Derive of the un_urban

“It would be opportunistic if I said either, I told you so, or, basically, you can now tell that [cities] are actually really dangerous environments to live in,” adding, “I think that it’s simply slightly reinforcing the argument that it’s incredibly important to begin to look not necessarily away from cities but at the neglect of the countryside.” – RK

“Derive of the UN_URBAN” is a reaction to AMO’s and RK’s unfortunately short-lived exhibition “Countryside, The Future” at the Guggenheim museum in February of 2020. The exhibit and subsequent research started upon the UN’s announcement in 2007 that stated 50% of mankind already lived in cities and that this percentage would increase to 70% by 2050. This indicates heading towards an outcome where majority of the population would live on 2% of the earth’s surface and the remaining 98% would be occupied by less than 1/5^th of humanity. (RK, Ignored Realm).

This studio will begin to approach the complex topic of the ‘countryside,’ a word that creates a polarizing discourse between attempts to keep “as is” and to change “everything” (RK, Ignored Realm). It is important to understand that this studio is not searching for answers or to make a declaration about the countryside. Instead, we are attempting to contribute to the conversation by creating new situations which allow for culturally and socioeconomically encompassing complex discussions. To accomplish this the studio will be working in a speculative realm to avoid “countrysiding,” a term that manufactures small-mindedness, bigotry, tribalism, parochialism, nostalgia, and other smears placed on the rural areas as if they do not apply to both urban and rural. (Along for the Ride, Troy Conrad Therrien)

The studio will be working in groups of two with three main project milestones: site discovery and analysis, precedents research, and Trading Post project all of which are explained in further detail below. While the studio is set in the speculative realm, there will be heavy emphasis on fundamental architectural building elements and how they can be used in tandem with programmatic adjacencies to influence volume and space to create new experiences for the occupant. As a studio will work to refine your skills of traditional architectural drawings while exploring alternative representation styles including using video as a medium of representation and exploring architectural space for the final project.

All work is by students.