Epistemic Artefacts
by Matthias Ballestrem and Lidia Gasperoni
“Architectural artefacts are negotiated as epistemic objects, an autonomous and innovative form of knowledge capable of inaugurating and institutionalising architectural research. The backbone of this publication is a dialogue between the architect Matthias Ballestrem and the philosopher and architectural theorist Lidia Gasperoni. In a vibrant discussion, they consider the epistemic value of the architectural artefact, the role of research practices in making this knowledge explicit and accessible, and the criteria for qualifying as design-based research. Alex Arteaga, Fabrizia Berlingieri, Peter Bertram, Helga Blocksdorf, Anđelka Bnin-Bninski, Marta Fernández Guardado, Joerg Fingerhut, Anke Haarmann, Rolf Hughes, Rachel Hurst, Daniel Norell, Tomas Ooms, Claus Peder Pedersen, Tim Simon-Meyer, and Philip Ursprung have added short comments and images to enrich the arguments with criticism, extensions, associations, and references. An afterword by Marcelo Stamm provides a theoretical reflection on a possible taxonomy of epistemic artefacts.”
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What we like about it:
This book was a bit of a revelation for me. It opens the door to design-based PhDs, gives clear examples of what this can look like and goes into depth through the very well-founded dialogue between Matthias Ballestrem and Lidia Gasperoni, who explore the meaning of design-based PhDs. In addition to the content, I particularly liked the style of the book. The main part forms the dialogue between the two authors. From time to time, other voices from the field join in the discussion and are identified as additional speakers using different fonts. This gives you the feeling of being part of a live discussion and reflecting on the topics discussed there for yourself.
Highly recommend for everyone interested in this topic!