Strategies and Tactics of Participatory Architecture

Strategies and Tactics of Participatory Architecture examines participatory architecture through counterbalancing a historical review with an analysis of four emergent projects. Authors briefly look at the roots of Participatory Architecture and analyse four emergent participatory projects developed in Spain, France, Norway and England, using a narrative inquiry-based method to examine interviews, observations, and literature. Then, authors discuss the lessons learnt and analyse them through de Certeau’s (1984) notions of strategies and tactics. This paper aims to contribute to understanding emergent participatory architecture practices and extract best practice and insights around these forms of designing with people.

For those of us involved in participatory architecture, community architecture, and participatory research, this paper may be of interest, and some concepts may apply to our practice. Authors invite us to open our eyes and consider contemporary participatory architecture as a strong alternative to overcome the issues associated with conventional approaches to architecture that exclude people from the design process; and to address the most pressing challenges in our society and cities with local communities.

Authors: Mirian Calvo, Rosendy Galabo, Violet Owen, Leon Cruickshank, Rachel Sara.

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