Taubman College architecture faculty will be participating in the 2010 ACSA West Central Fall Conference “Flip Your Field” on Oct. 21-23, 2010, at the University of Illinois School of Architecture in Chicago. The event seeks the deferred disciplinary returns on themes of the past fifteen years in an effort to “flip” the expanded field of architecture, as the positions of an architectural discipline have too often experienced devaluation. Organized through ten opportunities for ideological re-investment, the conference launches a discipline that can trade-up rather than sellout or declare bankruptcy.

The following faculty are presenting as follows:

Dean Monica Ponce de Leon will speak on the Plenary Panel, Sat., Oct. 23, 4-5:30 p.m., on the topic of “Field Rotations,” where Ponce de Leon, along with two other recently appointed Deans, will discuss surprising practices in design education and advise on counter-intuition and design intelligence.

Architecture Chair John McMorrough will moderate a panel, Fri., Oct. 22, 4-5:30 p.m., entitled “Catastrophe,” which will discuss how emergency devices, ambulance chasing, epic failures and big form promise new opportunities to start over.

Assistant Professor of Architecture Steven Mankouche will participate in the panel on “Detail” on Fri., Oct. 22, 2-3:30 p.m. “Details” centers around how eroded surfaces, arrayed assemblies, steam bending and seam stressing push the boundary of architectural envelopes.

Assistant Professor of Architecture McClain Clutter and Lecturer Tom Moran will participate in the panel on “Negotiation” on Sat., Oct. 23, 10-11:30 a.m. “Negotation” will highlight perspectives on how radical railbanking, productive obstacles, collective interventions and shaky deals offer new freedoms from old constraints.

For more information about the event, visit their website.