INFORMAL ARCHITECTURE: THE ROLE OF COMMUNITIES IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH/

Tuesday 6 June: 16.00 – 17.00, Main Hall (Level -1)

Prof. Saskia Sassen, Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology, Columbia University

Omar Degan, Principal, Do Architecture Group, and Obama Foundation Africa Leader

Zamzam Ibrahim, Student Politician, past Head of UK National Union of Students & Co-founder of Students Organising for Sustainability (chair)

In the last few years, we are experiencing how the world is rapidly changing due to the effects of climate change, leading to geopolitical conflicts, migration movements and poverty rise. Design has the power to empower communities to take action and to mitigate some of these issues. With a focus on the Global South, this session will be exploring how design is understood, transformed and practiced by communities and design practitioners in this often-fragile context where climate change has a much wider impact. Acclaimed scholar and public intellectual Saskia Sassen will introduce her views on the environmental, economic and social learnings the Global North can take from the Global South. In response, Omar Degan will present his work as an architect working closely with local communities in Somalia, with a focus on emergency architecture, post-conflict reconstruction and fragile contexts.