architecture without architecture, winter, 2008
pelin tan

Theme:
How we understand the “space” and what is our tool in defining it? How can we find out the critical position of our definitions of spatial practices? This course will firstly research the conditions of space in different circumstances; how to experience it, how to define it, how to find out its social-cultural, political attachments. Furthermore, terms about space such as territory, heterotopias, camp, utopia, border, zone and related subjective, social conditions will be analysis through different tools such as site trips, theoretical texts, films, documentaries, artistic/urban projects.

The sessions at the end aims to reach to a discussion/analysis on the term of criticality and criticism, participation in order to understand the border of common-collective thinking, spatial practices that describe an understanding and action about spatial production and architecture.


Schedule
October
1. session: space/place
This session of the course will be about re-defining the Space.
An introductory lecture of theories of space of Deleuze (territory, deterritorialization) Foucault (hetereotopias), Agamben (state of exception / bare life), Derrida (hospitality). The terms space and place will be discussed with the short-focused texts of philosophers. Furthermore, the sessions of the course will focus on concepts of “empathy” and “uncanny” in relation to physical environment and the experiences of the “subjectivity” and will follow-up related artistic and urban projects, two movies related to the issues as Stalker (1979, Tarkovsky) and “In Bruges” (2008) and discussion on some parts of the novel “the possibility of an Island”, M.Houellebecq.

November
2.session: tactics /subversion/utopia
This session of the course will a transitional space experience.
This session as a workshop and site trip (North/South Cyprus)will focus on the idea and relation of border and space, undefined territories, social-cultural contexts, surveillance and utopian architecture of 60s. Borders or division lines create not only physical border between two spaces but also social-cultural attachments of two sites. The control and surveillance system in those undefined territory between two spaces, continuously redefines the biopolitics of space. The session will focus on brainstorming, discussion about terms border, territory, zones, wall, also, 1960’s Utopian architecture and urbanism (GEAM, Yona Friedman, SI, Constant, Superstudio). Discussion through projects and manifestos about utopia, mobility, montage, derive, survival structures, living forms.

December
3.session: collaboration/participation
This session of the course will be about possibilities of common thinking and representation.
This session of the course will focus on the practices of collaboration and participation in order to understand the border of common-collective thinking and the practices of radical democracy. Types of collaborative projects, discussions about participatory practice and spatial representation.

January
4.session: criticality / criticism
This session of the course will a wrapping-up meeting in order to understand the position of criticality/criticism in context of space.
The course will be about re-defining the term criticality and criticism in thinking. During the sessions, past sessions and examples will be connected in order to understand critically on space. Some readings and discussion of Toni Negri on Rem Koolhaas, texts by David Harvey, Hilde Heynen and Foucault about positioning a critical standpoint in order to understand spatial practices will help to wrap-up the whole course to describe an understanding and action about spatial production and architecture. Documentary “Cell” on T.Negri will be shown.