Irina Davidovici: Forms of Practice 2

Gallery VI cordially invites you on February 5, 2018, at 7:00 PM to a lecture by Irina Davidovici "Forms of Practice 2: Swiss Architecture as Shared Knowledge."

Irina Davidovici will address architecture in the German-speaking part of Switzerland during the 1980s and 1990s, which is known worldwide for its formal rigidity, structural rigor, and material tactility. In the first edition of her book Forms of Practice: German-Swiss Architecture 1980–2000 (2012), Davidovici defined herself against this superficial definition of architecture based on its appearance. In contrast, she presented her description of architecture, which is constantly redefined by the diverse and evolving briefs of individual architects and firms, including names such as Diener & Diener, Herzog & de Meuron, Valerio Olgiati, and Peter Zumthor. Their buildings emerge from an ethical foundation, respecting the distinctive characteristics of local culture, which differ among cantons and cities. Their various "forms of practice," as highlighted in the title of the book, are additionally conditioned and connected by a shared cultural, theoretical, and professional background, representing deeper common aspects of Swiss architecture. Davidovici embarks on a series of reflections that led to the second, revised, and expanded edition of her book (2018), bringing into the discussion inherited design approaches as well as new challenges faced by younger representatives of Swiss architectural production. In her lecture, Davidovici will focus on searching for "forms of practice" in the 1980s and 1990s in the context of emerging "communities of practice," which today function across Europe. She proposes that we reassess Swiss architecture and perceive it as a shared body of expertise and an overarching design methodology that transcends generations of professionals and cultural boundaries.

Irina Davidovici is an architect and research fellow at the Department of History and Theory of Urban Planning at ETH Zurich. Her areas of expertise include theories and critiques of contemporary architecture, methodologies of professional education and design in Switzerland and the UK, as well as the history and ideologies of European urban housing. Davidovici has held fellowship positions such as Harvard GSD Richard Rogers Fellow (2018), gta Postdoctoral Fellow (2016–2017), and SNF Marie Heim-Vögtlin Fellow (2014–2016) at ETH Zurich. Previously, she taught the history and theory of architecture at Kingston University (2008–2013). In 2008, she obtained a PhD in the history and philosophy of architecture from the University of Cambridge and the following year received the RIBA President's Research Award for outstanding dissertation work. She participated in the joint research project Flora Ruchat-Roncati at ETH Zurich 1985–2002; she is currently completing her habilitation thesis titled Collective Grounds: Housing Estates and the European City, 1865–1940. In addition to the book Forms of Practice: German-Swiss Architecture 1980–2000 (2012, second expanded edition 2018), she has published articles in journals such as AA Files, ARCH+, Casabella, OASE, Joehlo, and Project Journal, and edited the publication Colquhounery: Alan Colquhoun from Bricolage to Myth (AA Publications, 2015).

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