BA_DS3.1

DS3.1 The millions of human beings who were shot, tortured, starved, treated like animals and made the object of a conspiracy of ridicule, can sleep in peace in their communal graves, for at least the struggle in which they died has enabled their descendants, isolated in their air-conditioned apartments, to believe, on the strength of their daily dose of television, that they are happy and free. The Communards went down, fighting to the last, so that you too could qualify for a Caribbean cruise. Raoul Vaneigem The Revoluton of Everyday Life - 1967 Space is not a scientific object removed from ideology or politics. It has always been political and strategic. There is an ideology of space. Because space, which seems homogeneous, which appears as a whole in its objectivity, in its pure form, such as we determine it, is a social product. Henri Lefebvre The Production of Space - 1974 After a period of apparent unprecedented social wealth and prosperity, we all face an uncertain future where the challenges of a rapidly changing climate, a pandemic, political upheaval, the re-structuring of global economic power and the decline of western cultural hegemony will transform everything from the macrocosm of the city to the microcosm of the street. While many things about the future seem uncertain, what we do know is that change is coming and those who have been sidelined, obfuscated, who have fallen through the cracks must be part of a transformative and inclusive future. We believe architects should understand and engage with the political, economic and cultural processes that shape our cities, working within or against these in an informed, responsible and creative way. We celebrate the potential that architects have to make the ordinary extraordinary and see no distinction between design theory and practice; innovation is central to everything we do. We see the design studio as the site of experimentation and innovation, a laboratory of ideas underpinned by creative process and technical understanding which can be harnessed to transform our environment for the better. For us architecture is an agent of change, a tool for intervention, a manifestation of dissent and a means towards social transformation. Tutors: Jane Tankard Thomas Grove Students: Hicham Abari Mohamed Alkhaja Saya Agha Sarah Al Matrook Maria Bahrim Mathew Bailey Stephanie Grange Gabriela Mac’Allister Vlad-Ilie Necula Riane Oukili Naran Oyuntsetseg Aikaterini Pechynaki Mario Priore Eleni Savvaidi Yael Shnitzer Daniel Smith Maisie-Ann Spencer Sumaita Zaman Critics: Chris Hartiss Steve Bowkett Image by: Maria Bahrim Programatic Diagram