The present master’s thesis aims to examine participation in architecture.
First, it tackles the origin and the concept of participation in architecture and its contextualization. Subsequently, the types of participation in architecture with respect to power asymmetries are presented. This serves as a basis to show the opportunities, pitfalls and myopias of participation by examples of reference projects in architecture.
Moreover, it provides a temporal dimension of participation in architecture and problematizes the so-called false participation in architecture. To circumvent the latter, we present the model of transformative participation in architecture. In the next step, the model of transformative participation is applied in practice to the conceptual design of the area of the former branch school Gabrk in Škofja Loka.
Applying the transformative participation model to the project part of the thesis allows us to recalibrate a broader framework for the design of the area and co-living spaces through participatory group and individual workshops. The newly created space serves as a community generator and is germane for activating the programmatically/ideologically underserved suburban life.
Throughout the process, we put the transformative participation model directly into praxis, which means that each step of the model is reflected in the project planning.
First, a survey was conducted among the residents of Škofja Loka, exploring the perplexity of the selected issue, and then a participatory workshop was held with the future residents. Herein, the program and partly also the spatial design of the building itself is determined. This is followed by an individual participatory workshop in which a more detailed floor plan for the individual units is co-designed.
The thesis serves as an experiment, exposing the opportunities and pitfalls of participation in architecture as it unfolds throughout the process. The conclusion elucidates the relationship between the designer and the user and the influence of the dialectic of the latter on the space itself. Reflection is offered on the process through the aforementioned prism.
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