managers, Nairobi, Kenya, Summer 1989 Jami-Trident Architects, Nairobi Kenya, Summer 1987, 1988 • Military N/A PUBLICATIONS • Books and Monographs published: (2 edited e-book since 2011) 1. Hirota, E., H.; Formoso, C., T. & Onyango, J. (Eds.) “Mass Customization and Sustainability in Housing” [digital book], Londrina, PR, Brazil: ZEMCH Network; (2014); 334 pp.: ill. color; ePUB ISBN 978-0-9910608-1-8 doi: http://www.zemch.org/literary_references

2. Onyango, J.; Noguchi, H. & Firley, E. (Eds.) “Visibility of Zero-Energy Buildings” e-Proceedings of the ZEMCH2013 International Conference, Miami: ZEMCH Network; (2013); 267 pp. ISBN: 978- 0-9910608-0-1; doi: http://www.zemch.org/literary_references

• Juried or refereed journal articles and exhibitions: (5 articles, through 10/2014)

1. Onyango, J.; & Ciaran, R. “Study of user awareness to energy conservation measures in non- domestic buildings in Ireland” Journal of Innovative Energy Policy, Vol. (3) 112, (2014) http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2090-5009.1000112

2. Onyango, J. McGeough, C., & Obonyo, E., O. “Waste to Worth: Evaluation of the potential of waste heat recovery technology, within the Commercial Kitchen Environment in Northern Ireland” Journal of Green Building, Vol. 7(4), (2012); pp. 62-69

3. Onyango, J. “Simulation of passive ground-cooling system for a room in hot humid climate” WIT Transactions on Ecology and The Environment, Vol. 160, (2012); pp. 257-267

4. Hadjri, K and Onyango, J. “Dubai Revisited: Are new planned communities more sustainable?” In ICE Journal on Sustainable Urban Design and Planning, Vol. 165(1); (2012); pp.1-11 (the journal is double blind peer reviewed by six person)

5. Onyango, J., & Noguchi, M. “Changing attitudes of Community through the Design Charrette process”; Neighbourhood-The International Journal of Neighbourhood Renewal, Vol. 1(3) (May 2009); pp.19-30.

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Other works, publications and abstracts: • Chapters in edited books (10 chapters, through 11/2014) 1. Onyango, J.; Gang, W. & Brenna, J. “The effect of LEED certified residential buildings on household finances in Florida? ” In Onyango, J.; Noguchi, H. & Firley, E. (Eds.) “Visibility of Zero- Energy Buildings” e-Proceedings of the ZEMCH2013 International Conference, Miami: ZEMCH Network; (2013); pp. 147-153. ISBN: 978-0-9910608-0-1. (chapter contribution)

2. Onyango, J.; Gang, W. & Benjamin, B. “Study of Design Studio Occupancy and Energy Consumption: University of Miami ” In Onyango, J.; Noguchi, H. & Firley, E. (Eds.) “Visibility of Zero-Energy Buildings” e-Proceedings of the ZEMCH2013 International Conference, Miami: ZEMCH Network; (2013); pp. 172-182. ISBN: 978-0-9910608-0-1. (chapter contribution)

3. Onyango, J.; Gang, W. & Xuwen, X. “Climate change adaptive response retrofit strategy for buildings in hot humid-climates ” In Onyango, J.; Noguchi, H. & Firley, E. (Eds.) “Visibility of Zero-Energy Buildings” e-Proceedings of the ZEMCH2013 International Conference, Miami: ZEMCH Network; (2013); pp. 110-123. ISBN: 978-0-9910608-0-1. (chapter contribution)

4. Onyango, J.; Gang, W. & Elena, R. “Analysis of energy use, indoor environmental comfort in three elementary schools in Miami ” In Onyango, J.; Noguchi, H. & Firley, E. (Eds.) “Visibility of Zero- Energy Buildings” e-Proceedings of the ZEMCH2013 International Conference, Miami: ZEMCH Network; (2013); pp. 182-. ISBN: 978-0-9910608-0-1. (chapter contribution)

5. Onyango, J.;. & Tafera, H. “Examination of the effect of living walls on energy and indoor environment in hot humid climate ” In Onyango, J.; Noguchi, H. & Firley, E. (Eds.) “Visibility of Zero-Energy Buildings” e-Proceedings of the ZEMCH2013 International Conference, Miami: ZEMCH Network; (2013); pp. 203-208. ISBN: 978-0-9910608-0-1. (chapter contribution)

6. Onyango, J.;. Brillhart, J.; Brillhart, M. & Stout, J. “Comparison between simulated and measured energy and indoor environment of a modern building in hot humid climate ” In Onyango, J.; Noguchi, H. & Firley, E. (Eds.) “Visibility of Zero-Energy Buildings” e-Proceedings of the ZEMCH2013 International Conference, Miami: ZEMCH Network; (2013); pp. 190-. ISBN: 978-0- 9910608-0-1. (chapter contribution)

7. Onyango, J. & Obonyo, E. A. “Does an urban design laboratory process contribute to construction of assets that responds to social needs?” In Kajewski, S.; Manley, K. & Hampson, K. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 19th International CIB World Building Congress, Brisbane: Queensland University of Technology; (2013); pp. 409-421. ISBN: 978-0-9875542-1-5. (chapter contribution)

8. Obonyo, E. A. Wu, W. & Onyango, J. “Sea Level Rise and Smart Historic Coastal Communities: Lessons from Savannah, GA and St. Augustine, FL”. In Kajewski, S.; Manley, K. & Hampson, K. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 19th International CIB World Building Congress, Brisbane: Queensland University of Technology; (2013); pp. 438-449. ISBN: 978-0-9875542-1-5(chapter contribution)

9. Onyango, J. “Simulation of passive ground-cooling system for a room in hot humid climate,” In Design and Nature IV: Comparing Design in Nature with Science and Engineering,” ed. Hernandez, S. and Brebbia, C., A., Ashurst Lodge, Ashurst, Southampton; Boston, MA: WIT Press; (2012); pp. 257-267 (chapter contribution)

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10. Onyango, J. & Hadjri, K. “The impact of the design Charrette in the process of creation of sustainable Community: The case of Tornagrain”. In Sustainability in Practice From Local to Global: Making a Difference, ed. Corrigan, N., Sayce, S., & Taylor, R.; Kingston Upon Thames: Kingston University Press, (2009); pp.131-142, (chapter contribution).

Peer reviewed conference presentations: (14 papers, through 2010-10/2013)

1. Onyango, J.; Gang, W. & Brenna, J. “The effect of LEED certified residential buildings on household finances in Florida? ” presented at the ZEMCH2013 International Conference, 30th October -1st November, 2013, Coral Gable, FL, USA (2013)

2. Onyango, J.; Gang, W. & Benjamin, B. “Study of Design Studio Occupancy and Energy Consumption: University of Miami ” presented at the ZEMCH2013 International Conference, 30th October -1st November, 2013, Coral Gable, FL, USA (2013)

3. Onyango, J.; Gang, W. & Xuwen, X. “Climate change adaptive response retrofit strategy for buildings in hot humid-climates ” presented at the ZEMCH2013 International Conference, 30th October -1st November, 2013, Coral Gable, FL, USA (2013)

4. Onyango, J.; Gang, W. & Elena, R. “Analysis of energy use, indoor environmental comfort in three elementary schools in Miami ” presented at the ZEMCH2013 International Conference, 30th October -1st November, 2013, Coral Gable, FL, USA (2013)

5. Onyango, J.;. & Tafera, H. “Examination of the effect of living walls on energy and indoor environment in hot humid climate ” presented at the ZEMCH2013 International Conference, 30th October -1st November, 2013, Coral Gable, FL, USA (2013)

6. Onyango, J.;. Brillhart, J.; Brillhart, M. & Stout, J. “Comparison between simulated and measured energy and indoor environment of a modern building in hot humid climate ” presented at the ZEMCH2013 International Conference, 30th October -1st November, 2013, Coral Gable, FL, USA (2013)

7. Onyango, J. & Obonyo, E. A. “Does an urban design laboratory process contribute to construction of assets that responds to social needs? ” presented at the CIB World Building Congress 2013: Built Environment Research Focused on Social Outcomes, 5-9th May 2013, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. (2013),

8. Obonyo, E. A.; Wu, W. & Onyango, J. “Sea Level Rise and Smart Historic Coastal Communities: Lessons from Savannah, GA and St. Augustine, FL” presented at the CIB World Building Congress 2013: Built Environment Research Focused on Social Outcomes, 5-9th May 2013, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. (2013)

9. Onyango, J. “The Effectiveness of ground-coupled cooling system in Hot Humid Climate” presented at the ZEMCH 12 International Conference; August, 20-24th 2012 in Glasgow, Scotland; (2012) ISBN: 978-0-9574189-0-5

______5 10. Onyango, J. “Simulation of passive ground-cooling system for a room in hot humid climate” presented at the Sixth International Conference on Relating Design in Nature with Science and Engineering, June 11-13th 2012 in A Coruna, Spain. (http://www.wessex.ac.uk/12- conferences/designandnature-2012.html); (2012)

11. Onyango, J.; Bingying, L. & Meng, X. “A comparative study of the how small-medium size enterprises (SMEs) in China and UK establish and maintain supply chain management relationship” presented at the Third International Conference on Construction in developing Countries, July 4-6th 2012 in Bangkok, Thailand. (http://www.iccidc.ecu.edu/index.html); (2012)

12. Onyango, J.; McGeough, C. & Hadjri, K. “Waste to Worth: Evaluation of the potential of waste heat recovery technology, within the Commercial Kitchen Environment in Northern Ireland” presented at the Third International Conference on Construction in developing Countries, July 4-6th 2012 in Bangkok, Thailand. (http://www.iccidc.ecu.edu/index.html); (2012)

13. Onyango, J.; Agrawal, A. & Qin, M. “Building performance evaluation: The case of McClay Library”, paper presented at the 4th International Conference on Built Environment in Developing Countries, (ICBEDC) 1st -2nd December 2010, Penang, Malaysia; (2010)

14. Onyango, J.; Barr, E. & Noguchi, M. “A Charrette experience in collating the Scottish industry’s response to Canadian low Energy Affordable Housing through housing design”, paper presented at the Renewable Energy 2010 International Conference, 30th June -2nd July, Yokohama, Japan; (2010)

Invited Presentations/ seminars:

1. Onyango, J. “Climate change adaptation that support comfort of older people in care home environments” presented at the School of Architecture, University of Queensland, 14th February 2015, St Lucie, Brisbane, Australia (2015)

