MARGINALIA Introduction
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Popularised by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1819, the term marginalia refers to the performative nature of writing and scribbling in the margins of books and manuscripts, an act of contestation and transformation that has been undertaken since antiquity. It defies the mono-directional nature of the page as a broadcast medium and sees a unique exchange, a discussion, a conversation emerge between author and reader. In this sense, the margin presents itself as a site of intersection and interaction, that restructures the conceptual and physical dynamics of the text itself. Such a dialectical process is one of mutability, and allows for and encourages constant rethinking and revision, pushing the printed page beyond the boundaries within which it was initially confined. Presenting itself as a product of the Bartlett’s MA Architectural History programme, this publication compiles a series of excerpts and summaries of the research projects undertaken by this year’s cohort. These projects emerged from the diverse range of interests and ideas manifest within a group from such varied backgrounds, incubated through the conversations we have had throughout the year. As such these short pieces may mirror many of the concepts developed throughout the course, but, like marginalia itself, they seek to expand outside of the lines set out before us. Though in their publication, our words, once marginalia themselves, have now been synthesised and enclosed within the boundaries of the printed page. Yet this is not restrictive, but an opportunity to review and rethink, for the reader to produce their own marginalia, developing and moving forward this research so that the trajectory of architectural discovery is not halted. In accordance with this wide range of marginal subjects, the cohort has also been interested in developing a wide range of methodologies to apply to this complex and undervalued material. Various tools for recovering and reconstituting submerged subjectivities proliferate throughout the work. Some projects seek to recapture the narratives obscured by occidentalist systems of knowledge production by focussing on the subjects traditionally ignored