The course discusses the ways in which histories of architectural education are currently addressed, carried out and written within a plurality of international contexts. In recent years, the history of architecture schools has been a lively field of research, open to various types of experimentation, to an innovative use of sources (oral, material, etc.) and to an interesting cross-contamination of methodological approaches. The course invites four leading scholars to reflect on their own research experiences in the field and on the implications of such endeavors for educational institutions.The course is linked to the initiatives carried out by the Department of Architecture and Design in 2025 and 2026 around the construction of a history of the Turin School of Architecture after 1968.

Guests Lectures: Beatriz Colomina is Howard Crosby Butler Professor of the History of Architecture and the Director of Graduate Studies (Ph.D. program) in the School of Architecture at Princeton University. Her publications on the history of architectural education include the book Radical Pedagogies (MIT Press, 2022). Caroline Maniaque is Professor (HDR) of Architectural History and Culture at the ENSA Normandie, Rouen. Her publications on the history of architectural education include the books Les années '68 et la formation des architectes (Rouen, Éditions Point de Vues, 2018), Mai 68. L’architecture aussi! (Paris, B2, 2018) et Architecture 68. Panorama international des renouveaux pédagogiques (Genève, MetisPresses, 2020). Gauthier Bolle is Professor (HDR) of Architectural History and Culture at the ENSA Strasbourg and the editor of the journal “Cahiers de la recherche architecturale, urbaine et paysagère”. His publications on the history of architectural education include the books L’école d’architecture de Bordeaux au XXe siècle (Presses universitaires de Bordeaux, 2021), L’école d’architecture de Strasbourg (1921-2021) (Lyon, Lieux Dits, 2022); Dessins d’élèves architectes aux Beaux-Arts. Des programmes aux projets (1906-1968) (ibid. 2023). Elke Couchez is research coordinator at the Faculty of Architecture La Cambre Horta, Université Libre de Bruxelles. Her publications on the history of architectural education include the books Architectural Education Through Materiality: Pedagogies of 20th Century Design (Abingdon, Routledge, 2022) and This Is Not a Summer School: The International Laboratory of Architecture and Urban Design (Zurich, gta Verlag, 2025). Tom Avermaete is Chair of the History and Theory of Urban Design at ETH Zurich. His research covers manifold aspects of the history of architectural modernism in the 20th century, linking professional practices, design innovation and the study of circulation of architectural knowledge. From 2016 to 2023 he coordinated the international project “Tacit Knowledge in Architecture”, which analyzed the transmission of non-explicit knowledge, embodied in the material vectors of architectural practice. His last book is The Global Turn (Nai010, 2025). Beatriz Colomina, “Radical Pedagogies” and a global approach BC presents and discusses the decade-long research work – of which she was one of the coordinators – on the global history of radical approaches to architectural teaching in post-WWII years. The discussion will cover the organization of the collective work, the difficulties of carrying out comparative research undertakings with a global outreach, the plurality of forms of dissemination (exhibitions, websites, book) Caroline Maniaque, Short and long temporalities in the study of architectural education CM discusses her manifold works on the history of architectural education. These have mostly focused on the impact of moments of crisis – such as the protests of 1968 and the subsequent reforms in France – within a broader, long-term history of changing approaches and practices. Some of her research has been translated into a travelling exhibition, which will be displayed in coincidence with the seminar. Gauthier Bolle, Writing the history of one school: challenges and implications One of the coordinators of an ambitious series of initiatives on the histories of the schools of architecture in two French cities (Strasbourg and Bordeaux), GB presents and discusses the research practices and challenges behind these collectiveundertakings. Elke Couchez, Observing materialities, studying practices EC discusses two research projects that she has co-led over the last few years, respectively centered on using material objects as a source for the study if architectural education and on the close observation of innovative teching practices. Tom Avermaete, Historical research in/on Polytechnic schools: a dialogue One of the leading European architectural historians, TA discusses the role played by historical knowledge on architecture within a leading multi-disciplinary technical university such as the ETH, and addresses the challenge of writing histories of education as part of a strategy of institutional identity-building.

On site

Oral presentation - Written report presentation - Team project work development

P.D.1-1 - February