Broadcasting live from Geneva
May 6–8, 2021
Conversations with: Pooja Agrawal, Céline Baumann, Ila Bêka & Louise Lemoine, Sofia Pia Belenky, Valérie Cabanes, Meriem Chabani, Esther Choi, Trojans Collective, Cynthia Deng, Cindy Duan, Matias Echanove, Elif Erez, Marco Ferrari, Silvia Franceschini, Nathalie Frankowski, Cruz Garcia, Rania Ghosn, Elise Misao Hunchuk, Jane Hutton, Emma Kaufmann-LaDuc, Adrian Lahoud, Léopold Lambert, Ann Lui, Charlotte Malterre-Barthes, Lauro Nächt, Joar Nango, Marina Otero, Mariana Pestana, Marie-Louise Richards, Francesco Sebregondi, Riccardo Simioni, Ala Tannir, Serina Tarkhanian, Justinien Tribillon, Charlotte Truwant, Daniel Zamarbide, and others.
Gathering new relations
Organized by HEAD and HEPIA, Archipelago: Architectures for the Multiverse is the first edition of a digitally-anchored international event arising from a partnership between three departments—architecture, interior architecture and landscape architecture—that will be broadcast from May 6 to 8 in Geneva. We invite you to sit within a present state of general and perpetual trouble and look closely at its many components. Archipelago’s first manifestation is intended to be a pause for disaffiliated inquiry, bringing participants together on issues within and without contemporary design discourse, to investigate the range of possibilities for teaching and research. The event proposes an approach based on archipelagic thinking as a reaction to the dominance of continental modes of investigation.
Structured over three days, Archipelago employs a series of prompts to conceptualize concrete paths forward. The program begins by taking stock of the current state of interiors, architecture and landscape practice, begging the question “What do we need to build and when is building necessary?” It will proceed by exploring “What knowledge, narratives, systems, and stories are hidden in plain sight?”; and conclude by asking “How are disciplinary boundaries shifted when we center kinship, care, and advocacy?” These conversations are framed by and disseminated from the urban context of Geneva, presented through a purpose-built scenography that is itself an archipelago of variant capacities, connected and interwoven by the activity of online and in-person participants.
Our program offers two parallel tracks, allowing participants and viewers to think with each other through our present moment, either by following the live broadcast on our website or by participating in our workshop program, both in-person or virtually. The public is invited to further participate by becoming a member of the Archipelago Telegram group, where the discussion can continue after each conversation.
Archipelago is intended as an experimental ground for participants to break with academic genealogies and bring many margins into relationship. We eagerly invite you to join us in Geneva to observe and participate in the formation of a new archipelago.
Live broadcast program
Thursday, May 6 (6–9pm CEST)
Do We Need to Build?
– Welcome remarks and Director’s address
– What Should We Build? (Moderated by Vera Sacchetti)
– Scenography Tour (Moderated by Youri Kravchenko)
Friday, May 7 (3–9pm CEST)
Understories—What Remains Hidden in Plain Sight
– Territories of Intervention (Moderated by Meriem Chabani)
– Extractive Systems (Moderated by Elise Misao Hunchuk)
– Other Stories (Moderated by Ala Tannir)
– Planetary Narratives (Moderated by Elise Misao Hunchuk)
Saturday, May 8 (3–9pm CEST)
Interdependency—New Disciplinary Narratives
– Kinship and Advocacy (Moderated by Elise Misao Hunchuk)
– Working With (Moderated by Meriem Chabani)
– Architectures After Architects (Moderated by Ala Tannir)
– Closing remarks
Workshop program
With contributions by SIA Genève and urbz, Emma Kaufmann LaDuc, Lauro Nächt, Serina Tarkhanian, Elif Erez, Cynthia Deng, Cindy Duan, Léman Architectures Connexions.
Please check our website for detailed information on the broadcast and workshop programs, as well as participation instructions. All parts of the program are free to attend and open to all. Follow us on Instagram and join our Telegram group for more information.
