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How do we study and design architecture in places where we were not born or raised? Contemporary orthodoxy suggests leaving such places untouched or designed via the filter of localism. An alternative view is that the world is now more connected than ever via global networks, with ubiquitous technology enabling influencer trends and horizontal fabrication techniques as well as climate advocacy. Confronting both the gospel of localism and the global milieu, PG18’s brief titled ‘Contextual Futurism’ asked students to consider civic spaces. How could civic projects suit pressing contemporary topics around culture and environment?
Using Cairo, Egypt as a research ground, students selected contemporary issues to explore. Instead of looking only for the genius loci – i.e. the spirit of place – they also conceived architecture as a transformative and disruptive urban practice. The unit promoted seminars and reading discussions on the concepts of modern tribalism, vernacular design and digital remixing. Between design workshops and reading seminars, students were invited to understand and develop their own approach to the balance of tradition and innovation. Beginning with a particular artefact, they drew inspiration from graphic novels and science fiction films such as Dune while addressing present-day realities of extreme climate and social change.
On the streets of Cairo, fifth-year student Patricia Castello created a biophilic landscape that broke down the busy, car-centric city roads into green public landscapes. Exploring generative form-finding while following local garden and courtyard typologies, the project speculates on how new types of greenery may be introduced in urban centres.
Inspired by existing brickwork and ancient Egyptian monumentality, fourth-year student Momchil Petrinski articulates spaces in which water is used to bring relief and leisure to the outskirts of the capital. In maintaining a fine line between design and programme brief, the project celebrates the potential of civic spaces and enables accessibility to those in most need.
‘Contextual Futurism’ addresses the core of PG18 research into how innovation can take on architectural tradition and proposition can challenge contemporary strategies of decolonisation. Students learned the importance of thinking about architecture from the point of view of culture, seeing how it can lead to a critical but also optimistic approach both to the profession and to life itself.