Have you ever resisted the desire to travel and tried to imagine this journey? What does travel mean in the post-Holocene era? The seminar explored the relevance of the seminar trip as a format in architectural studies while researching possible alternatives from the perspective of post-anthropocentric and postcolonial discourses.
Imagination and abstraction are important skills in the architectural profession. The seminar aims to train students in precise descriptions and to expand them with fictional content. Discussions will elaborate on the advantages and disadvantages of traveling and being on-site. Students will learn to deal with archival material and with digital sources of information and to evaluate them in creative storytelling.
The seminar is offered as an accompaniment to an in-depth thesis (Vertiefungsarbeit) dealing with topics such as excursions in the Anthropocene, sustainability, and the role of architecture in this new age.
The feedback in our seminar was always very open and horizontal. As lecturers we participated in most of the assignments ourselves, and shared equally our experiences. This method increased feedback loops among students where everyone felt safe to share their thoughts. For some singular assignments that were graded, we offered individual feedback prior to final submission of the projects.
- Question:
- What are the methods, practices, and possibilities to experience a travel intellectually and emotionally without going on site?
- Answer:
- In our seminar, we experiment with lucid dreaming and exchange with professionals from other disciplines, such as neurology and artists working with different media. Together, we attempt to go on a partly fictional, partly documentary journey. Connecting on an intimate level and later contextualizing our thoughts in the discourses of architecture, expeditions, and the Anthropocene.
- Question:
- How has "remote" teaching been changed or optimised since the beginning of the pandemic?
- Answer:
- We offered our seminar in hybrid format meaning that theoretically, we always offered a zoom link for students who could not come to the seminar. We also used a digital platform for exchange that could be accessed by students at any time.
From experience, an exchange in person where also students can talk among each other in an informal setting (in our case the artists’ studio of the collective U5) work best. However, for particular sessions such as personal feedback to students on the assignments they had to submit, a zoom call was very focused and efficient. Especially, as the lecturer Helene Romakin lives in Berlin, we could save time and costs for these sessions.
Further, we have noticed that students as well as lecturers got more flexible and open toexperimental formats of teaching. Less hierarchies between students and lecturers were established, instead very democratic and horizontal exchanged was nourished. - Question:
- What discussion points are you particularly interested in when exchangingwith other lecturers?
- Answer:
- We are interested in transdisciplinary exchange on the topics of sustainability, life in the age of Anthropocene, research on alternative bodily and consciousness experiences, media competence and speculative storytelling.
Course Description
- Name:
- History of Art and Architecture: Protect Us From What We Want
- Description:
- Have you ever resisted the desire to travel and tried to imagine this journey?
What does travel mean in the post-Holocene era?The seminar explores the relevance of the seminar trip as a format in architectural studies while researching possible alternatives from the perspective of post-anthropocentric and postcolonial discourses. - Objective:
- Imagination and abstraction are important skills of the architectural profession. The seminar aims to train students in precise descriptions and to expand them with fictional content. Discussions will elaborate the advantages and disadvantages of traveling and being on site. Students will learn to deal with archival material and with digital sources of information, and to evaluate them in creative storytelling.
The seminar is offered an accompaniment to an in-depth thesis (Vertiefungsarbeit) dealing with topics such as excursions in the Anthropocene, sustainability, and the role of architecture in this new age. - VVZ:
- 052-0824-22
- Department:
- D-ARCH
- Level:
- BSc & MSc
- Size:
- 8 - 35 students
- Type:
- Graded Semester Performance
- Teaching Power:
- 3 experts
- Assessment:
- The assessment of the seminar was based on the level of engagement throughout the semester, the incorporation of feedback, the level of creativity, and the consideration of deadlines.
