Hugging Architecture

September 2022, I start with a new pedagogical research project Hugging Architecture. In the context of intertwined socio-environmental catastrophes, in this project we explore artistic and designerly tactics to activate new levels of radical care and radical affection with and for our surroundings. With a focus on affirmative ethics as a practical exercise, we wonder what it means to shift focus from the disempowering feelings of fear or nostalgia, to the generative power of compassionate actions in the here and now.

In the first stages of this project we closely collaborate with Amare, the new cultural center of The Hague. Amare is designed as a ‘multiversum’: an inviting, multifunctional, cultural and social space with streets, alleyways and small squares. In this context, we work towards artistic interventions that invite one for empathic engagements with the built environment. Collectively, we will question: What does it means to "dare to care"?

I will collaborate with students from the Interactive/ Media/ Department and the Artscience Interfaculty at the University of the Arts The Hague. German performance researcher Leon Lapa Pereira, Irish atmosphere designer Hannah Mulqueen and German interactive textile artist Anja Hertenberger will assist me to excecute the project.

Spacious

Hugging Architecture is part of my pedagogical research platform Spacious. Spacious is a cross-academic initiative with a focus on creative practice research at the intersection between architecture, performance and philosophy. We bridge the gap between artistic and academic research in the Dutch architectural community. What distinguishes our approach is the emphasis on sited experimentation in the form of sensorial fieldwork and procedural intervention. Our projects are organized as open research-ateliers. Participants are held together by affinity rather than by any structure of membership or institutional hierarchy. We work by the principle of give-and-take; you are asked to contribute what you can and take what you need. Most projects run over multiple years and are presented across diverse media, methods and milieus. In the past years we have worked on the projects Tiny Perceptions (2019-2021), Architectural Body, (2018-2020) Movement Matters (2016-2018), and Sensing Shipyard (2017-2018).

Inspiration and Participation

Don't hesitate to contact us, if you want to know more or are interested to collaborate. You can also follow Spacious on Instagram.