Architecture, Film & Electronic Arts, German Studies, and Literature Programs Presents

The Architecture of Illness: Key Words in the Hospital Experience, Vienna 1860–2020

In the short span of a hundred and sixty years, hospitals became ubiquitous in Western society. But initially this institution was met with opposition from a host of critics and commentators. Today, the hospital seems nearly invisible, even though it bookends the beginning and end of most people’s lives. This talk by Dr. Fatima Naqvi focuses on Vienna in the twentieth century as the privileged site for an exemplary tale about the hospital’s rise, the suspicion it faced, and its contemporary evolution.

The Architecture of Illness investigates hospital building styles, tracing the hospital’s transformation from a dispersive site of health care to a massive digital interface. Using examples from literary works by Arthur Schnitzler, Rainer Maria Rilke, and films by Nikolaus Geyrhalter, it analyzes certain key words in discussions of hospitals to reveal the many intersections of architecture and health.

Fatima Naqvi is Elias W. Leavenworth Professor of German and Film & Media Studies at Yale University, Chair of the Film & Media Studies program and the European Studies Council. Prof. Naqvi’s work is situated at the intersection of literature, film, and architecture. It is deeply committed to curmudgeons, naysayers, and querulous types: Thomas Bernhard, Elfriede Jelinek, Peter Handke, Ulrich Seidl, Michael Haneke, and Ruth Beckermann are her privileged subjects of research.
 

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For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].

Time: 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm EDT/GMT-4

Location: Olin Humanities, Room 204

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