Development by Design (2nd edition)
If starchitecture isn’t dead, then it has surely been rendered irrelevant in a world struggling to provide decent living conditions to at least a quarter of the world’s population. A growing network of architects and urban planners are busy tackling the challenges posed by realities like unprecedented urban growth, climate change and conflict as opportunities to build a more just and sustainable future. As such, resilience, sustainable urban development, the effects of mass migration on cities, community participation, post-disaster response and disaster risk reduction are key issues within our master program that deserve a spotlight beyond the classroom and that today, more than ever, resonate with urban practitioners and the general public.
In the second edition of our Development by Design, organized in collaboration with Roca, we continue to highlight the role of architects and planners and in contexts of poverty, disaster, conflict and rapid urbanization. In a series of talks spanning from December to March, three guest speakers will talk about their work with affected communities across the world, highlighting new approaches to the provision of shelter, housing, spatial justice and resilience. The events will take place at 7pm the Roca Barcelona Gallery.
1. DECEMBER 1ST – ALEJANDRO HAIEK (session in Spanish)
Title: Grassroots Urbanism: New Leaderships in Architectural Practice
Description: Participation may be the new mantra among architects today, but it is still a rare thing for communities play an active, and moreover, equal role in the design and construction of their own spaces. Through examples of his collaborations with barrio communities across Caracas, Alejandro Haiek illustrates how a democratic approach to placemaking can unlock the potential of marginalized communities and strengthen their agency in the process.
Bio: Alejandro Haiek is a Venezuelan architect and cofounder of LAB.PRO.FAB, a laboratory for projects and fabrication that collaborates on community-led initiatives in the informal barrios of Caracas. His bottom-up approach leverages existing participatory frameworks, reactivates underused urban spaces and crosses technical expertise with local intelligence to build socio-productive spaces in low-income areas. The lab won the International Award for Public Art in 2013 for the Tiuna El Fuerte Cultural Park, participated in the 15th Venice Biennale, and was most recently nominated for the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize 2016.
Portrait Alejandro Haiek: © Julio César Mesa
2. JANUARY 16TH – CLARA IRAZABAL (session in English)
Title: Housing Brazil’s Precariat: Movements in Spatial Justice
Description: In Brazil, social housing movements led by the country’s precariat–the urban poor–are seizing vacant buildings and land to create their own access to decent housing in lieu of the government’s failure to do so. Based on an ethnographic study of several occupations in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo this year, Clara Irazabal analyzes how these collective movements propose a valid alternative planning model that can serve as a vehicle for restorative justice.
Bio: Clara Irazabal is Director of the Latina/o Studies Program and Professor of Planning in the Department of Architecture, Urban Planning + Design at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. She was previously Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Director of the Latin Lab at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University, New York. In her research and teaching, she explores the interactions of culture, politics, and placemaking, and their impact on community development and socio-spatial justice in Latin American cities and Latino and immigrant communities.
3. FEBRUARY 2ND – ERIC CESAL (session in English)
Title: Unnatural Disasters and the Future of Resilience
Description: As the world faces an escalating threat of disaster,
the solutions for resilience seem obvious: build better and smarter, and invest in infrastructure. Yet we often ignore common sense approaches and build ever-higher levels of risk into our built and natural environments. In his talk, Eric Cesal will explore contemporary contradictions in disaster and resilience, dissecting the social, legal and economic forces that drive risk into our built environment, bearing equally on architects, planners, and citizens.
Bio: Eric Cesal is an analyst, writer, designer, builder and humanitarian based in San Francisco, CA. He grew up in Washington, D.C. and holds an undergraduate degree in Architectural Studies from Brown University and Master’s Degrees in Architecture, Construction Management and Business Administration from Washington University in St. Louis. He was Architecture for Humanity’s last executive director, after having worked with the organization since 2006 and led its Haiti Rebuilding Center from 2010-2012. His book, Down Detour Road: An Architect in Search of Practice, is a memoir/manifesto that is widely acknowledged as a roadmap to 21st century architecture.
Download the information related to this event here.
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Development by Design 2Type
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December 01, 2016 07:00 PMUntil
February 02, 2017 07:00 PMVenue
Roca Barcelona GalleryAddress