2. Onyango, J. “Climate change and the Built Environment: Designing with nature as adaptive strategy against impacts of heat waves” presented at the School of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design, Bilkent University, 22nd May 2014, Bilkent, Ankara (2014)

3. Onyango, J. “A Charrette Experince in Collating the Scottish Construction Industry’s Response to Canadian Low Energy Affordable Housing Design Strategies” presented at the School of Architecture, University of Miami, 2012, Coral Gables, Miami (2012)

• Other works In Review for publication:

Papers in Review (4 papers) 1. Onyango, J., Agrawal, A. & Qin, M. (forthcoming). “Building performance evaluation: The case of McClay Library”, In Facilities, Vol. (A) B; (In Review)

2. Onyango, J.; & Hadjri, K. (forthcoming). “The Innovative adaptive Social and Cultural Life in the City Centre: The study of Nairobi," Enquiry, Vol. (A) B; (In Review)

______6 3. Onyango, J., Barr, E. & Noguchi, M. (forthcoming) “A Charrette experience in collating the Scottish industry’s response to Canadian low Energy Affordable Housing through housing design”, International Journal of Building and Environment, Vol. (A) B; (In Review)

4. Onyango, J.; Li, B. & Meng, X. (forthcoming) “A comparative study of the how small-medium size enterprises (SMEs) in China and UK establish and maintain supply chain management relationship” Journal of Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management”, Vol. (A) B; (In Review)

In progress (5 papers, and book in 2013-)

1. Onyango, J. & Al-Thobaiti, M. (forthcoming) “The Effect Of Dynamic Responsive Blinds On Energy And Indoor Enviroment In Hot-Humid Climate” to be presented at the International Conference on Environment and Architecture, 19-20th May Budva, Montenegro

2. Onyango, J. O. (forthcoming). Urban Design Laboratories: Methodologies and practices in USA and Europe, Intellect: Bristol (UK). Manuscript being edited and updated

3. Obonyo, E. A. & Onyango, J. (forthcoming) “Integrating Energy Efficiency with Functional Resilience for Climate Change-Responsiveness: A Case Study Assessment of Earthen Masonry Residential Buildings” Journal of Sustainability, Vol. A(B)

4. Onyango, J.; (forthcoming) “The effect of climate change on comfort levels of older people in nursing homes in Florida ” Journal of Sustainability, Vol. A(B)

5. Onyango, J.; Gang, W. & Elena, R. (forthcoming) “Analysis of energy use, indoor environmental comfort in three elementary schools in Miami ” Journal of Sustainability, Vol. A(B)

6. Onyango, J.;. & Tafera, H. (forthcoming) “Examination of the effect of living walls on energy and indoor environment in hot humid climate ” Journal of Sustainability, Vol. A(B)

7. Onyango, J.;. Brillhart, J.; Brillhart, M. & Stout, J. (forthcoming) “Comparison between simulated and measured energy and indoor environment of a modern building in hot humid climate ” Journal of Sustainability, Vol. A(B)

• PROFESSIONAL Funded Research (4 since 2011-) 1. Chao, S. (PI); Correa, J. (CoPI); Onyango, J. (CoPI); Mont, M. (CoPI); Montero, A. (CoPI); & Frett, S (CoPI). 2013, “Haiti: Developing Sustainable Traditions & Innovations in Architecture and Urbanism for the Region, Towns and the Rural Villages of Akayè (Arcahaie). Learning from the Past. Forging the Future. Empowering the Population” Funded by Barr Foundation jointly with the WK Kellogg Foundation. June 2013-November 2014. Project Value: $240,744 and $150,000 respectively

2. Onyango, J. (PI) 2012-13, “Book and Journal Publications Grant”, Provost Research Award, University of Miami, Provost’s Office. Project Value $10,500

______7 3. Onyango, J. (PI) 2012, “Sandpit on ageing and comfort”, Scientist & Engineers Expanding Diversity & Success, SEEDS “You Choose” grant, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the University of Miami, Provost’s Office. Project Value $2,680

4. Onyango, J. (PI) 2011, “Application of ICT in improvement of the teaching of Building Technology Courses”, Faculty Learning Community on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Literacy, FLC grant from the Executive Office of the Vice Provost, University of Miami, Project Value $1,500

5. Onyango, J. (PI) 2006-2011, “BECOMING PLACE: Analysis of impacts of urban laboratories on places making in western tradition of urban design,” Overseas Research Student Award Scheme, (ORSAS) May 2006-submitted March 2011, passed viva July 2011. Project value $115,700 (stipend, fees and research activities).

6. Onyango, J. (PI), Agrawal, A. (CI) & Qin, M. (CI) 2010. “Building performance evaluation: The case of McClay Library”, Project value $3,200.

7. Onyango, J (PI) & Mackie, D. (CoPI) 2006-2007, “The relative merits of the Charrette process to future Community Engagement in Scotland: The case of Tornagrain Settlement in the Highlands”, Consultancy for Turnberry Consultants on behalf of Moray Estate Development Company and Scottish Executive. In progress since September 2006, completed in January 2007. Project value $16,000.

8. Khiati S. (PI) & Onyango, J. (CI) 2006-2007. “Malls vs. Suqs: The future of the UAE City Centres; the Case of Al-Ain UAE, using Space Syntax” University Research funding award, completed in February 2007. Statistical analysis and literature review. Project value $5,440.

9. Haggag, M. (PI), Hadjri, K. (PI) & Onyango, J. (Co.PI) 2002-2003, “The Planning and Transformation of Urban Residential Patterns: The Case of Al-Ain, UAE” University research funding award. Completed in January 2003. I did the literature review and statistical analysis of data. Project value $5,440.

Submitted (10 since 2013-) 1. Onyango, J. (PI); Park, J (Co.PI) and Yi, L. (CoPI) [all University of Miami] “Biomimetics Of Greening Through Resource Use Enhancement Using Epidemiological Neural System (BIO- GREENS)” submitted to the National Science Foundation grants under “Environmental Sustainability” Submitted 5th November, 2014. Project Bid Value $ 296,868

2. Onyango, J. (PI) [University of Miami]; Yi, L. (CoPI); [University of Miami]; & Hadjri, K. (CoPI), [University of Central Lancashire, UK] “Environmental determinants that support comfort for older people” to the Alzheimer’s Association, Submitted 30th October, 2014, Project Bid Value $ 149,700

3. Nanni, A. (PI), Langer-Osuna, J., M.; (CoPI); Ghahremaninezhad-M, A. (CoPI); Qingda, Y. (CoPI); Rahmani, A., R. (CoPI); Mei-Ling, S. (CoPI); D.; Secada, W., G. (CoPI); Onyango, J. (CoPI) [University of Miami]; Xiao-Ling, Z; [Monash University, Australia]; Tan, K., H. [National University of Singapore, Singapore]; Bertolini, L. [Polytechnic of Milan]; Lopez-

______8 Casanova, B. [Universidad des las Américas Puebla, Mexico]; Gehlen, C. [Technical University of Munich, Germany]; Vilega-Cabredo, L. [University of Cantabria, Spain]; Alexander, A. [University of Cape Town, South Africa]; Kim, J. J. [Yonsei University, South Korea] “Sustainable concrete without chlorides limits” submitted to the National Science Foundation grants under “Partnerships for International Research and Education, PIRE” Submitted 20th October, 2014. Project Bid Value $4,825,000

4. Onyango, J. (PI) 2015-17, “Book and Journal Publications Grant”, Provost Research Award, University of Miami, Provost’s Office. Submitted 6th October, 2014 Project Value $10,500

5. Haus, B. (PI); Diaz, S. (CoPI); Solo-Gabriele, H., M. (CoPI); Kirtman, B. (CoPI); Letson, D. (CoPI); Nanni, A. (CoPI); Shuyi, S. C. (CoPI); Tsinoremas, N., F. (CoPI); Broad K. (CoPI); Avissar, R. (CoPI); Graber, H. (CoPI); Wdowinski, S. (CoPI); Onyango, J. (CoPI); Hector, D. (CoPI) & Romeiser, R. (CoPI) [University of Miami]; Brody, S. (CoPI) [Texas A&M University- Galveston]; Dawson, C. (CoPI) [University of Texas] “Engineering Research Center for Hurricane-Resilient Community Systems through Innovative Technologies, Improved Decision-Making, and Engineering Education (CHReCS)” submitted to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST in September 12th 2014 Project Bid Value $2,100,000

6. Clinton, A. (PI); Guo, Q. (CoPI); Kopp, R. (CoPI); Mayer, H. (CoPI); Noland, B. (CoPI); [Rutgers]; Senick, J. (CoPI); Greenberg, M. (CoPI); Robock, A. (CoPI); McDermott, M. (CoPI); Mitchell, J. (CoPI); Herb, J. (CoPI); Broccoli, T. (CoPI); Hobbs, B. (CoPI) [John Hopkins]; Nelson, M. (CoPI) [University of New Orleans]; Kouky, C. (CoPI) [Resources for the Future]; Wener, R. (CoPI); Ozbay, K. (CoPI) [NYU]; Wakeman, T. (CoPI) [Stephens]; Lin, N. (CoPI); Oppenheimer, M. (CoPI) [Princeton]; Plater-Zyberk, E. (CoPI); Onyango, J. (CoPI) [University of Miami]; Considine, C. (CoPI) [Old Dominion University]; Colten, C. E. (CoPI) [Louisiana State University]; Tarr, J. (CoPI) [CMU]; Sample, L. (CoPI) [Colorado State University]; Strauss, B. [Climate Central]; Li, M. [Maryland]; Emanuel, K. [MIT]; Clark, K. (CoPI); Nkwanta, A. (CoPI) [Morgan]; “Network on how the twin influences of environmental factors (sea level rise, storms, subsidence) and human factors (technological change, demographic change, new economic rationales for cities) affect trajectories of coastal urbanization.” submitted to NSF under Sustainability Research Network solicitation (NSF 14-534) on urban sustainability Program. I am the PI for University of Miami. Total Bid amount: $12,233,673, submitted April 29th 2014

7. Nanni, A. (PI), Langer-Osuna, J., M.; (CoPI); Ghahremaninezhad-M, A. (CoPI); Qingda, Y. (CoPI); Rahmani, A., R. (CoPI); Mei-Ling, S. (CoPI); D.; Secada, W., G. (CoPI); Onyango, J. (CoPI) “MRI: Development of a Mobile Structural Testing and Education Module (M-STEM)” to be submitted to the National Science Foundation grants as under the Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI) Program. Full proposal submitted January 23, 2014 Project Bid Value $2,233,673 (Received feedback to that were addressed and resubmitting in January 2015 window)

______9 8. Onyango, J. (PI) “Biomimetics Of Greening Through Resource Use Enhancement Using Epidemiological Neural System (BIO-GREENS)” submitted to the National Science Foundation grants under “The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program”, Submitted 23rd July 2013. Project Bid Value $636,892

9. Onyango, J. (PI) [University of Miami]; Firley, E. [University of Miami]; (CoPI); Hadjri, K. (CoPI) [University of Central Lancashire, UK] & Dooris, M. (CoPI) [University of Central Lancashire, UK]. “The influence of the physical environment and living arrangements on mobility and independence of the oldest old” to the National Institute for Health, NIH, Submitted June 5th 2013, Project Bid Value $ 803,170.

