Social Architectures

Interventionist Art, Participatory Design and Social Movement

 spring_planner_socialarc.pdf

CAT 124, Spring 2007

Class meets Wednesday from 2-5pm in the Sixth College SMART classroom. 

Films are shown Thursdays from 5-7pm at Calit2.  

For students with conflicts, these films will be kept in reserve at the library.

 Class by Derek Lomas, Department of Visual Arts

Faculty of Record: Louis Hock

This class is made possible through support from Calit2, Sixth College, and the UC San Diego Visual Arts Department

Grant funding by the University of California Institute for Research in the Arts

Class Summary

How does the design of an architectural space affect social dynamics?  Can art stimulate social engagement and social movement?  In this project-oriented Action Research course, student teams will plan, produce and document architectural interventions designed to induce observable social change.  This production-seminar is grounded in a literature drawing from art, architecture, cognitive science, sociology, and urban planning.

Class Structure

Students will form partnerships or small groups, submit a project proposal and budget, build and deploy an intervention, and then document the effect that the intervention has on the movement of people.  A student group's final product will consist of online documentation (photos and text) and a 10 minute video presentation to be shown at a public presentation at Calit2.  

Support for Projects

Students will be able to apply for funds to support their projects, made possible from a generous grant from the University of California Institute for Research in the Arts.  Approximately $3000 will be made available for student projects.  These funds are meant to extend what a student would normally be expected to spend on an art-production class.   There is a $20 materials fee.

Grading:

All grading will be done on a letter grade scale.   Unless special arrangements are made in advance, late assignments will lose 5% of their grade a day (after the first day late -- a grace period) and each missed class will cost 5% of a student's total grade (after the first missed class). 

20%  Proposal and Budget

30% Online Documentation

20% Film

20% Participation and Attendance

10% Final Presentation

Extra credit:

5% Utopian Vision Statement

5% Social event 

1% Published blog post