BK report
HER DRAWING Words & Images Alessandro Rognoni & Oliwia Jackowska
“The Architect, History and Her Drawing” is an exhibition organised by the students of the Architectural History Thesis course taught by Jurjen Zeinstra in the first and second semester.
Originally, the elective aimed at the analysis of drawings as a methodology for historical research, an approach that has consistently been proposed by Zeinstra in the last few academic years. However, this time a common fascination, among students, towards drawings by female architects brought the chance to undertake a more collective research. One that would specifically look at unrepresented, forgotten and unacknowledged architects and designers, with particular attention to their perspective drawings. Seven students looked at drawings from seven architects, including their life, context and work: Marion Mahony Griffin (18711961); Dorothy Draper (1889-1969); Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky (1897-2000); Ray Eames (19121988); Jean Bodman Fletcher (1915-1965); Florence Knoll (1917-2019) and Anne Tyng (1920-2011). As we decided to review such a significant effort, attempting to give it a longer life than the two-weeklong display at the library, we talked to Ani Dosheva, who participated in the exhibition with her research on Dorothy Draper. In her words, the choice of the perspective aimed at “treating the drawing as a view”, into the visionary ideas of unrepresented architects, as well as into their mind, aspirations, and personalities. The perspective, therefore, became a consistent subject of analysis by all seven students, and as a starting point for a range of analyses and investigations into the context in which the drawings were created. In Ani’s view, such consistency, but Photos of the preparation, by the elective team.
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