Reactivating underpopulated areas through participatory architecture in southern Italy by creating a home for newcomers

<p class="first" id="d2741912e117">Crossing Cultures is a university-based research initiative that is part of London Metropolitan’s Centre for Urban and Built Ecologies (CUBE) which aims to develop a new pedagogical model. The focus is to provide an...

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Main Authors: Sandra Denicke-Polcher, Caroline Donnellan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: UCL Press 2022-02-01
Series:Architecture_MPS
Online Access:https://uclpress.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14324/111.444.amps.2022v21i1.003
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author Sandra Denicke-Polcher
Caroline Donnellan
author_facet Sandra Denicke-Polcher
Caroline Donnellan
author_sort Sandra Denicke-Polcher
collection DOAJ
description <p class="first" id="d2741912e117">Crossing Cultures is a university-based research initiative that is part of London Metropolitan’s Centre for Urban and Built Ecologies (CUBE) which aims to develop a new pedagogical model. The focus is to provide an inclusive learning environment that facilitates intercultural relationships and group learning, equipping students with essential skills for a globally connected world beyond the subject of architecture. We have paired the design studio activities in London with a field experience of live engagement in southern Italy, in a region suffering from depopulation, while simultaneously experiencing the arrival of asylum seekers. The confluence of these opposing developments creates a need to rebuild local communities and presents an exceptional opportunity for our students to become agents of change. The article outlines how, through the creation of an additional teaching and learning platform for multi-disciplinary research outside the boundaries of the university campus, this teaching practice is raising social capital by attracting and integrating students and asylum seekers alike, adding to population and economic growth. The article concludes by highlighting the unique opportunity to scale up this hybrid studio/field study model, which has arisen because of the COVID-19 pandemic. What is proposed is that now, as universities are developing blended learning delivery models, our observations could feed into a new, expansive model for studying architecture as a student-in-residence mode of study. </p>
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spelling doaj.art-9b6694dd9b50475f8d4123d97f2b36502023-02-23T12:10:12ZengUCL PressArchitecture_MPS2050-90062022-02-01211410.14324/111.444.amps.2022v21i1.003Reactivating underpopulated areas through participatory architecture in southern Italy by creating a home for newcomersSandra Denicke-PolcherCaroline Donnellan<p class="first" id="d2741912e117">Crossing Cultures is a university-based research initiative that is part of London Metropolitan’s Centre for Urban and Built Ecologies (CUBE) which aims to develop a new pedagogical model. The focus is to provide an inclusive learning environment that facilitates intercultural relationships and group learning, equipping students with essential skills for a globally connected world beyond the subject of architecture. We have paired the design studio activities in London with a field experience of live engagement in southern Italy, in a region suffering from depopulation, while simultaneously experiencing the arrival of asylum seekers. The confluence of these opposing developments creates a need to rebuild local communities and presents an exceptional opportunity for our students to become agents of change. The article outlines how, through the creation of an additional teaching and learning platform for multi-disciplinary research outside the boundaries of the university campus, this teaching practice is raising social capital by attracting and integrating students and asylum seekers alike, adding to population and economic growth. The article concludes by highlighting the unique opportunity to scale up this hybrid studio/field study model, which has arisen because of the COVID-19 pandemic. What is proposed is that now, as universities are developing blended learning delivery models, our observations could feed into a new, expansive model for studying architecture as a student-in-residence mode of study. </p>https://uclpress.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14324/111.444.amps.2022v21i1.003
spellingShingle Sandra Denicke-Polcher
Caroline Donnellan
Reactivating underpopulated areas through participatory architecture in southern Italy by creating a home for newcomers
Architecture_MPS
title Reactivating underpopulated areas through participatory architecture in southern Italy by creating a home for newcomers
title_full Reactivating underpopulated areas through participatory architecture in southern Italy by creating a home for newcomers
title_fullStr Reactivating underpopulated areas through participatory architecture in southern Italy by creating a home for newcomers
title_full_unstemmed Reactivating underpopulated areas through participatory architecture in southern Italy by creating a home for newcomers
title_short Reactivating underpopulated areas through participatory architecture in southern Italy by creating a home for newcomers
title_sort reactivating underpopulated areas through participatory architecture in southern italy by creating a home for newcomers
url https://uclpress.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14324/111.444.amps.2022v21i1.003
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