The AAVS Think Tank institutes an itinerant theoretical lab that provides the space for terminological investigations of contemporary global issues, and how they cross over into the field of architecture. This platform offers participants the opportunity to be part of a transdisciplinary, writing-based research group which will gather together various experts from different fields, with the goal of interrogating the spatial translations of a selected notion.
The first AAVS Think Tank will investigate the term throwaway, posited as paradigmatic of destructive human behaviours or the rapid turnover of objects, fashions, aesthetics, and, more broadly, the ethos of today’s culture geared towards ease of replacement and optimisation. Throwaway speaks of how human or non-human subjects and their histories happen to be used, gotten rid of, left out, and unwritten.
As the first edition of this periodic, multidisciplinary research project, the AAVS Think Tank collaborates with IUAV and contextualises the notion of throwaway within the city of Venice. Following Manfredo Tafuri’s seminal lesson, who stated the need for architecture to acknowledge and dismantle capitalist societies’ mechanisms to survive, we will unpack the symbiotic relationship that ensues between the canonical and allegorical architecture of Venice and the cultural imaginary the city both inspires and thrives on.
Venice can be understood as the constructed image of self-reinventing capitalist societies and the authorships of canonically renowned artists, architects, or acclaimed figures. Is it then possible to interrogate the effects of throwaway practices by looking at the images in which an established ideal or shared historical representation of the city is projected?
Through archival research, site visits, critical writing, lectures, and conversations with guest speakers, we will look at what is inside the ‘frame’, what is within the established image of Venice, to then assess what has been left out, thrown away, unwritten or uncaptured. Participants will be invited to challenge and interrogate the term throwaway, in order to produce an online archive and editorial publication that sheds light onto those unwritten histories.
PROMINENT FEATURES OF THE WORKSHOP/ SKILLS DEVELOPED
– Critical thinking
– Architectural theory
– Writing skills
– Transdisciplinary debate
– Archival research
– Academic exposure
– Lecture series
– Prominent critics
– Annual publication
Applications
1) Although not compulsory, participants are encouraged to submit a CV and a sample piece of writing to vsthinktank@aaschool.ac.uk
2) After notification of acceptance, a full payment will be required to be fully registered.
3) You can make an application by completing the online application found under ‘Links and Downloads’ on the right-hand column of this webpage. If you are not able to make an online application, please contact the Visiting School Office for payment instructions.
The deadline for applications is: 7 JULY 2021. Number of places are limited and acceptance is on a first come first serve basis.
PLEASE NOTE: 14-18 JULY (ONLINE), 19-25 JULY (ON-SITE) AND 31 JULY FINAL JURY (ONLINE)
Biographies
PROGRAMME HEADS
REBECCA CARRAI
Rebecca Carrai is a PhD researcher at KU Leuven University and visiting scholar at the Architectural Association. Her work combines interior design and architecture with philosophical and anthropological subjects through various media and multiple forms. Her PhD project, The IKEA Home, aims to offer a novel architectural perspective on the evolution of the home by looking at IKEA’s impact on domestic space, and unpacking the commercial actor’s objects of mediation.
AYLIN GÜREL
Aylin Gürel received her master’s degree from the Architectural Association, where she studied architectural theory and history. Her current research is on migration and displacement in relation to the built environment, visible in forms of cultural growth of societies, collective labor, and art. Currently working as a visiting researcher for the UNESCO Chair on International Relation, her research examines histories and contemporary conditions of human movement as means for cultural processes and political expression.
FRÉDÉRIQUE PARASKEVAS
Frédérique Paraskevas graduated from the Architectural Association as an architect, where her Diploma thesis interrogated the construction of national identities through the appropriation of cultural artefacts and antiquities. Her research explored issues relating to repatriation and the problematic status of national cultural institutions. She has previously taught in the AA Diploma and Experimental Programs, where she continues to run theoretical workshops, in parallel to working independently on directing architectural and design projects for her studio Zunica + Paraskevas, that works between London and Alicante.
PROGRAMME COORDINATORS
Jacopo Galli (IUAV)
Elena Longhin (IUAV)
