Our constructed environment is often conceived as the composed sum of architectural elements such as walls, doors, floors, windows, balconies, etc. Even though various cultures approach and build them differently, these elements are almost always thought of as detached, separate entities. The result of this often compartmentalizes elements as discrete pieces that are only part of a larger architectural body, applied on and in the building. This reduction creates a type of visual culture full of artifacts that have a limited functional and formal interplay between them. This persistence within society to reuse the same architectural narrative, only with slight cosmetic variations, has a messy, multi-origin history rooted in culture, code requirements, politics, and technology.

An element can become a project, like John Hejduk’s Wall House. An element can also be cross-pollinated with another one. An element can be exaggerated, rendered grotesque, dislocated, or estranged. The process by which an element is transformed can broadly be called one of translation. The term, understood commonly today to describe a conversion between languages, has an important history for architects who primarily deal with other types of translations: from drawing to building, from diagram to project, from sketch to model, and so forth. Can using translation as a mode of operating on architectural elements open up novel ideas of intersection?

This seminar utilized a range of composite representation techniques to capture new hybrids of existing architectural elements. Through elevational field photography, students selected pieces (a door, a turret, a window, a balcony, etc.) and analyzed the geometry, tectonics, ornamentation, and various nuances of these generic architectural conditions. Students found new modes of combining and shifting pieces using these analyses while also considering the associated materials and textures. The production held onto parts of the familiar, creating estranged objects that propose new legibilities. The class used multiple forms of media, with a focus on drawing, montaging, and model-making at a variety of scales.

Architects generally rely on descriptive sets of projections and models in which there is no ambiguity on the expected outcome of the building. The course aim is to challenge and blur these assumptions and develop composite representation strategies. Students were asked to develop analytical visualization techniques and critical thinking skills with the intention of negotiating that information into an iterative design process using a variety of media. This seminar also emphasized the importance of understanding the relationship between architecture and narrative.