IN/EX-CLUSION
Instructor(s):
Aurelie De Smet
Location:
Gent
Language/Taal:
English (primarily) & Dutch (if needed)
Semester:
Second Phase – semester 3 / Fall 2025
Description/Inhoud:
This is a service-learning studio involving design research on the topic of in-/exclusion of vulnerable people in architecture, whereby architecture is seen both as a process and as a product (physical environment) and vulnerability as a multifaceted human condition – visible or invisible – that any of us may encounter.
The studio will involve close collaboration with the actors and stakeholders of three real-life projects – to be announced as soon as possible. Students will be able to choose which case they prefer to engage in (while inter-case exchanges will of course also be along the way).
Line of inquiry/Onderzoekslijn:
Practice as Study / For Real / (Working With)
Topic, Thematic Focus/Thema:
critical spatial practice, design justice, participatory action research, agency of design/design as politics
Key Questions or Provocation/ Centrale vragen en provocaties:
- What to read? Who to speak to? How to listen? How to record/map? … to get a better understanding of what architecture is and how it can exclude (vulnerable) people.
- How can we(re)imagine architecture as an inclusive practice?
- How would this ‘materialize’ in an actual socio-spatial project for one the studio’s partner organisations?
- How to visualise and communicate our findings and design proposal to invite others to join the conversation?
- How can each of us bring in our own interests, skills, and expertise to address the questions at hand?
Methodologies or Formats / Methodologie:
Lectures & study visits, Literature & case studies, Individual reflections, Group brainstorming, reflections & discussions, Participatory fieldwork, Community-engaged research & design
Design / Expected Outcome(s) / Ontwerp / Verwachte Resultaten:
Detailled design proposals for socio-spatial projects addressing the aims & challenges of the studio’s partner organisations.
Deliverables / In te dienen documenten:
(e.g., models, booklet, drawings, prototype, on-site intervention …)
- Final presentation (+ booklet): a presentation of the final outcome + an account of its (co)development process (= individual or groupwork)
- Logbook / Process journal: a personal documentation of the course process (= individual work)
- Reflection ‘paper’: a summarizing personal reflection on the course topic, process, and result(s) (app. 500 to 2000 words) (= individual work)
Image: magnific.com