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Summer Course 2026 | May 4–25
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ARCH 543 Special Topics
Public Art and Affordance
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- Interuniversity and Interdisciplinary 3-credit summer course on ephemeral public art for the .
- Final edition: Conception of temporary public art
- Funded by CDPQ Infra as part of the Quebec Government’s .
- For School of Architecture students, it counts as a 3-credit complementary course.
- Open to undergraduate and graduate students from ConcordiaĚýUniversity, ɬŔď·¬, UQAM, and UniversitĂ© de MontrĂ©al.
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Program contact:
Luciana Adoyo luciana.adoyo [at] mcgill.ca
How to apply / Comment postuler
Interested applicants should use the QR code below to submit the following material:
- A short paragraph describing your interest in the course subject and in collaborating with students from other disciplines. Maximum 150 words.
- A portfolio of up to 10 images indicating past work and/or realizations.
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- The main language of instruction at ɬŔď·¬ is English. Chaque Ă©tudiant a le droit de soumettre en français ou en anglais tout travail Ă©crit devant ĂŞtre notĂ©.
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Public art and affordance
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When Hannah Arendt wrote of the space of appearance, that space in which an individual can appear as themselves among others appearing as themselves in public, she described a space of politics, a space of difference, a space of consciousness.
When one speaks of public space, a space of appearances and representations, this is the space in which public art is situated. That situation and the agency of those who find themselves within it, by accident or by choice, is central to the work of the architect and the artist.
The appearance of the individual subject, the affordances made for all those who appear in this space of appearances, and the revelation of the condition itself, all pertain to the work of that work. This is the framework through which one can view the purpose of public art.
It is affordance that is important: the opportunity, for example, that people are given to do nothing without being moved on.
The collective and individual activity of doing nothing (which is always something, even if it only involves watching the world go by) is a rare commodity. It is something that one notes in public parks, which, if not overwhelmed with regulations, provide all sorts of occasions to be together, or alone, just being.
When one thinks of doing nothing, of gathering for the purpose of gathering and the pleasure of being among others while being oneself, or to demonstrate solidarity, joy, or rage, such possibilities thrive in contrast to the thinking about cities and urbanised environments that discourage such gatherings; whose so-called public spaces are intended to direct their citizens towards predictable performance, or obedience.
In environments in which one feels no obligation, no imperative to move or consume or witness the spectacle of money or power, one might become conscious of oneself, of the other, of the other as another self, and of those environment’s utterances, representations, internal relations, ideas, fictions, and one’s position within them.
When one considers the space of appearance, it is not only the citizen who appears, as themselves among others appearing, but the entire environment as it has been thought, organised, and constructed.
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Mark Pimlott is an artist, designer and writer, whose practice encompasses architecture and interiors, art for public spaces, installation, film and photography. He has taught architecture and interdisciplinary practice since 1986.
He was Professor in relation to practice in architecture at Delft University of Technology (2002-2005), senior lecturer (2005-2009) and Assistant Professor in the Chair of Interiors Buildings Cities (2009-2025).ĚýHis articles and essays have been published in numerous journals of architecture, and he lectures widely on matters of the public interior, architectural culture, picturing, and representation.
Mark Pimlott is the author of (2007), (2010), T(2016), and (2024). Means to a beginning will be published in 2026.
Works of public art include (2000); (2003);(2011, 2013); (2013). The installation ) was shown in the Corderie dell’Arsenale at the 12th Biennale internazionale di Architettura di Venezia, curated by Kazuyo Sejima (2010).
Mark Pimlott studied architecture at ɬŔď·¬, MontrĂ©al and the Architectural Association, London, and visual arts at Goldsmiths’ College, University of London. He was awarded a doctorate in architecture from Delft University of Technology in 2025.