Dr Jacob Paskins
Jacob Paskins is a Teaching Fellow in architectural history and theory at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL. He holds a PhD in architectural history, having completed a thesis about building sites in Paris during the 1960s. He has previously received a BA with first-class honours in French and History of Art from UCL and an MSc with distinction in Architectural History. Jacob is a former editor of the UCL journal Opticon 1826.
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PhD thesis abstract
The social experience of building construction work in and around Paris during the 1960s
My thesis is a socio-historic study of the experience of building construction work. The research focuses on the state-sponsored transformation of Paris and its suburbs during the 1960s, when the region experienced administrative reorganisation and widespread construction. A large workforce of immigrant workers fuelled the urbanisation of the Paris region, and provided the manual backbone for the construction of tens of thousands of housing units, new administrative buildings and public infrastructure projects.
Interpreted by politicians, the media and trade unions to push their respective political and social agendas, the building site became the centre of debates about the social implications of modernising Paris. The building site raised issues of national significance, including immigration, economic growth and national identity. Building sites also became the focus of more local matters, from noise disruption to campaigns for better working conditions.
My examination of construction sites shifts the focus of architectural history away from the personality of the architect by considering the wider public discourses of urban development. The research draws on contemporary accounts in newspaper, television and radio archives, and delves into rarely examined trade union material. These sources challenge traditional methodologies of architectural history because they reveal voices of publics usually excluded from narratives of the production of the city.
Research funded by the AHRC.
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The social experience of building construction work in and around Paris during the 1960s
My thesis is a socio-historic study of the experience of building construction work. The research focuses on the state-sponsored transformation of Paris and its suburbs during the 1960s, when the region experienced administrative reorganisation and widespread construction. A large workforce of immigrant workers fuelled the urbanisation of the Paris region, and provided the manual backbone for the construction of tens of thousands of housing units, new administrative buildings and public infrastructure projects.
Interpreted by politicians, the media and trade unions to push their respective political and social agendas, the building site became the centre of debates about the social implications of modernising Paris. The building site raised issues of national significance, including immigration, economic growth and national identity. Building sites also became the focus of more local matters, from noise disruption to campaigns for better working conditions.
My examination of construction sites shifts the focus of architectural history away from the personality of the architect by considering the wider public discourses of urban development. The research draws on contemporary accounts in newspaper, television and radio archives, and delves into rarely examined trade union material. These sources challenge traditional methodologies of architectural history because they reveal voices of publics usually excluded from narratives of the production of the city.
Research funded by the AHRC.
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