ARCH5331A
Topical Studies in Urban Politics (Taiwan) - Conceived, Perceived, Lived
Target Students BSSc 2, BSSc 3, BSSc 4, MArch 1, MArch 2
Course Term 1
Course Type Elective
Teacher(s) GOUDSMIT, Inge
In the early 2000’s several global international architecture firms were commissioned to build iconic cultural buildings in Taiwanese cities. Over the past decade these building have completed and are taking into use. We will visit some of these buildings and critically analyse them from different perspectives.
The purpose of the course is to understand the daily experiences of different groups of people in relation to the iconic cultural buildings, and thus look at the projects and the surrounding site area through different lenses. To this end, we have developed a methodology that teaches architecture students to consider space through different lenses of urban users. We are interested in discovering how the neighbourhood has changed, and continues to change, under the influence of the building, and what this means to people.
The framework of the studio is based on Lefebvre’s theoretical framework on the Production of Space (1991). It distinguishes between the conceived, perceived, and lived aspects of space and constructs an interactive relationship between these aspects. Conceived spaces are abstract and represented by technocratic means through scaled drawings, masterplans, strategy documents and bureaucratic documents on public policy. Perceived space concerns the material world and is inscribed in the day-to-day routines and practices of daily life. Finally, in the lived or representational space, social relations occur, and cultural memories are associated with physical space (Lefebvre, 1991; Merrifield, 1993). Based on this framework, we will unravel these elements to gain a better understanding of how urban politics produce space, how it is appropriated by users and how it is symbolically interpreted. It thus explores the gap between abstract, idealised understandings of space conceived by planners, architects and policymakers and the meaning of local urban actors in place.
Students of all years are eligible to join the course. A number of skills will be useful, including interviewing, drawing, observing, questioning, and collaboration. As the students will work in small groups, they can cooperate and learn from each other.
While many other courses focus on the design of space, this elective centralises how the building and public spaces work after they have been occupied for several years by the public. Through a post-occupancy analysis of the social inhabitation of architectural projects, students analyse the impact of architectural projects on the lives of people.
