(Re-)Building Communities: A Case Study in Architectural Education

Abstract

Although recent years have seen a considerable increase in the number of people living in abominable conditions as well as a rapid increase in the incidence of natural disasters rendering thousands of people homeless, few architects are aware of the possible contribution they could make to both development and humanitarian relief. This paper focuses on a particular series of educational workshops for architects and architecture students interested in the field of development and participatory practice: the Summer Schools organised by Architecture Sans Frontières - UK, a not-for-profit organisation that focuses on both equitable and sustainable approaches to development. It looks at the observations from the participants on the workshops and building exercise of one particular ASF-UK Summer School focusing on ‘Vulnerability and Risk: Rebuilding Communities after Disaster’ held between the first and the sixth of September 2006, at the Eden Centre in Cornwall, in collaboration with International Development in Extreme Environments (IDEE), discussing the aims and setup of this workshop, the lessons it attempted to bring across as well as participants' experiences.

Citation

Berg, H.v.d. (2008), "(Re-)Building Communities: A Case Study in Architectural Education", Open House International, Vol. 33 No. 2, pp. 78-84. https://doi.org/10.1108/OHI-02-2008-B0010