IRHA is a non-profit corporation bringing together as institutional members
the Canadian Centre for Architecture, Concordia University, McGill University and
l'Université de Montréal to support interdisciplinary research related to architecture.
As part of the 2009-2010 program, IRHA will focus on the theme of the Ephemeral City -
how contemporary urban space is increasingly shaped by new forces, from economics and design to
new technologies. A series of seven public discussion forums at the CCA
Thursdays, a website with historical/conceptual essays, networking between
researchers, students and architects/artists/designers in the greater
Montreal area, student projects and a concluding symposium will constitute
the network's activities for 2009-2010. Please refer to the project's
website (ephemeralcity.org) for up to date information regarding activities,
speakers and links to people and projects. The Ephemeral City is an intra-university research project exploring the
increasing influence of ephemeral, temporal and performative phenomena on
the economic, cultural, politico-socio-technical conditions of the urban
built environment. The Ephemeral City aims to grapple with issues in the
urban context of Montreal related to temporal, performative phenomena that
go beyond programs, plans, models and other static representations of its
urban environment and towards dynamic processes. The research will focus
on broader concepts such as performativity in urban space, the role of
transitoriness, liminality and improvisation in the city and its
citizenry, the increasing importance of ecology and sustainability, urban
experience economies generated by marketing in collaboration with design
practices perception and sensation that goes beyond vision,
co-structuration between inhabitants and the urban environment and the
transformation of urban spaces through new technologies |
IRHA Public Forum #1, October 8, 2009
6:00 PM, Maison Shaughnessy Architecture, Urbanity and the Temporary
Alberto Pérez-Gómez, McGill University
Chris Salter, Concordia University
Cecile Martin, Independent Artist, Architect and Curator The 21st century city that was formerly dictated and constructed chiefly
by architecture and planning models is increasingly being shaped anew
daily by temporal forces: the dynamics of unstable financial markets and
fluctuating economic patterns of consumption and leisure, the rise of
ecological processes and practices, the transformation of public space by
the methods of branding and multi-sensory design and last, but certainly
not least, the dissemination of new ubiquitous technologies of
surveillance and monitoring. The first IRHA forum will investigate the
ethical, political and ecological stakes in this new urban theater of
temporariness, instability and transformation. IRHA Public Forum #2, November 12, 2009
6:00 PM, Maison Shaughnessy Interactivity: The City as Performative Space
Alessandra Ponte, University of Montréal
Patrick Harrop, University of Manitoba/Concordia University
New digital technologies increasingly are being deployed by architects,
artists and designers in order to transform dead public spaces into new
urban zones of performance and play. In effect, the city has become a
responsive environment set in motion by pedestrians and new technologies.
The second IHRA forum will investigate how concepts of interaction brought
on from digital technologies meet concepts of social interaction. At the
center of the forum will be a discussion of artistic and design projects that suggest
new possibilities of interacting in public space. IRHA Public Forum #3, December 3, 2009
6:00 PM, Maison Shaughnessy Game City: Urbanity, Game Spaces and Ubiquitous Play
Speakers TBA Augmented Reality Games (ARG's) increasingly are taking place not on
screen but in the streets and buildings of urban centers. What can games
and gaming experience reveal about the city? How does play in public
spaces differ from solitary play. What new social practices might arise as a result of the
mixing between the physical urban space and the digital realm. This forum
will feature research and artistic projects that take gaming beyond the
screen and into the urban realm. |
