BSc Architectural & Interdisciplinary Studies
The Dissertation Module Coordinator: Brent Carnell Module Tutor: David Roberts
The Dissertation in Architectural & Interdisciplinary Studies enables students to undertake an independent research project of 10,000 words. The emphasis in this course is on conducting original research and producing an investigative, in-depth written piece, supported by appropriate visual and textual documentation. This module is taught through individual and small group tutorials, supplemented by occasional seminars and group meetings.
Year 3 Jade Chao, Jinyu (Sandy) Chen, Iona Farrar-Bell, Sandhya Gulsin, Yufan Jin, Yashika Kerai, Lau (Kelly) Shuen, Eloise Maland, Natalie Newsome, Imogen Newton, Rattan Sehra, Anna Livia Vorsel, Velvet Young
The Bartlett School of Architecture 2017
Eloise Maland The Architecture of Violence Repression and Resistance in Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers The Battle of Algiers, made in 1966 by Italian director Gillo Pontecorvo, is set during the Algerian War of Independence. The film narrates the anti-colonial struggle and the escalating fight between the Algerian Front de LibÊration National (FLN) and the French army as the Algerians attempt to liberate themselves from colonial rule. The film is constructed around the theme of violence, a concept intrinsic to the colonial system. This violence surrounds us within The Battle of Algiers; shaping, reflecting and fighting against the architecture and spaces we confront. Set in the city of Algiers itself, the film moves between the Algerian part of the city, the Casbah, and its European quarters, built soon after the French occupation in 1830. The architecture of the city is highly politicised, with the spaces reflecting the power dynamics of the colonial relationship. This dissertation brings together film studies, postcolonialism and postcolonial architectural theory to dissect The Battle of Algiers in order to examine and question the violent negotiation of power that is inherent to decolonisation and embedded within the architecture of the colonial city. Using postcolonial architectural theory to read The Battle of Algiers allows for a more nuanced understanding of the experience of decolonisation. Architecture, through the camera lens, becomes a language to be read, understood and questioned as the spaces we encounter are used to demonstrate the violent and shifting relationship between the coloniser and the colonised. By understanding how architecture can be used to manipulate, control and enforce the dominance of the coloniser, the spaces in the film become active as they become sites of repression and sites of resistance. At the same time, film makes postcolonial architectural theory visceral. Film allows the audience to imagine and feel the architecture of the city, making visible how it shapes and segregates people and illustrating how it can be used to enact power. This analysis of The Battle of Algiers highlights the importance of architecture in shaping our lives and also of film in interrogating the consequences of architecture and urban design. The Battle of Algiers demonstrates how the camera can be used to identify, reveal and question
Year 2 Ged Ribas Goody
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