CR|PT|C

Under the theme of Architectures of Hiding, this lecture-performance, creates a rewriting of history in the form of a series of speculative events that are rooted in political incidents that affected the artist’s family. It explores the link between architecture, memory, and history, focusing on the institutions—school, hospital, and prison—through which the state imprints power on or actually destroys bodies to eradicate memory and control the writing of History. The podcast features Anahita Norouzi in conversation with Ryan Stec, Artistic Director at Artengine, and Pallavi Swaranjali, co-convenor, Architectures of Hiding and co-coordinator of C R | P T | C. The creative piece by Anahita Norouzi can be found at https://www.architecturesofhiding.com/exhibition

Under the theme of Architectures of Hiding, Verdures is part of an ongoing investigation of the relationship between landscape and camouf|age. It uses Mimicry camouf|age, which is an image with multiple roles: at once a synthetic representation of a landscape at a distinct moment, it is also, with its concealment of hunters through clothing or shelters, a device for the manipulation of an environment. The podcast features François Sabourin and Bertrand Rougier in conversation with Ryan Stec, Artistic Director at Artengine, and Pallavi Swaranjali, co-convenor, Architectures of Hiding and co-coordinator of C R | P T | C. The creative piece by François Sabourin and Bertrand Rougier can be found at https://www.architecturesofhiding.com/exhibition

Under the theme of Architectures of Hiding, Hidden Relics investigates a secret design found hidden inside a wall of a building: two lavishly illustrated empty match-boxes, a holy picture with a prayer, a king of cups briscola card, a wooden spoon. What can we infer from these relics? Endless stories. The podcast features Claudio Sgarbi in conversation with Ryan Stec, Artistic Director at Artengine, and Pallavi Swaranjali, co-convenor, Architectures of Hiding and co-coordinator of C R | P T | C. The creative piece by Claudio Sgarbi can be found at https://www.architecturesofhiding.com/exhibition

Full Title: Architectures of Hiding | The Art and Craft of Asking your Boss for a Raise: Josh Silver in conversation

Under the theme of Architectures of Hiding, The Art and Craft of Asking your Boss for a Raise attempts to access the dynamic material conditions of the past in its most banal, everyday forms, artefacts and their mechanisms, visualised and played-out in theatrical space (for this project, a stage adaptation of Georges Perec’s novella entitled The Art and Craft of Asking Your Boss for a Raise) utilising constraint operations (defined by Harry Mathews as, “A strict and clearly definable rule, method, procedure or structure that generates a [textual work],” expanded by Georges Perec as, “describable, definable [and] available to everyone.”). The podcast features Josh Silver in conversation with Ryan Stec, Artistic Director at Artengine, and Pallavi Swaranjali, co-convenor, Architectures of Hiding and co-coordinator of C R | P T | C. The creative piece by Josh Silver can be found at https://www.architecturesofhiding.com/exhibition

Dr. Mark Dorrian

Forbes Chair in Architecture

ESALA Edinburgh College of Art

University of Edinburgh, Scotland

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Interviewers:

Federica Goffi CRIPTIC Chair, PhD & MAS Program Co-Chair ASAU, CU

& Warren Borg PhD student ASAU, CU

Damiano Aiello PhD student ASAU, CU

Marco Ianni PhD student ASAU, CU

Serkan Taycan PhD student ASAU, CU

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In –InterVIEW/LISTEN 6–Dr. Mark Dorrian, the Forbes Chair in Architecture, at the Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (ESALA, The University of Edinburgh), was invited to offer insight into the history, research approaches and areas of knowledge contribution in the PhD program in Architecture and the PhD by Design. About 90 students are enrolled in the four PhD programs at ESALA at any one time.

Dr. Dorrian was also invited to offer insights into his research. The series of questions that follows deal primarily with his 2015 book Writing on the Image: Architecture, the City and the Politics of Representation (I.B. Tauris), which brings together selected essays developed over a period of ten years (2004-2013), organized under fields of interest such as –elevated vision, cloud architecture, atmospheric politics– interacting with several disciplines. He commented on his notion of a-disciplinarity in architecture research and a desire for openess in theoretical questioning. The interview constitutes a deep reflection on themes related to architecture and the city, within the larger context of the politics of representation. Dr. Dorrian concluded the interview affirming the inescapable centrality of questions relating to the politics of representation today, stating that all knowledge is mediated in some way by it.

