Author:

Keywords:

C24/18/031#54689492

Abstract:

Architects, urban planners and designers often see space as an instrument, a tool to change the world around them. While space may play a structuring role, it can never be determinative. Socio-spatial happenings constitute the meaning, shape and look of the space they occur in; as such, space behaves more like a theatrical stage upon which life unfolds. In his PhD trajectory, Jakob D’herde has researched how socio-spatial constellations impact older people’s meanings of home and homemaking processes. As a scenographer and improv theatre actor himself, he uses theatrical metaphors to understand and unpack the complex negotiations older people (and by extension, people in general) undertake to establish a sense of home and belonging. His talk combines findings from his research and artistic practice to expand the understanding of architecture as something related to build space to a continuous socio-spatial negotiation which changes in meaning and shape over time.