The Anarchive: Exploring Absence through Counter-Archives with Shannon Mattern

​Drawing inspiration from the elusive concept of “anarchitecture” — characterized variously by the cut and the collective, absence and activation, excess and erasure — this panel will assess and reimagine the architectural an-archive as a site where knowledge workers, scholars, designers, planners, students, and community members converge.

​We’ll consider how the archive does — or could otherwise — condition what constitutes architecture, what’s worthy of collection and preservation, who counts among its stakeholders, what records or artifacts document its existence, and what alternative worlds might be conceivable. And given Van Alen’s focus on “open and fair access,” we’ll consider what those concepts mean for an architectural archive in an age when extractive, surveillant technologies and authoritarian regimes have threatened both our knowledge infrastructures and public architectures.

​What new an-institutions and imaginations are necessary? Please join us to explore the archival works and themes of Open Access at Van Alen with Shannon Mattern in the Urban Room.

​6:00pm — Doors open
6:30pm — Conversation begins
7:15pm — Q&A
7:30pm — Reception
8:00pm — Close

​This program is made possible by the Graham Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.