Research Seminar Fall 2008–09
Professor Beatriz Colomina with students: Luis Avilés, Marc Britz, Daniela Fabricius, Gina Greene, Margo Handwerker, Joy Knoblauch, Yetunde Olaiya, Enrique Ramirez, Molly Steenson, and Federica Vannucchi from Princeton University
The seminar was dedicated to the study of Architecture in Playboy: 1953–1979. The thesis of this research seminar was that Playboy played a crucial yet unacknowledged role in the cultivation of design culture in the USA. Through a wide range of different strategies, the magazine integrated state of the art designers and architects into a carefully constructed vision of a desirable contemporary life style. The seminar explored the ways in which Playboy was ahead of professional and popular magazines in promoting modern architecture and design.
The collaborative research seminar assembled and analyzed the magazines, the secondary literature on Playboy, the related archives, and conducted interviews with protagonists. As in previous Media and Modernity research seminars, the project will culminate in the collaborative production of a definitive book, exhibition, or event.
