ARC3718H F
Instructor: Aziza Chaouni
Meeting Section: L0101
Wednesday, 3:00 - 6:00pm
Location: TBD

Today, socially engaged architectural practices are an emerging and diverse architectural typology that aims to redefine architecture from a market-driven profession to a mix of activism, philanthropy, and social enterprise. These practices’ approach embraces a progressive sets of values including social equity, poverty reduction and environmental protection.

Traditionally, architects have depended on clients: as such, they are ‘service-providers’ for someone else who defines the goals and targets of their project. While the role of clients is still key to the survival of architecture as a profession, more and more architectural practices and design professionals are recasting their role away from the service-provider / moneyed client paradigm. Instead, they are creating partnership with non-for profits organizations, educational institutions and international aid agencies while taking an active role in advocating for and defining projects which are socially engaged, from the grounds up. By doing so, they are developing practice models that are more resilient towards economic fluctuations, which are exacerbated by the surplus of architects, the scarcity of clients and the fierce competition within the discipline. Also, by reaching out to under-represented ‘clients’, these practice models bridge the gap between the wealthiest 1% of the population, who can afford architectural services, and the 99% remaining who cannot, but still direly need them.

Interestingly, with the rise of crowdfunding, progressive partners and social investment, firms initially dedicated to socially engaged projects, such as Mass Design Group, Elemental, Toyo Ito and Associates, Latent Design, GRAFT, Asante, have evolved into hybrid firms that have the capacity to take on both for-profits and pro-bono projects.

Through the analysis of case studies from Rwanda, Nigeria, Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan, South Africa, Brazil, Venezuela and Japan, this seminar will critically assess these new forms of practices, highlighting their office organization and working methodologies and philosophies, assessing the actual efficacy and impacts of their projects, and finally, questioning the limits of the social role of architecture.

Architects, designers and organizations leading socially engaged architectural practices and projects, will be invited to lecture and share their work.

In parallel, students will apply some of the strategies they learned during the course through the development of a group project in close collaboration with the Scott Mission Homeless Shelter, located in front of Daniels at 502 Spadina. Students will assess the needs of the ‘client’ and ‘users’, develop a collaborative design method, engage the stakeholders, come up with a design and funding model, and implement the project in situ.