Dwelling: Architectures of Space

This subject is not offered in 2012.

96 hours.

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

Throughout its history, philosophy has described itself as a form of architectural edifice, systematically relying on the metaphors of foundations, construction and deconstruction, while architecture would seem (until recently at least) quasi-inconceivable without recourse to the metaphysical oppositions of inside/outside, ground/surface, substance/quality, and essence/accident. Yet, though this “inter-referential” relationship between philosophy and architecture plays a defining role for both disciplines, the basis of their connection remains an open question.

This subject proposes to examine the interrelation of architecture and philosophy—as well as design—as different ways of thinking and fashioning space, spatiality and subjectivity. As the diagrammatic tracing of lines, loci and interconnections, all three undertakings (architecture, philosophy and design) involve the plotting of forces that inform specific cultural constellations of power and knowledge. The palace of Versailles, the Crystal Palace, and Liebeskind’s Jewish Museum in Berlin are but a few of the constructions that will serve as case-studies during the course, as read in conjunction with the work of philosophers such as Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Benjamin, Lefebvre, Virilio, Foucault, Derrida and Deleuze.

We will pay particular attention to cinematic representations, as well as culturally diverse understandings of architectures of spatiality.

This subject develops students capacities to engage with concepts of space in contemporary theories of design and architecture; gain an understanding of the different cultural representations of space;
And develop understandings of how subjectivity and identity is formed within material configurations. Students are introduced to a range architectural and design based concepts available to translation and transformation into other art and cultural idioms.

5000 words or equivalent written and practical project, developed in conjunction with supervisor with feedback throughout the semester (100%).

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

On completing this subject students will have:

• the ability to communicate, cooperate and collaborate in a range of cultural contexts internationally;
• a deep awareness of and respect for cultural differences, protocols and aspirations;
• the ability to generate and promote intercultural dialogue through the arts;
• an ability to initiate research projects and develop highly innovative and experimental modes of representation and communication;
• a high level of understanding and appreciation of transnational practices across the art form;
• the capacity to interpret and translate into clear English a range of discipline-specific vocabularies and languages ;
• a capacity for innovative and original thinking marked by well-developed and flexible problem-solving abilities;
• the capacity to clearly communicate the results of research and scholarship by oral and written communication;
• a profound respect for truth and intellectual integrity, and for the ethics of research and scholarship;
• a capacity to cooperate and collaborate with people across all national, social and cultural divides.