Infrastructure and Gender Autumn 2018

‘In effect, the demand for infrastructure is a demand for a certain kind of inhabitable ground, and its meaning and force derives precisely from that lack… it seems that the space of appearance is not ever fully separable from questions of infrastructure and architecture.’ (Judith Butler, 2014).

‘…infrastructure can be defined as those systems, works, and networks upon which the function of any system of human inhabitation is reliant.’(Dane Carlson, 2013)

‘Logistics infrastructure manifests as roads, railways, shipping ports, intermodal terminals, airports, and communications facilities and technologies. Logistics infrastructure enables the movement of labor, commodities, and data across global supply chains.’ (Ned Rossiter, 2017)

‘In the retinal afterglow is a soupy matrix of details and repeatable formulas that generate most of the space of the world–what we might call infrastructure space.’ (Keller Easterling, 2014)

Feminist theorist Judith Butler argues that the demand for infrastructure is a basic demand for inhabitable ground, and the political space of appearance is never separable from questions of infrastructure and architecture. Though they tend to recede into the background, architecturally augmented infrastructures are everywhere, supporting the transports and communications of everyday life. Human and non-human modes of inhabitation rely on the material and immaterial infrastructures that sustain them. When infrastructures fail, society falters, and risks falling into disarray. Using a weblog this Critical Studies in Architecture seminar focuses on (architectural) infrastructures by emphasizing intersections between gender and architecture. We are also joined by the Architecture and Gender Further Education participants (AD236V).

SCHEDULE  

Wednesday 12 September– Introduction 13.00-15.00 (AD236V FEX participants continue-15.30-17.00) VENUE KTH Architecture A108

  1. Gendered Infrastructures

Wednesday 19 September-13.00-15.00 and 15.30-17.30, VENUE: KTH Architecture A108

  1. Infrastructural Vulnerabilities
  2. Infrastructural Instruments

Reserve Wednesday 31st October, 13.00-18.00 for a wikiD session: a collaborative event uploading the biographies of women and other minority architects into Wikipedia. For more information see READINGS: https://archandphil.wordpress.com/category/01_readings/)

Wednesday 10 October– 13.00-15.00 and 15.30-17.30 VENUE: KTH Architecture A124

  1. Infrastructural Love
  2. Infrastructural Affect

Wednesday 14 November– 13.00-15.00 and 15.30-17.30 VENUE: KTH Architecture A124

  1. Infrastructural Maintenance
  2. Infrastructural Care

Wednesday 28 November– Conclusion 13.00-15.00 and 15.30-17.00 VENUE: KTH Architecture A124

  1. Final Presentations

TASKS

To successfully complete this seminar you are required to:

1. Attend 80% of the course.

2. Respond to the 7 tasks set out in relation to the weekly readings. Readings and Weekly tasks are found at: https://archandphil.wordpress.com/category/01_readings/  Responses to tasks are uploaded one day before the relevant seminar to the seminar blog: https://archandphil.wordpress.com/category/02_discussion/

3. Complete a final submission, presented in draft form during the final seminar meeting (Wednesday 28 November), then submitted in final form two weeks after the seminar has concluded. The final submission compiles the 7 tasks in one booklet. This is to be composed as an instruction booklet dedicated to the care and maintenance of an (architectural) infrastructure of your own choosing. To the 7 tasks you are required to add: a title, a contents page, an introduction (500-800 words) a bibliography. The final submission in pdf form is to be uploaded to the seminar blog at: https://archandphil.wordpress.com/category/03_projects/Please add the title of your submission, and a brief description when you upload your pdf.

Further instructions: The representational approach to this seminar will place an emphasis on diagrammatic line drawings and instructions-for-use inspired drawings. See for example: Wajiro Kon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wajiro_Kon) and Atelier Bow-Wow drawing methodology.

REGISTER TO THE BLOG: To participate in this seminar you need to register to this BLOG. Once I have all your email addresses I will be able to send you an invitation to join this WordPress BLOG, when you receive this invitation please follow the link and fill in your details. I will offer a brief introduction to using the BLOG during our first meeting. If you have any queries please email me at: helene.frichot[AT]arch.kth.se