Riot
Riot

Fall:
In Service of

2023
In Service Of:
Marseille

EPFL Design Studio BA5, MA1
IS-Academia: AR-301(ah) and AR-401(ah)

“The uncanny that disturbs the critical going on above it, the professional going on without it, the uncanny that one can sense in prophecy, the strangely known moment, the gathering content, of a cadence, and the uncanny that one can sense in cooperation, the secret once called solidarity.” |1|

Ruth Wilson Gilmore, in Stefano Harney. The Undercommons : Fugitive Planning & Black Study, ed. Fred Moten, Fugitive Planning & Black Study (New York, Port Watson: Minor Compositions, 2013), 42.  

Architecture and design are powerful tools to conjure, materialize and unlock horizons. So, if we admit the identity-shattering posit that construction can never be sustainable, how to respond to housing needs? This studio intends to face the music. But who has access to and can afford design? ‘In Service of:...’ is a studio series that seeks to redress uneven access to design and to planning literacy by the majority. To do so, it places architecture as a tool at the service of a place, a population, a narrative, in order to benefit the common good. In this class, we will seek to deploy architecture processes “with values and interests different from those of capital.” |2|

In that sense, ‘In Service Of: …’ conducts a reflection on architecture as a form of public service. Seeking to ‘detoxify narratives’ around architecture and urban design, there shall be no claim of righteousness, but instead an attempt to learn and unlearn from the sites and the people encountered. Architects can no longer claim to be “the bearers of a compass” or of any absolute truth, and ‘expertise’ is a highly contentious term. Through a comprehensive exploration of the forces (i.e., social, legal, political, economic, cultural, environmental) that generate and control space at first, and then diving into the selected contentious sites, the studio seeks to gain a deeper understanding of the reciprocal relationship between architecture and community, recognizing the potential for design to foster social cohesion, enhance well-being, and contribute to the overall betterment of society. The studio will also conduct a reflection on its own format, to question architecture attachment to solutionism, the expectation to ‘fix problems’ and other tropes that have led to socially and spatially unjust developments, such as the massive Euromediterannée project in Marseille. It also seeks to produce works that have utility for active local groups engaged in struggles against gentrification, state violence and expropriation strategies, and unsafe housing to name a few of the questions faced by inhabitants of Marseille. So, if we admit thatction can never be sustainable, hods? This studio intends to face the music. By focusing on the idea of being useful without romanticizing the task, this design studio seeks to articulate an agenda for a self-critical architecture with a heightened sense of responsibility and a commitment to creating spaces that truly serve the needs of the people.

|1| Ruth Wilson Gilmore, in Stefano Harney. The Undercommons : Fugitive Planning & Black Study, ed. Fred Moten, Fugitive Planning & Black Study (New York, Port Watson: Minor Compositions, 2013), 42.  

|2| Pedro Fiori Arantes, The Rent of Form : Architecture and Labor in the Digital Age, ed. Adriana Kauffmann et al. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2019), 152

Teaching Team: Antoine Iweins, Kathlyn Kao; Student Assistant: Laure Melati Dekoninck

Students: Myriam Alhadeff, Felix Balling,  Marie Bourdon, Suzanne Brown, Amaury Desprez, Adrien Fleischer, David Gindroz, Antoine Gressier, Emilie Hamel, Anna Hausel,  Melanny Jacome,  Emile Jourcin, Juliette Lafrasse, Lea Marzinzik, Adela Mrnjaus, Mahdi Olia, Léo Perrin, Carolina Pichler, Lalie Porteret, Briana Prelicz, Melina Schechinger, Alexandros-Anastasios Trivizas, Daniel Wanderer

Guests: Alia Bengana (ALICE/Alia Bengana Architecte), Ambra Fabi (PiovineFabi/EPFL), Samia Henni (ETH), Stéphane Herpin (Tout va Bien), Carole Lenoble (Architecte),  Nicholas Memain (Bureau de guides du GR2013), Guillaume de Morsier (Kunik de Morsier), Marta Stalla (Architecte/Activist), Sara Sherif (Oxara/ ETH), Margarida Waco (RCA)

 

 

Fall:
In Service of

2023
In Service Of:
Marseille

EPFL Option Studio, Fall 2023
Course Number: AR-202

“The uncanny that disturbs the critical going on above it, the professional going on without it, the uncanny that one can sense in prophecy, the strangely known moment, the gathering content, of a cadence, and the uncanny that one can sense in cooperation, the secret once called solidarity.”

Ruth Wilson Gilmore, in Stefano Harney, The Undercommons : Fugitive Planning & Black Study, ed. Fred Moten, Fugitive Planning & Black Study (New York,Port Watson: Minor Compositions, 2013), 42.  

Architecture and design are powerful tools to conjure, materialize and unlock horizons. So, if we admit the identity-shattering posit that construction can never be sustainable, how to respond to housing needs? This studio intends to face the music. But who has access to and can afford design? ‘In Service of:...’ is a studio series that seeks to redress uneven access to design and to planning literacy by the majority. To do so, it places architecture as a tool at the service of a place, a population, a narrative, in order to benefit the common good. In this class, we will seek to deploy architecture processes “with values and interests different from those of capital.”

In that sense, ‘In Service Of: …’ conducts a reflection on architecture as a form of public service. Seeking to ‘detoxify narratives’ around architecture and urban design, there shall be no claim of righteousness, but instead an attempt to learn and unlearn from the sites and the people encountered. Architects can no longer claim to be “the bearers of a compass” or of any absolute truth, and ‘expertise’ is a highly contentious term. Through a comprehensive exploration of the forces (i.e., social, legal, political, economic, cultural, environmental) that generate and control space at first, and then diving into the selected contentious sites, the studio seeks to gain a deeper understanding of the reciprocal relationship between architecture and community, recognizing the potential for design to foster social cohesion, enhance well-being, and contribute to the overall betterment of society. The studio will also conduct a reflection on its own format, to question architecture attachment to solutionism, the expectation to ‘fix problems’ and other tropes that have led to socially and spatially unjust developments, such as the massive Euromediterannée project in Marseille. It also seeks to produce works that have utility for active local groups engaged in struggles against gentrification, state violence and expropriation strategies, and unsafe housing to name a few of the questions faced by inhabitants of Marseille. So, if we admit thatction can never be sustainable, hods? This studio intends to face the music. By focusing on the idea of being useful without romanticizing the task, this design studio seeks to articulate an agenda for a self-critical architecture with a heightened sense of responsibility and a commitment to creating spaces that truly serve the needs of the people.

Footnotes

  1. Pedro Fiori Arantes, The Rent of Form : Architecture and Labor in the Digital Age, ed. Adriana Kauffmann et al. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2019), 152

Teaching Team: Kathlyn Kao, Antoine Iweins with Summer Islam and Nagy Makhlouf; TA: Laure Melati Dekoninck.