Architecture Philosophy and Theory
This studio embraces the oft-cited quote ‘we shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us’. We use the concept of architectural technicities, to examine the ways that such a process occurs. Avoiding a reductionist approach, we directly link processes of human subjectification and cognition to the technologies that form and manipulate urban habitats. We examine architectural technicities in order to underline the importance of a transdisciplinary account that acknowledges the complex relation between our technologies and their effects on our subjectification.
Focus and approach
The studio opens architectural discourse to philosophy, cognitive sciences and behavioural psychology, neuro-anthropology, media theories and affect-oriented studies. By the end of the studio, the students will be able to: 1) develop a transdisciplinary approach to identify and address shared problems and concerns regarding the production of contemporary urban environments; 2) apply their own methodological innovations that may inform and trigger new ways of speculative design; and, 3) adopt a transdisciplinary, cross-domain mentality and attitude based on in-depth reading of seminal literature and its design application in real-life contexts.
Programme
To study architectural technicities, we will use methodological tools and sources from urban and architectural history, as well as references to sociological and economic concerns. We will also consider diverse philosophical traditions, focusing particularly on philosophies of science and technology. The studio will follow a specific structure that allows experimentation with different conceptual and methodological approaches, anchored in the relationship between habits and habitats, subjects and objects, architectural technicities and environments. This requires all participants to have an open and creative mind, a willingness to experiment and develop abductive reasoning, while maintaining an intense schedule of reading, thinking and making.
MSc 2
Staff
Dr. Ir. Stavros Kousoulas, Dr. Ir. Heidi Sohn, Dr. Ir. Andrej Radman.
Additional information
Additional information about the projects and student work can be found here.
For detailed course descriptions, please visit the study guide:
MSc 2* (only in spring semester)
* The MSc2 semester of the Architecture track consists of a 5 EC compulsory course and 10 EC of track-specific Architecture electives in the third quarter, followed by a 15 EC (intra)disciplinary elective in the fourth quarter, which can be an intensive architectural research and design project or an intradisciplinary elective in which you are challenged to work together with students from other tracks on overarching themes.