VIRTUAL Prague Research & Teaching Conference

Abstract

A common critique of academic research is that it falls victim to staying within the ivory towers of universities and institutions. Faculty publish articles in esteemed but costly-to-access journals, and investigative work is presented at conferences to like-minded professionals and peers. While university students learn from or engage in focused research in classes, there is often limited dissemination of intellectual work to students and colleagues outside of niche courses, much less to the public. In the fields of architecture and design, faculty and their students are equipped with specialized skills in representation and making that can be harnessed to distill research work and broadcast it in novel formats.
How can design and research projects undertaken in the classroom, even ones that are both highly technical and challenge conventional notions, be presented in a format that works both for academics and professionals as well as the greater public? This question was considered within an elective course called Infrastructural Imagination that examined the relationship between infrastructure and the built environment over time. Within this paper, I will describe how the use of elements such as graphic novel precedents, visualization exercises such as collaging, and hands-on experiences such as field trips and interviews with non-designers, facilitated design projects of micro-scaled infrastructures presented as zines – these self-published booklets, designed to be circulated by hand, provided students with an opportunity to present proposals and research, voice opinions, and experiment with formats that make infrastructural histories and innovations accessible to a broader audience.