Thursday, 26 July, as part of the 2012 Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) Visiting Scholars Program, Luka Skansi presents on the teaching method at Russian avant-garde art school VKhUTEMAS, the theoretical framework behind it and the historical framework behind the formation of the Soviet avant-garde.

The CCA Visiting Scholars Program invites scholars at the post-doctoral level to undertake innovative research in the history, theory, and criticism of architecture during residencies of one to eight months at the Study Centre.

"In the CCA Collection," explains Skansi, "we find a valuable photographic fund which documents the experimental work conducted within the VKhUTEMAS classrooms, one of the main Soviet educational institutions following WWI and the place where 20th century Soviet architectural culture was formed. The collected works are made up of a vast selection of images depicting the models and drawings produced by students of the 'Space' course taught by the architect Nikolaj Ladovskij assisted by Vladimir Krinskij and Nikolaj Dokuchaev and based on the renowned psycho-analytical method."

"The course was part of the so-called Osnovno otdelenie, the preliminary course program," continues Skansi, "and was regarded as a fundamental step in the educational system and a key opportunity to focus students on general problems of architecture, rather than requiring their immediate involvement in more specialised disciplinary tracks."

26 July 2012, 19:00, Free Admission
Shaughnessy House
Canadian Centre for Architecture
Montréal

Top photo: Unknown photographer. View of an exhibition of student projects showing models for towers for caustic soda processing for the topic "Functionally Specific Task in the Demonstration of Volume and Space" at the VKhUTEMAS. Gift of Howard Schickler and David Lafaille