Dr. Felix Solaguren

Dean of the Barcelona School of Architecture

​ETSAB / UPC Barcelona Tech, Spain

& Dr. Pedro Azara

Head of the Department of Theory and History of Architecture

ETSAB / UPC Barcelona Tech, Spain

Interviewers in order of participation:

Federica Goffi CRIPTIC Chair, PhD & MAS Program Co-Chair ASAU, CU

& Kristin Washco PhD student ASAU, CU

Marco Ianni PhD student ASAU, CU

Reem Awad PhD student ASAU, CU

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In –InterVIEW/LISTEN 7–Dr. Felix Solaguren and Pedro Azara, respectively the dean of the Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB) and the Head of the Department of Theory and History of Architecture were invited to discuss the relationship between PhD programs and professional practice in Spain. They offered insights into the history of the PhD program at ETSAB and its seven research tracks, contextualizing them within the context of PhD programs in Europe and the world. They were invited to discuss the research methods and approaches as well as the mediums of research employed by PhD students in the History and Theory of Architecture program at ETSAB.

In the second part of the interview Dr. Solaguren and Dr. Azara offered insights into their respective research work addressing the relations between practice and academic work. The questions addressed the role of theory in practice and the practice in theory, and the overlap of the social sciences, particularly geography, climate, and nature with architecture research, questioning the responsibilities of researchers and practitioners to engage with ethical concerns and the architect’s role in addressing sustainability.

Dr. Philip Ursprung

Professor of the History of Art and Architecture, Director of Research

Department of Architecture

ETH Zurich, Switzerland

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Interviewers:

Federica Goffi CRIPTIC Chair, PhD & MAS Program Co-Chair ASAU, CU

& Marco Ianni PhD student ASAU, CU

Isabel Potworowski PhD student ASAU, CU

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In –InterVIEW/LISTEN 4–Dr. Philip Ursprung, the Director of Research at the Department of Architecture, at ETH Zurich, was invited to offer insight into the history, research approaches, and areas of knowledge contribution in the Doctoral Program in History and Theory of Architecture, Architecture, and Technology (2012), and Landscape Architecture and Urban Studies (2020) at ETH Zurich, in Switzerland. He commented on his role in the Board of Directors of the PhD in History and Theory of Architecture, and how he initiated the two programs, which are unique in Switzerland, in collaboration with his colleague Philippe Block in 2011. He commented on how the GTA Archives, the GTA Verlag publishing house, GTA Exhibitions, and GTA Digital impact doctoral work at ETH. He discussed the role of exhibitions as a site of experimentation in developing and disseminating doctoral research.

During the second part of the interVIEW Dr. Ursprung offered insights into his own research. The series of questions addressed areas including, research with the Future Cities Laboratories where he serves as the Principal Investigator of Tourism and Cultural Heritage; the human and non-human relations and the concept of the Anthropocene; the necessity for the continuous review of the premises of scholarship through historiography; the representation of capitalist versus socialist space, in relation to the representation of industrial and immaterial labour—a topic which he affirms “remains a blindspot in representation.”

Dr. Laurent Stalder

Chair of Theory of Architecture

Department of Architecture

ETH Zurich, Switzerland

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Interviewers in order of participation:

Federica Goffi CRIPTIC Chair, PhD & MAS Program Co-Chair ASAU, CU

& Reem Awad PhD student ASAU, CU

Marco Ianni PhD student ASAU, CU

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In –InterVIEW/LISTEN 5–Dr. Laurent Stalder, the Chair of Theory of Architecture at the Department of Architecture, at ETH Zurich, offered insight into the history, research approaches, and areas of knowledge contribution in the Doctoral Program in History and Theory of Architecture (2012) at ETH Zurich, in Switzerland, situating it in the context of doctoral programs in Europe and the world. He was also invited to reflect on the diversity of doctoral programs in architecture across a wide spectrum, from PhD in history, theory, or criticism, to PhD by design, creative practice, or by practice. He discussed the research approaches of students in the ETH History and Theory of Architecture PhD program, the curriculum structure, and the role of the PhD advisor.

