Architectural Representation and Modelling (MArch 1)
First week of November 2023 saw the much-anticipated Dialectic Drawing exhibition taking over the top floor of R-Block sharing the work of first year Master of Architecture Students. This presentation not only acts as part of their first formal submission for Architectural Representation and Modelling module but is also a chance for the wider school to get a taste of what is to come from this cohort of students in upcoming years.
Rem Koolhaas, Madelon Vriesendorp, Welfare Palace Hotel, Sunken Medusa Raft, 1975–1976
This year, students were asked to conceptually dialogue drawings from the Drawing Matter collections and respond to them by considering contextual theories, materiality and curation.
Some of these drawings included ‘Welfare Palace Hotel’ by Rem Koolhaus, ‘Group of 5 miscellaneous collages and drawings’ by Karel Lodr and ‘Master Bedroom’ by Robert Bray. They were encouraged to embrace and explore unpredictability, randomness, intuition, playfulness, irony and other apparently unrelated qualities that might play a significant role in contrasting methods of representation.
Robert Bray (1940), Master Bedroom
Many of the students first explored a wider historical, social and personal context to their allocated drawing followed by their own take on the research about the drawings and authors. The result is a collection of layered, meaningful and challenging pieces that demonstrate the value in iteration, playfulness and ‘throwing your all’ into the creative and academic process.
Karel Lodr, Spolecensky Dum, 1930-1940
The exhibition created an opportunity to explore ways of representing conceptual ideas and find ways to respond with two-dimensional media to existing drawings. The responses were conceived as a dialogue established between the students and the attitude of the original artist. The final works showcase the capacity to revisit, iterate and test original architectural concepts, particularly focused on curatorial quality.
The exhibition created an opportunity to explore ways of representing conceptual ideas and find ways to respond with two-dimensional media to existing drawings. The responses were conceived as a dialogue established between the students and the attitude of the original artist. The final works showcase the capacity to revisit, iterate and test original architectural concepts, particularly focused on curatorial quality.
Images below are a selection of works featured at the Dialectic Drawing Exhibition.
Written by: Milly Harvey