The "Architecture of the threshold" was the theme of a symposium held at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH Zurich. Experts from the fields of cultural science, philosophy, sociology and architectural history discussed the architectural and technical design of transition points, and the social interaction which takes place on the threshold.
The symposium was led by Assistant Professor of Architecture Theory at the ETH Zurich Laurent Stalder and art historian Dr. Philipp Ursprung, of the University of Zürich. In the Sempersaal Room at the ETH in March 2009, guests invited to hold lectures and lead the discussion included art historians Victor Stoichita and Bettina Köhler as well as media historian Bernhard Siegert and the author Andreas Bernard.
The symposium was documented by Anne Kockelkorn, research assistant at the Institute of History and Architecture Theory at the ETH Zurich.
The questions discussed at the symposium formed the subject of a three-year research cycle conducted by Laurent Stalder and his team of four. The result is now available in the "Threshold Atlas" ARCH+ No. 191/192, which has been created as a continuous glossary containing short entries and extended essays. By supporting the symposium and the resulting Threshold Atlas, Siedle is involved in promoting the debate which surrounds the issue of the threshold.
The Threshold Atlas is all but sold out. A few copies are still available from ARCH+:
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Art historian Victor Stoichita takes the stand
Laurent Stalder of the Institute of History and Architectural Theory at the ETH researched into the extensive transformation of the threshold in architecture
Media historian Bernhard Siegert analyses the film "Pickpocket" by Robert Bresson (1959)
Art historians Victor Stoichita (left) and Philip Ursprung in discussion
Art historian Victor Stoichita and media historian Bernhard Siegert discuss the two films "Pickpocket" by Robert Bresson (1959) and "Purple Rose of Cairo" by Woody Allen (1985)
Victor Stoichita talks about the film "Purple Rose of Cairo" by Woody Allen (1985), in which the hero walks out of the screen and into the cinema
The two architectural theoreticians Laurent Stalder (left) and Georges Teyssot in discussion
Art historian Bettina Köhler and author Andreas Bernard
Media theoretician Gillian Fuller and architecture theoretician Georges Teyssot
The Threshold Atlas functions as a cultural and socioscientific lexicon of modern house technology and closes a gap in the series of available architectural reference works.