On Power in Architecture #2: A Phenomenological Perspective | Symposium
13 September 2018, 10:00–16:00
Venue: Museum of Architecture and Design, Ljubljana
Speakers: Andrew Benjamin, Dean Komel, Jeff Malpas, Luka Skansi, Peter Trawny
At the second symposium of the series On Power in Architecture, internationally renowned philosophers (Andrew Benjamin, Dean Komel, Jeff Malpas, Peter Trawny) and an architectural historian (Luka Skansi) will examine architecture in regard not only to its heterogeneous relationship to power using a selected case study, but this time from a phenomenological perspective.
Slovenian philosopher Dean Komel will sketch a possible phenomenological approach to the problem of “power within architecture” to rethink how architecture can play a critical role in addressing different positions of social power, rather than finding self-satisfaction as their subservient toy. Australian philosopher Andrew Benjamin will talk about architecture of the counter-measure and about possibilities for an architecture beyond nihilism. Australian philosopher Jeff Malpas will focus on architecture in the age of technological capitalism. Croatian architectural historian Luka Skansi will approach the topics of “power in architecture” and “phenomenology in architecture” through a specific case study – monuments built in Socialist Yugoslavia to commemorate the World War II battles and genocides that occurred during the Nazi-Fascist occupation. And finally, German philosopher Peter Trawny will base his case study on the favelas of Rio de Janeiro to discuss the power of the powerless and elaborate on another understanding of power in architecture.
Architecture has served throughout history as one of the most prominent tools of power, functioning as both its representation and its manifestation, embedded as it is within the public and the private realm.
The symposia series aims to enable a theoretically relevant discussion on the topic while gathering renowned thinkers to propose concepts upon which to reflect on the intertwined relation between power and architecture.
Pre-event, 12 September 2018, 18:00, Faculty of Architecture, Ljubljana
A conversation between Mladen Dolar & Andrew Benjamin.
Detailed programme with abstracts and biographies of the lecturers.
The programme will be in English. Entry is free of charge.
Organized by: Igor Zabel Association for Culture and Theory, Ljubljana in collaboration with Mateja Kurir
Partners: MAO − Museum of Architecture and Design; Faculty of Architecture, University of Ljubljana; ERSTE Foundation; Goethe-Institut Ljubljana; Outsider magazine
Venues:
Faculty of Architecture, Zoisova 12, Ljubljana
MAO − Museum of Architecture and Design, Grad Fužine, Pot na Fužine 2, Ljubljana