Are we architects? - Miodrag Kuč

The Faculty of Architecture of the Brno University of Technology, in collaboration with the Gallery of Architecture Brno and the Student Community of the Faculty of Architecture, invites you to a lecture by interdisciplinary artist and urban theorist Miodrag Kuča "The Culture of Dissent: Politicization of Spatial Practices", which is part of the lecture series "Are We Architects? On Education, the Architectural Profession, and Institutional Critique". The event will take place on Thursday, November 7, 2019, at 7:00 PM in lecture room A117 at the Faculty of Architecture, Poříčí 5, Brno. The lecture will be in English.

The Culture of Dissent, Politicization of Spatial Practices
As traditional universities have lost their monopoly on the production of knowledge in spatial disciplines, we should ask ourselves where young architects can gain practically oriented experience outside of endless internships in architectural offices. On the other hand, the confusing constructed reality driven by the dynamics of the real estate market and the precarious sector of art and culture, in which some architects engage, is fraught with various pitfalls. What strategies can we use to repoliticize urban development? How can we liberate the architect from the role of “an instrument in the hands of power” and make them rather a listener, moderator, and critical voice of the affected and marginalized?

Miodrag Kuča is an interdisciplinary artist and urban theorist, trained as an architect and urban planner in various cultural environments. His work addresses the role of ephemeral structures in uncertain urban conditions and spatial interventions by marginalized social groups. He is the founder of the studio ParaArtFormations, which operates at the intersection of urban studies, performative planning, artistic intervention, and micropolitics. He currently leads a program and research unit at ZK/U Berlin (Center for Art and Urbanism), which explores new ways of producing knowledge through the lens of critical urban pedagogy.

Are We Architects? On Education, the Architectural Profession, and Institutional Critique
In the past fifteen years, architectural education has been under dual pressure. One direction stems from the recalibration of the institutional framework of higher education and is associated with what is sometimes referred to as the "research turn." In response to increasing demands and performance in research, schools of architecture and design have articulated a vaguely defined approach called "research by design." This "evasion" clearly indicates an epistemological divide between architecture and more methodologically anchored scientific disciplines that conduct research without qualifiers. Essentially the same problem, but this time coming from the outside, is often formulated as the problem of theory and practice. This direction of criticism often points to the detachment of architectural education from real issues and the applicability of architectural research to real life. The question of relevance is precisely the acupoint that connects doubts about the relationship between academia and architectural practice, and thus doubts about the relevance of the architectural profession to the current "Society." Through this process, an epistemological question about the nature of architectural teaching and research becomes an ontological question: How do we, as architects, relate to the surrounding world and what role do we want to play in it?

The lecture series "Are We Architects? On Education, the Architectural Profession, and Institutional Critique" is held with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the statutory city of Brno, and the Czech Architecture Foundation.