The research area for this dissertation encompasses points of convergence between political, sociological, and architectural discourse. As the subject of this research, I have taken my design process from the semester which directly preceded the one being discussed here. The design brief for that semester was broad ranging in its scope but included a requirement for a residential proportion. The site was located in an area of former East Berlin →. |
During that semester I used my architectural design project as a vehicle to explore the aforementioned research area. The outcome of this research was a social housing intervention which I posited as an architectural response to my research question regarding the mutability of contemporary liberal democratic theory. However, the singularity of the design → did not reflect the multifaceted iterative design research process which had preceded it. |
This iterative design process was characterised by its transmutability. The volume, form and site placement of the proposal changed several times. The changes were not insubstantial. Returning to the archive of that process this semester, I have attempted to uncover the latent narrative which underpinned the amorphous instability of the iterations → |
Approaching this exploration, I wanted to ask whether a perceived latent narrative of a design process can be both uncovered and recast using alternative communicative media. More specifically, this research aims to test the use of writing as a fecund research method to explore points of convergence between architectural discourse and broader sociological and political themes and concepts. In Autoethnography as Method Heewon Chang (2016, p. 49) proposes that the ‘Self is a subject to look into and a lens to look through to gain an understanding of a societal culture.’ Through a process of self-reflection and introspection I am endeavouring to gain a clearer perspective of the cultural situation in which I am situated. |