IN/EX-CLUSION
Instructor(s):
Aurelie De Smet
Engagement:
Craftsmanship
Location:
Gent
Language/Taal:
English
Semester:
Semester 3, Fall 2025
Description/Inhoud:
This is a service-learning studio exploring the topic of in-/exclusion of vulnerable people in architecture (whereby architecture is seen both as a process and as a 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 actors and stakeholders from the real-life project ‘Reflective Cartography, mapping female perspectives in architecture in Flanders’ by Women* in Architecture Belgium (W*iAB).
Line of inquiry/Onderzoekslijn:
Practice as Study / For Real
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 are specific projects/practices/processes (re)imagining architecture as an inclusive practice?
• How to visualise and communicate our findings and invite others to join the conversation?
• How can each of us bring in our own interests, skills, and expertise to address these questions?
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:
To be decided together with the students & partners
Deliverables / In te dienen documenten:
• Final presentation (+ booklet): a presentation of the final outcome and 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)
- Find the full studio brief as pdf here.