Einhorn Lecture
Reto Geiser
Associate Professor, Associate Dean for Research and Academic Affairs; Rice School of Architecture
Under Construction
This lecture examines the construction site as an ephemeral and often overlooked stage in the production of architecture—one that vanishes as buildings are completed. Archival photography of building sites serves as a lens to explore how these spaces reflect the cultural, geographic, and economic conditions of their time. They reveal technological progress and societal transformation. While construction sites often display sophisticated building techniques and assemblies, they also mirror the state of the economy and prevailing labor conditions. Building sites are arenas of negotiation and politics, theaters of ideology, and spaces of nation-building. With the advent of greater planning and control, construction sites can also be viewed as places where the architect’s authority is challenged, requiring improvisation and compromise—an unsettling contrast for a profession accustomed to maintaining control.
