Research Agenda:
No/Memories
(5th Cycle 2023-25)
Societies are in constant dialog with their past. They keep looking back at it, trying to remember it, while at the same time continuously forming a new conception of it. In a way, societies keep re-writing their history with reference to their present and the conditions that it poses.
The same is true for scientific and artistic disciplines and therefore, architecture and design are also in constant dialog with their past which they keep re-evaluating. In that context, references are always an important part of any design process. They represent in a sense the memories of architecture. Organizing and accessing those memories was always a challenge that was addressed by various devices and practices. Lately, that role is increasingly assumed by social media protocols that provide through their feeds an abundance of reference material. At the same time, big data makes sure that we can store almost everything and be able to reference it whenever needed. However, it remains rather unclear who defines those referencing mechanisms, both in terms of their function and their accessibility. And while social media feeds still require some interaction with the user, Artificial Intelligence tools are taking the whole question of referencing several steps further. Therefore, while references are becoming more important than ever, our ability to control them is constantly diminishing. The ability to have ‘all’ memories available, paradoxically, leads to a state of having no memories at all.
Within that framework of references, memories and their loss, the program will look during its three semesters at specific urban areas of the city of Thessaloniki. It will try to identify their problems, their politics and aesthetics, and their memories – or their lack thereof. At the same time to develop new tools, through digital technologies, that will allow the re-evaluation of existing processes and will generate proposals that while addressing specific problems will engage design as a field of possibilities.
>> The advanced design post-graduate program offers an expansive approach to contemporary design processes through an interdisciplinary approach that engages both design as a process at large and the tools that form those processes. During the three semesters of the program, students will develop advanced design strategies, they will apply them towards specific design problems and they will acquire a proficiency in a large array of tools – including but not limited to digital tools of design, representation and fabrication.
Administrative Support: School of Architecture Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Director:
Anastasios Tellios (Professor, School of Architecture)
Coordinating Committee:
Dimitris Gourdoukis (Assistant Professor, School of Architecture)
Konstantina Kalara (Assistant Professor, School of Architecture)
Dimitrios Kontaxakis (Associate Professor, School of Architecture)
Spiros Papadimitriou (Assistant Professor, School of Architecture)
Anastasios Tellios (Professor, School of Architecture)
Lectures and Workshops by:
Asterios Agkathidis (School of Architecture, University of Liverpool)
Serdar Asut (Delft University of Technology TU Delft)
Simos Vamvakidis (Www.SVstudio.gr Instagram: @svstudio.gr)
Alexandra Vougia (Architectural Association, Faturacollaborative)
Socrates Yiannoudes (Department of Interior Design, UNIWA)
Dimitris Grozopulos (www.grozopoulos.gr)
Kiki Goti (Somepeople Studio)
Eftihis Efthimiou (UNic, Decode Fab Lab)
Theo Dounas (The Scott Sutherland School of Architecture and Built Environment |Robert Gordon University)
Yannis Zavoleas (Πανεπιστήμιο Ιωαννίνων, University of New South Wales, Sydney)
Arsenios Zachariadis (HansonLA Architecture)
Platon Issaias (Architectural Association, Faturacollaborative)
Dimitris Theodoropoulos (hiboux architecture)
Nadia Kalara (Department of Architecture Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
Lydia Kallipoliti (The Cooper Union, Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture, New York, NY)
Apostolos Kalfopoulos (Department of Architecture Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
Efi Kasimati (Barlett School of Architecture, UCL)
Giorgos Mitroulias (Department of Architecture University of Thessalia /AREA Architecture Research Athens) Konstantinos-Alketas Ouggrinis (School of Architecture Technical University of Crete)
Iason Pantazis (Topotheque Design Research / Fab Lab Ioannina)
Evangelos Pantazis (IBI Group / Topotheque Design Research)
Leonidas Papalampropoulos (Department of Architecture University of Patras)
Nikolas Patsavos (Critical Strategies Interdisciplinary Studio CRISIS UoI Arch/
Ctrl_Space Lab) Vasilis Stroumpakos (Department of Architecture University of Patras)
Niketas Siniossoglou (Institute of Historical Research, National Hellenic Research Foundation)
Thomas Symeonidis (School of Fine Arts Asfa)
Ioanna Symeonidou (Department of Architecture University of Thessalia)
Dimitra Chatzisavva (School of Architecture Technical University of Crete)
Past Directors:
2015-2017 Maria Voyatzaki (Professor, School of Architecture)
2017-2019 Stavros Vergopoulos (Associate Professor, School of Architecture)
2019-2021 Anastasios Tellios (Professor, School of Architecture)
2021-2023 Anastasios Tellios (Professor, School of Architecture)
Previous Research Agendas:
2015-2017 TransMythologies
2017-2019 Existing New
2019-2021 Super Local
2021-2023 Manifestos / Payback