# Curating Architecture Across the Americas ## Curating Architecture Across the Americas (CAAA) ![CAAA](/sites/g/files/omnuum12451/files/styles/hwp_28_10__1920x685/public/2024-10/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-04%20at%2012.44.53_0.png?itok=E5snoYHi) Since the late 19th and early 20th Century, architecture exhibitions have helped imagine, construct, and order the built environment. Architecture exhibitions, however, remain understudied and challenging to produce, particularly in Latin America. CAAA seeks to promote research and establish this nascent field by focusing on themes, support research, and promote projects that dovetail and intersect architecture in the Americas. This initiative is organized in collaboration with the Department of History of Art and Architecture and led by professor [Patricio del Real](/people/patricio-del-real-0). The next iteration of *Curating Architecture Across the Americas* will engage historical research on pre-1990 architecture exhibitions and curatorial practices, and will be developed in conjunction with the Spring 2026 course: *Architecture in the Archive.* Open all sections Close all sections ### Arquitetura Nos Arquivos: Exposiçoes e Practicas Curatoriais | Fourth Iteration expand\_more The fourth iteration of the series, titled [ARQUITETURA NOS ARQUIVOS: exposições e práticas curatoriais](https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__ppgau.ufba.br_disciplinas-2Darquitetura-2Dnos-2Darquivos-2Dexposicoes-2De-2Dpraticas-2Dcuratoriais-2Dfabular-2Darquiteturas-2Darquivos&d=DwMFaQ&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=ITzMQsFhWMvh3sq0cA59kuIXsIMoTu6mln0dlw8ND1c&m=Zsvue_UoGA0jZIDawcF4pjBbZUX8cZg0BNhM0rFkOznQKxdYqIHTOL0IXmTJHfXW&s=W3MBTJxoUbe2ajkjv7g6--Wkcdrd-3HqEE5moPCkdBs&e=), held on September 2024, was an intensive graduate seminar with PhD students of FAUFBA (Facultade de Arquitetura Universidade Federal da Bahia) and was developed in collaboration with professor Junia Mortimer, UFBA/UFMG. The week-long program expanded and visualized the corpus and production of architectural knowledge by engaging with local public and private archives and cultural institutions ([Zumví - Arquivo Afro Fotografico](https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.zumvi.com.br_&d=DwMFaQ&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=ITzMQsFhWMvh3sq0cA59kuIXsIMoTu6mln0dlw8ND1c&m=Zsvue_UoGA0jZIDawcF4pjBbZUX8cZg0BNhM0rFkOznQKxdYqIHTOL0IXmTJHfXW&s=h1fHinq-92ZmvTjYS3P-zuvJlfO5O7MliRYUeGE0nOY&e=), [Centro Cultural Solar Ferrão](https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.guiademuseus.com.br_centro-2Dcultural-2Dsolar-2Dferrao&d=DwMFaQ&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=ITzMQsFhWMvh3sq0cA59kuIXsIMoTu6mln0dlw8ND1c&m=Zsvue_UoGA0jZIDawcF4pjBbZUX8cZg0BNhM0rFkOznQKxdYqIHTOL0IXmTJHfXW&s=6JwfrQ4MpFWjDNvVmcBqXVOoaTMaPMlonoHBwygl3vw&e=), [Acervo da Laje](https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.acervodalaje.com.br_&d=DwMFaQ&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=ITzMQsFhWMvh3sq0cA59kuIXsIMoTu6mln0dlw8ND1c&m=Zsvue_UoGA0jZIDawcF4pjBbZUX8cZg0BNhM0rFkOznQKxdYqIHTOL0IXmTJHfXW&s=H717wJhNCyutrBWcwP2QLlp-5-qSPvNneVri5KlaFSo&e=), [Arquivo Historico Municipal do Salvador](https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.arquivohistorico.salvador.ba.gov.br_&d=DwMFaQ&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=ITzMQsFhWMvh3sq0cA59kuIXsIMoTu6mln0dlw8ND1c&m=Zsvue_UoGA0jZIDawcF4pjBbZUX8cZg0BNhM0rFkOznQKxdYqIHTOL0IXmTJHfXW&s=_26cQI3P_Yr1G-_Ai8YEuiHvnPApqQxk-Mx42P7LFuk&e=)) to tell a more inclusive history of the built environment. The program was organized in collaboration with Catarina Flaksman, PhD candidate in History of Art and Architecture, Harvard University and Tecio Martins, PhD candidate FAUFBA. ### Brazil Speaks! Architecture at Risk | Third Iteration expand\_more [*Brazil Speaks! Architecture Culture at Risk*](https://drclas.harvard.edu/event/brazil-speaks-architecture-culture-risk?type=month&month=2022-02#overlay-context=event/brazil-speaks-architecture-culture-risk) established