AHO WORKS RESEARCH 2012
OCCAS
matter of cultural interpretation, and her-
meneutics in the widest sense constitutes an
important methodological vehicle for OCCAS’
research. However, the sheer physicality of
architecture makes it necessary to expand tra-
ditional humanist methodologies, finding ways
of studying cultural meaning as it is mediated
back and forth between the material and the
discursive. In art and architectural history and
theory, the complex entanglement of meaning
and formhas been subject to changing academ-
ic regimes over the last century, ranging from
the early 20
th
century’s oscillation between
subjective Einfühlung and ‘objective’ descrip-
tion, to the highly theoretical structuralist
and post-structuralist approaches of the post-
war period. In recent decades, architectural
research has witnessed a notable post-linguis-
tic turn whereby – under the motto “Jenseits
der Zeichen” – post modern semiotics has been
abandoned for an approach that is at the same
time more materially and more politically ori-
ented. This has entailed a renewed interest in
well-established philosophical traditions such
as phenomenology and critical theory, but has
also prompted the application of new approach-
es such as actor-network theory and relation-
al aesthetics onto architectural discourse and
practice. While inspired by such recent investi-
gations, OCCAS cultivates a position that com-
bines close readings of works, texts and contexts
with critical historiography and cultural theo-
ry. We aim to study the historical and cultural
significance of the built environment while at
the same time recognizing the specificity of the
architectural object and its contexts. OCCAS,
then, is informed by the material shift currently
influencing fields such as cultural history and
geography, yet maintains a critical, hermeneutic
perspective in its research.
Mari Hvattum, Mari Lending
OCCAS
