Junko Yamamoto will talk about Community Engagement through design projects at Design Symposium and International Practice Forum on October 4th and 5th, 2019. The events will take place at UDLA (Universidad de las Americas) and CAC (Contemporary Art Center) in Quito, Ecuador.
The Design Symposium is organized by efimero (Ernesto Carvajal & Nicola Kyveriniti) in collaboration with Centro de Arte Contemporáneo / Fundación Museos de la Ciudad, Organización Nacional de Estudiantes de Arquitectura (ONEA) and Universidad de las Américas (UDLA): https://www.efimero-ephemeral.com/
“Something Extra” — Junko Yamamoto
Abstract: The discourse around the topic of community engagement in the field of architecture indeed reveals the fact that defining what the discipline of architecture is in a single term is almost impossible. Our built environment is a product of many hands and diverse ideas, which inevitably affect matters surrounding its context. The contemporary inclusive mentality of its profession seems to dilute the discipline of architecture. Architects are no longer singularly architects, nor should merely be coordinators of all the stakeholders. In such ever-more communal practice in the field of design, where and how do designers intervene as designers?Something Extra — As politicians attempt to make a better society by altering rules and regulations, architects perform in hopes of enriching our lives by altering and transforming our physical world. The notion of Something Extra operates against the current in the era of instantaneous communications, high-speed productions, and streamlined efficiency that seem to appear blindly worshiped. Something Extra may imply additional time and process while it may also connote something unnecessary, which in this case proposed in a positive sense. Why do designers want to play a part in community development? Where does this Something Extra find its value in such undertakings? With examples of community-based design projects, the presentation facilitates the discussion that addresses these questions.
