Transforming Architecture in Development

Debates about unequal power dynamics in international development have recently entered the mainstream. As articulated by Peace Direct UK: "Decolonising development, humanitarian aid and peace-building-the movement to address and dismantle racist and discriminatory structures and norms that are hidden in plain sight in the aid system-is emerging as an urgent, vital and long overdue discussion". Transforming Architecture in Development takes a close look at the position of Architectural Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) within this debate, through my secondment to one of the UK's leading institutions in the field, Architecture Sans Frontières UK (ASF-UK). The secondment will enable vibrant interaction between London Metropolitan University (LMU) and ASF-UK, to envision, test and disseminate how architectural NGOs can meaningfully respond to the decolonising development agenda. The project links closely to the call's focus area of community and social architecture, and contributes to promoting inclusive architecture and design that truly benefit communities and levelling-up.
Whereas the discourse of decolonisation has advanced much in both development studies and in architectural humanities-and many architectural NGOs share an ambition to develop anti-racist, anti-discriminatory, and more inclusive ways of working-little progress has been made in practice so far. For change to happen, architectural NGOs must make space for dialogue and reflection, create opportunities for questioning the current system, and test new ways of working. My secondment will create this critical space for reflection and experimentation within and beyond ASF-UK. Alongside the hosting organisation, the project will involve ASF-UK's partners and user communities, as well as a network of like-minded organisations in the NGO and higher education sectors, to initiate collective dialogue and innovation. This process will have four aims: to learn from experience and co-develop a deep understanding of the work of ASF-UK in relation to the decolonisation agenda; to co-create principles, processes and tools for future action; to nurture a community of knowledge exchange linking social architecture and international development across the higher education and NGO sectors; and to create institutional frameworks that support continued knowledge exchange beyond this secondment.
Aligned with these aims, the project will generate four outputs. The Atlas of Practice will consist of a curated online archive analysing and making explicit ASF-UK's culture, structure and ways of working. An online Playbook for the Future will provide ASF-UK with a cognitive map of future practice, outlining what the organisation does and can do to address structural racism and discrimination. A series of Dialogues on Transforming Architecture in Development will support the secondment by situating the collaboration within a broader community of knowledge exchange. Finally, a Knowledge Exchange Guide will articulate ways of supporting the interaction between ASF-UK and LMU in the long term, with potential learning for other NGOs and universities.
The project will contribute to transforming ASF-UK's strategy, processes, tools and networks into more inclusive and emancipatory ones, in a way that will have direct benefits not only for the organisation but also for the its partners and user communities, as well as for other architectural NGOs in the UK and internationally. At the same time it will create mechanisms to enable ASF-UK's continued interaction with academic research, as a means of supporting self-reflection and innovation in the long term. Conversely, the project will allow me to advance my own co-produced practice-led research at the intersection between social architecture and international development, and to strengthen my profile as an innovative scholar-practitioner who can drive the knowledge exchange agenda in this field.