Thesis Now

The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture presents the symposium, “Thesis Now,” which will address the agency, relevance, and history of the Thesis Studio in architecture curricula. “Thesis Now” will interrogate key issues of the design thesis in three sessions of different structure.

Organized by Michael Young and Igor Bragado.

SESSION 1 – 9:30AM
AGENCY AND LEGACY: THE EMBEDDED OPERATIVITY OF A THESIS
This session asks each participant to present their own Bachelor’s or Master’s Thesis. The presentations will be 10 minutes each, followed by a moderated discussion.

MODERATOR:
Hayley Eber
PARTICIPANTS:
Deborah Garcia, Zeina Koreitem, Andrew Kovacs, Caroline O’donnell, and Bryan Young

SESSION 2 – 11:30AM
RESEARCH: OPENING THE DIGITAL ACCESS PROJECT
This session asks each participant to explore the newly available School of Architecture Digital Access Project, a digital database of theses completed at The Cooper Union between 1966 and 2003. The presentations will center on topics or findings derived from researching the archive, and will be limited to 10 minutes each, followed by a moderated discussion.

MODERATOR:
Nader Tehrani
PARTICIPANTS: Arindam Dutta, Jimenez Lai, Farzin Lotfi-Jam, and Bryony Roberts

SESSION 3 – 1:45PM
PEDAGOGIES: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURES OF THE THESIS CURRICULA
This session will consist of an hour long moderated discussion regarding the shaping of the Thesis curricula today.

MODERATOR: Eva Franch I Gilabert
PARTICIPANTS: Stan Allen, Scott Colman, Cristina Goberna, Andrew Holder, and Joan Ockman

A reception will follow in the Jaques and Natasha Gelman Foyer.