2016 Administrators Conference

The gaps and overlaps between architecture and other intellectual fields necessitate a reexamination of architecture’s status as an interdisciplinary practice. If architecture has always been inherently interdisciplinary—synthesizing technology, design, visual culture, history, theory, construction, and meaning—then what external interdisciplinary pressures exist today and what possibilities might they yield for architecture tomorrow? Filling the gaps in our own disciplinary knowledge or leveraging strategic overlaps with other fields is often a challenge for architecture programs constrained by the demands of professional education. Yet we must also recognize that effective cross-field collaborations continue to require intradisciplinary expertise.  This year in Chicago we will study the best examples of where gaps and overlaps have transformed programs, inspired pedagogical models, and charted new research territories.