On the 26th October SAUL was
visited by Dr Nathanial Coleman as part of the Lecture@SAUL series hosted by
Coleman currently lectures at Newcastle
University and has done for the past eight and a half years. Previous to which
he lectured at Washington State University, the University of Pennsylvania
and Boston Architectural College among
others. He has practiced Architecture in New York City and Rome and has worked
with the Firms of Eisenman/Robertson and Hardy Holzman Pfieffer.
Coleman received his Bachelor of
Architecture and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design
and has gone on to receive his masers and PhD in Architecture from the
University of Pennsylvania.
The topic of the nights lecture was the
problematic of utopia and architecture, a subject many students were interested
in due to module work and general intrigue. Coleman is concerned with the
social dimension of architecture and how it is so often neglected driving him
toward the study of Utopia.
Durning his introduction, Meritt Bucholz raised the idea that utopianism is a driving force of architectural thinking. That it is about a constant change and transformation. This argument is taken up by Coleman but not before he commented on our studio space. As opposed to the ‘call-centre’ style of many architecture schools, he discussed how our open space promotes open ended exploration as was demonstrated in the following hour of discussion.
He begins with the argument of a dystopia.
The idea of a space being repressive and controlled is often linked to the idea
of a utopia. We are surrounded by instances of this ideal, one of which is the
airport terminal. Coleman asks if this dystopian idea is architecture?
He does believe that utopia can ‘return
architecture to us and our habit of thinking’. Pure and simple it is social
dreaming, something we need to explore and strive for. Coleman believes there
is no architecture without utopia and no utopia without architecture. Any richness
that architecture is missing can be found through utopia and we are always
trying to look beyond the imagined. Utopia offers possibilities even in times
of doubt.
Coleman aims to round off the discussion by
looking at three buildings; le Corbusier’s La Tourette, Louis I.Kahn’s Salk
Institute and Van Eyck’s Orphanage in Amsterdam. Each of these buildings
carries the ideals of a utopian space, with their monastery-style of enclosure
and use of space. It was a clear example to demonstrate the opinions of the
previous hour’s discussion.
For someone who hadn’t come across utopia
in the course of my studies to date this was a very enjoyable lecture and an
interesting introduction to an important topic in architectural study. The
lecture sparked great discussion with questions coming from students and
lectures alike.
For anyone interested Coleman has just released his
publication; Imagining and making the world:reconsidering architecture and utopia. Oxford and Bern:
Peter Lang, 2011.
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| By Jane Kissane |