Research Lara Schrijver

Abstract

Women Building Brazil (WBB) seeks to underscore women's contributions to architecture and construction in Brazil, particularly in contexts of self-building. Its main objective is to address the neglect of both women and informal building practices in architectural and construction history, especially in the global South. The project will tackle that double historical gap by gathering personal stories and documentation on women builders. Its premise is that women's involvement in self-construction was actually quite common in vernacular architecture but has been affected by the introduction of new building technologies and materials. Expanding our disciplinary scope to include vernacular contexts, WBB employs a novel method combining oral history with disruptive archival research methods and community-based participatory practices, guided by feminist and decolonial principles. This approach will be applied in three territories in Brazil where self-building remains a prevalent custom: quilombos (afro-Brazilian communities), indigenous territories and favelas (urban informal settlements). These distinct settings offer new insights to help recover, analyse, and acknowledge women's construction know-how. The outcomes of WBB include an oral history archive and a public video collection. The participatory process will also generate a memory artefact, co-created with interviewed women with the purpose of recognizing their expertise and strengthening their building autonomy. In summary, WBB offers a new methodological approach to a growing field of construction history and a gendered analysis that contributes to the broader discipline of architectural history. It maintains a commitment to open science through its research methodology and participatory practices, ensuing constant dissemination of its results. Most importantly, WBB actively seeks ways of empowering women in construction, giving them voice and reaffirming the relevance of their know-how.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Bertels Inge
• Co-promoter: Schrijver Lara
• Fellow: de Moura Cruz Mariana

Research team(s)

• Henry van de Velde

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

'Building Insights' addresses 'knowing' in architecture by exploring traditional craftsmanship in relation to codified knowledge systems. Focusing on an apprenticeship in traditional stone masonry in Greece, it aims to recover overlooked architectural knowledge and to elucidate obscured aspects of the cultural agency of architecture. Through the apprenticeship, this project reveals how processes of building engage with 'lower' levels of bodily disposition - the embodied knowledge of craft - and 'higher' levels of intellect and intuition - architectural thinking. Within this tension, the experience of the craftsperson (and the architect) is developed, as well as their intuition, their ability to think-in-action and to creatively respond to real situations and problems. The close study of the apprenticeship unpacks how preand early modern ways of building have yielded places with a strong evocative potential and a distinct communicative power. By investigating the participatory reconstruction of a dry-stone kalderimi (cobbled pathway), the project shows the value of an architecture that attunes different spheres of experience, kinds of knowledge and areas of culture. The project focuses on the role of habit and skill in practice-based knowledge. It utilizes Michael Polanyi's concept of Indwelling to explain how a heuristic tension unfolds from the 'depths' of our biological being to the 'heights' of ideas and cultural values, underlying all forms of knowing. The spatial and temporal metaphor of Indwelling articulates how human consciousness is opened to knowledge primarily through our physical engagement with the world, situated in space and time. To unravel the different dimensions of architectural activity, the research employs tools drawn from different epistemes of architectural theory (Avermaete 2021). The (auto)ethnographic study of the apprenticeship shows a lived experience of architecture, which embraces practical, symbolic and imaginary levels, while its discourses and epistemes tend to disconnect from these evocative dimensions. By illuminating the steps from the 'lower' to the 'higher' dimensions of the built environment, it shows how specific cultural contexts and value systems affect the fundamental perspectives of architectural theory, even contradicting established perspectives. As a whole, the project explores these instances of tacit knowledge embedded in a particular craft and particular site, resulting in a better understanding of the role of tacit knowing and how architecture can address new and pressing issues in the complex condition of the built environment.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Schrijver Lara
• Fellow: Sklavounos Ionas

Research team(s)

• Henry van de Velde

Project website

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The research project departs from the observation that the invention of new types of media for architectural representation in history coincides with developments in architectural paradigms and styles at the time. The project proposes to examine this apparent relationship by (1) developing an original contribution to architectural history through the analysis of six case studies and (2) by building a conceptual framework within which to understand the active role these media have in the formation of ideas, designs, and knowledge, focused on the material qualities of these media. The research will study (1) the transformation of military cartography into architectural drawings in 17th century France, in relation with the advent of geometrical landscape design; (2) the commercialisation of tracing paper in 18th century Central-Europe, in relation with the rise of eclecticism in architecture, (3) the adoption of casts and moulds as a means of studying architecture in 19th century Western Europe, in relation with an accelerated development of architectural eclecticism, (4) the commercialisation of photography at the turn of the century, in relation with the modernist avant-garde, (5) the use of collage in architectural practice of the midtwentieth century, coinciding with a visionary, speculative architecture, (6) the implementation of Computer Aided Drawing in architectural practice by the end of 20th century, in relation to parametric design.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Schrijver Lara
• Fellow: Decroos Bart

