Material Histories
This seminar looks at the history of the architecture of the last two centuries by following the thread of the history of materials. We learn from historical examples to assess the consequences of the choices we make as designers.
Nineteenth century water and sewage pipes, from Pierre Pinon, "Atlas du Paris Haussmanien. La ville en héritage, du Second Empire a nos jours", Parisgramme, Paris 2002.
Materials affect the way we engage with a building and carry cultural meanings connected with complex histories, deeply and at times messily intertwined with the social, political and ecological context. In this seminar we look at the history of the architecture of the last two centuries by following the thread of the history of materials. We discuss the ways in which buildings of the past and the practice of architecture were affected by which materials were available, how they were produced, and the craft required to work them. We reflect on how architects interpreted, manipulated or added to those meanings through their own work. Materials’ lifecycles and the networks of extraction, production, transportation and reuse had an impact on the built environment in the past, just as they do today. We learn from historical examples to assess the consequences of the choices we make as designers. Finally, we critically engage with the presence of history as a layer of complexity embedded in the material itself – an effect that is compounded in the practice of reuse of materials with patina, marked from their past use.