10. Onyango, J. (PI) [University of Miami]; Lombard, J. (CoPI); [University of Miami]; Hadjri, K. (CoPI), [University of Central Lancashire, UK] & Noguchi, M. (CoPI), [Glasgow School of Art, University of Glasgow, UK]. “Environmental determinants that support comfort for older people” to the Alzheimer’s Association, Letter of intent accepted February 7th 2013, Submitted April 1st 2013, Project Bid Value $ 111,510

In progress/ Pending (3 in next 8 months)

1. Chao, S. (PI); Onyango, J. (CoPI); and Park, J (Co.PI) [all University of Miami] “The Evolving Role of Academia in Building Community Resiliency” to be submitted to the Oak Hill Foundation grants under Affordable Housing Education Grant Proposal Submission 6th April, 2015. Project Bid Value $120,000

2. Nanni, A. (PI), Langer-Osuna, J., M.; (CoPI); Ghahremaninezhad-M, A. (CoPI); Qingda, Y. (CoPI); Rahmani, A., R. (CoPI); Mei-Ling, S. (CoPI); D.; Secada, W., G. (CoPI); Onyango, J. (CoPI) “MRI: Development of a Mobile Structural Testing and Education Module (M-STEM)” to be submitted to the National Science Foundation grants as under the Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI) Program. Full proposal to be resubmitted January, 2015 window; Project Bid Value $2,233,673

3. Kibert, C. (PI, University of Florida); Onyango, J. (CoPI, University of Miami); Obonyo, E., O., (CoPI, University of Florida); & Wu, W. (CoPI, Fresno State University); “Towards A Flexible Decision Making Framework for Sustainable and Climate Change-Responsive Adaption Planning at Neighborhood and Building level” to be submitted for the National Science Foundation grants as under “Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI)” Program. Full proposal to be submitted March, 2015; Project Bid Value $360,000

4. Czaja, S., J. (PI) [University of Miami]; Onyango, J. (CoPI) [University of Miami]; Firley, E. [University of Miami]; (CoPI); Hadjri, K. (CoPI) [University of Central Lancashire, UK] & Dooris, M. (CoPI) [University of Central Lancashire, UK]. “The influence of the physical environment and living arrangements on mobility and independence of the oldest old” to the National Institute for Health, NIH.

______10 Project Bid Value $ 803,170 (under revision to be resubmitted in June 2015)

• Editorial Responsibilities Member Board of Editors: Journal of Innovative Energy Policies, (IEP) Reviewer, Journal of Facilities Management; Reviewer, International Journal of Green Energy; Reviewer, International Journal of Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management; Reviewer, Journal of Green Buildings; Reviewer, Journal of Building & Environment; Reviewer, Journal of Architectural Science Review; Reviewer, Journal Energy and Buildings; Reviewer, Journal of Open House International; Reviewer, International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education; Reviewer, International Journal of Sustainability; Associate Editor: Special Edition of The International Journal of Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability,

• Professional and Honorary Organizations Professional member of International Society to Advance Alzheimer's Research and Treatment (ISTAART)

Passed RIBA III exams (1998), registered as an architect in the UK and eligible for registration in all European Economic Community (EEC) member states, and all countries of the British Commonwealth (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc.) through reciprocity;

Great Britain Architects Registration Board (ARB) 064536B since 1998 - Registered architect in the United Kingdom, Kenya and eligible for registration through reciprocity in Tanzania, Uganda and all other East African Community member states since 1994 -

• Honours and Awards

Shortlisted for Stage 2 of the Brighton & Hove City Council’s New Homes for Neighborhoods RIBA Design Competitions April 2015 (submission July 17th 2015). The design competition is intended to set a development precedent, with the potential for further program rollout in the future. As a guide, the construction cost of each residential unit should be in the region of £150,000 or £1,700 per sq m. The competition presented an ideal opportunity for SME's generally, as well as practices based in the Brighton and Hove area, to showcase their design skills.

Nominated as one of the 5 finalists for the Polished Red Apple Award Faculty Member of the Year by the Association of Greek Letter Organizations (ALGO), University of Miami, 2015.

PhD Overseas Research Student Award Scheme, (ORSAS) Studentship (2007-2009) at the Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow School of Art, University of Glasgow

Placed in top 20 out of 300 entries in an international competition to design a 150,000 sq. ft laboratory building (NEW ENGLAND BIOLABS) with parking for 400 cars in Ipswich, Massachusetts, USA April, 2001 (I was ahead of large firms such as ARUPS)

______11

Green Homes for Chicago, design of row house that promotes the use of sustainable materials and environment, August 2000.

Fergusson Shermamian and Rattner award for the best graduate thesis project, University of Notre Dame, Indiana, USA, May 1999.

Bond-Montendinico Scholarship. Master of Architecture University of Notre Dame, Indiana, USA, August 1997- May 1999.

Kenya Government Scholarship. Bachelor of Architecture degree at the University of Nairobi, September 1986- June 1991.

Third prize in the World Habitat Day competition for the design of adaptable housing unit for the low income in Nairobi, Kenya, October 1991.

• Post-Doctoral Fellowships

• Other Professional Activities 1. Panelist Reviewer NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program- Directorate for Engineering, 2014-15 2. Conference Technical Co-Chair for the 2014 ZEMCH International Conference to be held in Londrina, Brazil, form 4th to 6th June 2014 http://www.paisagemetnografica.com.br/zemch.html

3. Conference Coordinator, for the 2013 ZEMCH International Conference held at University of Miami, October 30th to November 1st 2013 http://arc.miami.edu/ZEMCH2013/

4. Invited to blind peer review 3 papers for the 102nd ACCSA Annual Meeting “GLOBALIZING ARCHITECTURE: Flows and Disruptions”, to be held in April 10-12, 2014, Miami Beach, FL, USA

5. Invited to blind peer review 3 papers for the 2014 Construction Research Congress, to be held in May 19-21, 2014 at Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA

6. Invited to blind peer review 3 papers for the Third International Conference on Construction in developing Countries, ICCDC, held on July 4-6th 2012 in Bangkok, Thailand

7. Invited to jury an International Architectural Design Competition for 2014 African Union Assembly Meeting Conference Center, Gabon, by the Presidence de la Republique Gabonaise through Agence Nationale Des Grands Travaux, July 9th to 15th 2012, (I was the only academic out of the 7 members with diverse backgrounds from Gabon, USA, Serbia, and the United Kingdom).

8. Invited to become a member of the Zero-Energy Mass Custom Homes, Network, (ZEMCH) that aims to enhance industry-academia collaborations to tackle issues around the delivery of socially, economically and environmentally sustainable homes in developed and developing countries, (http://www.zemch.org/); currently consists of 18 academic institutions and housing bodies from Americas; Asia; and Europe.

______12 9. Invited to membership of Organizing Committee of ZEMCH 2012 International Conference; August, 20-24th 2012 in Glasgow, Scotland (one of 19 members who review all conference papers submitted) 10. Invited to blind peer review of 6 abstracts and papers submitted to the ZEMCH 12 Conference (http://www.zemch.org/conference2012/index.html)

11. Invited to blind peer review of 12 abstracts and papers submitted to the Architectural Humanities Research Association Conference: Peripheries 2011; 27-29 October 2011, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, (http://www.ahra-architecture.org/)

Creative Practices (since 1988) 1. 2015: Working on the Passive design of Cafeteria addition at Greater Miami Adventist Academy (GMAA). KJH Architects, Miami, FL. and Marrietta, GA. April 2015-ongoing, $350,000.

2. 2015: Working on design of Passive 2 bedroom residence for Ebenezer SDA Church. KJH Architects, Miami, FL. and Marrietta, GA. February 2015-ongoing, $120,000.

3. 2013: Parking layouts for Ebenezer SDA Church, Miami, FL. KJH Architects, Miami, FL. and Marrietta, GA. Complete Pro-Bono work

4. 2010: Design of 3-bedroom house in Northern Ireland. Completed £150,000.

5. 2008: Additions, modifications and upgrade to St. Peter’s Primary School, Paisley, Investments & Technical Services, Renfrewshire Council. I was the senior architect in charge of the project. Complete. £2.8 million

6. 2007-8: Additions, modifications and upgrade to Renfrew High School, Paisley, Investments & Technical Services, Renfrewshire Council. I was the senior architect on the project. Complete £4.0 million

7. 2007-8: Design of new 8-bedroom respite housing for young adults with Asperger’s Syndrome, Paisley, Investments & Technical Services, Renfrewshire Council. I was the senior Architect on the project. Complete £2.0 million.

8. 2008: Conceptual redevelopment of the Glasgow SDA Church property to include larger sanctuary and 4 rental flats.

9. 2008: Addition to Mr & Mrs Clifford Herman’s Residence, Hamilton, Scotland. Complete £25,000.

10. 2007: Schematic design of a 120 bed 5-star resort in Banjul, the Gambia.

11. 2006: Design of 1 bedroom courtyard housing with majlis in Al Ain, UAE. Complete $50,000.

12. 2002-3: Design and construction of 4-bedroom home for Ms Shemeka Bruton in Mebleton, GA, USA. $210,000.

13. Schematic Design for mixed-use development comprising 24 (1, 2 & 3 bedroom) apartments over a supermarket, Flat Shoals Road, Atlanta, GA.

______13 14. Schematic Design for addition and modification to a Credit Union (Bank) Branch on Metropolitan Parkways and Ralph Abbernathy Blvd, Atlanta, GA.

15. 2002: Addition to residence on Anjaco Road Atlanta. Complete. $110,000.

16. 2002: Addition, modification and construction to Residence on 1026 Drewry St, Atlanta, GA. Complete. $170,000

17. 2002: Addition to Mr. & Mrs. Smith Residence, Collier Dr. Atlanta, GA. Complete $40,000.

18. 2001-2: Design and Construction of 3-bedroom Residence with double garage, 3875 Bakers Ferry Road, Atlanta, GA. Complete. $175,000.

