Library Friends Webinar : Expanding the Bibliographic Field: A Process for exploring Architectural Detail through the Library

A Special Presentation by Hugh Swiatek, Illinois School of Architecture Teaching Assistant Professor and Emilee Mathews, Architecture & Art Librarian of the Ricker Library.

This webinar tells the story of “Detail + Model,” a collaborative independent study and exhibit led by Illinois School of Architecture Teaching Assistant Professor Hugh Swiatek with Architecture & Art Librarian Emilee Mathews of the Ricker Library of Architecture & Art. The independent study focused on the creative act of translation through three in-depth building studies, in the process cultivating students’ skills in analysis, synthesis, and exhibition. The class collaborated with the Ricker Library of Architecture & Art in three core ways: through engaging the library’s materials collection to frame class deliverables; through exhibiting the work in the library; and through connecting their ideas in relation to primary and secondary sources represented in the library’s books and journals. 

This presentation will share examples of Hugh and Emilee’s work on this class, the projects they’ve collaborated on over the years to work towards greater student engagement with the library, and where they plan to go next. Audience members will not only hear about the impact of library-centered learning on architecture students’ experiences, but also see examples of incredible architecture books, drawings, and sketches, learning along the way interconnections between these disciplines.