War Diaries: Design after the Destruction of Art and Architecture

Abstract: Elisa Dainese and Aleksandar Staničić will speak about some open questions related to post-destruction design, that come from the recently published collection of essays they edited titled “War Diaries: Design after the Destruction of Art and Architecture”. In this timely volume, Elisa, Aleksandar, and a broad range of contributors explore the weaponization of architecture—targeted attacks on art and infrastructure meant to destroy not only physical structures but also political unity and cultural memory. The essays discuss creative strategies for rebuilding and restabilizing damaged sites, often within the context of continuing animosities; the establishment of design coalitions to work with local communities on reconstruction; the designing of emergency settlements; and the teaching of culturally sensitive design practices to architects and urbanists, among many other topics.

Bios:

Elisa Dainese is a historian and theorist of architecture and urbanism and she is currently Assistant Professor of History and Theory of Architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her work examines intersections between modern ideas of habitation, constructions of indigeneity, and knowledge production. Her research and teaching examine twentieth and twenty-first century architecture; non-Western modernisms and Indigenous cultures; cross-cultural exchange; questions of race, gender, and power in the design disciplines. She has published widely in architectural books and magazines (JSAH, JA, e-flux, Thresholds, Bauhaus and OASE) and her research has received grants and awards from Columbia University, Bruno Zevi Foundation, CCA, SSHRC, GAHTC, the Graham Foundation, the University of Pisa, and Georgia Tech. Her book projects include two manuscripts entitled War Diaries: Design after the Destruction of Art and Architecture (co-editor, University of Virginia Press, 2022) and Women, Transcontinental Architecture, and the African Exchange, 1960s-80s (editor, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2024). Dr. Dainese has participated in numerous international conferences and has served in research and professional boards, among them she is a member of the Board of Directors of the Society of Architectural Historians and co-chair for the its 78th Annual International Conference.

Aleksandar Staničić is an architect and assistant professor at TU Delft Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment. Previously he was Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at TU Delft (2018-2020), postdoctoral fellow at the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at MIT (2017-2018), and research scholar at the Italian Academy for Advanced Studies, Columbia University (2016-2017). His most recent work includes edited volume War Diaries: Design After the Destruction of Art and Architecture (University of Virginia Press, 2022), and numerous research articles in The Journal of Architecture, Footprint, Architecture and Culture, and others.