ADS10: Savage Architecture – Changing Practices
About
The survival of a dignified life on this planet demands a radical shift of our habits, of our mental and territorial structures, of our collective rituals and forms of production. Despite the relentless and normalising expansion of capitalism, other modes of cohabitation have always existed. Architecture can play a key role in allowing these alternative forms of life to emerge and gain power, becoming examples of a community to come.
This year ADS10 has explored the notion of innovation, an idea that has profoundly shaped the contemporary diffused mentality and that is key in articulating the relationship between architecture and production. Today innovation is a crucial economic driver; a process that turns ideas into products or services with the aim of opening consumption markets or improving the organisation of production. Perceived as intrinsically positive, innovation carries the authority of justifying and measuring the value of any human endeavour. If something is innovative, it must be good.
ADS10 instead, reframes the notion of innovation as the practice of changing practices, turning this economic space into a contested political field. While the relationship between space and innovation is generally understood in terms of managerial efficiency, we consider the space of innovation as a potential place of awareness, resistance and transformation.
Departing from the current theory of innovation, we investigated the relationship between innovation and space in a number of architectural examples, using the instrument of the diorama. With simple materials, photography and videos, the inquiry focused on the representation of ideologies, formal qualities, collective rituals and choreographies of movement in the space of innovation. Starting from this knowledge we developed projects that aim at radically changing common practices such as the fashion industry, e-commerce or private suburban mobility. We designed an architecture that is able to tackle wicked problems, re-organising and representing relationships of production that can generate a more equal and just environment.
Teaching team:
Gianfranco Bombaci
Matteo Costanzo
Francesca Romana Dell’Aglio
Davide Sacconi
@rca_ads10
https://www.savage-architecture.com/
Image: ADS10, Spaces of Innovation