The Spatial Implications of Architecture Within Law and Policy

Advisor: Lori Brown

Law and policy structure our world – they define the ways in which we live, where we can live, and often how we live. But where is architecture within these governing bodies and the spaces designed to represent and reinforce these power relations? How can architecture not just follow the laws and policies established, but actively participate in their creation, evolution, or even contestation? Architecture must more actively participate in forging relationships with law and policy to become a part of creating the legal frameworks that architects spatially design in response to. This thesis research group will explore intersections between these three disciplines, speculate upon ways that architecture can become more instrumental in spatial oversight and
governance, and potential futures of intersection. The group will participate in a year-long university colloquia series I am organizing that brings in lawyers, scholars, and creative researchers as one of the intellectual foundations for the group. As my own research, public engagement and activism is centered on contested spaces that are currently under threat, I ask that students take one a pressing issue with spatial ramifications for their year-long research project. There is really no limit to what this may be – the environment, land rights, racial justice, immigration, housing …it is wide open.

MONDAY, MAY 1, 9 am - 1 pm, room 101

Internal Critics: Stenson, Henderson