19. 2001-2: Addition and modification to residence in Morningside, Atlanta, GA. Complete $200,000

20. 2001: Design of 12,000 Sq. Ft. residence for Rodney Cook Senior, Hilton Head, SC. Complete. $1.8 million

21. 2001: Watercolour rendering for Peachtree Road Townhouses, Atlanta. Peter Block Architects.

22. 2000-1: Design of 25,000 sq. ft. Davis Residence in Atlanta, GA Yong Park Associates. Complete. $10.0 million

23. 2000-1: Renovation and addition to Harrison Residence of 12,000 sq. ft, Buckhead, Atlanta, GA. Yong Park Associates. Complete $7.5 million.

24. Design of The Reserve at Dexter Lake Drive, Cordova, TN (4 storey apartment buildings). Niles Bolton Associates, Atlanta, GA. Complete

25. 2000: Design of Hillside @ Lennox (64 units of mixture of 1, 2, 3 bedroom apartment) on 3275 Lennox Road, Atlanta, GA. Niles Bolton Associates. Complete

26. 2000: Design of Session Street Lofts for R.L. Dougherty & Associates comprising 80 units, 3 story apartments over parking garage, Marrietta, GA, Niles Bolton Associates. Complete.

27. 1999-2000: Design of 2500 Peachtree Road, Atlanta, GA. Niles Bolton Associates. Complete

28. 1999: Design of 15 (5 and 10 bedroom) Fraternity Student’s Housing, Mercer University, Macon, GA. Niles Bolton Associates. Complete.

29. 1999-2000. Design of Kensington Gardens (32 storey high end apartment) Peachtree Road, Atlanta, GA. Niles Bolton Associates. Stopped at detailed design.

30. 1996-7: Redcliffe Gardens- Design of 10 new 3 bedroom townhouses and conversion of old schoolhouse into 2 town houses. Julian Bicknell Associates, Cheswick, London, UK. Complete. £4.0 million

31. 1996-7: Remodeling of flat, Knightsbridge, London, UK. Julian Bicknell Associates. Complete. £150,000.

______14 32. 1997: Proposal for UK Ambassador’s Chancellery in Moscow, Jullian Bicknell Associates.

33. 1996. Remodeling of Hunterian Museum, Royal College of Surgeons London, UK. Julian Bicknell Associates. Complete.

34. 1996. Proposal for Bodium Castle, USA. Julian Bicknell Associates.

35. 1996. Knights' Castle, Kiso-Sansen National Park, Nagoya, Japan, Julian Bicknell Associates.

36. English Country Park, Rokko Mountain, Osaka, Japan, The refurbishment of a recreational park for Hanshin Railway Co. Julian Bicknell Associates in collaboration with Derek Lovejoy Partnership and Border Oak. Complete

37. 1996-7: Amamoto Dream Park, Takarazuka, Osaka, Japan. Garden exhibition and administration complex designed in collaboration with Derek Lovejoy Partnership and Border Oak Ltd.

38. 1996: Detailed Design of Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge-John Simpson Architects, London, UK. Complete.

39. 1995: Design of 1500 sq. ft. Cottage for Mr Peter Owora in Siaya, Kenya: PJ Practice, Nairobi Kenya. Complete

40. 1995: Development of 3 townhouses for Mr. Dan Kimoro on LR 209/10763 Nairobi, Kenya. PJ Practice, Nairobi, Kenya. Complete.

41. 1995: Addition and renovation to Existing 3-bedroom townhouse on LR209/227, Juja Road, Nairobi, Kenya. PJ Practice, Nairobi, Kenya. Complete.

42. 1995: Design of Karen House for Ms. Eunice Mlagui, PJ Practice, Nairobi, Kenya. Complete.

43. 1995: Design of 29,500 sq. ft. Kehancha House (mixed used development comprising 24 2- bedroom apartments over retail) for Hon. Eng. Peter Manga, Kehancha Kenya. Complete

44. 1995: Referbishmnet of Offices for GlaxoSmithKline Limited, Likoni Road Nairobi, Kenya. Architerion Architects & Interior Designers, Nairobi. Complete

45. 1995: Interior design for Belladona Pharmacy, Village Market Nairobi. Architerion Architects & Interior Designers, Nairobi. Complete

46. 1995. Interior design for Buttons & Bows, Village Market, Nairobi. Architerion Architects & Interior Designers, Nairobi. Complete

47. 1995: Interior Design for Candy shop, Village Market, Nairobi. Architerion Architects & Interior Designers, Nairobi. Complete

48. 1994-5: Interior Design for Toy World, Village Market, Nairobi. Architerion Architects & Interior Designers, Nairobi. Complete

______15 49. Interior Design of Book store, Village Market, Nairobi. Architerion Architects & Interior Designers, Nairobi. Complete

50. 1994-5: Design of 10,000 sq. ft. Residence in Runda, Nairobi. Architerion Architects & Interior Designers, Nairobi. Complete

51. 1994: Addition and refurbishment to residence in Kileleshwa, Nairobi Kenya. Architerion Architects & Interior Designers, Nairobi. Complete

52. 1994: Design of Arboville Apartment Complex on Arboretum Drive, Nairobi Kenya. Architerion Architects & Interior Designers, Nairobi. Complete

53. 1994: Design of 8 townhouses on Nyangumi Road, Nairobi, Kenya. Architerion Architects & Interior Designers, Nairobi. Complete.

54. 1994: Design of 2 Maisonette in Daraja Mbili, Kisii, Kenya. PJ Practice. Complete.

55. 1994: Scheme Design of new Sanctuary for Anglican Church of Kenya, Syongila-Kitui stage, Kibwezi - Kitui Rd, PJ Practice.

56. 1994: Scheme Design of new Boarding School for Anglican Church of Kenya, Syongila-Kitui stage, Kibwezi - Kitui Rd, PJ Practice.

57. 1994: Scheme Design of new Health Clinic Anglican Church of Kenya, Syongila-Kitui stage, Kibwezi - Kitui Rd, PJ Practice. Complete.

58. 1993-4: Design and construction of new Potting Sheds for National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi (British Overseas Development funded project), PJ Practice. Complete

59. 1993-4: Modification and upgrade to Sarova Hotel (New Stanley), Nairobi Kenya. Symbion International Architects and Interior Designers, Nairobi, Kenya. Complete

60. 1993-4: Upgrades to Nairobi Serana Hotel, Kenya. Symbion International Architects and Interior Designers, Nairobi, Kenya. Complete

61. 1993: Design of additions to Nairobi Hospital, Kenya. Mombasa, Kenya. Symbion International Architects and Interior Designers, Nairobi, Kenya. Complete.

62. Addition and modifications to House on LR94/130 Nairobi, PJ Practice. Complete.

63. Addition and modifications to Dr. Ayiemba’s Residence Buru Buru Phase V, Nairobi, PJ Practice. Complete.

64. 1992-4: Design of Ngorongoro Serana Lodge for TPS Group, Symbion International Architects and Interior Designers, Nairobi, Kenya. Complete. $12.1 Million

65. 1992-4: Design of Serana Manyara Lodge for TPS Group, Symbion International Architects and Interior Designers, Nairobi, Kenya. Complete. $8.4 Million

______16 66. 1992-4: Design of Kirawira Luxury Camps for TPS Group, Symbion International Architects and Interior Designers, Nairobi, Kenya. Complete. $5.3 Million

67. 1992-4: Design of Serana Central Serengeti Lodge for TPS Group, Symbion International Architects and Interior Designers, Nairobi, Kenya. Complete. $8.4 Million

68. 1992: Additions to Mater Hospital, Nairobi. Symbion International Architects and Interior Designers, Nairobi, Kenya. Complete. $1.2 Million

69. 1992: New Operating Theatre at Aga Khan Hospital Nairobi. Symbion International Architects and Interior Designers, Nairobi, Kenya. Complete.

70. 1992. Design of New Hotel in Diani Beach, Mombasa. Symbion International Architects and Interior Designers, Nairobi, Kenya. Complete.

71. 1992. Design of Barclays Bank Branch building, Webuye, Kenya. Symbion International Architects and Interior Designers, Nairobi, Kenya. Complete.

72. 1992: Deign of Barclays Bank Branch building, Karen, Kenya. Symbion International Architects and Interior Designers, Nairobi, Kenya. Complete.

73. 1992: Design of Barclays Bank Branch Building, Kisii, Kenya. Symbion International Architects and Interior Designers, Nairobi, Kenya. Complete.

74. 1992: Interior Design fit out to Barclays Bank, Hurlingham Branch. Symbion International Architects and Interior Designers, Nairobi, Kenya. Complete.

75. 1992: Interior design and refurbishment to Kenya Commercial Bank, Mombasa Branch, Kenya. Symbion International Architects and Interior Designers, Nairobi, Kenya. Complete.

76. 1992: Design of Changamwe Industial Estates (Export processing zone), Mombasa, Kenya. Symbion International Architects and Interior Designers, Nairobi, Kenya. Complete.

77. 1992: Design of Kwanjovu Industrial Estate. (Export processing zone), Mombasa, Kenya. Symbion International Architects and Interior Designers, Nairobi, Kenya. Complete.

78. 1992: Design of Nicholas Kiwi Factory, Limuru, Kenya. Symbion International Architects and Interior Designers, Nairobi, Kenya. Complete.

79. 1991: Design of 3-bedroom Cottage for Mr. & Mrs. Patrick Agutu, SIaya, Kenya. PJ Practice. Complete.

80. 1990: Design of Mpata Safari Lodge. Triad Architects & Edward Suzuki & Associates. Complete.

81. 1990: Design of Residence for Hon. Mr. Kibaki, Muthaiga, Kenya. Triad Architects Complete.

82. 1990. Design of Getrude’s Garden Flats, Muthaiga, Nairobi. Triad Architects Complete.

