RESEARCH
QUESTIONS
︎

These were the driving force
of my research all year long.
Here is a diary of my thoughts
and reserach on that matter.


︎︎︎ Approach

1.   ROLE

WHAT IS THE ARCHITECT’S ROLE IN A CO-DESIGNED COMMUNITY PROJECT (WHEN TAKING THE STANCE OF A TRANSLATOR  RATHER THAN ONE OF A COMMANDER)?

2 .  TOOLS

WHAT DESIGN TOOLS ENCOURAGE THE EXCHANGE OF IDEAS WHEN WORKING WITH PARTICIPANTS FROM DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS?

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1.  

Let this section be a humble reminder that we just REALLY DON’T KNOW.
We have the idea we know the skills at school, but we are most useful as FACILITATOR.
We should not try to teach, but instead try to listen and facilitate.
We are useful, but not in the idealistic thoughts that we are giving as fancy designers.

When working with a new community, it’s THEIR knowledge and culture we are dealing with. We don’t know better about what is truly needed in that space.
We are giving up a bit of our power, to have a better outcome, and REDUCE HARM.
We are here to permit space for community (re)building.¹

︎TRANSLATE

As architecture students, we are wired to imagine, draw and sell our ideas.
It is often a one way sales pitch, where we have to convince the teachers (clients) that our concept is the best. The evaluation criterias make us spend most of our time on creating striking drawings that will convince, rather than creating an environment for discussion and potential modifications. In reality, we should work on our skills of translation: understanding the existing networks (of people and buildings), our potential impact on it, and translating it authentically in design ideas.

︎ADVOCATE

Committed, engaged, be an activist.
Pick a cause that moves you and get to know the community really well.

︎TRANSFER YOUR AGENCY

The collaborative process should grow the seeds of agency.
It should enable agency that has been previously ignored in your community.

How come margianlized communities have such muffled voices?
I want to give people a voice, a platform to express themselves. Give them power.

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***Teach and learn from:
To give people the tools so they continue the projects. Generate capacity building.

For me, doing a project with a community has a big pedagogical side to it. I will learn form the community, they will learn from me, and the building users will learn from the generated architecture.

Compilate the realm of design ideas generated during the workshops.

︎MOBILISATION

The hardest is to get people to participate, people don’t have time, it’s hard to motivate them, and there are more important crises to solve.
people are SUPER BUSY. Arrive with a very clear game plan and do not waster their time. 

You might find that you will have to spend a large amount of time on finding participants to come to your workshops.

You will save time if you use the already well formed groups, organizations, centers and networks, instead of creating your own group. 

One good way to find participants is to join ongoing workshops in community centers that are already well anchored in the community. You can ask if it is possible to join their activities and test out your ideas after they are done.

︎MAINTAIN FEEDBACK LOOP

Make field-based obeservations! BE THERE. TALK TO PEOPLE.
Ask them questions about their support network, about public buildings, about volunteering.
(This will take up a lot of my free time.)

When testing out my tools or organizing workshops, I will make sure that participants give me their feedback, what they liked or disliked and what allowed them to be creative and engage freely or not.

(Have reflexivity/a critical mind. Is the approach appropriate in one context but would not be in mine?)

Keep coming back to the site as often as possible; collect information and feedback from the users after the space/building is completed.

︎ETHICS

Putting people first.
Do no harm.

ANONYMITY:
Restrain from taking pictures of the participants.*
Do not publish the participants names publicly* or publish a story where you could retrace the identity of one participant.
*(if they did not consent)

Clearly state your honest intentions and motivation for the project.
Participants might be suspicious you want to help them, that you will take advantage of them, or that you want something in return. 

If you are dealing with communities living in difficult situations, they might be more vulnerable than others. Make sure they are aware of the commitment they agree to and consent to it.

Working with a community centre and through public actors is a great loophole. It is way to avoid getting approvals and singing consent forms. You are reducing your responsabilities when “working as a volunteer” for an already well organized NPO.

︎DOES THE PUBLIC REALLY DESIGN?

Are workshop tools only here to make people THINK they have power, when in fact architects draw all conclusions?

Can the public really design with given tools or are they only able to talk/discuss stories? 

Do the workshop tools only help people tell their story or truly help them design?

Is the translation MY job, and not theirs? Do people give me the primary sources/info and I do the translation with my tools?

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2. 

The tools you decide to use define who you are as an architect.
When choosing tools, you  craft the role you wish to have.

Goal: have tools that make workshops more efficient, more participative, and more fun (than just post-its and colouring markers).

What inspirational tools that I provide can leave room for others to design?

How to change a boring workshop set up to allow people to think/dream differently?

Making people open up is the foundation. The tools should help people tell their personnal stories. Let the mind wander.
Some tools won’t even require talking. Tangible and playful tools can help people express without words.
They should help express their daily reality.

︎DEMOCRATIC

Allow everyone to express their ideas.
No hierarchy.

Let the tools be universal. Available for kids, teens, adults, and ederly to use.

Be really aware of the type of participants I will get. I will probably have to adapt the tools according to them. 

︎FOR WORKSHOPS

Use them as a medium for conversation.

Use tangible things to play with (maps, movable models, symbols, things to pin up).
It is a way to make the participants more involved in the conversation.

Start with big dreams. Not being realistic is a good way to bring out people’s deep wishes. They can then be transferred in smaller and realistic interventions. Whereas if you start with what is realistic, imagination will be restricted.

︎ALLOW TO DREAM

...

︎THE SETTING

No judgement
Informal, invite the participants’ friends, families, or neighbors. The more people, the more information you will get. 
Where comments and any anecdote are welcome
Have free food as an incentive to come. Or share eachother’s homemade food to accentuate a sharing environment.

Make sure the space is flexible, that you can move furniture around, that people can make it their own, that they feel free to express themselves.

Might be good to have a more isolated area where shy participants can work on the tools in silence and without feeling judged.

︎OBJECTIVITY

I might see that the tools/I am not as neutral as I think I am.
Just by choosing which images to show, shows biases and informs the final design.

YOU set up the conditions for people to dream.

︎I WILL AVOID

Renders, photorealistic images, ...
Tools that we often use for final presentations.
That show final images, where the communicated message might be one-sided. Not giving much space for interpretation.

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References:

1. X X (2023), during a conference about her Chinatown project
2. Spatial Agency: other ways of doing architecture, 2011
3.
4. Various authors (20xx), Making Futures Book
5.