Hidden Histories. Hearing Silences – UB Spring 2026
April 21 @ 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Free
Overview
Hidden Histories. Hearing Silences is a lecture by María Novas Ferradás, senior lecturer and researcher, Chair of the History and Theory of Urban Design at ETH Zürich, as part of the 2025–2026 Stratigakos Fellow Lecture series. The event explores overlooked narratives, omissions, and gaps in architectural history and theory, critically examining how architectural knowledge is produced.
Lecture Focus
The lecture interrogates the complexities of historical representation, highlights the consequences of neglected histories within the built environment, and examines the potential of ficto-critical approaches to rethink and reshape architectural histories.
Event Details
| Date | Tuesday, April 21, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Time | 6:00 – 7:30 PM |
| Location | Crosby Hall, Room 116, UB South Campus, Buffalo, NY 14214 |
| Type | Lecture |
| Admission | Free, registration required |
| Organizers | UB School of Architecture and Planning |
Biography
María Novas Ferradás is an architect and researcher specializing in the intersections of social and political history and cultural studies with the built environment. She is a senior lecturer and researcher at the Chair of History and Theory of Urban Design and Academic Editor of the gta papers at the Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture (gta) at ETH Zurich. Her PhD in Architecture from Universidad de Sevilla focuses on the contributions of women’s organizations and early female architecture graduates in the Netherlands to postwar housing design. She has published extensively on how feminist movements have shaped architecture and urban design, including the book Arquitectura y género: una introducción posible (Melusina, 2021), recognized at the 16th Spanish Architecture and Urbanism Biennial.
Join the Event
You can attend the lecture in person at UB’s South Campus or remotely via Zoom.
✦ ArchUp Editorial Insight
The lecture “Hidden Histories. Hearing Silences” critically addresses omissions in architectural historiography, emphasizing how power, social structures, and cultural biases shape knowledge production. By examining neglected narratives and employing ficto-critical methods, the talk encourages reconsideration of canonical histories and their impact on the interpretation of the built environment. While primarily discursive, it raises questions about how architecture education and practice might integrate overlooked contributions, yet it does not offer concrete design interventions. From an architectural perspective, the value lies in expanding critical awareness and historiographical reflexivity rather than generating immediate spatial or material outcomes.
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