Nishat A. - Spatial Agency. Other Ways of Doing Architecture

Spatial Agency

Other Ways Of Doing Architecture

First published 2011

by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada

by Routledge

711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2011 Nishat Awan, Tatjana Schneider and Jeremy Till

The right of Nishat Awan, Tatjana Schneider and Jeremy Till to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him/her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Text pages designed by Ben Weaver and typeset by Adam Cheltsov in F Grotesk by Radim Pesko, and Galaxie Polaris Condensed by Chester Jenkins Printed and bound in India by Replika Press, Pvt. Ltd, Sonepat, Haryana

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

A catalog record has been requested for this book

ISBN13: 9780415571920 (hbk)

ISBN13: 9780415571937 (pbk)

Every effort has been made to contact and acknowledge copyright owners. The publishers would be grateful to hear from any copyright holder who is not acknowledged here and will undertake to rectify any errors or omissions in future printings or editions of the book.

Spatial Agency

Other Ways Of Doing Architecture

Nishat Awan

Tatjana Schneider

Jeremy Till

$20K House IV construction, Newbern, AL (2009). Courtesy Rural Studio (p.193)

Asiye eTafuleni. Working in Warwick: Including Street Traders in Urban Plans. Photo: Dennis Gilbert (p.103)

An issue of Making Policy Public, CUP 2009. Photo: Prudence Katze (p.115)

Passage 56 community garden. Ph: atelier darchitecture autogre (p.105)

Bauhusle. Ph: Peter Blundell Jones (p.107)

PS2. City supplements walking tour. Courtesy Ruth Morrow (p.95)

St Joseph ReBuild Center. Courtesy Detroit Collaborative Design Center (p.127)

Arcosanti. Silt-cast construction on the roof of West Housing. Ph: Ivan Pintar (p.132)

Day-care centre dream-tree. Courtesy Baupiloten (p.109)

Drejerbanken cohousing. Ph: William Sherlaw (p.122)

public works. Exploring Practice programme (p.190)

Haus-Rucker-Co. Oase No.7. Ph: Hein Engelskirchen (p.155)

New Alchemy Institute. Cape Cod Ark. Courtesy John Todd (p.176)

Raumlabor, Cape Fear. Courtesy Raumlabor (p.191)

Football House, California. Courtesy Jersey Devil (p.159)

Urban voids, Philadelphia. Strategy for the self-reparation of the urban tissue. Image: Ecosistema Urbano

Woodland art trail. Ph: muf (p.175)

Exyzt. Dalston Barn. Ph: Lisbet Harboe (p.145)

LIC Township, Ahmedabad. Ph: Vstu-Shilp Consultants (p.205)

Post-apocalyptic settlement on the CCA front lawn as part of the Year 3000 day-camp, 2008. Courtesy CCA (p.113)

CONTENTS

A few years ago the French sociologist Bruno Latour self-criticised Actor-Network-Theory, his seminal contribution to social theory. There are four things that do not work with Actor-Network-Theory, he notes, only half-jokingly, the word actor, the word, network, the word theory and the hyphen. In a similar spirit we became uncomfortable with the working title of this book, Alternative Architectural Practice. These three words became increasingly limiting in a project that we wanted to be expansive and empowering. This introduction will therefore trace the journey from Alternative Architectural Practice to Spatial Agency, starting with an explanation as to why the first three words do not work.

Alternative

As soon as one says the word alternative it begs the question: alternative to what? In order to establish an alternative it is first necessary to define the norm against which it is set, and with this three issues immediately arise. First, the interpretation of the norm will differ according to who is doing the defining. As the authors of the