26.10. - 26.10.2020

On the Visual Atlas

7 PM

Roundtable discussion with F.A.T.  (Forum for Architecture Theory) and Mariabruna Fabrizi (Microcities/SOCKS).
Language: English
Registration (limited to 25 participants)
Admission: free

As part of the exhibition «Tsuyoshi Tane: Archaeology of the Future» at the S AM Swiss Architecture Museum, the Zurich-based collective Forum for Architecture Theory (F.A.T.) is hosting a roundtable discussion on the topic «Visual Atlas: Between Abstraction and Phenomena».
The visual atlas is a method of design research that has enjoyed renewed interest in recent years. Publications such as «The Images of Architects» by Valerio Olgiati (Simonett & Baer, 2013), «Eduardo Souto de Moura: Atlas de Parede, Imagens de Metodo» (Dafne Editora, 2011), and «Herzog & De Meuron, Natural History” (Lars Müller Publishers, 2002) are prominent contemporary examples of this approach, in which various, often decontextualized images are brought together on the basis of certain affinities.
Visual atlases navigate between what Peter Eisenman has called the «abstract» and the «phenomenal»: while these heterogeneous collections of images appear arbitrary at first, they are in fact charged with conceptual meaning and accordingly organized as interpretational frameworks.
The approach finds its most prominent predecessor in the «Mnemosyne Atlas» by Aby Warburg, a radical attempt to provide a tool for navigating the entire history of iconography. Architects nowadays tend to lack this universal ambition, however, using this tool for different purposes. Atlases have become open forms, depositories of information that function as internally coherent systems and which are capable of generating multiple narratives. Sometimes they are maps tailored to a specific project, like in Tsuyoshi Tane’s work; sometimes they influence the whole poetics of an architect.
Together with Mariabruna Fabrizi of Microcities/SOCKS Studio, the event will examine this visual method of research and its capacity to generate ideas for architecture. It will offer a comparative approach based on two foundational texts, each representing a different method. The texts will be distributed among participants upon registration.

Due to the current social distancing measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, all of our events have limited capacity and prior registration is mandatory. Please register by writing to event@sam-basel.org with your full name and telephone number, and the event title in the subject line.
 

Photo: Mnemosyne Picture Atlas, Aby Warburg, 1928-29