2023
Critically Fit
Structures and Methodologies of Doctoral
Research

AR-677, 2 Credits
Doctoral Seminar
9 - 10 November 2023
9h45 CET SG Foyer EPFL & Zoom 
Language: English

Chaired by
Charlotte Malterre-Barthes
Summer Islam
Nagy Makhlouf

Invited Speakers: Dr. Huda Tayob (Manchester), Dr. Kim Förester (Manchester), Dr. Michaela Büsse (HU Berlin), Dr.Nishat Awan (UCL)

Doctoral research can be considered a device to transform the industry and the discipline at large. The aim of this course is to prompt and discuss work how performative, critical and contemporary research in architecture is articulated — its structure and methodolgy within dissertations. This two-days seminar will follow the broad themes of Justice, Extraction/Materials, Space Production, and Territory.

Invited guests with research expertise in and around architecture research will present their work and then act as a respondent to the presentations of the doctoral students. A performative dissertation is composed of a section that lays out the ground for the research question, a hypothesis on the focal point of the research, and finally, a strategic position on how the research can contribute to critically impact the discipline of architecture, the construction industry and related socio-spatial aspects. The seminar is interested in the ways that structuring research can specifically target specific goals. The course also intends to open a discussion on the performance of research, and to tap into the existing knowledge within the school and foster dialogue within the community.

This seminar will run over two consecutive days, November 9th and 10th, 2023. The course will host a total of 10 PhD students who have established and confirmed their research plan. The seminar is open to the public for attendance.

November 9th, 2023

09:45 Introduction
10:00 Dr. Kim Förster
         Is There Such a Thing as Material Justice?

10:45 Dr. Michaela Büsse
          Granular Configuration. Thinking Critically with and through Sand

11:30 Discussion

          PhD Presentations
13:00 Stefan Laxness (ETHZ)
13:45 Summer Islam (EPFL)

15:00 Gianna Ledermann (EPFL)
15:45 Marcela Delgado Velasco (EPFL)

16:30 Colm Mac Aoidh (UHasselt)

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November 10th, 2023

09:45 Introduction
10:00 Prof. Nishat Awan
          Circulation: Thinking Architecture through Unsettlement

10:45 Dr. Huda Tayob
          Opaque Infrastructures : Black Markets 
          as Architectures of Care

11:30 Discussion
          PhD Presentations
13:00 Nagy Makhlouf (EPFL)
13:45 Lala Garcia (UNIFE) 

15:15 Michela Bonomo (EPFL)
16:00 Akuto Akpedze Konou (EPFL)
17:00 Closing Remarks and Apèro