______17 83. 1989: Design of 8 storey mixed use development, Lagos Road Nairobi, Kenya. Shelter Systems Architects. Complete 84. 1987-8: Design of Public Market in Mudete, Kenya. Jami-Trident Architects. Complete

85. 1987-8: Design of Public Market in Chevakali, Kenya. Jami-Trident Architects. Complete

86. 1987-8: Design of Public Abattoir in Chevakali, Kenya. Jami-Trident Architects. Complete

87. 1987-8: Design of Public Abattoir in Wajir, Kenya. Jami-Trident Architects. Complete

Architectural Offices: a) KJH Architects, 3051 Milford Chase Marietta, GA 30008 Tel: +1 404-202-6223 and 8101 SW 72nd Ave, #407W Miami, FL 33143 Tel: +1 786-531-6939 Email: [email protected]

b) Investments and Technical Services, Renfrewshire Council, Cotton Street, Paisley, PA1 1WB, United Kingdom Tel: +44 300 300 0330

c) Nile Inc. Design, Construction & Environmental Services. 9434 S Main St #1900, Jonesboro, GA 30236 Tel: + 1 (770) 892-5327

d) Pak Heydt & Associates, LLC 600 Virginia Ave NE, Ste 200, Atlanta, GA Email: [email protected] and [email protected] T: +1 404.231.3195 F: +1 404. 231.3193

e) Niles Bolton Associates, 3060 Peachtree Road, suite 600 Atlanta, GA 30305. Tel: +1 404 365 3600/1

f) Julian Bicknell Associates The Annexe Studio 32a Larkfield Road Richmond-Upon-Thames Surrey, TW9 2PF Telephone 020-3274-1070

g) John Simpson Architects Limited

______18 29 Great James Street, Bloomsbury London WC1N 3ES Tel: +44 (0)20 7405 1285 E-mail: [email protected]

h) Architerion Architects and Interior Designs, Davard Hse Cedar Rd Off, Nairobi, Kenya Tel: +254 20 4441850

i) Symbion International Architects & Interior Designs, Symbion House Dagoretti Road Karen, Nairobi P.O Box 24002-00502. Kenya. Tel: 254-0202610691

j) PJ Practice Architects & Interior designers Nairobi, P. O. Box 74276-00200. Kenya

k) Triad Architects Kenya (Ltd) Triad House, 83 Muthaiga Road, P.O. Box 30725 00100 Nairobi Kenya. Tel: +254 20 4049651/4/5 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.triad.co.ke l) Shelter Systems Architects Atelier Complex, David Osieli Rd. P.O.Box: 48486-00100 Nairobi GPO

m) Jami-Triad Architects, P. O. Box 664-50300 MARGL Tel: +254. 72 235 9963 Email: [email protected]

TEACHING • Teaching Awards Received: Excellence in Teaching First Year Students, Queens University Belfast, 2010, First Year Team, School of Architecture Best Teacher Award, Department of Architecture, United Arab Emirates University, 2005

• Teaching: ARC230 Building Technology 1: Materials and Methods (University of Miami); ARC530 Building Technology 1: Materials and Methods (University of Miami) ARC306 Comprehensive Design Studio (University of Miami); ARC362 Building Technology 3: Environmental Building Systems (University of Miami); ARC503 Architectural Design Theory (University of Miami), co-taught ARC507 Architectural Design (University of Miami), co-taught

______19 ARC510 Upper level Studio: Low Energy Affordable Housing ARC562 Building Technology 3: Environmental Building Systems 2 (University of Miami), Technology and Environment 1 and 2; Design Studio 2 and 3, Computer Modelling of Built Environment (CAMBE); at Queens University Belfast, UK

• Thesis and Dissertation Advice and examination: 2015. PhD committee for Wei Tian, “Developing and applying the coupled simulation of indoor environment and HVAC system to improve building energy efficiency” University of Miami

2013. PhD committee for Guillermo Claure, “GFRP Reinforcement for Concrete Structures – Non- traditional Shapes”, University of Miami

2014. PhD examination committee for Dianna Arboleda, “Fabric Reinforced Cementitious Matrix (FRCM) Composites For Infrastructure Strengthening And Rehabilitation: Characterization Methods”, University of Miami (Completed)

2011. PhD committee for Esber Andiroglu, “Development of a Virtual Air / Water Flow Meter Using Fan / Pump Head and Motor Power”, University of Miami (completed June 19th 2015)

2011. External advisor PhD student at Queens University Belfast, Mulan Mu; “Development of SSPCM with improved fire resistance property and thermal performance”. (Completed)

Supervised 5 Master of Architecture, and 4 MSc theses in Sustainable Design (2010-2011) Queens University Belfast, UK § MSc thesis in Architecture and Sustainable design Al Thobaiti, M. (2013-14) “Dynamic and Adaptive Façade in Gulf Country” MSc. degree University of Miami,

Quero-Castro, A., Y. (2012-13) “MIAMI Freight Village: Gearing Up For An Efficient City”, M.Sc. degree University of Miami.

Ciaran, R.; (2010-11) “Investigation into the effectiveness of ‘sub metering’ with regards to reductions in energy use in Commercial Buildings in Belfast” MSc. Degree Queens University Belfast, UK, 2011

McGeough, C. (2010-11) “Design and Performance of commercial kitchens using heat recovery systems in Ireland” MSc. Degree Queens University Belfast, UK,

§ M.Arch. Theses in Architecture

Lorenzo, S. (2013-14) “Sustainable Eco resorts: A systematic Investigation of design of sustainable infrastructure and practices eco-resorts” M.Arch degree University of Miami

Quinn, P. (2010-11) “The potential effect of ash concrete on Zero Carbon Housing Design” M.Arch degree Queens University Belfast, UK

Puls, L. (2009-10) “Home for the Homeless” M.Arch degree, Queens University Belfast

______20 Chapman, O. (2009-10) “Contemporary Subterranean Communal Space”, M.Arch degree, Queens University Belfast,

Adamson, M. (2010-11) “Urban decay- an investigation into abandonment and desertion of buildings and cities” M.Arch degree, Queens University Belfast.

§ Summer Research in Architecture • Brazil Scientific Mobility Program Academic Training: Summer 2015:

Pedro-Delai, J.; (Summer 2015) "Using PCM as an Adaptive Retrofit Response To Climate Change In The Design Of Typical Residence In Hot-Humid Climate” Summer Internships University of Miami

De Sousa-Gonzaga, T.; (Summer 2015) "How mobile structures, high-technology involving sensors and sustainable systems can support a design of a high-tech mobile classroom” Summer Internships University of Miami

Medeiros-Netto, R.; (Summer 2015) "The design and performance of Innovative designed houses in hot-humid climate of South Florida.” Summer Internships University of Miami

Martins-Batista, S.; (Summer 2015) " Adaptive Retrofit Strategy For Buildings In Hot-Humid Climates due to future effects of Climate Change” Summer Internships University of Miami

Mara Da Cruz, G.; (Summer 2015) " Integrating the nature of living walls on energy and indoor environment in hot humid climate” Summer Internships University of Miami

SERVICE • University Committee and Administrative Responsibilities: Graduate Council Representative (alternate) School of Architecture, University of Miami. 2015- Director of Master of Science in Architecture, University of Miami. 2014- Recruitment and Enhancement Workgroup (School of Architecture), 2014- Community Engagement Workgroup (School of Architecture), 2014- Executive Committee member- Woodson Williams Marshall Association-University of Miami, 2014- Search Committee member for the Dean of the School of Architecture, 2013-14 Faculty Senate Student Affairs Committee University of Miami. 2013- Library committee, (School of Architecture), 2011- Computing committee, (School of Architecture), 2011- Curriculum development committee, (School of Architecture), 2011- Graduate applicant admissions committee, (School of Architecture), 2011- A fellow of The Faculty Learning Community, FLC, the main focus of the University of Miami’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), University of Miami, supported by the Provost’s Office.

• Community Activities: Pro-bono work: Preparation and submission of parking layout for Ebenezer Spanish Seventh-day Adventist Church 2013. Design of a passive 2-bedroom house for Ebenezer Spanish Seventh-day Adventist Church 2015. Design of cafeteria addition to the Greater Miami Adventist Academy (GMAA) 2015.

Rethinking 21st Century Architecture

Peter Papesch, AIA, Robert Koester, AIA LEED AP, and M. David Lee, FAIA

Three characteristics constitute the essence of architecture:

The Philosophy of architecture in the 21st Century The Education of architecture in the 21st Century The Practice of architecture in the 21st Century

The challenge is to address the integration/overlap of the contemporary philosophy, education and practice of sustainability, and the historical versions of philosophy, education and practice that have spirited works of architecture for centuries.

Sustainability, in fact, as a contemporary theme offers the opportunity to come full circle to many of the principles and understandings that comprise the foundations for the making of architecture—as a social, economic and environmental work. The challenge is to deﬁne an integrating framework by which all that architecture has to offer can be realized.

Sustainability is a broad topic that is playing out in the discourse of philosophical treatises (Hanover Principles, Talloires Declaration, AIA/UIA Declaration of Interdependence, Agenda 21, etc.), numerous academic disciplines (economics, political science, health science, etc.) and virtually every design profession (architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, interior architecture, building science, environmental engineering, etc.).

The sustainability concern plays to a new cross-critique of the philosophy, discipline and profession of architecture as socially, economically and environmentally isolated; the audience and collaborators involved in executing work comprise what some refer to as a “network culture”. This yields a disassociation of the discourse and evaluation of architecture from its root connection to place, people and economy, and challenges, fundamentally, the bases on which any given designer/practitioner exercises his/her expertise and skills.

Given the crises facing humanity worldwide, how might we best frame our understandings of design and the design process? What intellectual constructs should be used to shape our approach to the making of architecture? Design-for-sustainability is itself a call for a reassessment of the history of the philosophy, discipline, and practice underpinning all of environmental design including architecture, landscape architecture, and urban and regional planning, among others.

Our invitation to JE 70:2 contributors: What are your thoughts? Robert J. Koester, AIA LEED AP, Professor of Architecture has taught Design-for-Sustainability Studios, Sustainability Seminars, and Vital Signs Courses and co-taught the DaylectricTM Studio – focused on integrating daylighting and electrical lighting strategies in architectural design. He was honored in 2011 by the College of Architecture and Planning Alumni Association with the Charles M. Sappenfield Award of Excellence for “outstanding dedication, contribution and commitment to the education of the students of the College of Architecture and Planning.”

He is the Founding Director of the Center for Energy Research/Education/Service (CERES) providing interdisciplinary academic support focused on issues related to energy and resource use, alternatives and conservation. He serves as Founding Chair of the university-level Council on the Environment (COTE) a clearinghouse for campus-wide sustainability. He also serves as Founding Co-Chair of the Greening of the Campus Conference Series, the 9th of which was held in March of 2012 and featured the dedication of the university’s campus-wide geothermal district heating and cooling system. He is the university liaison to the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) and the Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating System (STARS).

For the last four years he has been involved in the piloting of a new methodology by which universities can qualify their carbon reductions for transaction in the voluntary carbon market. This work was funded by the Chevrolet Climate Reduction Initiative. This includes building design and campus-wide energy conservation and alternative energy technology implementation

In addition he is a Founding Member of the Board of Directors of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) and the Formal Education Committee of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

He has presented at international conferences in Austria, Canada, England, France, Germany, Ireland, and Japan, and at domestic conferences including the national meetings of AASHE, AIA, APPA, ACSA, ASES, SBIC, SCUP and USGBC.

