9th AHRA Conference "Architecture and the Paradox of Dissidence"

9th AHRA Conference "Architecture and the Paradox of Dissidence" hosted by the Faculty of Architecture and Spatial Design, London Metropolitan University, 15-17th November 2012. Keynote speakers include Keller Easterling, Felicity D. Scott, Alexander Brodsky, David Crowley and Srdjan Jovanovic Weiss. Conference Director: Dr Ines Weizman Conference Synopsis: This conference aims to reflect on the relevance of the concept of dissidence for architectural practice today. Although dissidence has been primarily associated with architectural practices in the Eastern Bloc at the end of the Cold War period, contemporary architectural and other aesthetic practices have in recent years developed a host of new methodologies and techniques for articulating their distance from and critique of dominant political and financial structures. Architecture and the Paradox of Dissidence asks how we can conceive of the contemporary political problems and paradoxes of architecture in relation to their precedents? Devoid of the agency of action, Cold War dissidents articulated their positions in drawings of fantasy-like paper architecture, while contemporary forms of architectural practice seem to gravitate towards activism and direct-action in the world. The political issues – from interventions in charged areas worldwide to research in conflict zones and areas undergoing transformations – currently stimulate a field of abundant invention in contemporary architecture. Both, Cold War dissidents and contemporary activists encounter problems and paradoxes and must navigate complex political force fields within which possible complicities are inherent risks. This conference seeks to map out and expand on the methodologies of architectural action and reinvigorate the concept of dissent within the architectural/spatial field of the possible. … Dr Ines Weizman Senior Lecturer London Metropolitan University Department of Architecture & Spatial Design Spring House 40-44 Holloway Road London N7 8JL http://www.dissidence.org.uk/ [email protected]