If Buildings Could Talk

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Art And Building Technology for Interconnected Environments

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Columbia, GSAPP, Building Science & Technology

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The histories of art and cities are intertwined in multiple ways, showing that art can either duplicate and reproduce existing power relations or subvert them, enhance distinctions and boundaries, or undermine them. Similarly, technology has always been part of the progress of cities, and it poses resembling powers. Combining both can become a powerful tool to elicit social change in innovative ways. 

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This course targets the question of distinctions and boundaries through the way buildings interact with their immediate surroundings -  both physical and social. Using the combination of art and technology, students developed suggestions for artistic interventions in urban spaces to connect the campus to its surrounding Harlem Neighborhood. With an emphasis on building technology, the students planned and fabricated the installation on a 1:1 scale on-site.