Life is a Dream: Architecture between ethics and politics

In the first semester of their final year of study, students of architecture at WIT read and respond to classical texts and stories. Through these stories, ancient people were introduced to the marvels and perils of the human condition in the world. They played a crucial role in forming a responsible citizen and led to their full emotional, intellectual, ethical, and spiritual development. To articulate an architectural design response to critical contemporary issues, students use these narratives to enquire into a given topic through exclusively spatial exploration – by making a series of models.

This year’s exhibition consists of the work of two generations of award-year students. The last year, students read the ancient tragedy of Sophocles, 'Antigone', and investigated the tension between natural and human laws and the bearing this has on the responsibilities of an architect towards the built environment and society. The current generation of final year students explored many possible interpretations of Calderon’s rich drama 'Life is a Dream'.