I’M HEARING VOICES Exchanging, collecting and disseminating architectural (hi)stories in the "research by filming" approach

Degavre, Elodie [UCL]

The current collapse of hegemonic architectural narratives is leading us to reconsider the history of architecture in terms of its forgotten protagonists, and to describe this discipline and its products in their complex relationship to the social, political, economic and cultural context (TILL 2009; YANEVA 2020). "La vie en kit' (Life, assembled), a documentary included in my ongoing PhD, is part of this shift and seeks to contribute to a more 'sensitive' writing of the history of buildings (STEAD 2014). Produced following a lengthy investigation with a large panel of witnesses, the film reconstructs the history of three little-known architectural experiments, motivated by the current question: how can we build housing that is accessible to everyone? Using this as a practical case study in filmmaking, the research questions the relevance of film as a method of gathering data, transcribing it and producing knowledge in architectural research. Using these tools for gathering and producing narratives - oral history, archives, “filmed fieldwork” and cinematographic writing - I will offer an overview of this experience of 'research by filming'. By clarifying my subjective position - filmmaker, architect - I will be able to describe the opportunities and limitations I have encountered in my methodology to date. I will discuss the challenges of filmed, recorded and edited discourse, and assess the relevance of film to such a polyphonic set of data.