'Live Projects as Critical Pedagogies' in Live Projects: Designing with People (Melbourne: RMIT Press, 2012), edited by Melanie Dodd, Fiona Harrisson and Esther Charlesworth. 232-247.

Brown, James Benedict and Morrow, Ruth 'Live Projects as Critical Pedagogies' in Live Projects: Designing with People (Melbourne: RMIT Press, 2012), edited by Melanie Dodd, Fiona Harrisson and Esther Charlesworth. 232-247. In: UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED.

Abstract

Invited to contribute to a collection of international research and pedagogical practice into live projects in architectural education, Brown’s chapter critically compares two live project case studies, Space Shuttle and Street Society, that shift between the academy and practice, influencing and being influenced by an engagement with sites, contexts and people. Both case studies are regarded as examples of critical pedagogical events, the first ‘Space Shuttle’ located outside the university (2006-7) and the second ‘Street Society’ located within the university (2010 to date). ‘Street Society’ continues to exist as a one-week live project engaging BA and MArch students with a variety of community groups, charities and organisations across Northern Ireland. In the context of UK architectural education, it is a relatively unusual project, both in terms of its verticality (running between undergraduate and taught postgraduate programmes) and duration (lasting just one week in the spring semester). The chapter highlights these characteristics and proposes how the case studies might inform design educators elsewhere. The chapter is significant in theoretically contextualising ‘Space Shuttle’ and ‘Street Society’ against an established pedagogical framework, namely Critical Pedagogy, in relation to examples of engaged community-based architectural practice and education. The chapter was written in collaboration with Professor Ruth Morrow of Queen’s University Belfast, the principal supervisor of Brown’s recently completed PhD A Critique of the Live Project (2009 – 2012). Brown was responsible for the sections of the chapter titled ‘Live Projects and Critical Pedagogies’ and ‘From Space Shuttle to Street Society: Engaged Practice and Engaged Pedagogy’, both of which build upon the literature review and theoretical contributions of his Doctoral studies. Morrow was responsible for the sections of the chapter titled ‘Space Shuttle: Street-Level Pedagogies of Interaction and Creativity’ and ‘Street Society: Challenging Value Systems Through Engagement and Pace’.

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