Hosted by the Faculty of Environmental Design (EVDS), the Design Matters lecture series brings to Calgary a range of important people to explore design in our contemporary culture. This month, the series welcomes Shelley Hornstein.
Hornstein, whose research examines the spatial politics of memory and place in architectural and urban sites, is a professor of architectural history and visual culture at York University.
Hornstein will be on campus Oct. 9-12 as the Gillmor Visiting Lecturer, a position which was established to recognize the contributions of founding director of the architecture program, Douglas Gillmor. The lectureship features a four-day seminar with EVDS students as well as a public lecture.
“Under Dr. Hornstein’s guidance, our students will be exploring aspects of memory and place on specific sites in Calgary,” says David Monteyne, EVDS associate professor of architecture. “In particular, they will be recording soundscapes of these sites, and complementing these with archival research or interviewing locals about their memories of the place.”
Hornstein’s public lecture, part of EVDS’ Design Matters series, will be held Wed, Oct. 10 from 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m., at the University of Calgary’s downtown campus (906 8 Ave. SW).
Her presentation, Arcadia and Augments: The Space of Appearance in Recent Architecture, explores the idea of site memory as it has been deployed by contemporary architects in recent projects like New York City’s High Line – a linear park on an abandoned elevated railway. Hornstein contrasts these projects, which draw on the past of a place, with “spectacular” or “starchitecture” that typically denies or ignores a site’s historical context.
Hornstein has published several books including Impossible Images: Contemporary Art After the Holocaust (2003), and most recently, Losing Site: Architecture, Memory and Place (2011).
Article by Jessica Wallace. Image courtesy Shelley Hornstein.