For some five years he collaborated in offering FEMP workshops on “Design Strategies for Low- Energy, Sustainable, and Secure Buildings” throughout the country based on a curriculum model which he structured and more recently, and has provided consultation to the sustainability planning of the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis and the National Wildlife Federation Campus Ecology program.

Students working under his direction have achieved:

First Place and Honorable Mention in the 2010 Leading Edge Design Competition www.leadingedgecompetition.org/winners.htm

Communications Honor Award in the 2010 ASLA Student Awards Program for NativeSpec™ a custom seed specification tool for landscape architects to create seed mixes adapted to specific project criteria. http://www.asla.org/2010studentawards/172.html

First Place in the 2011 U.S. Green Building Council Multifamily Midrise Design Competition sponsored by Autodesk http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=2220

Peter Papesch, AIA

Peter Papesch has nearly 4 decades of experience as an educator of architecture. He started teaching at the Boston Architectural Center (now the Boston Architectural College) in 1973, taught studios as well as an introductory course in ArchiCAD, became faculty steering committee chair, then faculty representative to the board of directors, and eventually chair of the BAC board. In the various roles he has been a member of the education committee, the curriculum committee and a number of others in his ex-officio role as chair of the board or as thesis adviser to Masters of Architecture candidates.

For the past few years Papesch has served as chair or co-chair of the Boston Society of Architecture’s Sustainability Committee. The BSA-SEC’s main objective is to educate peers, associated professionals, and the public about the relevance of architecture to society by focusing on the profession’s ability to mitigate rather than aggravate climate change.

The following article in the Journal of Sustainability Education can serve as Papesch’s collaborative and editing experience with several co-authors: . He has been moderator and/or presenter on numerous AIA national conventions and the BSA’s annual ABX conference on topics covering Green BIM, Modular Building Systems (including one with Ryan Smith), lighting and health, the topic of fair compensation for architects, and systems thinking. In addition, he has collaborated with Robert Koester, AIA, LEED AP, on the 21st Century Architect’s Skill Set submissions to the National Architecture Accreditation Board (NAAB) during NAAB’s public comment period for the draft 2014 Conditions for Accreditation.

This diversity of experience, interests and writings is submitted in support of serving as co-editor of the JAE 70:2 Theme Proposal titled Rethinking 21st Century Architecture.

!1 Adjusting Foundations.

In 1995, twenty years ago, John Hejduk with Kim Shkapich, produced a book, entitled Adjusting Foundations.

In another book, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Victor Hugo, suggests that the Foundation of Architecture is the mythical Labyrinth; built by the mythical first architect, Daedalus. The Labyrinth was thought of as mapping a dance of “well taught feet.” Adjusting Foundations, suggests a more dynamic embodied foundation, like the labyrinth, whose myth is a metaphor for matter.

Hejduk’s drawings show walls and a roof as waves of water are represented both graphically and phenomenologically. Water, as one of five elements, possesses properties once thought of as removed from our ability to control it, like weather. Adjusting Foundations is apt for this next millennium, rapidly moving into robotic technologies and genetic DNA modifying procedures to heal hemophilia. Blood, water, circuits, all dynamic and abiding by properties of Nature. As our intimacy with Nature’s forces and energies grows, we stand poised to edify solutions that revisit sustainability as well as solve other dire problems that face humanity today.

It is urgent that we equip ourselves with tools that inform how we build as much as what we edify and where in relationship to landscape/ground. The distinction between design and build evaporates as we draw closer to the center of the labyrinth. Here, unknotting Ariadne’s thread of knots, we begin to unravel the complexities of phenomenon as our consciousness opens to this next cycle. From a fourth dimensional perspective, of time and light, we can best understand how things are connected and our place amidst the systems that govern our planet. Architect, Anne Griswold Tyng’s Geometric Extensions of Consciousness; Architect, Manuel Baez’s Phenomenological Gardens; Visionary, Lynnclaire Dennis’ Tri-fold Knot Toroidal Pattern; Architect, Peter Pearce’s Close Packing Systems; and many others begin to shed light on what’s beyond Salvador Dali’s Alice in Wonderland and Edwin Abbott Abbott’s expression, “look up.” In this case, “looking in” accounts for as much of a labyrinthian journey or path as figure or ground, hinging upon our consciousness linking and reconnecting all matter of things into a unified field of multiple eclipsing dimensions.

In Ray and Charles Eames’s 1977 film, The Powers of Ten, they suggest the atomic orbits of our chemical make up mirror that of the Milky Ways arms. Now we are able to begin to assess how sub- atomic particles behave in a super collider and that there are billions of galaxies born witness through the multiple micro- and macro- lenses. Adjusting Foundations to become dynamic seems to be apt for scaling each dimension. This next millennium in which Biomimicry explores how Nature morphs or shape shifts, reconstructs the very field upon which we build as one that is not static.

The visionary work of Eames, Tyng, Baez, Dennis, Pearce and others can guide and teach much about how to flow from a static dimension through other dimensions and best understand the exquisite wonder that is Nature herself, or as Plato equated Nature to Truth and Beauty. The universal language of an Adjusted Foundation is Geometry, across cultures, time and epochs, these simple kindergarten principals of circle, square and triangle having color, sound, and number engage in a unified version of classical archetypes in eastern and western civilizations. As Feng Shui came from Vastu, subtle energies or forces aligning to the earth’s electro-magnetic forces redirect our awareness towards optimizing vibrations hidden in plane sight. There is an a priori, eternal return foundation imbibing color, sound, and number that can recall a pedagogical foundation that inspired Frank Lloyd Wright, Paul Klee, Mondrian, Kandinsky and others.

JAE 70:2 Call for Theme Proposals

THE COMEBACK

Has architecture given up its stake in forming the built environment? Contemporary building activity has, arguably, excised the architect. Developers and contractors steamroll ahead, obtaining the so-called “stamp” when they need it, without a hitch. A stamp is one thing, but what has happened to architectural design and its role in building? Giving up on earlier dreams of building things, architects are now praised for finding “new” forms of practice, self-funding the construction of prototypes with Indiegogo or Kickstarter, making installations or public art, or engaging in “design research”. Have we given up on buildings? Have we given architecture away?

This issue is dedicated to examples of contemporary pedagogy that streams students directly into various forms of practice, enabling them to help in architecture's comeback. We, in the issue, will argue against the artificial segregation between the advancement of the discipline and the making of buildings. This theme is particularly topical, with the recent news that thirteen architecture schools in the United States are merging the path to licensure into education. There is an obvious and uncomfortable friction between architectural education and the powerlessness that architects have now in contributing to the built environment. This issue will evidence signs of a comeback, showing architects that build buildings and teach, and architecture students exposed to building activity.

Brief biography

Georg Rafailidis and Stephanie Davidson build buildings AND teach! As Davidson Rafailidis, they and work on small building commissions in Buffalo, New York, where they are both faculty members in the Department of Architecture at SUNY Buffalo.

Georg Rafailidis (*1972, Fuerstenfeldbruck, Germany) is a registered architect with the Chamber of Architects, Berlin Germany. He’s practiced in Germany and England, for offices like Allman Sattler Wappner and Herzog de Meuron. He taught at the RWTH Aachen University from 2005-2010 and has been an Assistant Professor in architecture at SUNY Buffalo since 2010.

Stephanie Davidson (*1977, London, Ontario, Canada) holds an M.Arch from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. She’s practiced in Canada and Germany, for offices like sauerbruch hutton and Gonzalez Haase. She taught at the RWTH Aachen University from 2007-2010. She is a clinical faculty member in architecture at SUNY Buffalo.

Architecture After Everything Became Anything1 Or: Firmness, Commodity and Delight Post-Internet Or: Firmness, Commodity and Delight Post-Internetw

That the question What is Next? has been monopolized since before most of us can remember by a pervasive optimism surrounding digital devices, focusing on perpetually new modernisms promised by novel-instruments, instrumentalized through a new materialist ethic of high-fidelity is perhaps all well enough. However any genuine contemplation of architecture under the rubric of What is Next? seems increasingly tinged with the collective suspicion that today we’re occupying the future of the wrong past.2 Rather than What is Next? (or: the future of an incorrect past), Architecture After Everything Became Anything is an attempt to examine What is Left? of the discipline’s well-worn truths in a moment in which the digital has traded in its novelty for banality, becoming a ubiquitous matter of fact that underwrites not only our instruments of production, but our very subjectivities.

For example: What is left of pedagogy post-internet? Where the canon (instrumental in the indoctrination of those who will practice What is Next?), has historically relied on the dumb-materiality of knowledge (books, photographs, buildings, et al.) in order to govern architecture’s specificity through the assembly, preservation and controlled dissemination of the material artifacts of architectural knowledge, the canon today (like power itself) is increasingly soft, precedent has become promiscuous, down-saved into .pdf, .exe and .rar formats which circulate globally across black-mirrors through attention economies in which (almost) anyone (almost) anywhere can (almost) instantly access what once passed for discipline as undisciplined, anti-canonical pure-content.3

Or: What is left of architecture’s radical politics, when the enduring fantasy of the public (for which architecture has long-sought to democratize the question What is Next?) sounds more and more like a clumsy neologism with no convincing alternative. How does one conceive of authoring for the masses’ ghost in a moment in which the very distinctions between authors and masses, or masses and mass-media sit tangled in the networks that inscribe our post-internet identities?

Or perhaps: What is left of delight? Where architecture’s successive styles and their attendant mediatic technologies (through which the aesthetic of What is Next? was proselytized), once imposed an iconoclastic economy of scarcity on the transmission of taste, today the absolute flattening of both the technologies of taste-making and the networks of taste’s dissemination radically undermine architecture’s historical conflation of authorship with authority in respect to the cultural politics of delight.

To examine architecture’s foundational truths in the post-internet moment is neither a nostalgic call to recoup these increasingly-obsolete fundamentals, nor an attempt to over-optimistically conflate the post-internet with any number of post- ideological or post-historical positions, but rather an attempt to imagine the possibilities of discussing architecture’s relationship to the digital, not (just) through the semantics of hi-fi style, nor (just) through the innovation of our contemporary instruments, but rather through an examination of how culture’s absolute subsumption into capitalist cyberspace has radically undermined the ontological truths we still cling to.4 The proposal is an attempt to ask What is Left? of these truths (or their bizarre afterlives) through three corresponding lenses of inquiry:

Objects Becoming Anything: Today, material objects are flawed simulations of data, and buildings-as-models-as-encoded-data have replaced the increasingly antiquated notion of the real with a “real time analysis of all possible future states.”5 How do we reimagine the outputs of architectural labor when the fundamental dichotomy of the material and the immaterial (once reified in the repeated translation of drawings into buildings) has dissolved into the accelerated sharing of open-source, infinitely copied files and endlessly mutable images?