Research team(s)

• Henry van de Velde

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

In architecture, the material presence of buildings is often understood as the expression of other, immaterial concerns. This holds true in both architectural research and the education of architects. (Thomas 2007, Moravánszky 2017). This PhD project reverses the approach, focusing directly on the material itself and its role in architecture. In order to do so, it provides an in-depth study of the introduction of the iron column as a building element from 1840. Three historical cases demonstrate the transformations engendered by this new material and its influence on the common architectural vocabulary. As such, it combines the perspectives of practice-based building analysis to illuminate the genesis of the design, and architecture theory, discussing the meaning of a material as part of a building culture. Three well known public buildings in Europe from 1872 (Bibliothèque Nationale Paris, Henri Labrouste), 1906 (Sparkasse Vienna, Otto Wagner) and 1968 (Nationalgalerie Berlin, Mies van der Rohe) are revisited as material 'micro-histories'. All projects can be considered hinge points in their use of respectively cast iron, rolled iron, and steel. Specific drawing techniques and material biographies traced the iron through delving, production, and different design steps to the final work. In all three cases the technical evolution of iron fundamentally challenged architectural conventions, and afforded the formulation of new architectural ideas. In each case, the architects' working drawings and sketchbooks provide insight into the process of learning to read, understand and apply these material innovations. The second part of the research focused on how a material innovation becomes integrated into an existing building culture. The archeological method of 'seriations': series of iron columns drawn of buildings relevant for the cases, reveal how material concepts grow, disappear and resurface, in a continuous process of (re)charging. As a whole, the PhD defines methods and a vocabulary to address the role of materials in the design process, as a driver for the evolution of building culture and it describes the knowledge needed in architecture to work from materials. It provides a theoretical framework for understanding mechanisms of material transformation, as a process informed by both innovation and continuities. This new awareness will help to address future material practices and the integration of material innovations in building culture.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Schrijver Lara
• Fellow: Schreurs Eireen

Research team(s)

• Henry van de Velde

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This research project studies the evolution of small, medium and large post-war construction sites in an international comparative perspective. By doing so, the project aims to shift away from the traditional architectural historical research and critique, which focuses on the architectural design and the built result, monofunctional studies on materials or experts in the field. By focusing on the building process, an integrated social and cultural approach is the point of departure. This cultural approach aims to demonstrate how different actors in the field collaborated (or not) and how besides designs, also words, hands and tools constructed our built environment. By doing so, the project not only answers the recurrent contemporary need to understand the evolution of our architectural practice, but also fills a gap in the current international debate within the field of construction history. Moreover, the construction site as a locus for theoretical reflection focuses the developing discourse on architecture as material culture through the lens of its practices.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Bertels Inge
• Co-promoter: Schrijver Lara
• Fellow: Angillis Jelle

Research team(s)

• Henry van de Velde

Project website

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

'TACK / Communities of Tacit Knowledge: Architecture and its Ways of Knowing' is an Innovative Training Network within the European Framework Program Horizon 2020. It focuses on understanding the specific knowledge that architects use when designing buildings and cities. TACK gathers ten academic institutions, three architectural institutions and nine architecture offices to offer a PhD training program on the nature of tacit knowledge in architecture, with ten PhD projects situated in three clusters and one overview project. 'Approaching tacit knowledge' investigates tacit knowledge from a theoretical and methodological perspective. It examines how material vectors, such as drawings, plans and models function as mediators of tacit knowledge. 'Probing tacit knowledge' addresses concrete cases of how tacit knowledge operates. It investigates the implicit codes and conventions of contemporary architectural practice and the role of tacit knowledge in negotiating the complex assemblages of architectural practice, design and teaching. 'Situating tacit knowledge' develops new theoretical concepts and new heuristic approaches to examine tacit knowledge in architectural practice. It explores how value-systems inherent to specific cultural contexts affect the perception of tacit knowledge in architecture, and how self-reflexivity can clarify the functioning of tacit knowledge. 'Transmitting tacit knowledge' investigates how tacit knowledge operates in architectural teaching and learning, and which methods and which tools are employed to transmit tacit knowledge in architectural pedagogy. As a whole, the network explores and conceptualizes the very character of tacit knowledge to better understand its possible roles in addressing new and pressing issues in the built environment from alternative vantage points.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Schrijver Lara

