Is teaching a form of conversation? Can this conversation be a process of verification of the equality of intelligence between all participants? What if teaching recognizes the equality of intelligence without professing equality of all manifestations of intelligence?[1] Can we then think of a curation method that’s both canonical and heterogeneous, and authored and polyphonic? The design of this method is informed by my research. The questioning eludes to my overall rationale for pedagogy, built on the principles of equality, framed through my research as a discrete, yet closely aligned form of an inquiry.
I teach by creating environments. These can be described as discursive formations, or collected atmospheres, or forums in which we all operate through rigorous argumentation. My teaching can take the form of a design theory seminar, a design studio, or an advanced representation seminar. Regardless of the form it takes, students are introduced to an array of theoretical texts, advanced research and representation techniques, and methods of deconstruction, giving them the capability to engage the arguments they encounter. They will discern what grounds and legitimizes an argument, how the interpretation is made, what the account of a criterion or the principles used to evaluate claims to truth are, and so on. As a rule, I will welcome all forms of participation, as long as I can observe a sincerity of an effort to engage the texts that complicate the granted or inherited assumptions about design and architecture. Periodically, I receive positive feedback from my students attesting to the safety and attractiveness of the learning environment in which students strive to participate because they can feel challenged without being intimidated by the complex theoretical texts or other performative aspects of the larger forum.
Scroll down for the full list of courses that I taught with some examples of student work.
Surveillant City was a Graduate Design III Studio Course Designed and Taught by Vahan Misakyan at the UMN School of Architecture, Fall 2018
Studio work samples
Unboxing The Home. Project by Sam Brissett, Trevor Isaacson and Drew Smith
Pained Processions - Project by Austin Young and Cozy Hannula
Compounding Anthroposphere was a Graduate Design II Studio Course (occupying half of the semester) Designed and Taught by Vahan Misakyan at the UMN School of Architecture, Spring 2018
Studio work samples
Islands in the Mist. Project by Tyler Voight and Muna El-Taha
Saharan Dream - Project by Drew Smith, Sam Brissett and Tyler Snell
Architecting Anthropoveillance was an Advanced Representation Seminar Designed and Taught by Vahan Misakyan at the UMN School of Architecture, Fall 2019
Seminar work samples
Death. Data. Dollars by Austin Young and Xin Sun
Decentralized Identity by Sam Brissett and Luke McCann
Master’s Final Project, for students, is the culmination of the MArch program at the University of Minnesota’s School of Architecture. The following two projects are examples of student work that are advised by Vahan Misakyan as an MFP Critic.
MFP studio work samples, Spring 2020
Manifest Metaphors and Indigenous Inversion by Hana Bushyhead
Planetary Chronology by Megan Lundquist and Mary Begley (planetarychronology.com)
Cass Gilbert Assistant Professor | School of Architecture, College of Design, University of Minnesota
Spring 2020
Architecting Anthropoveillance (Advanced Topics in Representation, Graduate Seminar)
Architectures of Reassurance: Between Emergency and Play (architecture as catalyst, school-wide workshop)
Master’s Final Project
Fall 2019
Principles of Design Theory (Graduate Theory Seminar)
Surveillant City (Graduate Design III Studio)
Spring 2019
Anthropoveillance Vol-S (Topics in Architecture, Undergraduate Seminar)
Master’s Final Project
Fall 2018
Architecting Anthropoveillance (Advanced Topics in Representation, Graduate Seminar)
Surveillant City (Graduate Design III Studio)
Spring 2018
Compounding Anthroposphere (Graduate Design II Studio)
Principles of Design Theory (Graduate Theory Seminar)
Adjunct Assistant Professor | Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University
Spring 2015
> Thesis Studio "Global Cities Mumbai," with Markus Dochantschi, critic
Global Cities Mumbai was a thesis studio that addressed questions about the local and global factors influencing the urbanization. This studio challenged the students to analyze, understand and manipulate the DNA of a global city while developing their projects.
The student projects collectively benefited from the studio's trip to India (Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Delhi, and Chandigarh), interviewing and participating in workshops with local architects, activists and experts of different fields. Research gathered during the studio's trip was incorporated into their projects.
Associate in Architecture, Planning and Preservation | Columbia University, GSAPP
Fall 2014
> Advanced Studio V "Habitable Bridge," with Markus Dochantschi, critic
Habitable bridges functioned as multi-programmed structures, hosting markets, homes and sometimes even chapels. Concentrations of economic or societal transactions closer/across the bridges catalyzed a range of program-occurrences densely packed on and around these bridges. The habitable bridge can reflect the complexities of dense urbanization, however, it was not often recognized as a typology of a building in its own right, in that, rarely there were made any attempts to rethink the habitable bridge as a spatial construct that is more than the sum of its constituent elements. Is it simply an infrastructure that is colonized by architectural programs found in our cities? in our time, what does it mean to think of a structure that fuses programs, such as habitation and transportation, while bridging across an obstacle connecting two or more directly unconnected places?
NYC having been defined densification, diversity, globalization, and unique ecology has become a unique location to investigate and develop this typology. The studio tested the habitable bridge as a physical connection with Manhattan—both on micro and macro scale—and addressed a range of sociopolitical and sociocultural issues, such as sustainability, segregation or emerging economies.
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