In the second part of the interview, Dr. Stalder offered insights into his own research. The series of questions addressed areas including research on architectural representation and the intersection of the history and theory of architecture and the history of technology within the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He discussed the academic multidisciplinary quality of architecture and the influence of technology on how we think and design today. The interview concluded with Dr. Stalder addressing a question about the promising research mediums in doctoral research.

Part 2 of 2

School of Architecture and Urbanism, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

December 20 2019 - Santiago, Chile

See also InterVIEW/READ 3 (English language)

April 2 2020 - Ottawa, Canada

Forthcoming

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Interviewers in order of participation:

Federica Goffi CRIPTIC Chair, PhD & MAS Program Co-Chair ASAU, CU

& Nicolas Arellano Risopatron PhD student ASAU, CU

Devon Moar MAS student ASAU, CU

Marco Ianni PhD student ASAU, CU

Kristin Washco PhD student ASAU, CU

Amanda Lapointe MAS student ASAU, CU

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Dr. José Rosas Vera from the School of Architecture and Urbanism, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC)- discussed the developments of their PhD program in Architecture, which started in 2004.

Two interVIEWS were conducted: one in the Spanish language in Chile (InterVIEW/LISTEN 2), and a second one in the English language (InterVIEW/READ 3). PhD student Nicolas Arellano Risopatron translated the interviewees’ questions in Spanish and conducted the interview held in Santiago, Chile. Dr. Rosas Vera was invited to discuss the impact of architectural research in the urban context and the role of the academic institution in the public life of Santiago, and the wider regional and national context. Additionally, he reflected on the country’s complex political scenario since the beginning of the Chilean protests in October 2019.

The PhD program is recognized as one of the most relevant in the Ibero-American context and is part of the Urban Studies Institute, which is the first interdisciplinary institute of PUC. The doctoral research covers the areas of urban history, theory, landscape, geo-politics, and representation. The program has graduated sixty-eight doctors in architecture, and sixty dissertations are currently ongoing. He discussed the role of the architect and architecture in urban design and development, and the relationship between the PhD program and the planning department of the city of Santiago, the impact of research on public policies and urban planning, the importance of public space, and the Western influence on the urban development of the city historically and in its present context.

Dr Adam Sharr

April 5 2020

School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape

Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK

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Interviewers in order of participation:

Federica Goffi CRIPTIC Chair, PhD & MAS Program Co-Chair ASAU, CU

&  Nicolas Arellano Risopatron PhD student ASAU, CU

Devon Moar MAS student ASAU, CU

Marco Ianni PhD student ASAU, CU

Kristin Washco PhD student ASAU, CU

Amanda Lapointe MAS student ASAU, CU

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Guest: Taj Masud Adjunct Prof. ASAU, CU

In –InterVIEW/LISTEN 3–Dr. Adam Sharr, the Director of the School of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape at Newcastle University, introduces the PhD by Creative Practice, established in the last decade in one of the oldest architecture schools in the UK. About 15 candidates have graduated in the PhD by Creative Practice, which is rooted in research by design or practice based research and exists alongside more traditional PhDs. PhD students in the Creative Practice PhD question how architectural ways of knowing inform contemporary society, its practices, and culture at large.

Dr. Sharr discussed the shift brought about in the postwar era, after the first Oxford Conference on architectural education (1958), with the establishment of doctoral research in architecture in the UK. At that time much of the research was into technical knowledge, land use and construction, and architects borrowed research methods from more established research fields, including applied science, engineering, humanities, and sociology. In this millennium, architects are now trying to establish methods that are distinctive of the field, trading in architectural ways of knowing.

Distinctively in the Creative Practice PhD in Newcastle, the experimental research work distinguishes itself from Design Research, as it is known in Australia and Europe, by taking design methods and architectural ways of working back into the inter-, multi- and trans-disciplinary domain to reengage them with methods including historiography, ethnography, anthropology, by experimenting on a wide spectrum of approaches, from creative history, digital creative practices, biotechnical creative practices, ethnography, co-production of space, to choreographic and mapping practices.