Research team(s)

• Henry van de Velde

Project website

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The research project departs from the observation that the invention of new types of media for architectural representation in history coincides with developments in architectural paradigms and styles at the time. The project proposes to examine this apparent relationship by (1) developing an original contribution to architectural history through the analysis of six case studies and (2) by building a conceptual framework within which to understand the active role these media have in the formation of ideas, designs, and knowledge, focused on the material qualities of these media. The research will study (1) the transformation of military cartography into architectural drawings in 17th century France, in relation with the advent of geometrical landscape design; (2) the commercialisation of tracing paper in 18th century Central-Europe, in relation with the rise of eclecticism in architecture, (3) the adoption of casts and moulds as a means of studying architecture in 19th century Western Europe, in relation with an accelerated development of architectural eclecticism, (4) the commercialisation of photography at the turn of the century, in relation with the modernist avant-garde, (5) the use of collage in architectural practice of the midtwentieth century, coinciding with a visionary, speculative architecture, (6) the implementation of Computer Aided Drawing in architectural practice by the end of 20th century, in relation to parametric design.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Schrijver Lara
• Fellow: Decroos Bart

Research team(s)

• Henry van de Velde

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Today, landscape design plays an increasingly important role in ecological development and infrastructure planning, leading to a disciplinary realignment between landscape designers, ecologists and engineers. Current research and design proposals on 'metropolitan landscapes' in Belgium tie in with international trends in design, based on two main concepts: (1) a balance between 'the urban' and 'the natural' and (2) the potential of landscape design to act as an integrative instrument for several disciplines and experts. However, these concepts are not new. This PhD project aims at mobilizing a historical understanding of the role of landscape design in relation to: (1) a complex field of knowledge production, policy making and planning and (2) shifting conceptions of city and nature in Belgium since the early 20th century. In doing so, the research adds academic and indeed historical profundity to current design discourse as well as contributes to recent developments in urban history. The research follows an inductive method: an original contribution to existing historiography and theory in the field is built up through case study analysis. The PhD is based on three case studies which allow to explore shifting alliances between designers, scientists, engineers and policy makers in Belgium between 1900 and today, with Brussels as geographical focus: (1) ca. 1900-1929: biologist Jean Massart and landscape designer/urban planner Louis Van der Swaelmen, who developed an 'ethologic' view on landscape design and a 'sociobiologist' theory on urban planning; (2) 1951-1989: landscape designer René Pechère and the Service of the Green Plan, reconciling landscape design and engineering within the conception of the Belgian territory as a garden; (3) 1974-2016: biologist Paul Duvigneaud and the Brussels Agglomeration, developing the scientific field of urban ecology and bringing it into practice in designs of parks, corridors and networks for the Brussels Region. Following a literature review, these case studies are subject to a network, discourse as well as design analysis, with the following questions in mind: In which (inter)national networks did landscape designers operate? Which discourses on the urban and the natural were developed? In what sense were terms as 'sociobiology', 'biotechnics' and 'metabolism' used and how did their meaning evolve? How did the alliance with ecology and infrastructure affect the design and vice versa? The case study research is based on published sources as well as archival research, in the two most recent cases complemented by interviews. The PhD research develops a new methodological approach charting transformation of landscape design through its shifting relations with other disciplines. Moreover, it offers new perspectives on on-going academic discussions, in both urban history and urban design, and uncovers a new body of archival and other sources. The project is especially innovative because: (1) it approaches ecology and engineering from a landscape design perspective, which will introduce a new way of studying disciplines and fields of knowledge that have until now very often been studied separately; (2) it introduces ideological, sociocultural and aesthetical perspectives in a hitherto technical discussion; (3) it will set a crucial step in the development of landscape design history in Belgium as an academic discipline.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Notteboom Bruno
• Promoter: Schrijver Lara
• Co-promoter: De Block Greet
• Fellow: Danneels Koenraad

Research team(s)

• Henry van de Velde

Project type(s)

• Research Project