Studio C/07

As We Encounter

Ripeka Walker

Studio Description

What is it to encounter?

To encounter a person or place is to acknowledge that there is something radically outside the self, an other that we might meet with. Acts of encounter are culturally informed, appear in complex ways and operate at multiple scales. But at its simplest to encounter an other brings a changed perspective to the self and can challenge us to design beyond what is already known.

Fifty years ago, Emmanuel Levinas argued that western thinking has always sought to appropriate the other rather than encounter. This failure to engage with indigenous people sits at the heart of modern democratic settler states such as the USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Today however, these nations are increasingly turning to indigenous-led solutions to complex global problems.

So then, how do we encounter?

This studio is situated within global movements to address problematic histories in the tertiary sector such as #RhodesMustFall. Encountering will be used as a method to explore processes of making on the contested institutional site of the Parkville Campus at the University of Melbourne.

Studio Outcomes

Working together, participants will investigate the contested histories of the site. Students will then individually select a building on campus and research the specific socio-political context of its making to critically engage with how architectural encounters have manifested across the campus previously.

Participants will next be supported to develop a functional brief based on the current strategic documents of the University of Melbourne. Speculative strategies for how to encounter will draw on the visionary works of Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928-2000) and Lebbeus Woods (1940-2012). From here, the expectation is to move from concept to a detailed design that translates the encounter into built form. Resolution in section to demonstrate the integration of sky, water and earth will be key.

Focus will be given to Country and equipping students with industry critical skills in generative design research, co-constructive knowledge and the ethics of practicing architecture in a rapidly changing world.

Studio Leader

Registered since 2009, Ripeka Walker (Ngāti Porou, Whakatōhea) is an architect specialising in the delivery of public buildings within justice, education and health sectors. In 2021, she commenced a Doctor of Philosophy to interrogate her complicity as an indigenous-settler practitioner while living on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri of the Kulin Nation. Her research considers the civic realm as a communication field. This knowledge is culturally grounded in the ātea and its temporal activation.

Readings & References

Guided readings will be undertaken during Weeks 1-3.  No set reading is required prior to the studio commencing.

Students who wish to better understand the context prior to making their ballot decision are encouraged to review the work of Woods and Hundertwasser. To understand contemporary architectural practice and the industry skills to be introduced in this studio, refer to Michael Mossman’s editorial Dindarra / Between Celebrating Country: The spaces and moment between cultures

Schedule
Mondays and Thursdays 09:00-12:00 in MSD 142

Handbook