After the Event: Architecture and the Image at the Turn of the 21st Century

Abstract

The thesis is broadly positioned within the debates of ‘high and low’ in contemporary architectural thesis rather sees these relations as a part of a sphere (a mediasphere) of complex relationships.culture, and more specifically within the relationship between architecture (high) and media (low) around the turn of the 21st century. It acknowledges that the relationships between architecture and media are necessarily complex and more nuanced than is portrayed in contemporary architectural literature. It argues the need to reconsider these relationships— firstly, on new terms, outside the hierarchical divisions of ‘high and low’, and secondly, in an open-ended examination. This open-ended analysis is necessitated by the continuous involvement of contemporary ‘mediagenic’ architecture (Giovannini 2000), which is the focus of the analysis with media and image. The thesis examines mediagenic architecture against the dismissive approach often present in architectural literature, arguing that the analysis of common mediagenic architecture examples (such as the Guggenheim in Bilbao in Spain (1997), designed by Frank Gehry) cannot represent generalised criticism of mediagenic architecture. The thesis argues that the relationship this architecture maintains with contemporary media is necessarily heterogeneous and complex. It further acknowledges that mediagenic architecture occupies two inseparable spheres: the physical (with physical architecture) and the media (with images and texts across various media). It sees the necessity for additional examination of the mediasphere and the mutual relationships between these two spheres.