Title of the research: Architecture as an Ally in the Struggle for Emancipation
under the supervision of Dr. Olivier Vallerand
Abstract: This research examines contemporary approaches in architecture that seek to mobilize architects’ knowledge, practices, and privileges in support of struggles for emancipation led by marginalized people who have historically been underserved by architecture. Based on the observation that architecture contributes to the maintenance and reproduction of inequalities and violence, this research explores the possibility of subverting this contribution, in a context of accelerating crises and marked by the dominance of neoliberal logic. It pursues three objectives: (1) to analyze the use of spatial tactics in struggles for emancipation; (2) to mobilize situated and experiential knowledge to develop the figure of the architect as an ally; and (3) to shed light on solidarity-based and anti-oppressive practices in architecture and architectural research. To this end, the research combines ethnographic approaches, research-creation, and focus groups to explore and develop the figure of the architect as an ally in struggles for emancipation.