S2021 A Journey Round My Room — Master Classes

Theory Master Class — Spring 2021

Each spring the Berlage organizes a two-week theory master class led by a renowned architectural thinker. This year’s iteration, led by Bêka & Lemoine in collaboration with Lucas Bacle, explored the unprecedented proximity and familiarity we have with our daily domestic environments in the wake of the past year’s successive lockdowns. Revisiting Xavier de Maistre’s eccentric 1794 novel A Journey Round My Room, one of the first literary works about confinement, participants were encouraged to explore and reconquest astonishment and surprise in the way we look at our immediate surroundings. They investigated film as way to bring to experience, understanding, and narration of domestic space that other kinds of representational media—such as plans, sections, elevations, or photographs—cannot. The master class concluded with a film festival featuring ten five-minutes films, each manifesting a highly personal, sharp, and critical interpretation of each participant’s relationship to domestic space.

(In)Habit
Ryan Ridge Rahardja ^(ID)

Through his preparation prior a date, we discover the way in which Ryan’s daily routines shape his domestic space.

Cast: Ryan Ridge and Jacklyn Mickey
Length: 3:06 min

Wrapping a Room
Ana Herreros Cantis^(ES)

Ana lives surrounded by her landlord's objects. As time passes by, she learns to coexist in this unfamiliar domestic space.

Length: 3:04 min

The Case of Masha & Vania
Maria Finagina^(RU)

A strange scientific experiment on body and space takes place in a bedroom.

Cast: Maria Finagina and Ivan Potapenko
Voice over: Michael Tjia
Length: 4:56 min

Outside In
Maria Christopoulou ^(GR)

When she moved to the Netherlands, Maria was surprised by the invasion of privacy through her windows.

Length: 4:56 min

Back in Space
Nishi Shah ^(IN)

Nishi embarks on a quest to find the one monument that embodies her current soujorn, another place to add to her postcard collection.

Length: 4:03 min

A five-minute intermission: The Story of the Boiled Egg

Misaligned
Jacklyn Mickey^(US)

Jacklyn has a pathological eye condition. For the first time, she will let them move to where they want to see, even if it means to be separated from each other.

Cast: Jacklyn Mickey, Nishi Shah, and Heng Yu
Length: 3:51 min

Living in a Sandcastle
Heng Yu (TW)

As if his current room was a spatial palimpsest of his life, Heng’s objects and fragments recall the previous rooms he has lived in.

Length: 4:42 min

I Live with Michael
Michael Tjia ^(NL)

What would Michael's objects say about his way of living and occupying space?

Length: 4:20 min

Beyond the Walls
Georgia Katsi (GR)

Georgia lives in an attic. By listening carefully to the surrounding sounds, she wonders about what lies beyond her walls.

Length: 4:10 min

A film screening

Contributors

Ana Herreros Cantis^(ES)
Jin Young Chang^(KR)
Maria Christopoulou^(GR)
Maria Finagina^(RU)
Georgia Katsi^(GR)
Jacklyn Mickey^(US)
Ryan Ridge Rahardja^(ID)
Nishi Shah^(IN)
Michael Tjia^(NL)
Heng Yu^(TW)

Contributions by

Juan Benavides
Ludo Groen
Salomon Frausto