SITES UNSEEN
"Sites Unseen" was a third-year studio I devised at ESALA in Autumn 2020. The studio focused on exploring Europe's obscured colonial histories, embedded in the material and labor behind some of Scotland’s prominent neo-classical monuments—sites that had been brought into focus by the BLM Movement during the summer of 2020.
The unit brief tasked students with uncovering these hidden colonial pasts by re-examining several of Scotland’s neo-classical monuments and geographically linking them to resource extraction and slavery, both past and present. Students were asked to use design as a tool to decommission and reconfigure these monuments, encouraging speculation on how colonialism intersects with racial and environmental injustices, while also considering future implications.
Additionally, the unit indirectly provided a safe space for students to discuss their personal experiences with discrimination, shedding light on blind spots within architectural education and the profession.
Using the surveying methods students will analyze and draw Derry to uncover a deeper sociological understanding of the city's relationship with its region. This approach aims to reveal how drawing and text can narrate and translate the various communities within Derry, offering new perspectives on citizenship and networks of agency to reimagine the city.
Course Organiser: Dr Killian O’ Dochartaigh
Course Tutors: Dr Killian O’ Dochartaigh and Dr Nick Mohls
The unit brief tasked students with uncovering these hidden colonial pasts by re-examining several of Scotland’s neo-classical monuments and geographically linking them to resource extraction and slavery, both past and present. Students were asked to use design as a tool to decommission and reconfigure these monuments, encouraging speculation on how colonialism intersects with racial and environmental injustices, while also considering future implications.
Additionally, the unit indirectly provided a safe space for students to discuss their personal experiences with discrimination, shedding light on blind spots within architectural education and the profession.
Using the surveying methods students will analyze and draw Derry to uncover a deeper sociological understanding of the city's relationship with its region. This approach aims to reveal how drawing and text can narrate and translate the various communities within Derry, offering new perspectives on citizenship and networks of agency to reimagine the city.
Course Organiser: Dr Killian O’ Dochartaigh
Course Tutors: Dr Killian O’ Dochartaigh and Dr Nick Mohls
STUDENTS
Christy Elspeth Allen, Kayla Bain, Ciaran Cassidy Cowie, Jack Cameron Krzysztof Dryfik, Anna Neill George,Lucy Jones, Xinyi Lu, Jakub Prusak, Peter Richardson, Francesca Zaria Scott, Kaitlyn Smith, Roula Traboulsi and Georgios Tsantrizos
