Cathelijne Nuijsink, "Unlocking the 'Contact Zone'". Lunch Talk #1. Doctoral School

Lunch Talk #1

Cathelijne Nuijsink
Unlocking the "Contact Zone": Toward a New Historiography of Architecture

Thursdsay 20/02/2025  13:00-14:30

Palazzo Canavée, room C3.88

"In this lecture, I propose rethinking architectural history through the theoretical framework of "contact zones." By focusing on architectural contact zones—such as conferences, competitions, exhibitions, and symposiums—we can critically interrogate the architectural canon, which traditionally emphasizes the achievements of individual (often white, male) architects and iconic buildings. In contrast, a "contact zone perspective" on architectural history allows us to identify and analyze the complex processes of knowledge exchange across cultures and geographies, moving beyond simplistic notions of "influence," master-apprentice relationships, or the mere "import" and "export" of ideas. To illustrate this approach, I will examine The Any Conferences (1991-2000), a series of ten multidisciplinary and cross-cultural conferences that brought together architects, social scientists, philosophers, political theorists, literary critics, and lawyers, with the goal of facilitating in-depth discussions on the current state and future direction of architecture" 
Cathelijne Nuijsink

Dr. Cathelijne Nuijsink is a Senior Lecturer at the Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture (gta) at ETH Zurich. Her current research engages with the development of new historiographic methods that enable histories of architecture in the latter half of the twentieth century to be written in a way that is more inclusive, interdisciplinary, and polyvocal. Nuijsink holds a BSc and MSc in Architecture from the Delft University of Technology, an MSc in Architecture from the University of Tokyo, and a PhD in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from the University of Pennsylvania, USA. Between 2018 and 2021, Nuijsink was a Horizon 2020-funded Marie Sklodowska-Curie postdoctoral research fellow at ETH Zurich, where she developed the project “Architecture as a Cross-Cultural Exchange: The Shinkenchiku Residential Design Competition, 1965–2017.” As a Postgraduate Associate in The History, Theory and Criticism of Architecture and Art (HTC) program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2022-2024), funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), she launched her current research project, “Unlocking the Contact Zone: Toward a New Historiography of Architecture,” which uses The Any Conferences as a case study.

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