Amica Dall reflects on ethical and patient rehabilitation in architecture
The third session of Elisava Masters’ Talks 2022/23, the lecture series organized by Elisava, School of Design and Engineering of Barcelona, will focus on how architectural and creative practices can be oriented, away from invention and innovation, towards repair work, based on long-term personal or ethical commitments to places, situations and social contexts.
In her lecture, Amica Dall, will explain some of Assemble’s early work and projects that reoriented her and the studio's attitude towards the city and the countryside, material ethics and intergenerational justice.
“I am concerned that the culture and teaching of architecture is making it difficult for us to adapt to a changing world and to face today's challenges. The construction industry relies on the extraction of non-renewable resources, which is unsustainable in the long term. In addition, architecture is often used as a financial instrument instead of creating new value, which creates a social and political problem," says Dall.
About Amica Dall:
Amica Dall is an interdisciplinary professional focused on architecture, urban culture and children's right to the city. Founder of Assemble, her work as a writer and filmmaker has been broadcast on the BBC, exhibited at the Venice Biennale and published in E-Flux, among many other media. She has recently co-written with architecture practice Material Cultures a book on the future of post-carbon architecture in the UK, published by Mack Books, and is collaborating on a volume edited by Assemble for Common Ground on contemporary conceptions of the rural. She is also a founding member of Baltic Street Adventure Playground and Theatrum Mundi, a creative arts research organization initiated by Richard Sennett in 2016. With postgraduate training in Anthropology of the Built Environment at UCL, Amica has taught a wide variety of subjects and works with both children and postgraduates. She currently leads the seminar "Childhood, Culture, Design" at the Architectural Association, and teaches on the Masters in Situated Practice at the Bartlett School of Architecture. She is currently collaborating with artist Cristina Lina Fraser on projects such as participatory filmmaking with the Working Children's Movement in Peru and a strategy for children in the European City of Culture in Chemnitz, 2024.
Assemble group photo
About Assemble
Assemble is a multidisciplinary collective working in architecture, design and art. Founded in 2010 to undertake a self-build project, Assemble has since produced a variety of award-winning work, maintaining a democratic and collaborative working method that enables social and research projects at a variety of scales. Assemble was awarded the Turner Prize in 2016, and in 2022 the founders were nominated to the Royal Academy in recognition of their collective contribution to the culture of the city.
About Elisava
Elisava, School of Design and Engineering of the UVic-UCC promotes education, knowledge and research in the fields of design, communication and engineering. Located in Barcelona, Elisava has trained more than 20,000 students in its 60 years of history. Together with Elisava Research, the school develops projects with companies, institutions and NGOs to generate and transfer knowledge, address present and future challenges and promote change. Elisava trains professionals with the ability to design products, services and environments to create an environmentally responsible, inclusive and socially impactful society.
For further information: elisava.net
