The Center for Architecture Research (C[A]R)
The Center for Architecture Research (C[A]R) is a research unit based in the Architecture Program in the Visual Art, Architecture, and Design School (VA[A]DS). The primary goal of the C[A]R is to support a broad conceptual vision of architectural research and to institutionalize research practices.
The C[A]R consolidates multiple strands of research and inquiry that have been developed since the launch of the program in 2018. In these years, the VA[A]DS Architecture Program has provided a crucial locus for the development of architectural knowledge in Tbilisi and beyond, and the C[A]R is a significant step in formalizing the University’s commitment to research within this field.
The C[A]R is a Program-wide platform to cultivate advanced research projects within an expanded field of architecture, urbanism, landscape, and spatial practice. The Center supports faculty-defined research initiatives and promotes student research assistantships. It encourages collaborative, cross-disciplinary research with a range of local and international partners, while orienting project development toward concrete, public formats.
Thematically, the C[A]R is organized around research domains that emerge from faculty projects, while reflecting the range of approaches outlined within the Architecture curriculum. Domains such as The Architecture of the City (“Tbilisi Typology”, “RE: City”), Vernacular Building and Cultural Landscapes (“Darbazi Dialogues”, “Onis Skola”, “Lexicon”), Rural/Urban Relationships (“Regional Relationships”, “Futures of Yesterday”), and Building Performance and New Technologies map the broad contours that animate the Center, while individual projects articulate changing and emergent approaches to Architectural research.
Methodologically, the C[A]R is oriented toward making research public. The Center is committed to supporting formats that share architectural research with a wider audience by recognizing the fundamentally public nature of architectural practice. Exhibition, publication, symposia, and fieldwork are just some of the formats that focus the work of the Center.
The C[A]R builds on existing collaborations with ETH Zurich, Royal Danish Academy, UC Louvaine (Brussels), Ostfalia University, Washington University in St. Louis, and the Tbilisi Architecture Biennial, among others. It has emerged from a community of scholars and practitioners who have given shape to the research direction of the VA[A]DS Architecture Program, while simultaneously looking to expand this community through collaborative, cross-disciplinary research with various fields within the FreeUni ecosystem and beyond.