‘Refracted Geographies’ reflects the global scope of the research projects by the 2023/24 cohort of the Bartlett MA Architectural History and the diverse approaches brought to the programme. Beginning at 22 Gordon St, our research spans across disciplinary and geographical boundaries, with subjects ranging from colonial anthropologies of Antarctica to constructed images of Asia within Europe. Collectively, we challenge the established canons of architecture, along with its histories and theories, and propose new perspectives for thinking and writing.

 

The theming is opportune bearing the recent 'identity crisis' with the role of the architect and architectural educator. This is reflected within the ongoing debates and internal reflections of the professions, as indicated by the 2024 Decolonising Architecture Symposium at the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Bartlett’s ongoing pedagogical reforms with its new Just Environments cluster. With these developments, the symposium contributes to the current discussion regarding the increased import placed upon architectural dialogues and viewpoints from – and about – the historically marginalised. Thus, by presenting experiments with disparate and hitherto unmapped positions, our cohort brings new outlooks into the light.

 

In Part I – Architectural Humanities, authors focus on the numerous methodologies for composing histories around the built environment. In Part II – Affective Architectures, authors focus on the intangible connections between spaces and the people who inhabit them. And in Part III – Fragmented Histories, authors focus on rethinking representations of the global majority and their relationship to power. 

 

In Part I, Yanqi Huang analyzes the culture of Conservation in Architecture in post-war Britain with a focus on the contributions of the 4th Viscount Esher; Inigo Custers paints a picture of Jean-Michel Folon, a Belgian artist who engaged in modern and postmodern architectural discourse; Elise Enthoven wonders about Covent Garden as she explores its redevelopment in the 1970’s and the emotional impact of the changes on its residents; Becki Hills sails to Antarctica to explore Oceanic Colonialism and the impact of man upon nature at Hektor Whaling Station; and Ed Davison rethinks ‘Vernacular’ Architecture and the use of indigenous building methods and their relationship to Modernism and Climate Change.

 

In Part II, Stella Saunt Hills is undercover in their exploration of Covert House in London through the voice of an imagined critic; Pimchanok Na Patalung opens up Fo Guang Shan London Temple to understand Architectural adaptation and its relationship with identity and religion; Qinwen Ding traces the Shanghai Longtang through the viewpoints of four women from the same family; Bashayer Khadim traverses public squares in Baghdad and the use of space as an extension of government identity; and Catherine Cull Thomas goes backstage to explore the National Theatre, the public space around it, and the role of everyday people in its success.

 

In Part III, Rodney von Daffer-Jordan imagines constructed realities of East Asia through phantasms and Orientalism in Schloss Schönbrunn; Sidra Khokhar traces Mohalla’s in Islamabad and the practices of women within them; Radhika Jhamaria journeys across the British Empire to explore the present state of artefacts from the Colonial and Indian Exhibition in 1886; and Leah Cho curates a discussion on how artefacts from states conquered by Japan were presented in Imperial museums.

 

While we have collated these texts into specific categories, each writing holds a nuanced position influenced by the author's background and influences, highlighting the vast geographical and theoretical spaces we inhabit within the realm of Architecture and Architectural History.