3 Weeks Ago
When I joined the MA in Spatial Planning and Urban Design I was only following my gut feeling. I couldn’t pin it down to why exactly I need this second qualification. I imagined it to be something spatially bigger than architecture and possibly with more of an impact.
Couple of days later I chose to join unit 6 precisely because it has such a strong emphasis on people, on working with the communities and 1 to 1 interactions and reactions.
When I joined the MA in Spatial Planning and Urban Design I was only following my gut feeling. I couldn’t pin it down to why exactly I need this second qualification. I imagined it to be something spatially bigger than architecture and possibly with more of an impact.
Couple of days later I chose to join unit 6 precisely because it has such a strong emphasis on people, on working with the communities and 1 to 1 interactions and reactions.
Now
In unit 6 people are at the centre of things. One person with their story is possibly a project. This year the unit will travel to India and project will be focused on slum communities in Agra. To begin with however we had to go to Walworth Road in London to discover hidden immigrant and local communities there. We did this through talking to people who wanted to talk to us and observing those who refused to make contact. We learned to take as much as we are given by the local people and to build closer relations with them. We collected stories, characters and places. Those characters with their particularities will inform any modifications to a selected location for this short project.
So far on all classes associated with Spatial Planning and Urban Design we did a lot of talking: debating and reflecting the present and past political and social condition in Britain. Little is clear, everything has many interpretations and politicks turns this weal of fortune. Gradually I learn to recognize the connections between the big planning statements and the fortunes of ordinary people. They after all are the centre of all conversations. Yet people in Masters Course still feel so small and number like.
In unit 6 people are at the centre of things. One person with their story is possibly a project. This year the unit will travel to India and project will be focused on slum communities in Agra. To begin with however we had to go to Walworth Road in London to discover hidden immigrant and local communities there. We did this through talking to people who wanted to talk to us and observing those who refused to make contact. We learned to take as much as we are given by the local people and to build closer relations with them. We collected stories, characters and places. Those characters with their particularities will inform any modifications to a selected location for this short project.
So far on all classes associated with Spatial Planning and Urban Design we did a lot of talking: debating and reflecting the present and past political and social condition in Britain. Little is clear, everything has many interpretations and politicks turns this weal of fortune. Gradually I learn to recognize the connections between the big planning statements and the fortunes of ordinary people. They after all are the centre of all conversations. Yet people in Masters Course still feel so small and number like.
Future
I like these two approaches to come together. I want to give faces to the numbers in planning statistics. I also want to know how a life of one person with all its complexities is translated into numbers.
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