Agenda
Diploma 13 investigates how space and architecture mediate between politics, our material environments and identities. We understand architecture as the concrete expression of power; weaponized by nations and corporations but also subverted by communities as tools of resilience and emancipation. It is instrumental in the creation of our identities, whether these are national, racial, gender or other.
The studio’s ambition is dual in nature. First, our projects investigate the spatial means through which social, environmental and land injustices come to be. Second, we explore ways in which architects can repurpose and infiltrate spaces to subvert their logic, imagining alternative ways of being and becoming.
Merve is an architect, researcher and educator. She graduated from the Architectural Association and has worked at several architecture practices in London and Istanbul, and as a researcher whilst at OMA in Rotterdam. She is a former Public Practice Associate and works between design and policy in the public sector.
George is an architect, educator and cultural worker. He co-directs Studio Abroad and Material Cultures, both are design and research practices based in London. He is also founding member of POA, a community platform.