On Tranformation, Preservation after Images – Tulay Atak

Ever since its beginnings, photography has played an important role in architecture and the way it is mediated. Among other things, photography has impacted the notions of time and temporality in architecture, which are also some of the concerns of preservation as a field. Looking at contemporary art photography in the work of Thomas Ruff, James Welling and Sarah Morris, and revisiting the notion of “imageability” in architecture, this talk by Tulay Atak will consider the role of images in architecture and preservation today.

Perspectives of Urban Curating and Visual Documentation – Elke Krasny

When paired with each other, transformation and documentation allow us to think a series of paradoxes, alignments and contradictions. In this talk I will use the exhibition Le Corbusier’s voyage reORIENTed 1911-2011 authored by Elke Krasny and David Bergé to address these. What to make of the desire to capture the moments of urban transformation? How to think of historical photographs as inspirational catalysts for a contemporary revisiting? How to arrive at the scale of the urban through the scale of photography?

The talks will be followed by a dialogue between Tulay Atak and Elke Krasny and a discussion with the audience.

Bios:

Tulay Atak received her professional architecture degree in Ankara, Turkey and her doctoral degree in architecture and urban design at UCLA in Los Angeles. She has taught at SCI-Arc, Cornell University, RISD, and Pratt Institute. Her writings have been published in journals and edited volumes such as Future Anterior, JAE, JSAH, ArcCA, Voyage d’Orient and La Construction Savante.

Elke Krasny is a curator, cultural theorist and writer. She is a Senior Lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and holds a guest professorship at the Academy of Fine Arts Nuernberg. She is currently working on her PdH in practice at the University of Reading. In 2011 she showed “Mapping the Everyday. Neighborhood Claims for the Future” at the Audain Gallery in Vancouver, in 2012 Hands-On Urbanism 1850-2012. The Right to Green was presented at the Architecture Centre Vienna and at the Venice Biennale of Architecture.