Vacature
The Department of Architecture is part of the Science and Technology Group at KU Leuven and coordinates the research on (interior) architecture, urbanism and spatial planning at the Faculty of Architecture (Brussels and Gent) and the Faculty of Engineering (Leuven). The Department enjoys an international reputation and currently has more than 150 (international) PhD students.
This doctoral scholarship is part of the broader research project “International Exhibitions and Changing Discourses on the Home and Design Consumption. The Case of the Interieur Biennale in Kortrijk (1968-2018),” funded by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO). The project is hosted at the KU Leuven Department of Architecture, HTC Research Section on History, Theory and Criticism of Architecture. More precisely it will be developed within the context of the A2I (Architecture Interiority Inhabitation) research group and the KU Leuven Faculty of Architecture, which is located on two campuses: Campus Sint-Lucas Ghent and Campus Sint-Lucas Brussels. The project is led by supervisor Prof. Fredie Floré and co-supervisor Prof. Caroline Voet.Project
Since the mid-19th century, international exhibitions in the West have facilitated the exchange of ideas on design for domestic spaces. This phenomenon reached a new phase in the second half of the 20th century, when the house functioned as vehicle for larger political and ideological ideals in the context of post-war reconstruction and the Cold War. Since the 1960s, home discourses gradually took on a less normative tone, giving more space to narratives that celebrate consumers’ choices. Nonetheless, they remained ideologically charged. How did this phenomenon evolve towards the end of the 20th century and into the 21st, as issues like overconsumption and consumer accountability gained prominence?
This FWO research project tackles this question through the case of the international design biennale Interieur in Kortrijk, organized between 1968 and 2018. Catalyzed by the formation of an open European market, the biennale was established by a group of Belgian industrials and combined the concept of a trade fair with that of a cultural manifestation. Through a threefold methodological approach this project aims to gain insight in the international network of Interieur, to analyze the debates on the home that surfaced throughout time and to assess the interplay of the exhibition's discourse and its spatial scenography. As such it will develop new strategies to more systematically include and acknowledge commercial voices in the study of debates on design and domesticity beyond the 1960s.
The project will be realized through a collaboration between the two supervisors, a postdoctoral researcher and the PhD student recruited through this vacancy. In addition the following external partners are involved for particular aspects of the project: Design Museum Gent (archival research, conference, exhibition), Politecnico di Milano (research stay), VU Amsterdam (workshop).
The job of the PhD student will include:
- following the doctoral training program at the Arenberg Doctoral School;
- developing a PhD dissertation;
- making a clearly defined contribution to teaching, including thesis guidance, and course assistance;
- publishing your research in academic journals and books, presenting at international seminars and conferences, while aiming to disseminate your work also on non-academic platforms;
- engaging in general services for the Department of Architecture (including for example surveillance of exams, assisting the organization of events, etc.);
- organizing activities related to your research topic (e.g. international workshop or research meeting, conference, exhibition).