Poetics of Tectonics 

Pro-seminar for M.Arch II Post-Professional thesis research.

“Hegelian determinism is the space of contestation. In the seminar, contested historical events are represented as case studies. Composed primarily of ninetheenth and twentieth century essays, the case studies attempt to reanimate critical debates within aspects of the design disciplines. The sequence of essays reflected an underlying order (conflict) used to set ‘the new’ against ‘the traditional’ demonstrating that the ‘break with tradtion’ is, in fact, systemic. It is a three-step process whereby a tradition is 1) recognized, 2) negated, and 3) replaced.” -- Darell Fields, 2024.


Poetics of Tectonics argues for the significance of marking the ground and revealing the joint, using Carlo Scarpa, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Kengo Kuma as examples.

Special thanks to seminar teacher Darell Fields.


Fall 2024, independent work.
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Currently in New York / New Jersey
© Elina Chen 2026