Performing Architecture A Collaborative Educational Research in Acronafplia

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Δημοσιευμένα: Ιαν 25, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/ps2023.7993
Dimitra Kanellopoulou
ENSA Paris-Malaquais
Stella (Styliani) Dimitrakopoulou
University of Peloponnese
Περίληψη

Walking practice became central in architectural teaching mostly after the Second World War, within a broader context of transformation in pedagogical methods aimed at departing from the traditional approach of viewing architecture primarily as a matter of technique and form. Methodological tools and theoretical inquiries from social sciences and performing arts begun to interweave with those in the discipline of architecture. Walking is recognized as both an innovative and inherently intuitive method for exploring the qualities of the human environment and built spaces. Not only major figures of the 20th century’s architecture pointed out the importance of the human body moving through space (as exemplified in la promenade by Le Corbusier), but there has also been a growing interest in urban planning that places walking in the very centre of concerns for designers, envisioning the reconstruction of cities and neighbourhoods. Walking thus has a central role, not only as an objective within designed environments but also as a means of understanding these spaces as experienced places open to redefinition.
In this paper, we present, reflect upon and discuss the results of the site-specific action One hour, One Path. Narrations of Acronafplia that took place in the area of Acronafplia in Nafplion (Greece). This site-specific educational workshop was initiated by ENSA Paris-Malaquais School of Architecture (Paris) and implemented in collaboration with the Department of Performing and Digital Arts of the University of Peloponnese (Greece). On the 4th of November 2021 twenty master students of ENSA Paris-Malaquais and ten bachelor students from the Department of Performing and Digital Arts met for the first time and for a three-hour session in order to explore the area of Acronafplia guided by a series of in-situ explorations and prompted by questions suggested by their supervisors. How does the body experience the distinctive landscape of Acronafplia? In what ways can movement through space, lead to new forms of appropriation of the city and the public space, while considering the palimpsest of heritage traces?
First insights from the fieldwork experience highlight the potency of walking in stimulating engagement with the observed environment. By federating in situ different disciplines and ways of looking but also by enhancing a constant interaction with other bodies (co-walkers), the exercise aims to unveil ways in which walking can be a promising pedagogical tool at the intersection of disciplines concerned with spatial studies.

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