The Autonomous Model in Theatre and Architecture

Speakers:
Dr Lawrence Wallen, Professor of Design, University of Technology Sydney 
Dr Thea Brejzek, Professor for Spatial Theory, University of Technology Sydney
 
The Autonomous Model in Theatre and Architecture
Brejzek and Wallen track the emergence of the autonomous model as cultural artefact in theatre and architecture. Models are everywhere. The last Venice Architecture Biennale has been called the ‘Biennale of the Model’ and the recent Prague Quadrennial for Performance Design and Space (PQ) saw a proliferation of models from small scale to full- scale 1:1 models. Why do architects and set designers still make physical models? What is the meaning of scale? And what kind of models are there? In their talk, Thea Brejzek and Lawrence Wallen navigate the model’s genesis in theatre and architecture and identify the autonomous model as a cosmopoetic or world-making agent with the ability to generate new knowledge through its performative capacity.