The University as Agent of Change in the City: Co-Creation of Live Community Architecture
- Submitting institution
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Birmingham City University
- Unit of assessment
- 32 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
- Output identifier
- 32Z_OP_D1004
- Type
- D - Journal article
- DOI
-
-
- Title of journal
- International Journal of Architectural Research: ArchNet-IJAR
- Article number
- -
- First page
- 326
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 1
- ISSN
- 1938-7806
- Open access status
- Compliant
- Month of publication
- -
- Year of publication
- 2018
- URL
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https://archnet.org/publications/13011
- Supplementary information
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-
- Request cross-referral to
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- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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1
- Research group(s)
-
-
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- Through an investigation into the co-creation of knowledge in community architecture projects, this co-authored article reconceptualises the relationship between the University and the City. It does this by analysising live community architecture projects, run by the authors as part of the Hands-on-Bristol project—a collabortation between the School of Architecture (UWE) and various Bristol communities—which sought to encourage exchange between education programmes, research and local communities.
Live projects are regularly used in architectural education to address a perceived gulf between learning and professional life. This research took an alternative look at the role of live projects. Using participatory action research, the authors analysed over fifty community-based projects and 240 students, over the course of 2,300 hours and used civic agency literture to critically reflect on the research. The results published in this article, firstly reposition the Hands-on-Bristol project as a form of civic agency; and secondly analyse the principles of civic agency as a model of university-community action.
This article presents an inaugural concept of live architecture projects as civic agency. This concept prioritises a shift from working ‘for’ to working ‘with’ community groups, and understanding collaborative engagement as a process through which knowledge is collectively created. This moves the focus of education away from the academy to establishing learning communities embedded in community places. In turn, it moves the locus of power from being largely held by professional experts remote from those for whom they work, to the empowerment of all participants to directly affect their environments.
The work contributes to international debates about the role of the University in the city. It has been published on the International Live Projects Network, City Metric and New Start websites and featured in ArchDaily’s Best Student Design-Build Projects and was highly commended in the Live Project Network Awards.
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -