LEAP Seminar (2022/04/05): Post-Covid Architecture (A Latourian Perspective)

Date: April 5, 2022 at 5:45 PM

Location: Amphitheatre 3110, Faculté de l’aménagement, Université de Montréal

This conference about post-pandemic architecture was held by Albena Yaneva, Professor of Architectural Theory at the University of Manchester and Director of the Manchester Architecture Research Group [MARG].

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised new questions about the interrelationships between architecture, science and society – questions that remained latent in professional practice. Based on a ‘remote ethnography’ experiment and a questionnaire sent to 130 architectural practices worldwide, this conference aims to show the extent of the transformative potential that the crisis has exerted on architects’ practices. This analysis is based on the sociological theory of French philosopher Bruno Latour and provides a redefinition of “agency” and its fluctuations in architectural design in a post-COVID world. The Latourian pragmatic approach allows us to treat human and non-human objects of collective life in a symmetrical way. By re-evaluating the role of techniques, objects and materials in the practices of architects, it allows – by the same token – a new reflection on the social dimension of architecture and the forms of political, social and ethical associations that allow for both urban and planetary living together.

The event was organized by the Canada Research Chair in Competitive Architecture and Mediations of Excellence (CRC-ACME) and the inter-university team of the Laboratoire d’étude de l’architecture potentielle (LEAP)

If you wish to learn more about Albena Yaneva, feel free to consult her recent and upcoming publications.

Recent books :
The New Architecture of Science: Learning from Graphene. Singapore: World Scientific
Crafting History: Archiving and the Quest for Architectural Legacy, Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.

Forthcoming:
Latour for Architects (Thinkers for Architects), London: Routledge.
Architecture after Covid, London: Bloomsbury Publishing.

Presentation by : Jean-Pierre Chupin, CRC-ACME Full Professor, Coordinator of the Laboratory for the Study of Potential Architecture.
Information: jean-pierre.chupin@umontreal.ca