The international symposium and exhibition Mobility of the Line: an Interdisciplinary Conversation evolved as a result of postgraduate debate on the nature of drawing and architectural space. The project created a space for conversations between disciplines, between postgraduate students, between national and international theoreticians and practitioners.
The student-led symposium and exhibition event was held at the Sallis Benney theatre, University of Brighton, on the 10th, 11th and 12th of January was successfully organized by the MA Architectural and Urban Studies Postgraduate students and overseen by their programme leader Dr. Ivana Wingham as a part of their final Master Work course unit of study. Parallel to the organization of this event, the students also provided their own two-part design dissertation that dealt broadly with the ideas of how the line can acquire mobility in an urban, imaginary, experiential and surreal space and their practice-led research has been individually displayed in an exhibition.
The opening day of the student event was introduced by Professor Jonathan Woodham, Director of the Centre for Research and Development, and focused on practice-led research and growing postgraduate culture at the University of Brighton. Three sessions Mapping the Invisible Lines, Travelling and Imaginary Lines and Meaning and making of Lines featured MA and PhD student presentations. The accompanying exhibition of each of the Postgraduate organizers’ own conceptual approach to the theme in seven projects and seven drawings dealt with the mobile line as a tool of generating urban and architectural designed spaces. The mobile line took on different roles and became an urban wavelength, a light projecting metaphor, a map travelogue, an immaterial trace of pedestrians, an invisible city framework, a mediator between 2-D and 3-D surfaces and a tool for re-appropriating designed space. The students were engaged with how their constructed lines could re-shape the experience, the effect or even an actual space itself. The changeability of the mobile line had been explored in a range of design disciplines in order to inform a new way of perceiving the line within architectural design.
This inter-disciplinary event’s symposium included international and national speakers on the 11th and 12th from disciplines like architecture, graphic design, sculpture, photography, media and communications, art and other design disciplines. The opening address speech given by Dean of Arts and Architecture Faculty, Anne Boddington, praised student learning and introduced five sessions: Placing the Line, Line as a Metaphor, Performance of the Line, Line as a Message and Drawing of Lines. The list of speakers included Dr. Tracey Bowen, Angus Leadley Brown, Shirley Chubb, Sean Clute, Professor George Hardie, Brian Hatton, Professor Jonathan Hill, Professor Charlie Hooker, Michael Howe, Kristen Kreider, Professor Neil Leach, Igor Marjanovic, Will Nash, Professor Maxine Naylor, Giacomo Picca, Chris Rose, Anne Peirson Smith, Dr. Teresa Stoppani, Dr. Maria Theodorou, Professor Greg Votolato and Dr. Ivana Wingham. The event was widely attended and allowed students the opportunity to listen to a broad range of lectures and approaches on the theme of how line may be interpreted within variety of disciplines. The symposium enabled for conversations to arise between the speakers and the audience.
This educationally innovative project was kindly supported by The Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning through Design (CETLD) and its Director and Dean of Art and Design Faculty Anne Boddington. Additional support was kindly offered by the University of Brighton and the Head of Architecture and Design Dr Catherine Harper. The funding for the printing of the booklet was kindly provided by Scott Brownrigg and DLA Design Group.
