Teaching Beyond the Curriculum
Abstract
The authors discuss a pedagogical experiment that arises out of an ongoing Erasmus+ project titled “Socially Situated Architectural Pedagogies” or SArPe, which involves the Universities of Pavia, Istanbul, Delft and Malaga.
The SArPe project focuses on three areas of inquiry: critical/radical pedagogies (Colomina et al., 2022; Crysler, 1995; Dutton & Mann, 1996; Hooks, 2014); situated knowledge (Haraway, 1988; Rendell, 2020), commons-oriented knowledge and pedagogy (Bourassa et al., 2017; Deamer, 2022; Korsgaard, 2019). Its aim is to expand reflections on how architectural curricula can reconnect with the outside world and explore how learners, educators, and non-institutional stakeholders engage. The authors elaborate on a situated process that has been done in a small but distinctive neighbourhood in Pavia, Borgo Ticino, that it is exposed to many risks and challenges. This process took place in a second-year architecture studio at the University of Pavia, which was reimagined as a site for the commoning of knowledge through collaborations with non-academic actors. Authors reflect on the extent to which the module and its activities were situated within the specific site and context of investigation. Fieldwork, interviews with stakeholders, psychogeographical walks, SWOT analysis and role play were used as tools for a critical understanding of the place, the needs and aspirations of local communities. The paper concludes by reporting preliminary findings and critical perspectives towards the refining of the proposed approach. This pedagogical experiment offers insights into how architectural education can be more socially engaged and responsive to the challenges and opportunities of the built environment.
Ioanni Delsante is Associate Professor in Architectural and Urban Design at Pavia University (Italy), and Reader in Urban Design at the University of Huddersfield (UK). He has expertise urban commons and transformations organising workshops, exhibitions, and conferences, including the Regional Urbanism in the Era of Globalisation and The City as a Commons. He has received several grants for research projects: Moruzzi Road (2021), Commoning Kirklees (2022) and the Erasmus+ Project SArPe (2022). He co-leads the AUDe Research Lab at Pavia University and initiated The City as a Commons.
Maddalena Giovanna Anita Duse is a PhD student at the University of Pavia, specializing in “Design, modeling and simulation in engineering.” Her research focuses on innovation in methods and processes for public/private not-for-profit entities in urban planning and architecture. Specifically, she is interested in tactical urbanism and bottom-up strategies, analyzing situated interventions, social interactions, and the phenomena of gentrification and its correlations with bottom-up strategies. Maddalena is involved in the Erasmus KA+ project SARPE, working with Istanbul Technical University, University of Malaga, and Delft University of Technology. She is currently contributing to this project.
Linda Migliavacca is a PhD candidate at the University of Pavia, holding a scholarship titled “Active citizenship, urban commons, and architectural entanglements”. She is contributing as a research assistant in the Erasmus+ project SArPe. Her research interests include sustainable architectural, commoning, and empowerment of local communities. Linda’s research is driven by the global challenges posed by social movements, the right to the city, and the concept of commons. It focuses on participatory democracy, the city, and post-COVID-19 scenarios. ;Tabassum is concluding her PhD at Huddersfield University. Her research explores spatial commoning protocols by active citizen groups in West Yorkshire. She works at Pavia University for Erasmus+ project SARPE and as part-time lecturer at Huddersfield University. Tabassum is an architect with interest in community engagement, diasporic identity, and environmental activism. She has organised workshops, exhibitions, including Temporary Tactical Urbanism (2019), Urban Commons & Commoning Practices (2020), a research project “Commoning Kirklees”. She published Commoning Kirklees: a toolkit for making things happen (2022), Climate Action and Visual Culture (2021), Analysing spaces through narratives: a case study of Queensgate Market
4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Thursday 16th November, 2023