SCHOLARS in Transition

 

SCHOLARS in Transition, the EDAR yearly series of public lectures, is aimed at giving a voice to contemporary scholars whom, within their research activity, have been experiencing a « transition » condition - whereby their contribution to new and emerging research topics, or speculative interpretations and unconventional approaches, mark the intersection of their personal research agendas with the evolution of their discipline, the public debate, and the availability of sources and data.

 

SCHOLARS in Transition is thus conceived to raise collective debate on the potential of scientific initiative and the responsibility of scholars in the wide fields of Architecture, Urbanism, Regional and Urban Studies.

 

THEORY OR PRACTICE? RESEARCH BY DESIGN

 

The 2023 edition of "Scholars in Transition" seeks to focus on the particular, still little understood, type of research in architecture done "through" design. Paradoxically, and its professional nature notwithstanding, architecture is seldom studied through the activity that characterises its material development.

 

What does design mean in this context, though, and specifically within doctoral studies? Is it an act required to validates hypotheses, hence following traditional scholarly methods rather than replacing them? Or is it a reflection that generates theories by collating relevant data synthetically rather than analytically? In both cases, how can rigour be ascertained in the work carried out? Does the Cartesian method used in sciences apply? Or is design a method of conceptual investigation that belongs exclusively in the humanities?

 

To address these and other related issues, Scholars in Transition has invited three award-winning architects with advanced degrees by Design in their curriculum vitae to discuss their experience, the reasons behind their advanced study choice, and the impact this choice has had over their careers.

They are Hannah Robertson (University of Melbourne), Milinda Pathiraja (Robust Architecture Workshop - RAW; University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka) and Kerstin Thompson (KTA Melbourne; Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand; RMIT University and Monash University, Australia).

 

At the conclusion of the day, a roundtable will allow the representatives of the ETHZ, Accademia di Architettura and EPFL doctoral programmes to exchange views on their respective research cultures and ambitions.

 

Following the workshop, doctoral candidates registered for the event will be required to prepare a short research plan "by design" a topic of choice, incorporating or contradicting the positions expressed by the speakers or the methods outlined.

 

"Theory or Practice? Research by Design" will be held in Lausanne on March 31st.

 

Bibliographical references will be sent to doctoral candidates upon registration.