Between 2015-2017 I acted as Assistant Prof. (Wiss. Mitarbeiterin) to Prof. Hehl for the Architecture Design Innovation Program (ADIP) in the faculty of architecture at the Technical University (TU) Berlin. Art & Life was a talk given as part of design studio input for master students designing Performative Structures for The Architecture of Future Adaptability under the premise Scarcity & Plentitude.
THE ARCHITECTURE OF FUTURE ADAPTABILITY
PERFORMATIVE STRUCTURES
SCARCITY AND PLENTITUDE
If scarcity represents one of the driving forces for future development, then the standards we presume given must also change. In line with Oscar Hansen’s criticism of standardized production, leading to what he called ‘Closed Form’, reductive standards for the management of restricted resources ought to be scrutinized. Rather than reducing living quality to a bare minimum through a regime of efficiency, here the problem of scarcity is considered an opportunity to rethink the way spaces could be inhabited collectively.
With this in mind the second part of the 2015-2016 master studio focused on the performative qualities of cohabitation - looking at a wide range of artistic practices. Programmatic and atmospheric aspects were investigated for their influence on interaction between the individual and collective. Art objects, installations and performances served as testinng ground for engendering new sensibilities and used to rethink the perception and use of architectures. The translation of concepts from art to architectural design also aimed to contextualize project development in a wider range of social and political practices.
How can architectural production gain relevance in adressing new constellations between individual and collective interests? What are the procedures, protocols and spatial conditions that would trigger a dialogue between various interest groups? How far can architecture become a device for social and political change?
By tackling the relationship between structure and performance, the master studio engaged with an urban future that learns from various practices and combines them for hybridized design solutions.