Author(s): Shantanu Bhalla
The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture鈥檚 Architectonicsstudio, the very first course in the school鈥檚 curriculum,presents a curious threshold between non-architect andarchitect, to address the fundamentals of creati ve inventi on.Unpacking the pedagogical archive, maintained rigorouslyby the school, reveals, from a body of studio exercises andwork, holistic and critical methods to access spatial ideas,elements and tools that employ a culture of play as 鈥渢hefirst steps鈥 towards a professional educati on in architecture.This research calls into analysis the Architectonics studioinstructed by Elizabeth Diller, from 1983 to 1985, whichembodies a stage of infancy, within the pedagogy of theschool, by creati vely playing with鈥攂ending and extending鈥攅stablished 鈥渞ules鈥 of the discipline. Using the Englishpsychoanalyst D.W. Winnicott 鈥檚 concepts in Playing andReality as a lens, this research re-establishes the need for aninfantile place of play, or, 鈥減otential space,鈥 in contemporaryprofessional architectural educati on curricula, to holisticallyaccess new material processes, technologies and tools.
Volume Editors
Jasmine Benyamin, Kyle Reynolds, Mo Zell, Nikole Bouchard & Whitney Moon
ISBN
978-1-944214-28-9