Information Summer School
A Coruña, April 2018
Proposition
We propose that the sheer volume of empty or underused sites, buildings and apartments
in A Coruña, wrought in large part by the 2008 financial crisis, is directly compromising the urban quality of the city. We also propose that the
formal systems that fuelled the expansion of contemporary private development
have failed the interests of the majority of urban populations leaving a
disconnect between how the city is made and how the city is lived.
Position
At a time when
most professional bodies, academia and politics are retreating from visible
positions on the public good, emerging forms of critical design, applied research
and multi-disciplinary practice have reinvigorated a new generation of urban thinkers
and actors.
The summer school in 2018 offered a timely appraisal of this movement and attempts to build upon the innovative spatial and organisational models emerging as feasible alternatives to the primacy of the status quo.
The summer school in 2018 offered a timely appraisal of this movement and attempts to build upon the innovative spatial and organisational models emerging as feasible alternatives to the primacy of the status quo.
Summer school
The 10-day multi-disciplinary workshop was aimed at a
critical and creative investigation
into the forces that make up the contemporary city. We are interested in
revealing the current state of A Coruña through exploring and documentation,
instigating new use through design and build intervention, interviewing
inhabitants, and building visual representations of the networks that shape the
city through: agency, object and process. We are interested in defining and
identifying spatial needs and deficits, and through an open format engage with
the positions from a diverse range of actors from financiers to
activists, politicians to students, academics and developers.
Aims
The summer school aimed to experiment with forms of
critical analysis, making, collective drawing and representation. It aims to
explore applied research as a practice of agency and to expose students to leading
figures and methods that strive to diversify the discourse on spatial
production. The goal is to develop a platform for students seeking strategies
for engagement in shaping the built environment to favourable societal
outcomes.
Format
The summer
school was built around a series of applied research and design-making exercises situated
within a studio environment and selected
abandoned spaces throughout A Coruña. Multi-disciplinary
teams were tasked to develop creative responses to briefs in various
designated formats. These include: design-build installation for a temporary
work-exhibition space, large scale collective action network drawings, film
interviews, and documented walks and mapping.
The format includes open work critiques, short presentations, design charrettes, interviews, writing and editing sessions, construction and partying.
Participation from leading actors in the form of lectures, critiques and commented walks textualize the ideas and designs developed throughout the summer school.
The format includes open work critiques, short presentations, design charrettes, interviews, writing and editing sessions, construction and partying.
Participation from leading actors in the form of lectures, critiques and commented walks textualize the ideas and designs developed throughout the summer school.
Output
The working process and material form the
exercises were curated in a public exhibition on completion of the summer
school. Text, references and visual documentation were compiled and edited
into an accompanying catalogue.
Cost
The fee of €50.00 covered the course
administration costs, refreshments and some communal dinner events.
Dates
29th of
August – 8th of September 2018
Applications
Students of Architecture, Urban
Design, sociology, law, economy, engineering, politics or art were invited to apply with a short motivation letter and
CV by July 20th 2018. Architecture, Art and Urban Design students were asked to include samples of
work. Acceptance notice were issued on the 25th
of July 2018.
ECTS
Students were able to claim 4 ECTS credits, or their
home university equivalent, for their successful completion of the programme.
Location
A Coruña,
Galicia, Spain
Language
English / Spanish
/ Galician