A Certain Kind of Life

An exhibition of miniature models and a book for the Lisbon Architecture Triennale The Poetics of Reason, supported by the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts and UIC Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, completed in 2019

A Certain Kind of Life examines the typology of monastic architecture as a reflection of collective living and our cultural condition of being together, alone. An atlas of research explores the absolute rationality of Carthusian monasteries where individuals live in silence. Scale models of speculative cell prototypes, or units of living, are exhibited around a courtyard at the Cartuxa de Laveiras, an abandoned monastery in Lisbon. Daily actions are distilled as carvings above and below the cell’s terraced interior. Apertures relieve the cell’s confinement, defining visual passage beyond the solitary life. An article expanding on the research is issued on Nonsite and a forthcoming book will be published by Actar in 2025.

See related work Deserts.

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Image Credit: Ibai Rigby, Hugo David

Team: James Carter, Abigail Chang, Francesco Marullo, Agata Siemionow

Contributors: Nash Kennedy, Alexandra Madsen, Jacob Patnode, William Stauffer, Julia Turner, Andreina Yepez

Construction: Abel Alves, Sérgio Azevedo

Recognition: Awarded Associated Project, Awarded Graham Foundation Production Grant, Awarded UIC Research Grant