Bigham, Jefferson, Miller, Thün, and Velikov Participate in the 2017 ACSA Conference in Marfa, Texas

The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) held its annual conference in Marfa, Texas with several Taubman College faculty presenting their research. The 2017 Conference titled “Crossing Between the Proximate and Remote” took place on October 12-14, 2017.

During the “Digital Tooling: Configuring This Against That” Lecturer Michael Jefferson presented “Typo: On Typology and Error.” His paper explores the architectural relationship between typologies, often a systemized process of producing architectural understanding, and errors, aberrations from an expected result. Through student work from studios and seminars he proposes a process where the typological design process are used to find productive means of using translational errors.   

Lecturer and 2015-2016 Walter B. Sanders Fellow, Ashley Bigham presented “Radical Regionalism: An Aesthetic Future for Rural America” as a part of the “Urban Negotiation II: Past + Future” panel. Her paper examines how rural architecture has been incorporated—but more often not—into contemporary discussions and its potential role as a part of larger aesthetic movements.

Associate Professors Kathy Velikov and Geoffrey Thün, and Assistant Professor Meredith Miller, were a part of the “Notions of Materiality: Virtual, Ephemeral, and Political” panel where Velikov and Thün presented “Material Practices For Deep and Immanent Temporality”  and Miller presented “Neolithic Props: A Case for Scenographic Materiality.” In their paper Velikov and Thün take the conference theme of the “proximate” and the “remote” and apply them as a framework to investigate the relationship between the temporal and matter. Miller’s paper looks at Charles Lydell’s 1830 work Principles of Geology and his use of an architectural artifact to explain his theories. Miller also served as the moderator of the “Architecture at the Edge: Emergent Views” panel.

In addition to the regular rounds of panels and keynotes, the conference featured tours of Marfa which included the Donald Judd Foundation, and Chinati Foundation. Read more about the 2017 ASCA conference including the abstracts for all papers here.