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Constructing an Archive
Modus Operandi
“[T]he concept of the archive is synonymous with the trace and the document: in each we are able to measure not only a relation between the past and the present, but between the event and evidence of its occurrence, and between the fabric of everyday life and its representation.” Paul Ricoeur, “Archives, Documents, Traces.”In The Archive. Documents of Contemporary Art by Charles Merewether (The MIT Press, 2006), 66-69.
Constructing an Archive is tantamount to constructing a space of and for encountering: a space in which different diciplines and methodologies interact, stimulating and supporting alternative thought and representation of architecture. a space of multiscalarity and transversality, creating a platform for constant experimentation and for expansion of an architectural domain; a particular collection not of designed artefacts but design procedures and creative processes, extending into realms of events and phenomena. What is more, the name of the studio denotes action, action which transcends fixed limits, creating situations through which hidden layers of knowledge are revealed, constantly moving from space of collaborative reflection and production to space of individual creation. Here the capacities and meanings of different media of representation – analogue and digital, traditional and innovative – are exploited from aesthetical, methodological and epistemological perspective; a space where design is understood as a research practice based on experimentation rather than prescriptive methods, involving multiple actors and embracing uncertainty, and challenging conventions; a space in which an act of building extends to the design stage, including spatial analysis (notations,