Society of Architectural Historians
SAH Conference in Austin, Texas
April 9 - 13, 2014

Panel:Shaping Postmodern Architecture: The Medium is the Message

As recent scholarship has pointed out “the history of the architectural media is much more than a footnote to the history of architecture”. Ever since the late 18th century, architectural exhibitions and periodicals played an essential role in the dissemination of architectural culture. Emphasizing the work of certain architects, and belittling that of others, they introduced movements and constructed new tendencies, while theoretically and critically shaping architectural discourse. If a number of scholars reconsidered the role of these media in the modern era, their significance for the postmodern decades has only just been opened up.

Relying heavily on the circulation of images, postmodernism has always been intertwined with the media. In their critique of the Modern Movement, and in their exploration of a new spatial and visual culture, architectural exhibitions and periodicals played an essential role in critically shaping postmodern architecture. As hypothetical spaces these media contributed to the development of new architectural approaches, providing an alternative to the built project. As discursive platforms they enhanced transatlantic or paneurean encounters. As critical practices they extended the role of the architect beyond its traditional boundaries, functioning as vehicles for research-based design.

This session welcomes presentations that address postmodern architectural exhibitions and periodicals as forms of discourse. How did exhibitions and magazines prompted transatlantic exchanges and cultural transfers? How did these media influence the discursive frameworks in which architectural theory took shape? To what extend were postmodern exhibitions and periodicals a response to the end of the “grand narratives”? And how did these media enhance the role of history and historiography in the postmodern era?

Please submit proposals by June 1, 2013 to: Véronique Patteeuw, École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture-Paysage de Lille; vpatteeuwgmail.com

AND

Léa-Catherine Szacka, Labex Cap/Centre Pompidou/École Nationale Supérieure Architecture de Paris LaVillette; lcszackagmail.com
florence.brachetchampsaur.eu