4.313/4.312
Advanced Studio on the Production of Space:
“Land-Grab Pavilion”
Instructor: Gediminas Urbonas
Telephone: 617-324-6471
Office: N51-342
urbonas@mit.edu
Teaching Assistant: Gina Badger
gbadger@mit.edu
Mondays and Wednesdays 2:00-5:00pm, in N52-342
Level: H/U
Units: 3-3-6
Prerequisites: for 4.312: 4.301 or 4.302, or permission of instructor;
Prerequisites for 4.313: permission of instructor.
Conceptual Framework
Space is an actively produced social phenomenon. This basic insight from Henri Lefebvre’s canonical text The Production of Space provides this class with both its name and its preliminary set of assumptions. More specifically, this class will investigate the spatial politics of the pavilion, as they emerge through the Venice Biennale. At the Biennale, the (national) pavilion has come to embody a complex network of political relationships, which we will investigate through two major avenues: territory and knowledge.
This class will engage critically with the Biennale’s historical and present-day role in affirming or denying certain cultural groups as legitimate participants in international debates. The political stakes of the pavilion will become explicit by looking at the relationships between pavilions at the Venice Biennale and their relationships to cultural and political entities. We will consider territorial practices such the “land grab,” occupation and settlement, as they impact the recognition of cultural groups as legitimate political entities.
In the Biennale, the pavilion has traditionally been organized according to the logic of a gallery or a museum. This class will focus on developing alternatives to traditional methods of procurement, organization and display of objects and knowledge. Through the development of educational tools, strategies and designs, we will propose a critical alternative to didactic educational spaces.
Assignments
The “Land-Grab Pavilion” will be a collectively produced proposal for a contestatory pavilion at the 2010 Venice Architectural Biennale. The primary outcome of the class will be a single proposal, consisting of any number of possible elements (including a publication, models, &c, to be determined by the student group by mid-term). The pavilion need not be a discrete, enclosed space, but a way of producing relations and knowledge.
For midterm and final reviews, each student will be responsible for an individual presentation of her or his progress and contributions to the group project. In addition, each student will be responsible for weekly readings (20-30 pages), class attendance, and active participation in discussions.
As a part of the Visual Arts Program, the coursework will focus on research as creative practice. We will operate according to a transdisciplinary artistic methodology, making full use of the skill sets and interests of our student team, including sketches, modeling, mapping, writing and so on.
Preliminary List of Authors
Bryan, Bradley. “Property is Ontology.”
Foucault, Michel. The Order of Things.
Harvey, David. Limits to Capital.
Lefebvre, Henri. The Production of Space.
Marx, Karl. Capital.
Podesva, Kristina Lee. “A Pedagogical Turn: Brief Notes on Education as Art.”
Proudhon, Pierre-Joseph. What is Property? Or, An Inquiry into the Principle of Right and of Government.
Weizman, Eyal et al. A Civilian Occupation: The Politics of Israeli Architecture.
Enrollment is limited; please attend the Friday, September 11 class to enroll.
