Opening this Saturday, February 18th, from 6pm-8pm at the STORE gallery in Pioneer Place, the ‘Toward a Nomadic Architecture’ Exhibition will be taking a look at the nomadic movements of different cultures. Centered around an academic course on the topic of nomadic architecture, students at Portland State University’s Department of Architecture, their research and investigations have led them to the presented work which can be seen in their exhibition. More information on the event after the break.
Nora Wendl, Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture, Portland State University, writes, “Nomads move from place to place very purposefully in search of the things that sustain them—food, water, and other resources. While one culture’s pattern of movement might be borne out of necessity, for another culture movement patterns arise out of desire, a curiosity. For the necessarily nomadic, it is often the case that the ways in which temporary, nomadic architectures are constructed will echo the methods by which the nomadic body itself is adorned and protected—to wit, the thick woolen waistcoats worn by nomadic herdsmen tied around their bodies like the wrapping of felt mats around the framework of the home. In an academic course organized around the theme of nomadic architecture, ten graduate and undergraduate students in the Department of Architecture at Portland State University have begun their term-long investigations into nomadic architectures by envisioning and producing the full-scale bodily garments worn by a diverse range of nomads.”
At least one of the students will be wearing her piece at the opening of this exhibition, which falls simultaneously into the areas of sociology, anthropology, art, architecture, craft and fashion.
