a Plum Academy Forum Tuesdays October 6, 13 & 20 6:30pm | SPACES Gallery | 2220 Superior Viaduct | Cleveland, OH 44113 | Phone: 2166212314 | Email: info [at] spacesgallery [dot] org

What would it mean to paint a uniquely Cleveland painting, construct a uniquely Great Lakes installation piece, write a uniquely Midwest poem, compose a uniquely Rust Belt song or dance? What makes these regions different from any other regions of the world, and how does that something get expressed or translated into art? Does it happen at the level of themes, content, materials, shapes, forms, or something else? As it turns out, architectural theory has a well-developed body of writing on what constitutes regionalism in building design and construction. Our job in this forum will be to study and discuss the basic ideas in architectural regionalism, and then determine the extent to which these ideas can be applied to other forms or creative practices. Please note: this forum is NOT about architecture per se; we are testing specific architectural theory as it applies to other creative practices.

WEEK 1: Tuesday October 6, 6:30-7:30pm

Introductions:
We will share and discuss what brings us each to this forum and what creative practices we engage.

Architectural Regionalism:
We will identify and discuss the central concepts.

Readings:
Preface (10-12) and Introduction (16-33) in Architectural Regionalism:
Collected Writings on Place, Identity, Modernity and Tradition, edited
by Vincent B. Canizaro (Princeton 2007)
http://books.google.com/books?id=f8OQOZ6REYAC

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WEEK 2: Tuesday October 13, 6:30-7:30pm

Testing the theories:
We will discuss our readings from the previous week, with a focus on identifying elements of regionalism that can or cannot be applied to other creative practices and why

Readings:
additional excerpts from the Canizaro anthology as needed

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WEEK 3: Tuesday October 20, 6:30-7:30pm

Regionalism in practice:
We will have an open discussion and workshop in which participants share their own examples of creative practices that can or cannot be understood within the regionalist frameworks we have developed in the
previous two meetings.