Authoritarian vs. dialogic architectural design: an essay

Abstract

The essay discusses the relationship between architectural design and the construction site according to the duality between authoritarianism versus dialogics. It proposes to debate it departing from the experience of university extension and not from research or teaching in a studio. It recognizes, therefore, that extension is an opportunity to question pre-established methods and assumptions about the design-construction relationship, which is the central object of this reflection but also of academic and professional practices. The text starts by defining the meaning of architectural design based mainly on Silva (1998). Then, it discusses the concept of authoritarian design from the perspectives of Freire (1987, 2018) and Ferro (2006), revisiting Marx’s criticism on the estrangement (Marx, [1932] 2009). After, it addresses the dialogical design based on Freire’s (1987, 2018) concepts of praxis and dialogics and Ferro’s (2006) schematic design [contra-desenho]. At last, it associates this reflection with the description of a specific action, the Emerging Urban Practices (PUE, in the Portuguese acronym) extension project.