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The University Is Now on Air: Broadcasting Modern Architecture. Installation view, 2017
The University Is Now on Air: Broadcasting Modern Architecture. Installation view, 2017
The University Is Now on Air: Broadcasting Modern Architecture. Installation view, 2017
The University Is Now on Air: Broadcasting Modern Architecture. Installation view, 2017
The University Is Now on Air: Broadcasting Modern Architecture. Installation view, 2017
The University Is Now on Air: Broadcasting Modern Architecture. Installation view, 2017
The University Is Now on Air: Broadcasting Modern Architecture. Installation view, 2017
The University Is Now on Air: Broadcasting Modern Architecture. Installation view, 2017
The University Is Now on Air: Broadcasting Modern Architecture. Installation view, 2017
While higher education today is facing a crisis of access and quality, MOOCs (massive open online courses) offer a way to reach wider audiences but also raise questions about who produces knowledge and who is responsible for mass education. MOOCs are part of a long lineage of attempts to mobilize new media environments for educational purposes. The exhibition The University Is Now on Air: Broadcasting Modern Architecture offers a close reading of a pioneering case study: A305, History of Architecture and Design, 1890–1939. This third-year undergraduate arts course, offered by The Open University via television and radio broadcasts between 1975 and 1982, was a radical project for sharing knowledge through the convergence of mass media and mass education.
The Open University—founded in 1969 with headquarters in Milton Keynes, UK—a key experiment in distance and adult education, was part of the socially progressive reforms of the Labour Party between 1964 and 1970. Through courses such as A305, The Open University extended higher education beyond a typical class of students by using media as a tool to transform both the production and transmission of knowledge. A305 used publication, correspondence, and a complex system of local and regional centres to disseminate that knowledge across an entire country.
Curator: Joaquim Moreno
Exhibition design: APPARATA, London and Basel
Graphic design: Something Fantastic, Berlin
The University Is Now on Air: Broadcasting Modern Architecture is produced by the CCA based on the module A305, History of Architecture and Design, 1890–1939, written and produced by The Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom. All rights are reserved. The CCA gratefully acknowledges The Open University for their collaboration.
Selected objects
A305 course timetable, published in “Broadcasting the Modern Movement,” Architectural Association Quarterly 7, no. 1 (1975)
Broadcasting Supplement, Part 2, reference booklet for A305: History of Architecture and Design 1890–1939
Radiovision Booklet, reference booklet for A305: History of Architecture and Design 1890–1939 (1975)
Cover of Le Corbusier: English Architecture 1930s, course booklet for Units 17–18 of A305: History of Architecture and Design 1890–1939 (1975)
Back vover of Le Corbusier: English Architecture 1930s, course booklet for Units 17–18 of A305: History of Architecture and Design 1890–1939 (1975)
Cover of Art Nouveau, course booklet for Units 3–4 of A305: History of Architecture and Design 1890–1939 (1975)
Exhibition Tours
Interviews
Alexandra Palace, Former BBC Studios, London, July 2017
Conducted by Joaquim Moreno
Directed by Shahab Mihandoust
Cinematography by Erin Weisgerber
Joseph Rykwert was the external examiner of The Open University course A305, History of Architecture and Design 1890–1939. In this interview, Rykwert positions A305 in relation to architectural education and theoretical debates in the 1970s.
The creation of a university on air required intensive production infrastructure for all of the television and radio programs. As the head producer for A305, Nick Levinson represented the BBC’s Open University department and was responsible for the production and delivery of the course.
Adrian Forty’s key scholarly contribution to the A305 units “The Electric Home” and “The Labour-saving Home” gave historical consideration to the design of common objects, redirecting the course’s attention to the everyday appliances and energy systems shared by a broad collective.
Public broadcasting of modern architecture should address the present-day concerns of its wide audience. Stephen Bayley was the critical voice that brought narrative closure to A305 through its final two episodes, “The Semi-Detached House” and “The Housing Question,” examining then-contemporary debates on English housing.
Course production at the Open University was a collaborative effort between its academic departments and the BBC. OU Arts Faculty member Tim Benton conceived of the course A305, History of Architecture and Design, 1890-1939, and orchestrated its staff and course teams.
Opening Talk
Publication
Related events
Related articles
The exhibition elsewhere
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