FSEM 162   Architecture and Conflict

Faculty Profile for Professor Guile

Architecture in Conflict and Cataclysm

Studies the impact of conflict and cataclysm on global architectural heritage c. 1400 to the present. The April 2019 fire at Notre Dame cathedral in Paris is generating a vigorous debate about how (and how fast) to respond to the loss of historic architectural heritage. The contemporary architecture of Daniel Libeskind and Frank Gehry is always accompanied by dialogue about the nature of creative intervention and a local community's desires and expectations. Local stakeholders are working together with international agencies to assess and rebuild damaged heritage in Syria and Iraq. The 2004 reconstruction of the sixteenth-century Mostar Bridge aimed to heal the religious divisions of the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina. After the Second World War, inhabitants of Warsaw had to decide on which image of their city to revive in reconstruction activities. Students study these case studies and others about the destruction, reconstruction, and preservation of architectural heritage. Students discuss religious iconoclasm, revolution, tactical destruction and cultural cleansing, monuments and memorialization, architectural reconstruction and “facadism,” looting/art theft, accident and natural disaster; the politics of representation will also figure prominently. What can we learn from these histories? How have the issues been theorized by practitioners? How do local communities participate? What is the future of historic preservation? Assignments will include short essays, a research project, and collaborative presentations. Students are also introduced to research fundamentals. Students who successfully complete this seminar will receive credit for a 200-level ARTS course and satisfy one half of the Human Thought and Expression area of inquiry requirement.

Professor Carolyn Guile’s research is focused on East-Central European arts and architecture, European architectural theory, and art historiography of the early modern period. Current projects include a study of cultural tradition, inheritance, and identity in the Renaissance and Baroque periods in Poland-Lithuania. She also writes on the impact of conflict on cultural heritage. She is Co-Director of Colgate's Center for Freedom and Western Civilization and Executive Officer for Red Arch Cultural Heritage Law & Policy Research.