Abstract
This paper intends to look beyond the neo-liberal consensus on
Urban development by questioning how the processes of intellectual
development in the practice of architecture and disciplines related
to the building design process in Europe, relate to their implementation
and transference to the South.
The paper will contribute to questions 8 and 9:
"8. What alternative approaches are emerging from European
Research, especially that performed with Southern Partners?"
The paper will describe alternative methods currently beginning
to be pursued in UK, including work on "Architecture, Race
and Culture". They come from a recognition that people from
black and minority ethnic cultures in the UK are excluded from the
architecture and construction professions, as much as the history
and cultural context of design as taught and practiced is Eurocentric.
The development of links and contacts with people in the South in
this respect will also be described.
"9. What are the topics that need to be researched and the
research methods to be used in order to develop further these alternatives
or to create new ones?"
The topics that need to be researched include:
" What is the history of the activities of Architects from
different European countries in the colonial and post-colonial worlds.
E.g. British and French differently in West Africa, both in colonial
times and ongoing now.
" What autonomous work is being done by people and groups
in the fields of architecture and the creative arts in the south,
as it applies to the urban, and how they can be supported?
" How can cultural issues become part of the design and construction
process?
The author has been both lecturer in Architecture at Liverpool
University in the UK and a practising Architect, who has recently
completed a fifteen month journey through Africa, India and S.E.Asia.
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