This research project will be looking at contemporary architectural practices whose work or working methods display a distinct social engagement. These practices seem to be operating within a pragmatic realism, but sharing ideals of social responsibility and a renewed emphasis on human action, requirements and use. They want to contribute to improvement and change in specific situations or settings, whether the projects are actual buildings or more ephemeral kinds of projects.
Applying a wide range of working methods, these practices are exploring the ethical and epistemological boundaries of architecture and architectural practice.
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How do these architects approach situations and how do they proceed developing their projects?
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What are the working relations with the users, clients or professionals from other disciplines developed in these practices?
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What are the outcome of these processes organizationally, socially and physically?
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What are the theoretical foundations of these practices, and what are their historical precedents?
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How can the concepts of use and users be understood in this context?
While overarching ideologies or theories are rarely invoked, the work of these practices display a distinct social agenda on behalf of specific situations in which they work; agendas and situations which inform the way they organize commissions as well as the way they design.
The study gleans its material from key architectural exhibitions and conferences in the period of 2004 till 2008. Three contemporary architectural practices are selected for in depth studies, particularly emphasising the ways in which their social and ethical agendas impact on the corporal reality of the architectural work. Furthermore, the study seeks to investigate key concepts related to the concrete strategies and works, and to discuss these concepts in a wider theoretical framework.