Intervention – The nature of space.
What
My intervention explores the nature of safe spaces. Here, a safe space refers to the physical embodiment of a space where conversations around intersectional social justice can take place or students can approach this issue through design and critical thinking.
Why
I have encountered a barrier where I am struggling to address intersectionality and social justice as lived experience within the classroom. I am able to express them within impact-oriented briefs and contextual/theoretical frameworks. However, I am interested in approaching a social justice that is more situated.
How
I will enact this intervention across three sessions. The sessions are part of a series of live workshops called Studio Labs within BA Graphic and Media Design.
Session 1: Synthetic Spaces (Form Lab) with Owen Wells.
Session Plan:
-Synthetic Spaces explores how (physical) spaces are represented or manipulated physically/ digitally/both.
-Students will work in groups to 3D scan a corner each of the room (D110, LCC) and redesign it in Virtual Reality. Here social justice is addressed through a series of prompts (for design) such as:
What would make the space feel more familiar?
Does the space feel safe and accessible?
Is it easy for you to listen to the tutor speaking at the front of the room?
Session 2 & 3: Active Space Lab with Irene Martin.
-I anticipate that the redesign of a space can be challenging and would like to explore how we can activate existing spaces to tell stories around intersectionality and social justice.
– Students will work in groups to pitch an installation around social justice for the Design School Graduate Showcase. The piece will be exhibited live at the front of the Upper Gallery, giving students the opportunity to bring this conversation to wider audiences.
-Students are asked to select from the following themes to develop a concept:
LCC communities (inside and outside)
Access and opportunity
Student journey and voices
Sustainability
Intersectional identities (social/cultural/ethnic)
Resources:
- Freire, P. (1974) Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Seabury Press.
- McIntosh, P. (2001). White privilege and male privilege: A personal account of coming to see correspondences through work in women’s studies (1988). Race, class, and gender: An anthology, pp.95-105.
- Muller, L., Froggett, L. and Bennett, J. (2020). Emergent knowledge in the third space of art-science. Leonardo, 53(3), pp.321-326
- Noel, L.A. and Paiva, M. (2021). Learning to recognize exclusion. Journal of Usability Studies, 16(2), pp.63-72.
- Bayeck, R.Y., 2022. Positionality: The interplay of space, context and identity. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 21, p.16094069221114745.
- Medvescek, N., Raori, R. and Gonsalves, K. (2023). Relationality in Intermedial Architecture: A Creative Producing Approach. In Proceedings of the 6th Media Architecture Biennale Conference (pp. 173-178).
- Crook, L. (2024) ‘Less experimentation and more “safe spaces” will define architecture in 2024’, Dezeen, 4 January. Available at: https://www.dezeen.com/2024/01/04/architecture-trends-predictions-2024/ (Accessed: 28 May 2024).
- GMDLCC (2024) GMD LAB. Available at: https://lab.gmdlcc.com/ (Accessed: 28 May 2024).
Note to Reader:
This intervention outline was first drafted at the beginning of the IP Unit and has been updated regularly. The sessions have now been concluded and I will reflect on them in the report, using the resources above as well as additional resources that I shall continue to add. Work on the installation with the students is underway. It will go live on Friday 31 May 2024.