Architects in Exile
Again we will join the program of the Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky Raum for our research. January 2017 marks the 120th birthday of Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky and there will be a series of events celebrating this aniversary. Our main topic will focus on the question how Austrian architects managed the difficult times between 1900 and World War 2, wehn many of them had to flee the country for political reasons or difficult economic conditions, like Joseph Urban, Rudolph M. Schindler, Richard Neutra, Friedrich Kiesler, Bernard Rudofsky, Victor Gruen und Felix Augenfeld to name but a few.
First we will take a look at MSL book "Erinnerungen aus dem Widerstand, das kämpferische Leben einer Architektin 1938-1945" which describes her first hand experience in these times. Besides researching several biographise of architects, we want to reconstruct the artistic-political discourse of this era to gain an understanding of the impact of exile on Austrian architecture.
This will be the main question of the seminar. Research questions will be detailed in collaboration with the advisors. Students will also be introduced to principles of argumentation and of scientific research and writing. Students will write a bachelor thesis or a scientific paper.
