VIRTUAL: Applying Education
Abstract
A singular focus on carbon reduction cannot remedy the ‘wicked problem’ of the climate emergency, which defies linear ‘solutions’. Multiple knowledges are required to tackle climate and biodiversity change in a world where the problem and the responses unfold under high degrees of uncertainty. How can we adequately teach about climate and biodiversity change in the design studio in light of uncertain futures where multiple drivers interact? In 2021/22, we established Atelier Some Kind of Nature (SKN) at the Manchester School of Architecture with the intention of decentering humans from their privileged position in the design process. Interdisciplinarity is at the core of our approach; SKN staff are architects, landscape architects, and social scientists. SKN is for students of architecture and landscape architecture, with some working in collaboration. We take a post-human position and use Mikhail Bakhtin’s notion of polyphony as a framework to question human dominance in the design process. The approach supports critical engagement with strategies which include: nature-based solutions, adaptive pathways, rewilding, scenario planning, degrowth, circular economies, climate resiliency. This paper explores the opportunities and challenges around implementing new pedagogical techniques in an interdisciplinary design studio that brings together the interests of humans and non-humans. By asking what our world would look like if we decentred humans from the design process, the paper explores how to challenge existing visual representations, of creatively thinking through how to understand the voices of non-human actors, and of engaging with future uncertainty be that through climatic, socio-economic, political, and technological change.
Angela Connelly’s research critically understands the adaptation of buildings and cities to a range of different pressures. She unpacks the interactions between socio-economic, governance, ecological and technological processes that shape the built environment. Work here has examined the use of new technologies and processes to adapt urban areas to increased flood risk and heatwaves. She began teaching at the Manchester School of Architecture in 2020, and is currently the Climate Emergency lead for the school to embed climate literacy throughout the curricula.
Becky Sobell is programme lead for the Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) course. She joined the Manchester School of Architecture in 2009 and has worked across landscape architecture and architecture education at all levels. Becky is atelier lead for ‘Some Kind of Nature’ MSA atelier. SKN attends to the entangled fate of organisms and engages with contemporary discourses and strategies around the climate crisis to acknowledge the impact of homo sapiens on the physical, chemical, and biological systems of the planet. Interdisciplinarity is at the core of SKN’s pedagogy, and that collaborative ethos extends to more-than-human actors, redefining engagement with the environment as a multi-voiced or polyphonic narrative.
Kasia Nawratek is a senior lecturer at Manchester School of Architecture, a qualified architect and a writer. Her current research interests are focused on the climate crisis response and post-human perspectives in the context of architectural education. Her teaching practice is underpinned by Mikhail Bakhtin’s idea of polyphony which fosters an inclusive and dialogic studio culture. Kasia is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Anna Gidman is an architect and recently renovated a remote derelict chapel in Wales using natural materials. She follows this interest as a member of the Architects Climate Action Network (ACAN) Natural Materials group. Before moving to Manchester School of Architecture I taught at the University of Liverpool where I was Year Lead for BA2.
Dan Renoso-Urmston is a qualified architect and associate lecturer at the Manchester School of Architecture where he teaches in the Some Kind of Nature Atelier.
Neil Allen is a qualified architect and an associate lecturer at the Manchester School of Architecture where he teaches in the Some Kind of Nature atelier.
Ian McHugh is a qualified architect and an associate lecturer at the Manchester School of Architecture where he teaches in the Some Kind of Nature atelier.
11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Friday 28th April, 2023