‘How uncanny leads to critique’ is an essay that results from an experimental course. The collaboration between Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation New York and the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture Paris-Malaquais led us to write about Paris through different angles and from different points of view. The collaboration part allowed us to share our feelings and research findings in order to more accurately write our personal essays.
   The essay I wrote discusses how photography, particularly new digitally modified photographs, transform, deform and critique Paris’ cityscape. I argue that artistic subversions of the collective image of Paris can lead to a broader awareness of the urban environment and provide an important means for thinking beyond the clichéd and historical gaze which often imprisons and limits our idea of the city and its future.
   The argumentation relies on the analysis of four examples taken from the current photographic production: ‘Hausmann’ (2005) and ‘Les Deux Gares’ (2003) by Simon Boudvin, Adrien Verschuere-Baukunst’s ‘Carte Blanche’ published in Criticat (2009) and ‘Vider Paris’ (2001) by Nicolas Moulin.​

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Original text in English

Spring Term 2009

ENSA Paris-Malaquais, Paris, FR

Teachers: Brent Patterson / Clément Orillard​