The project explores the untapped potential of higher
education facilities and its responsibility to the city and its students. Can a
university department building not only invest in its infrastructure, but
additionally invest in its student’s future, the local community and the city
as a whole? How can a building become a shared resource that for example marginalised
people can plug into?
A growing trend within modern architecture, not just
specific to Poland
Defensive architecture within urban environments is a
cruel reminder of the society we live in. An obsession with private property is
starting to control the cities that we live in. "As each and every leftover
space becomes more and more designed so too does the control and circulation of
the city" (Anna Minton)
Conventional day centres and soup runs provide an
essential resource to socially marginalised people. But despite being inclusive
in many ways, they are often exclusive to parts of the marginalised community
due to levels of fear and potentially violating users self-identify.
The question has to be asked is there is another way of
addressing this increasing important problem? Could an urban university protect
users identity’s freeing them from the stigma through spatial association, and
provide resources free of fear for both the user and the provider?
This is the challenge that the project is trying to
answer. Essentially can the boundaries be blurred between different user
groups, such as students and the marginalised by participating in similar
activities that are beneficial to both? Can the resources already embedded
within a university ‘Social Science Department Building’ be utilised and tapped
into?
