Architectural theory has at times been taught as a strictly academic enterprise, one set in opposition to the material demands of architectural practice. This symposium, THEORY ACTS, posits instead that theory is a crucial instrument for developing an activist practice, and that the textual and discursive sides of architectural education are vital to becoming an engaged citizen (of the design disciplines and the world at large). At a moment of political intensity in the United States and globally, what are the possibilities of architectural theory in helping us reckon with our profession’s capacities and complicities? 

This symposium, organized by CCA Professors James Graham and Irene Cheng, follows many other contemporary thinkers in positing that theory can offer a way to critically interrogate the world and develop frameworks and build coalitions for effective action as it becomes possible under different political situations.

The invited guests all teach architectural theory from an engaged, activist, democratizing perspective at their own institutions. This zoom symposium will fall somewhere between a panel and a working group, taking inspiration in pedagogical experiments here and elsewhere.

This event is funded by an endowment gift to support The Deborah and Kenneth Novack Creative Citizens Series at CCA, an annual series of public programs focused on creative activism.

Speakers:

Ana María León is associate professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Her work traces how spatial practices and transnational networks of power and resistance shape the modernity and coloniality of the Americas.

Jay Cephas is assistant professor at Princeton University School of Architecture. He is an historian of architecture, landscapes, and cities conducting research that explores the relationships between labor, technology, and identity in the built environment. 

Aaron Cayer is assistant professor at CalPoly Pomona. His teaching, research, and service work focus on the history and theory of architecture firms, the profession, and political economies. He is an active member of the Architecture Lobby.

Moderated by:

Irene Cheng is associate professor, chair of the Graduate Architecture program at CCA, and co-director of History Theory Experiments at CCA. Her research explores the entanglements of architecture, culture, and politics in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

James Graham is an architect, historian, and assistant professor at CCA, where he co-directs the History Theory Experiments lab. His research and teaching interests include the intersections of architectural modernism with applied psychology and occupational therapy, climatic imaginaries and environmental thinking, and the dynamics of global modernization.