Studio 02
The Art of Memory
Rory Hyde and Jonathan Mills
Studio Description
This studio will focus on creating a new research museum on the site of the university. At once a pragmatic task to organise a diverse collection and conceive of a complex building, the studio will also explore critical questions facing museums and galleries today, including decolonisation, restitution, first nations history, identity, accessibility and inclusion. This is a wonderful opportunity to help imagine and contribute to shaping the idea of a new museum.
The title ‘The Art of Memory’ is drawn from the 1966 book by Frances Yates, which tells the history of systems of knowledge from ancient Greece to today. We will use this as a key text to explore ‘how we construct our minds’, and to consider the role of the archive in the age of the internet. What other forms of ‘knowing’ – ecological, non-human-centric, indigenous – do we need to cultivate today? And what role can architecture play in shaping these encounters with ideas?
Studio Outcomes
This studio will focus on the intersection between the cultural and pragmatic purposes of architecture. Students will explore the visionary and narrative potential of design, while also learning to manage the complex demands of a large public building containing various programmes.
Emphasis in this studio will be placed on designing for multiple and diverse stakeholders: client, commissioner, curator, researcher, visitor, and more. Students will learn to synthesise these various perspectives, and to use design to create new spaces of opportunities and ideas.
Deliverables will be a fully-realised design project, of a quality and resolution as expected for a final semester studio.
Studio Leaders
Dr Rory Hyde has recently joined the faculty as Associate Professor of Architecture (Curatorial Design and Practice), having worked previously as the Curator of Contemporary Architecture and Urbanism at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London for the past 7 years. Rory’s work examines new forms of practice and the changing role of the architect today.
Sir Jonathan Mills is a composer and one of Australia’s most experienced festival directors, having directed the Edinburgh International Festival from 2006 to 2014. A graduate of architecture at RMIT, Jonathan is Enterprise Professor with the Melbourne School of Design and faculty of Fine Arts and Music at the University of Melbourne.
Readings & References
The studio will host various artists, curators and experts from Melbourne’s cultural and museum sector.
Frances Yates 1966 book ‘The Art of Memory’ is a key text. As is Giulio Camillo’s 16th century idea of ‘The Memory Theatre’. We will also explore contemporary museum studies research, including ‘The Brutish Museum’ by Dan Hicks, ‘The Whole Picture’ by Alice Procter, and the work of John Berger.
Schedule Tuesdays 09:00-12:00, Thursdays 09:00-12:00