A traveling fellowship in Architecture

2013 Competition Overview

While some of the design profession drifts towards media, commodity and fashion, another portion is trying to understand what we can contribute to substantive questions, and not merely through self-sacrificing “service” or clinical problem solving, condescension or pseudo-populism. As architects, what are we supposed to do and how do we do it honestly? How can we be part of a critique of our modern way of life that is post-ideological and constructive? Architecture is not a way to distance ourselves from the arbitrary forces that shape the contemporary landscape, but a way to re-imagine and harness them.

Students were asked to identify a sociolo-political problem in their communities, research the topic through engagement with the community and other means, develop an architectural program addressing the problem, map the story to the site, and compose a travel itinerary that expands on and explores these ideas.