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Art History Independent Study: Course Proposal

May 7
th
- June 23
rd
2014
Professor: Dr. Cynthia Hammond
Student: Nima Navab
(514) 686-5837
nima.navab@gmail.com
Student ID #9334696

Public Space/ Public Interest: site-specific spatial inteiventionist piactices

Course Description:

In this independent study, I will build upon the theoretical basis gained from
ARTH 450F: Advanced Seminar in the History of Art & Architecture: Space,
Experience & Architecture to further develop my understanding of spatial theory, more
specifically within the public, urban landscapes of Montreal. This research will direct me
through a complicated web of political, environmental, historical, social, and economic
entanglements, to help me build upon some simple, but powerful ideas for interventions
that I could propose within selected environments. I will propose interventions that seek
to encapsulate some of the theories and ideas that I will be studying throughout the
course. Towards the end of the independent study, I will write a final proposal for an
intervention, that I will complete later on in my studies.

I would like to begin the class with a series of readings, listed in the bibliography
section of this proposal. For each reading I will write a short response, that I will organize
into my journal. After two weeks, I will begin my exploration of the public urban
landscapes of Montral. I will make visits to public parks, squares, community gardens,
accidental landscapes, and other landscapes, to explore their creation, design, and use.
After these visits I will begin to narrow down my interests in order to begin a more
detailed research. Part of the research will be to understand and map out the motivations,
intentions and creation of these spaces, and to understand their design features. As a
major part of the analysis, it is important to understand how these spaces in the city
participate in larger, cultural landscapes, the politics, and the future of cities. I will then
propose a series of site-specific interventions, that pays attention to the conceptual,
theoretical and the rest of my research.

Research Methodology:

My thoughts and understandings will be reflected in the journal that Im planning to build
up during the study. Exploration is documented with a series of pictures, and notes for
reference. Research and analysis while being partly film and images, can also take the
form of participatory research, as well as interviews with anyone of interest during the
research. Final proposal will first be done through writing, but if time allows I would be
interested on visualizing my idea.




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Assignments:

- Journal (66%): The journal will document the inspiration, site research, and mini-
intervention for three public sites in Montreal. The journal can take the form of a blog,
digital file, or physical object, but should be consistent in approach. For each mini-
intervention, Nima will build an intellectual framework from 2-3 texts, whose
perspectives or ideas he will use to conceptualize a gesture, action, or response to a
public space (its design, history, use, and/or spatial politics). Each response should
clearly indicate which sources were read, why they were important, and how they were
taken up in the intervention. The responses should also include visual material (maps,
images, etc) of both the site and the intervention, so that Prof Hammond can understand
the action taken.

- Final written text (33%): approximately 1500-2000 words, OR a short film (no more
than 5 minutes): The final assignment for this course will explore a potential intervention
that Nima will not undertake, but will conceptualize using knowledge gained from
experience with mini-interventions. This proposed project can take any form, in any
public site, so he can use his imagination. But the proposed intervention should relate in
some way to the spatial specificities of the site (design, history, use, and/or spatial
politics). Whether Nima chooses to write about this hypothetical intervention, or make a
film, it should be clear to the reader/viewer how the texts read for this independent study
have shaped or informed his thinking and creativity.

Schedule (milestones):

- Nay 14 to Nay 21: Nini-inteivention #1 (fiist jouinal installment uue Nay 21)

- Nay 22 to Nay 28: Nini-inteivention #2 (seconu jouinal installment uue Nay 28)

- Nay 29 to }une 4: Nini-inteivention #S (thiiu jouinal installment uue }une 4)

- }une 17th - fiist uiaft of final text, if it is going to be a text, is uue

- }une 24th: Final text uue 0R final viueo uue

Meetings:

1. Tuesuay Nay 1Sth to uiscuss the fiist stages of stuuies, anu ueciue on key texts.
2. }une 12th foi in-piogiess ieview (Piof Bammonu is out of the countiy until }une
1uth)

An auuitional meeting can take place eithei as neeueu oi as an "exit
inteiview" (what was leaineu, wheie can Nima go next), keeping in minu
that Piof Bammonu will be away fiom Concoiuia fiom Nay 2S-}une 1u, anu
}uly 1-S1.

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Bibliography:

Some of the texts listed below, in addition to any other readings recommended by Dr.
Hammond, or found of interest during the independent study period.

Berger, Alan. Drosscape. The Landscape Urbanism Reader. New York: Princeton Architectural Press,
2006. 198-217.

Cronon, William. The Trouble With Wilderness: or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature. In Uncommon
Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature. Ed. William Cronon. W. W. Norton & Company, 1996.
69-90.

Debarbieux, Bernard. The Mountain in the City: Social Uses and Transformation of a Natural Landform in
Urban Space. Ecumene 5.4 (1998): 399-431.

Deutsche, Rosalyn. Selection from Agoraphobia. Originally published in Evictions: Art and Spatial
Politics. Cambridge, Mass.; London, England: MIT Press, 1998. 269-327.

Guy, S., & Farmer, G. (2001). Reinterpreting Sustainable Architecture: The Place of Technology. Journal
of Architectural Education, 54(3), pp. 140-148.

Guy, S., & Moore, S. A. (Eds.). (2005). Sustainable Architectures: Cultures and Natures in Europe and
North America. New York and London: Spon Press.

Harries, K. (1975). The Ethical Function of Architecture. Journal of Architectural Education, 29(1), 14-15.

Harries, K. (1984). Space, Place, and Ethos: Reflection on the Ethical Function of Architecture. Artibus et
Historiae, 5(9), 159-165.

Hosey, L. (2012). The Shape of Green: Aesthetics, Ecology, and Design. Washington: Island Press.

Latour, Bruno. From Realpolitik to Dingpolitik, or How to Make Things Public. In Making Things
Public: Atmospheres of Democracy. Exhibition catalogue, Centre for Art and Media, Karslruhe,
Germany. March 2005. Web. 4-31.

Liddell, H. (2013). Eco-minimalism (2nd edition): The antidote to eco-bling: RIBA Publishing.

Mitchell, W. J. T. Preface, Introduction, and Imperial Landscape. In Landscape and Power.
1994. Chicago and London: U of Chicago P, 2002. vii-34.

Spector, T. (2001). The Ethical Architect, the dilemma of contemporary practice. New York: Princeton
Architectural Press.

Spirn, Anne Whiston. Constructing Nature: The Legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted. In Uncommon
Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature. Ed. William Cronon. W. W. Norton & Company,
1996. 91-113.

Treli, Ipek. Small Architectures, Walking and Camping in Middle Eastern Cities. International
Journal of Islamic Architecture 2.1 (2013) 5-38.

Upton, Dell. Black and White Landscapes in Eighteenth-Century Virginia. Places: A Quarterly
Journal of Environmental Design 2.2 (Winter 1985): 59-72.

Valois, Nicole and Josiane Paradis. Place milie-Gamelin in Montral: Landscape Narrative,
Meaning and the Uses of Public Space. Journal of Landscape Architecture (Autumn 2010): 72-83.
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Resources:

http://www.pederanker.net/pb/wp_950e3071.html
http://spacingMontral.ca/2010/07/16/Montrals-best-alleyways/
www.pc.gc.ca
http://tclf.org/
http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/portal/page?_dad=portal&_pageid=175,4782055&_schema=PORTAL
http://www.urbanecology.net/
http://imaginemileend.com/search/meadow
http://lechampdespossibles.tumblr.com/