The Public Becoming Anything: How can we re-envision architecture’s political opportunities when the public is no longer constituted through the limits of space, geography or form, but transmogrified into “a voluntary grouping of islands networked together to create autonomous entities”, an archipelago of pseudo-publics assembled around pre-rational (and purportedly post-political) aesthetic affinities?6

Authors Becoming Anything: Under present circumstances, transmission is not only as important as creation, transmission is a form of creation, liking is a form of authorship, attention has been transvalued into a contemporary form of currency, and any act of authorial creation must necessarily be understood as being both instantly appropriated and easily manipulated by its viewers. How do we conceptualize architecture’s professional monopoly in a period in which the historical and juridical distinction between authors and audiences is obsolete?

Architecture After Everything Became Anything assumes that the post-internet is not necessarily What is Next?, but rather, that architecture already falls under the rubrics of a post-internet cultural practice, and that What is Next? might be learning to talk about the ways in which this has fundamentally altered our relationship to our own historical certainties.

JAE 70:2 Theme Proposal . Curtis Roth Online Exhibition: In addition to these three lenses of inquiry, as editor, I would also coordinate and curate a temporary online exhibition of shared files, images, gifs, interactive texts, and 3d objects from a collection of media artists and architects whose work engages some of the most important issues facing architecture in the post-internet moment.

Possible Contributing Authors and Artists: Aristide Antonas, Andreas Angelidakis, Ian Besler, Benjamin Bratton, Carson Chan, Esther Choi, Keller Easterling, Emile Gervaise, Sarah Hirschman, Sam Jacob, Andrew Kovacs, Mona Mahall and Asli Serbest (M-A-U-S-E-R), Jon May and Zeina Koreitem (MILLIONS), Ana Milkacki, Jorge Otero-Pailos, Liam Young, Kazys Varnelis, and Mimi Zeiger.

Curtis Roth is an Assistant Professor at the Knowlton School of Architecture at the Ohio State University, a partner in the now- globally dispersed architectural media practice OfficeUS and a resident fellow at theAkademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart. His work engages questions surrounding architecture’s value-systems after the internet, and has been widely published in journals such as Volume, PLAT, Kerb and the Graz Architecture Magazine. He is currently editing New World, a monograph of the work produced by OfficeUS during the 14th International Architecture Biennale, to be published by Lars Muller Press in the fall of 2015. Previously he has served as the founding editor of little t, a multimedia publishing platform at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is currently the faculty advisor for one:twelve, the Knowlton School of Architecture’s student-run journal.

1. The title is in reference to New York-based internet artist Artie Vierkant’s definitive essay on the post-internet The Image Object Post-Internet. (2010)

2. I would point to the proliferation of recent exhibitions, publications and symposiums in recent years concerned with a return (in a variety of guises) to architecture’s history, including but not limited to Rem Koolhaas’ 14th International Architecture Biennale: Fundamentals (2015), Log 31: New Ancients (2015), or Taubman College of Architecture’s: Future of History symposium (2011)

3. Promiscuity is in reference to Ana Miljacki’s Promiscuity as Project? In which she attempts to chart the relationship between the dematerialization of precedent post-wikipedia and the architectural influences of MOS. Thresholds 37: Sex, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, (2011).As a case in point, all of the research for this proposal was conducted via www.aaaaargh.fail, www.wikipedia.org, www.jstor.org and www.e-flux.com.

4. Post-internet is a concept which first emerged in contemporary internet art discourses and was originally coined by new media artist and theorist Marisa Olson. The movement does not describe art after the internet has ceased to exist, but rather, art produced under conditions in which the internet’s restructuring of society’s means of interaction and modes of production has become ubiquitous. Put simply, post-internet art is characterized by work which is less about the new means of production that digital technology affords the artist, but rather art which is about culture and subjectivity in the age of the internet.

5. John May and Zeina Koreitem, There Is No Such Thing As A Computer Drawing, Storefront for Art and Architecture (2015)

6. Nicolas Bourriaud, The Radicant, Sternberg Press (2009)

JAE 70:2 Theme Proposal . Curtis Roth Structuring the inner world of things: the architect as intuitive precog Lara Schrijver, University of Antwerp Faculty of Design Sciences Marjan Michels, University of Antwerp Faculty of Design Sciences

Many things have changed since the advent of the industrial revolution. Our spaces are mirrored in technological universes that fit on the head of a pin. Our industrial production lines are nearly as autonomous as some dystopian science fiction scenarios predicted in the early 20th century. We have learned not only to explore the expansive dimensions of space, but also the inner workings of molecules and cellular mechanisms.

And yet we as humans are slow to transform. The DNA of our things transforms much more quickly than we do. Some might argue that we should take up the race, competing with our environment. And others, in response to the transformations in digital technologies, argue precisely that we should enhance our being and understanding of being human instead (Mallgrave, 2013).

This issue poses a simple question: if the future of architecture requires that we become more human rather than adapt to our computers – what does that mean for our education and for the profession? What could the architect offer that a BIM model or CAD drawing cannot? In the information age, what should be central to architecture?

From Viollet-le-Duc to Rem Koolhaas, it is the issue of judgment and adaptation that remains central in the potential for reinventing the discipline. Viollet-le-Duc, noting the availability of projects to students of the late 19th century-architecture, argues that judgment is the central skill to teach students (Viollet-le-Duc, 1875). A well-formed judgement makes them experts in architecture. (Michels, M, Meeus, W, De Walsche, J, 2014.).

Yet how do we teach what cannot be codified? These boundaries between tacit and explicit knowledge form the core of this issue. Architectural handbooks that contain codified architectural knowledge might be seen as a particular case of this proposition, as they explicate what is common practice at a given time. This is embodied in the illustrations, in the terminology, in principles of classification and the selection of particular topics. Similarly, studio teaching may also be seen as a particular case of the cultural habitus of the profession (Vowles, 2000).

Which modes of knowledge transcend the possibility of linguistic communication, and how may they be taught? If there is indeed an ‘inner world of things’, how do we understand and communicate them? Are there modes of discourse that can aid in identifying and understanding this knowledge? How should we approach the relation between the object itself, the design process that leads to it, and the explicit extrapolation and embodiment of design principles, in architectural texts and constructions?

We seek proposals that examine implicit epistemological states of architecture, that sit on the boundaries between explicit and tacit knowledge, or that engage with the theoretical frameworks that allow us to understand diverse cultural practices. If indeed, ‘making’ may be considered a particular form of ‘thinking’, how might we understand this embodied form of reflection? What are the specific features that operate within the multiple forms of knowledge utilized in architecture practice and discourse? Topics may include empathy and intuition, craftsmanship, visual scholarship, and embodied judgment.

References Mallgrave, F.H. (2013) Architecture and embodiment. The implications of the new sciences and humanities for design. London & NewYork: Routledge. Michels, M., Meeus, W., De Walsche J. (2014) A sentiment for architecture. Tijdschrift voor Hoger Onderwijs, 32(4), 319-328. Viollet-le-Duc, E.E (1875) Discourses on Architecture. Boston, MA: James R. Osgood & Company. Vowles, H. (2000) The crit as ritualised legitimation procedure. In: Nicol, D & Pilling, S. (Eds.) Changing architectural education. London: E & F Spon.

Lara Schrijver is Professor in Architecture at the University of Antwerp, Faculty of Design Sciences. She was an editor for OASE for ten years, and served four years on the advisory committee of the Netherlands Fund for Architecture. Her work has been published in the Journal of Architecture, Footprint, and Volume. Her book Radical Games (2009) was shortlisted for the 2011 CICA Bruno Zevi Book Award. Her research focus is on twentieth- century architecture and its theories.

Marjan Michels is researcher in Interior Architecture at the University of Antwerp, Faculty of Design Sciences. She teaches design in the Master studio Interior Architecture. Her ongoing PhD research deals with education and architectural design, with a focus on forming quality judgements in the design studio. Previously she worked for ten years as an architect. She won the ‘Meesterproef 2005’, an award for young architects delivered by the Flemish Government Architect's Team. The project has been published in the book Architectural Review Flanders N°11 - Embedded Architectures.

‘The Refugee Crisis and Tenure-Blind Housing – The Impact of Architecture towards diminishing prejudices’

In light of the massive surge of asylum seekers coming to Europe the need for adequate and livable accommodation for this specific target group becomes one major aspect to look into. A building’s reception and perception, is closely related to how people dwell, how people’s way of dwelling affects their sense of belonging and self-worth. Can the well-being and sense of belonging impact the social interactions between refugees and society in a positive way? In this sense the aspect of how architecture of asylum buildings relates to the dynamics of urban and political developments in cities, needs to be examined and evaluated on an elaborated level.

Residential buildings, such as condominiums and housing estates are used on a more intimate and personal level, as dwelling consists of patterns of behavior. This feature distinguishes them from commercial and public buildings. The way people dwell determines their concept of a home (Moore 2008, 55). How people dwell has a significant impact on people’s wellbeing, sense of belonging and their social interactions.

In the past four years I have researched and written on the architecture of affordable housing. Tenure blind design can have a profound impact towards diminishing social imbalances. Frequently, low-income residents experience prejudices and face NIMBYISM because of the image that is attached to them in society. Similar to affordable housing, there is a stigma attached to temporary asylum houses for refugees. This becomes especially evident with the increasing arson attacks that make these buildings target points for xenophobic groups and put the security and lives of the tenants in danger. Refugees face even more prejudices and resentment and are thus amongst the most vulnerable groups, who often times have no means or rights to protect themselves.

The refugee crisis is an ongoing and growing crisis that touches many aspects, with architecture being one of them. How can architecture help to diminish prejudices against refugees and protect the vulnerable tenants of the building? How much impact does the architect's role have towards the perception of the image of refugees. Aspects to consider are the design models (e.g. pre-fab, adaptively reused heritage buildings, ect.) of the buildings as well as the location they are placed. Is it more efficient to place smaller projects into well-established middle-class neighbourhood instead of large-scale buildings in remote parts of town? Projects like the Welcome House in Vancouver or the Weaving a Home Project temporary shelters designed by architect Abeer Seikaly may be starting points.

My research interest is in cities, design and the impact of architecture on people’s lives and daily encounters.

I resently completed my postdoctoral fellowship at the research network ‘Collaboratory for Research on Urban Neighbourhoods, Community Health and Housing’ (CRUNCH) at McMaster Univer- sity.

Ulduz Maschaykh, Ph.D Currently, I am working as on the architectural semiotics of [email protected] adaptively reused dwelling architecture in regard to afford- ability, scarcity and urban branding. My project is funded by + 604 364 7725 the Foundation for Canadian Studies in Germany (Stiftung fuer Kanada Studien e.V.).

