Historical Practices, 1999 – 2013

2013-09-23

Gissen, David

"In this talk I will examine the idea of historical practices such as reconstruction, archiving, reenactment, and counter factual history (among others) within the context of architecture and landscape.  Rather than simply forms of historical realism, I see these practices as possible techniques of agitation, speculation, and provocation in contemporary architectural practice. I'll briefly examine these practices in a few iconic examples from the history of architecture. Following this, I’ll discuss ideas of historical practices through a series of my own projects. My own work tends to further entangle the above forms of historical practice with socio-natural themes, the history of degraded environments, the history of urban radicalism, and the concerns of a future, liberatory mode of subjectivity."

Dean's Forum Lecture, Campbell Hall

Architecture; Landscape architecture

School of Architecture Lectures

University of Virginia School of Architecture