Pedagogical Research Project 'Hugging Architecture'
Hugging Architecture is a new pedagogical research project initiated by the cross-academic initiative Spacious.
As part of an intensifying desire to respond to intertwined socio-environmental catastrophes, in this project we explore artistic and designerly tactics to activate new levels of radical care and radical affection with and for our surroundings. With a focus on affirmative ethics as a practical exercise, we wonder what it means to shift focus from the disempowering feelings of fear or nostalgia, to the generative power of compassionate actions in the here and now.
In the first stages of this project we closely collaborate with Amare, the new cultural center of The Hague. Amare is designed as a ‘multiversum’: an inviting, multifunctional, cultural and social space with streets, alleyways and small squares. In this context, we work towards artistic interventions that invite one for empathic engagements with the built environment. Collectively, we will question what it means to “dare to care”.
We collaborate with students from the Interactive/ Media/ Department and the Artscience Interfaculty at the University of the Arts The Hague. The project is initiated and guided by Dutch architect and researcher Renske Maria van Dam, together with German performance researcher Leon Lapa Pereira, Irish atmosphere designer Hannah Mulqueen and German interactive textile artist Anja Hertenberger.
Don’t hesitate to contact Renske, Leon or Hannah if you are interested to participate.
