Lucas, R., 2022.

'A house for...': Experiments in Filmic Architecture

In this chapter I discuss teaching practices in architecture, in particular the opening up of space for teaching outside the strict requirements for a professionally validated degree. My discussion centres on the development of the curriculum at Manchester School of Architecture (MSA) for Masters-level workshops, undertaken in 2014, which aimed to shorten the distance between research and pedagogy and to give students space outside of the traditional 'silo' of the studio to explore issues of interest to them. Alongside this development, I produced my own workshops including one entitled 'Filmic Architecture'. This latter was framed as a series of discussions on film theories, in which participants were asked to select a film director and to analyse their work through a set of exercises. They then had to design a house for this director, to be shown as an appropriately edited short film. The house could be modelled physically or digitally, and either derived from existing footage or assembled from their own shots of the city. The concept of what constitutes a 'house' was left wide open, so that students could reflect on the understanding of their chosen director, derived from their research.