1. Repetition, Adrian Phiffer. 2. The City Saul Steinberg [published on Flair, September 1950). 3. TD Centre Photographed by Ron Vicker 1970

ARC3711H F
Instructor: Adrian Phiffer
Meeting Section: L9101
Synchronous
Tuesday, 6:00PM - 9:00PM

As architects, we meet any reference to the notion of repetition with disdain, but we tend to forget that we are hired precisely because of our reassuring repetition. We prefer to talk about difference, but that’s often nothing more than a thin marketing campaign. When exposed, we complain, just like a Magic Mountain patient, that we are locked in an “inelastic present”. Did we overlook the fact that we are not the patient, but the cook behind the eternal soup that is served every day?

It seems to me that repetition is at the centre of architectural production and experience. It is an inherent reality that should be artistically considered. I am thinking here about a contemporary rendez-vous between Agnes Martin and Ernst Neufert; an artistic endeavour with an efficient face. This specific take on repetition in architecture, and beyond, is the subject of our class. The objective is to understand repetition as a meaningful act of making rather than a shameful act of re-production, as movement rather than as inertia, as striving rather than as cynicism, as commitment rather than as laziness.

This class will take the format of études, French for studies. In music, études are short compositions designed for practicing a particular technical skill or formal type in the performance of a solo instrument. In this class we will engage in short exercises in and on repetition that will build up towards a collective manual. Lastly, while the subject is very specific, this class invites you to consider it in an open manner, from its conception to its communication.