Architecture + Philosophy : Jacques Derrida and Helene Cixous

DigitalFUTURES
DOCTORAL CONSORTIUM

What can architects learn from philosophy?

14 November (10.00 am EST; 11.00 pm China; 4.00 pm CET)

JACQUES DERRIDA + HELENE CIXOUS
Guest panelists:
Bernard Tschumi
Peter Eisenman
Doina Petrescu

Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) and Hélène Cixous (1937- ) are two of the key poststructuralist philosophers. Derrida was, of course, the inventor of the concept of Deconstruction, and collaborated with Bernard Tschumi and Peter Eisenman on the Parc de la Villette. But what was it like to collaborate with Derrida? Meanwhile, Doina Petrescu studied under both Derrida and Cixous. What was it like to study under them? This session brings together three fascinating individuals to share their experiences of working with two of the greatest minds in philosophy.


ARCHITECTURE AND PHILOSOPHY
The aim of DigitalFUTURES is to democratize architectural education by making important architectural ideas available for free to architects and students across the globe, regardless of gender, religion, ethnicity, age or economic standing. Education, we believe, should be a human right, and not a privilege of the wealthy.

The principle behind the Doctoral Consortium is that it no longer makes sense for individual professors to teach an individual group of students in an individual classroom, when we can now all use a digital global platform to bring the very best professors to students across the globe.

What can architects learn from philosophy?

This course introduces the thinking of Walter Benjamin, Michel Foucault, Gilbert Simondon, Jean Baudrillard, Jacques Derrida, Hélène Cixous, Gilles Deleuze, Fredric Jameson, and Judith Butler, and considers how it might inform the discourse of architecture and urbanism. The course aims to open up new ways of understanding architecture and to introduce a new set of theoretical ‘tools’ to rethink architectural theory.

Each session will consist of presentations by some of the world’s leading architectural theorists, philosophers and cultural theorists, and a subsequent panel discussion.

This course is free and open to masters and doctoral students around the world.