Decolonizing Architecture: Encampments

The course uses the term decolonization as a critical position and conceptual frame for an artistic-architectural research practice engaged in social and political struggles. Architecture in the process of colonization and decolonization plays a crucial role in organizing spatial relations and expressing ideologies, and even when abandoned or in ruins, is still mobilized as evidence for political and cultural claims. The course aims to critically reflect upon the effects of spatial transformations in society by combining theory and practice with individual and collective research. The course is intended for those with studies or experiences in architecture, art, urbanism, artistic research, radical pedagogies, decolonial theory, or activism who are interested in the ideological, social, and political dimensions of Architecture.

Theme of the year: Encampments
Encampments are temporary structures made of precarious and movable materials. Whether established by authorities or by individuals, encampments are inherently conflictual spaces. Military camps built in foreign countries, for example, are extraterritorial zones maintained to assert dominance and occupation, ready to be activated if the host country deviates from the interests of the occupying force. On the other end of the spectrum, refugee camps emerge as a byproduct of war. However, instead of housing soldiers, they become spaces for “unwanted people,” symbolizing the collapse of the nation-state’s political order.

In the past year, student encampments have re-emerged as powerful sites of protest. The protests emanating from these camps have in many cases been directed against Israel’s regime of colonization, occupation, and apartheid in Palestine, as well as the, articulated by many protesters, silence of Western universities and governments that provide support for Israel’s alleged war crimes and what is referred to as genocide in Gaza. Moreover, students encampments have been an extraodrinary laboratory for commoning practices and student-led critical pedagocies. This course will provide a space to critically reflect on the historical events of the past year, examining their impact on academic freedom and critical thinking. Together, we will delve into the origins and histories of protest encampments, exploring their strengths, limitations, and achievements over time.

Through a series of seminars, we will engage in close readings of seminal works, including Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism, Edward W. Said’s The Question of Palestine, Giorgio Agamben’s Homo Sacer, and Walter Mignolo’s The Darker Side of Western Modernity. These readings will be complemented by testimonies and reflections from activists involved in student encampments. The course welcomes participants eager to critically and collaboratively explore the spatial, social, and political dimensions of various forms of encampments.

Course structure
Participants are asked to select a site as source of knowledge and the anchor for their research practice and intervention. In parallel, they are invited to reflect on one or more concepts that emerge from the site, to theorize not by borrowing theories from books, but to ground their theories in the site and in their own practice. These conceptualizations form what we call a “Collective Dictionary,” composed of individual and collective terms that provide the theoretical frame for individual and collective actions. The collective dictionary creates a community of peers that share different sites and concepts that nurture each other’s individual and collective research. 

For more information on course structure and how to apply, see the webpage of the Royal Institute of Art