Unpublished Article. Urbanizing Activism: Spatial Activism, Agency, and Emergent Spatialization Technology in Dense Urban Contexts

Unpublished Article. SPATIAL ACTIVISM. SITUATED KNOWLEDGE. Digital Download.

Originally written in 2017 with Peter Hasdell and Henri Tung.

Abstract: This paper details experimental results of a spatial activist environmental design project built in Hong Kong’s Temple Street context during the spring of 2018. Tutors framed a making-based studio to introduce students to realities of urban space and full-scale spatial planning and construction. The resultant Narrative Framing experiment projects impacts, possibilities, and limitations of spatial activist orientation in complex urban environments with numerous publics. This research asks: what are spatial activism’s relationships with urban environments, technology, spatial agency, and informal space-making? Given the design community’s interest in the material improvement of informal urban environmental design, does spatial activism in pedagogical and professional contexts contribute value as an information-gathering tool? What will constrain the systemization and greater long-term impact of knowledge gathered through spatial activism projects?