a conversation on the state of architecture as a cultural artifact in Brazil. The program brought together historians, curators, and cultural agents to examine exhibitions, archives, and curatorial practices that bring architecture to the public eye. These diverse voices and practices triggered a conversation on the methods, experiences, and aims of past, present, and future actions. Curated by Patricio del Real, Associate Professor of History of Art and Architecture, in collaboration with Catarina Flaksman, PhD student in History of Art and Architecture, Harvard University and Victor Próspero, PhD candidate in History of Art and Architecture, University of São Paulo and Fulbright Visiting Fellow, Harvard University. ### Why Architecture Belongs in the Museum | Second Iteration expand\_more Architecture as a cultural object in display was the subject of the Spring 2021 course: *Architecture in the “museum.”* This course explored the historical conditions that normalized the presentation of architecture in cultural spaces and run as parallel seminars held at the Department of History of Art and Architecture, Harvard University; the Magíster en Arquitectura (MARQ), Facultad de Arquitectura, Diseño y Estudios Urbanos, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; and the Laboratorio Editorial de Arquitectura, Facultad de Arquitectura, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and led by Professors Patricio del Real, Carolina Sepúlveda and Cristina López Uribe respectively. Each seminar focused on their national architectural contexts and worked together to survey and construct an Americanist geography of curatorial practices in architecture during the 20th century. Working sessions with collections specialists and curators were offered to students registered in the course *Architecture in the "museum"* | March 24: Paul Galloway, Collection Specialist, Architecture & Design, The Museum of Modern Art **The Conversation Series *Why Architecture Belongs in the Museum*** was held between March and May 2021 as part of this course. Guest speakers included: [Giovanna Borasi](/event/why-architecture-belongs-museum-giovanni-borasi), Director, Canadian Center for Architecture | [Ricardo Daza](/event/why-architecture-belongs-museum-ricardo-daza), Director, Leopoldo Rother Architecture Museum , Universidad Nacional de Colombia | [Barry Bergdoll](/event/why-architecture-belongs-museum-barry-bergdoll), Professor of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University | [Valentina Moimas](/event/why-architecture-belongs-museum-valentina-moimas), Curator, Architectural Collections, Centre Pompidou | [Patricio del Real](/event/why-architecture-belongs-museum-patricio-del-real), Assistant Professor of History of Art and Architecture, Harvard University. ### Contact Spaces MX-US | First Iteration expand\_more The first iteration of CAAA gathered architecture curators, historians, and architects, working in art museums and architecture galleries from Mexico and the United States in the symposium titled [Curating Architecture Across the Americas: Espacios de Contacto MX-US /Contact Spaces MX-US](/event/curating-architecture-across-americas-spaces-contact-mx-us). With presentations focused on past and ongoing experiences and projects, the symposium discussed the role of architecture exhibitions in the expanding world of curatorial exhibition practices and cultural debates of the 21st Century. This program sprung from the seminar-workshop: *Displaying Latin America*, given in the Spring of 2019 at Harvard University’s Department of History of Art and Architecture and successfully inaugurated future endeavors. Curated by Patricio del Real, Assistant Professor of History of Art and Architecture, in collaboration with Carolina Sepulveda, Master in Design Studies student with a concentration in Art, Design and the Public Domain, and Marcela V. Ramos, Program Manager for DRCLAS Art, Film & Culture Program.