29/08/2023 | 18.00 - 20:00 | Online/Graduate School of Architecture, Johannesburg, South Africa
On 29 August, I gave a lecture during the Architecture Week at the Graduate School of Architecture in Johannesburg in South Africa. The recordings are available on youtube.
GSA Architecture Week
The patterns of transformation are not identical but rather zigzagging and diverse. Across traditions, cultures, and disciplines, cross-pollinated spatial practices and expressions of space emerge as signs of resistance, hope, and compassion.
In this talk, we will look at the cross-pollinated spatial practice of “ma”. It emerged from an intercultural exchange between European, North American, and Japanese architectural discourses. This spatial habitus inspires us to address the transformational capacity of architectural space through a focus on movement and performativity. Performative interventions such as zigzagging pathways and somersaulting horizons are introduced as a way to confront, quite literally, the dizzying confrontation with the cosmos and to reorient architectural habit(at)s anew.
In our collective conversation, we will more generally explore alternative visions and varied rhythms to challenge existing ideologies. Together, we question how to remember and how to forget: Which spatial practices need to be shared, and how can we make room for unheard stories? How can ‘ma’ inspire our own work, and how do our bodies become involved in our practices? Because these questions concern everybody, participation by tutors, (visiting) lecturer-practitioners, and GSA staff members is encouraged.