The Ship of Theseus - a paradox fit for Master of Architecture students

Abstract

This paper describes a pedagogical exercise involving Master of Architecture students and their investigation of the ancient paradox of Theseus’ ship. The myth was offered as a starting point for developing a personal design brief and was conducted in collaboration with a real client, who represented the philosophy forum at the University of Lincoln, thus mimicking the reality of client-designer relationship in professional practice. Work was developed by students both individually and as a group and the exercise forms part of ongoing action research led by the authors. The Greek myth, with its inherent abstraction, presented students with a conundrum regarding their expectations from a brief but also, quite importantly, it tested their approach to challenging, unfathomable problems. Their responses revealed their thinking patterns, tried their ability to experiment outside of comfort zones and altered the expectations of student-tutor relationship: answers could not be given, the process had to be led by the students and their individual research into the paradoxical world opened by Theseus’ ship myth. The goal of the project for our client was the building of an installation to be exhibited on campus in Lincoln, students had to divide labour for this enterprise to be successful: from designing it, to procuring materials and building it, to PR exercises and feasibility studies for suitable display spaces. The work was student-led, under the guidance of the two authors, in the spirit of the ‘Student as producer’ ethos embedded into our teaching and learning practice at the University of Lincoln. The paper presents our pedagogical approach, the students’ responses as their completed work and the production of the installation, detailing some aspects of the process, which unfolded, tripped or accelerated like any live project. The paper also offers a contextualisation of the significance of such philosophical approaches within architectural education and practice, through several case studies analysed here from points of view suggested by Theseus’ ship paradox