The Least of All Possible Architectures
The Least of All Possibile Architectures
‘Design and Affect in the Humanitarian Present’
2019
Participatory design has become the ethical standard that many small firms working in development architecture strive for. The resultant philosophy is a reality driven modification of what Bernard Rudofsky coined as “Architecture Without Architects”. The Architect, in this case, becomes the tool between the user (community)and the bureaucracy, allowing the user to directly impact their built environment. ‘Humanitarian’ architecture views ‘good design’ as a tool for empowering communities. It is easy to see the damage that is created by a top-down model, but much harder to see the negative impacts a bottom up methodology, incentivized by the development community, can have.
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