You are cordially invited to the opening of the exhibition Theoretical Practice of Architecture at Work, which will take place on Monday, 17 February 2025, at 7 pm in DESSA gallery.

Theory of architecture is a practice; that is to say, a thinking and practical activity with a specific temporality all its own. It must always also go back, return to the past, to the well-constructed works of architecture – manifested in books, articles, built structures, and architectural and urban projects – in order to be able to go on, develop further. And to establish itself and act in the present such that at the same time it also opens up possibilities that allow it to continue in the future – continue in a way that is not already inscribed in the given present and the set of possibilities this present offers. This is the dimension of architectural theory that interests us in our project: its capacity to cut into the linear flow of time, and in so doing open up the way for some new yet unimagined possibilities.

To be more precise, we are interested in the capacity of architectural theory to recognize those architectural works that have succeeded in responding to their time and situation, their historical moment, such that they raised questions that have remained open, unanswered; articulated problems that remained unresolved; projects started yet remain unfinished. And unanswered, unresolved, unfinished, not because they were ill-conceived, not because they did not succeed but precisely because they did succeed. That they succeeded is manifested by the fact that in and with them a certain surplus was produced, something that has yet to be untangled and which requires further work. A surplus that appears as an open question and can, as such, act as both a point of support and an invitation to continue – to continue thinking and constructing architecture.

The aim of our project is to identify and articulate such open questions, problems, and projects that should in our view be (re)addressed and thought through – again; re-thought in a way appropriate to our time. That is, they should be rethought yet again, differently, and more effectively. In so doing we hope to outline some points of orientation for the further work of architecture, in both theoretical and design practice – particularly in the fractured and scattered circumstances that characterise our time and world. We will develop our project in the form of lectures, reading seminars, a student conference and theoretical debates; this will also serve as our final exhibit. So, instead of objects and images we will exhibit our practice itself in the DESSA gallery. Our exhibit will be the theoretical practice of architecture at work.

Prof. dr. Petra Čeferin

The series of events is curated by Petra Čeferin (author of the concept and curator of the exhibition) and Uroš Mikanovič (co-curator). It will conclude with a student conference of the seminar on the theoretical practice of architecture (2024/25), which is taking place at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Ljubljana under their mentorship.