summaery2020: Projects

Project information

submitted by
Mazen Alazazmeh

Co-Authors
Lydia Finzel, Nina Gribling, Franziska Beck, Charlotte von Waitz

Mentors
Jun.-Prof. Dr. Daniela Zupan, Arch. Mazen Alazazmeh

Faculty:
Architecture and Urbanism

Degree programme:
European Urban Studies (english) (Master of Science (M.Sc.))

Type of project presentation
Research project

Semester
Summer semester 2021

Project description

Crises and catastrophes have tremendous effects on different dimensions of housing. They are therefore intriguing lenses to engage with urban transformation. However, the aftermath of crises and catastrophes presents a dichotomy: on the one hand, they can trigger creative coping mechanisms and social innovations, thereby leading to favourable transformations in housing. On the other hand, they create opportunities for exploitation and oppression which in turn challenge housing provision and socio-spatial equality. The seminar’s objective is to tackle this conflicting nature of crises and catastrophes and to investigate the geographies of innovation and exploitation which they entail.

The project Care in old age: an invisible crisis? explores through seven interviews the relationship between care and housing in old age. On the one hand, care practices and needs shape the living situation of elderly people. But on the other hand, the built environment also enables, or limits, the possibility to care. Although the portraits represent different forms of housing and care, similar issues emerge, such as adapting to (new) environments and care needs, the feeling of (in)dependence and the struggle of making or maintaining a place as home. These individual biographies reflect the way care is navigated personally, but also expose instances of crisis in the care system.

Files and presentations

• Care_in_old_age.pdf