Architecture Fringe 2021: (Un)Learning

Opening this June, Scotland’s only independent architecture festival, the Architecture Fringe, invites you to explore, interrogate and (un)learn about the world of architecture, as it could be.

Returning in a new biennial hybrid format across in-person and digital platforms, the festival responds to the thematic provocation of (Un)Learning, bringing together a vibrant and diverse range of practitioners and activists from across the world. 

The free festival will take the form of an Open Programme of activities, talks, research, performances, discussions, exhibitions and a core programme of events.

Championing both the Scottish and international community of grassroots designers, architects, artists and activists participants include: Dr Harriet Harriss, COP26 Coalition, Amarha Spence, Andrew Clancy, Piers Taylor, Architects Climate Action Network, Section of Architectural Workers (SAW)-UVW, Neil Pinder, Neal Shasore, FAME Collective, Vivien Sansour, Theatrum Mundi, Missing in Architecture, Migrant’s Bureau, Orla Murphy/New European Bauhaus, After The Pandemic, Decolonising Architecture, Govanhill Baths (Glasgow), Eastside Community Network (Detroit) and Mansara (Kolkata).  

Theme of (Un)Learning
Architecture is uncritically complicit in its reliance on these systems and structures for its very creation, with little resistance or defiance in its making or deployment. We have arrived at the intersection of a climate emergency, global pandemic and racialised capitalist economy and the ground on which we stand is shifting at speed. We are in transition, from one world to another. Things are changing, and in order to make that change positive and transformative we need to engage in a process of unlearning and learning anew. To (un)learn. There is hope.

In a complex and interconnected world, with systems large and small, fast and slow, how can architecture as a process, a way of thinking, help us (un)learn in order to firstly navigate this complexity, then to reimagine and create a much better way of doing things? How can we radically rethink, through (un)learning, architecture’s environmental impact on the Earth? How can we refocus architectural education away from a whitewashed Western lens? How can we redefine our relationship to the land, from ownership to stewardship? How can our dwellings, neighbourhoods and cities achieve greater equality for those who live there? We have much to unpack, reflect upon and make anew with architecture realigned as a progressive force for a wider common good.

For the Architecture Fringe 2021 we invite you to (un)learn with us, to interrogate your own behaviours, beliefs and biases in order to acknowledge how the world really is to then reimagine how it could be.

Core Programme:

Architecture Fringe Opening
June 3, 2021, 7-8pm BST, online with guests Rebecca Davies, Anna Francis and AF team 

Modes of Travel - (Un)Learning Education
June 10, 2021, 2–5pm BST, online with Missing in Architecture, Dr Harriet Harriss, Neal Shasore, Alisha Morenike Fisher and Andrew Clancy

Towards COP26
June 19, 2021, 10am–1pm BST, online with After The Pandemic, Decolonise Architecture and Orla Murphy representing New European Bauhaus

Open Programme:

Series: 9AM GAY NIHILISM by John Garrood
June 5–19, 2021, each morning at 9am BST

Film & Workshop: (un)Learning Overwork with UVW SAW 
June 5, 2021, 7–10pm BST

Event: Unlearning Culture by Theatrum Mundi
June 16, 2021, 5–8pm, at Many Studios, Glasgow

The Architecture Fringe has always championed diverse new voices through the open-access nature of the Open Programme in tandem with commissioned new work in the Core Programme. This year the Open Programme hosts work from grassroots initiatives like Crumble Magazine and Moup. The Core Programme has commissioned new work from Civic Soup, -ism, /other and Migrant’s Bureau. 

This edition of the festival also includes work from the New Producers, a new programme for emerging curators, writers and cultural producers based in Scotland created by the Architecture Fringe to encourage new voices and help develop the next generation of cultural leaders. This first cohort drawn from across Scotland are Alex Collins, Ellen Clayton, Evie Spiridon, Julie Naess Karlsen, Kam Chan and Ruby Eleftheriotis.

Andy Summers, Co-founder and co-director of the Architecture Fringe said, “We’re very proud to present the programme for this year’s Architecture Fringe as it speaks to so many critical issues which affect us all. By having a hybrid of on and offline events we’re bringing together inspiring speakers from across the world to Scotland to explore, discuss and debate architecture in its social, political and cultural contexts. The theme of (Un)Learning also asks important questions of the audience and architectural community, calling for a radical rethink to everything we do.”

Liane Bauer, Co-Director of the Architecture Fringe said, “The ability to rethink and unlearn is critical not only for the survival of the planet but also for humanity. The programme investigates the defining issues of our generation, from whiteness, race and capitalism, to how we use and care for the land. As built environment professionals we are asking how do we change our behaviours and biases to work in a more ethical, holistic and sustainable way?”