An architect’s initial mandate is to grasp and interpret the users’ needs, but I believe that our role when doing so is to supress our biased perspective as much as possible. It is important to appropriately translate the desires and not distort them if we want the users to culturally relate to the design. Without that introspection, I fear we will promote too much our own taste & design for people that only resemble us. Only with empathy and field-based observations, can we create welcoming environments where marginalized groups create a sense of home for themselves.
This montage forces us to reflect on the various perspectives an architect might have during a community project. From a self-centered and one-side perspective, to a multi-layered perspective, the goal is to merge the architect’s vision with the users’ reality.
The path is not easy and not linear... but my goal during this thesis project is to always lean towards an open-minded attitude and remind myself that architecture always hosts a multi-layered and complex community.
MCGILL UNIVERSITY
KATIA BROZ
2024