Description
Optional Visual Studies Seminar / SCI-Arc Spring 2017
Faculty: Elena Manferdini
TWONESS
Instructor: Elena Manferdini (manferdini@ateliermanferdini.com)
Course Meetings: Wednesday 10:00 AM to 1PM (south PC lab)
The seminar will look closely at the relationship between copy and original in architecture; in particular the
class will build upon the argument formulated by Derrida that a copy produces the original as the original. This
argument has been often used by Jeff Kipnis to describe the pedagogical role of history for an architect. In his
opinion, history (which can be seen as the supreme source of material to be copied) should be used opportunistically
as a catalogue that informs the creation of effects, not as an ethical compass able to establish hierarchical
relationships between what is original or not. He argues for a liberating approach to ?copy? that informs the
positioning of a project in the discipline, rather than a judgment value on originality.
This seminar