I completed my Master’s in North American Studies in 2008 at the University of Bonn. During my studies I conducted several research stays at the University of British Columbia in Vancou- ver and Auckland University in New Zealand.

In September 2013 I completed my Ph.D in Art and Architecture History at the University of Bonn in collaboration with the Uni- versity of British Columbia, Vancouver. My research was on the interplay between affordable housing and gentrification in Canadian cities compared to cities in Europe. My PhD research was funded by the Canadian Govern- ment through the Understanding Canada Program. My PhD thesis, titled “Changing Image of Affordable Housing” has been published with Ashgate in May 2015.

I have also recently contributed as a peer reviewer for a book publication on social housing in the Middle East. VIRAL: Technology as Prophet, Panacea, or Pariah? Franca Trubiano, Marci S. Uihlein, Andrzej Zarzycki

According to Kevin Kelly, founding member of Wired magazine, technology is ubiquitous, ever present and our destiny1. Smart materials, performance sensors, crowdsourcing, cloud computing, robotics and drones are but a few of the emerging technologies vastly transforming the way in which buildings are designed and experienced. And yet the role these technologies play in shaping architecture is rarely at the center of architectural thinking, criticism or design. Most architects remain uninterested, incapable or reluctant to address the proliferation of data-based, digitally-centered, and smart technologies that are impacting the allied fields of construction, engineering, material science, and product design. Most recently, celebrated architect Rem Koolhaas even suggested the possible presence of a nefarious relationship between architecture and electronic/smart technologies, stating; "There is a potentially sinister dimension to …being surrounded by a house full of sensors that can follow you on the moment of entry, to the moment you set your bedroom temperature, to the moment you set your likely return to your house.”2 Is this seeming aversion to sensors and data points similar to that of nineteenth-century architects who failed to consider the impact of then-emerging industrialized technologies of cast iron, glass, and steel; and who failed to acknowledge the many ways they were destined to redefine architecture? It was fifty years before architects would embrace the potential of ferrous metals and sheets of plate glass in service to design: and this, only after historian Sigfried Giedion conceptualized their potential. At the end of the twentieth century, we remained incapable of recognizing the impact artificial environmental systems, such as air-conditioning, had on design.

In this light, this Call for Proposals for a themed issue of the Journal of Architectural Education (70:2) is timely in asking the architectural community whether it is once again on the threshold of significant changes in the material, technical and procedural context of design by failing to embrace the range of twenty-first century technologies attendant to the electronic transformation of buildings. From crowdsourcing to collective wisdom, technology is redefining our human relation to the environment, and to each other. For not only can technology empower designers, it can and should democratize the very process of creativity and space-making. Hence, this proposal asks to what extent architects and those who educate them are actively involved in articulating a path for such technologies within their work, be it in their scholarship or in design? Alternatively, to what extent are architectural educators critical, cautious and even dismissive of this highly speculative engagement with forms of technology barely recognizable or material? With our history of indecision, reluctance, and fear in the face of new technologies has our ability to dream of a future in which emerging technologies have the power to re-capture the architectural imagination, been limited? Scholars, educators and architects must articulate, research, and theorize the place of emerging and electronic building technologies in light of the massive transformations taking place in their definition, ubiquity, and ownership. Today’s emerging and electronic technologies can inspire design, solve the critical building issues of our time, or undermine the very essence of humanity. Rather than wait another fifty years to find out, this is the moment for Architecture and its educators to take a position.

1 Kelly Kelly, What Technology Wants, Viking Press, 2010 2 published in Dezeen - http://www.dezeen.com/2015/05/27/rem-koolhaas-interview-technology-smart-systems-peoples-eagerness- sacrifice-privacy-totally-astonishing/ VIRAL: Technology as Prophet, Panacea, or Pariah? Journal of Architectural Education (70:2) Theme Issue Proposal

Franca Trubiano is Assistant Professor and Associate Chair (Architecture) at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a Registered Architect with l'Ordre des Architectes du Quebec and an International Associate of the AIA. She teaches in construction technology, materials, theories of building, integrated design, architectural ecologies, and high performance buildings. Franca is President of the Building Technology Educators Society (BTES) and founding member of the Editorial Board of the Journal - TAD (Technology, Architecture and Design). Since 2014, she has been a Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Architectural Education (JAE). Her edited book Design and Construction of High Performance Homes: Building Envelopes, Renewable Energies and Integrated Practice (Routledge Press 2012), features 18 essays, authored by herself and 10 collaborators. In 2014, it was translated into Korean, by the Korean Research Institute of Environmental Architecture and launched as part of their 10th year anniversary. Franca has also published essays on the subject of high performance design in edited books Architecture and Energy (eds. Braham and Willis, Routledge Press, 2013) and Architecture and Uncertainty (ed. Benjamin Flowers, Ashgate Press, 2014). She is presently completing a manuscript for Routledge on building technology and architectural theory. Building Theories, Integrating Matter, Energy, Data, and Labor for a new Ethics of Architecture (Routledge), proposes an alternative definition of architectural theory; one that valorizes the as yet untapped potential of ‘thinking through building’. Franca is a Principal Investigator and inaugural member of the Consortium for Energy Building Energy Innovation (CBEI), a US Department of Energy sponsored project, on the development of Integrated Design Roadmaps of use by all members of the AEC industry in pursuit of Advanced Energy Retrofits. Franca also conducts funded research on Building Information Modeling (BIM), developing both Facility Management processes for maximum applicability of BIM authoring models, as well as helping the National Masonry Institute develop BIM based protocols of value to the industry. Since 2014, Franca has also been an expert reviewer for the MIT-KUWAIT Signature Project on Sustainability where she will continue in this role until 2016.

Marci S. Uihlein is a licensed professional engineer with a graduate degree in architecture. She has worked on projects for both the private sector and academic institutions with Arup at their San Francisco and Los Angeles offices. She first became involved in academia while working as a visiting lecturer for the School of Architecture with the Study Abroad Program in Versailles, France from 2007-2010. For the 2008-2009 academic year, she was the recipient of the Hilfinger Faculty Fellowship, awarded to faculty members who are able bridge practice and education along with architecture and structure. She is an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, teaching classes in building structures for architecture students. In 2013, she was awarded the Building Technology Educators’ Society (BTES) Emerging Faculty Award. Her research areas include the structural engineering profession in both contemporary and historical contexts. She is also examining the professional relationship between architects and engineers, and the integration of structure in architectural projects. Marci has articles published in the Journal of Architectural Engineering, Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction, and Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education. Her latest article on the history of the first architectural engineering education program, “University of Illinois, N. Clifford Ricker, and the Origins of Architectural Engineering Education in the United States” is due to be published in 2015. She has served as board member and secretary of BTES, as secretary of the Dead and Live Load Committee of ASCE 7-16, and is on the managing committee for the Construction History Society of America.

Andrzej Zarzycki is an associate professor at the College of Architecture and Design in the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), teaching a broad range of building information modeling, interactivity, and digital media courses. His research focuses on media-based environments with applications in gaming and mobile augmented reality as well as interactive and adaptive designs integrating embedded systems with distributed sensing. He is a co-winner of SHIFTboston Ideas Competition 2009 and a co-founder of TUTS (Tremont Underground Theatre Space) (the-tuts.org), a design initiative focusing on innovative adaptations of infrastructure into contemporary public spaces and on the integration of digital media technologies into urban life. Andrzej is a registered architect in the State of New York.

In the past, Andrzej taught digital design studios and courses at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and digital visualization at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). This experience gave him an opportunity to work with a broad array of students in fields ranging from architecture, interior architecture and industrial design to digital media and computer sciences.

Related (Selected) Publications:

Zarzycki, A, Towards new Mediapolis: networks, identities, and agents; in Architectural Science Review; 24 Mar 2015 [DOI:10.1080/00038628.2015.1015949] Zarzycki, A, Reflections on Computational Design through Interactions with Materiality and Physical Mock-ups, ed. Marc J. Neveu, Journal of Architectural Education (JAE), Volume 68, Issue 1, March 2014, pp. 94-103 Zarzycki, A, Integrating Physical and Digital Assemblies, ed. Jose Kos and Daniel Cardoso in International Journal of Architectural Computing (IJAC), Volume 11, Issue 2, pp. 247-266

Goldman, G, Zarzycki, A, Smart Buildings/Smart(er) Designers: BIM and the Creative Design Process; (book chapter) in Building Information Modeling: BIM in Current and Future Practice, ed. Karen M. Kensek and Douglas, E. Noble, Wiley 2014, pp.3-16 Zarzycki, A, Wall to Wall: The Digital Landscape; in Architecture Boston, Fall 2010, pp. 28-31

Recent Themes Fall 2015

Marc Neveu 2017__71.2 2017__71.1

2016__70.2 2016__70.1 General

2015__69.2 S,M,L,XL 2015__69.1 Crisis

2014__68.2 Building Modern Africa 2014__68.1 design+

Graham Livesey 2013__67:2 General

Livesey / Grimes 2013__67:1 Utopia, c. 2016

Ellen Grimes 2012__66:1 General 2012__65:2 Beginning Design

2011__65:1 Ending Design

George Dodds 2011__64:2 Beyond Precedent

2010__64:1 Diacritical | Dialogical 2010__63:2 Changing Asia

2009__63:1 Vernaculars in the Age of Digital Reproduction 2009__62:4 Alternative Architectures | Alternative Practices 2009__62:3 Criticism in Architecture

2008__62:2 Immateriality in Architecture 2008__62:1 General 2008__61:4 Performance/Architecture 2008__61:3 Collateral Damage: War & Architecture

2007__61:2 Engaging the Recent Past 2007__61:1 Architectural Design as Research, Scholarship and Inquiry

Barbara Allen 2007__60:4 Sustainability 2007__60:3 General

2006__60:2 Design Buil 2006__60:1 New Orleans and Katrina: One Year Later 2006__59:4 Installations by Architects 2006__59:3 1966: Forty Years After

2005__59:2 Recycling 2005__59:1 General 2005__58:4 Design Building 2005__58:3 Globalization Now

2004__59:2 Medium 2004__58:1 Architecture, Technology and Education 2004__57:4 General 2004__57:3 Architecture and Landscape

2003__59:2 Surface 2003__57:1 Public Realm 2003__56:4 Transparency 2003__56:3 Marking Domain

2002__56:2 General 2002__56:1 Digital Design 2002__55:4 Latin America 2002__55:3 General

2001__55:2 Gender and Architecture 2001__55:1 General issue Journal of Architectural Education Theme Proposals

Please list, in order, your top five theme proposals: