We don’t draft designs in a void and cities don’t spring straight from our imaginations. Architecture is itself a designed object, circumscribed and delimited by the social, political, and economic conditions of the era. But, likewise, these conditions aren’t exactly natural—they’re designed by a host of actors and forces. For a new generation of architects, the most-pressing design challenge of the twentieth century isn’t to create new forms, but to re-design the architecture of architecture, itself. And, the first step in this process, like with any project, is visualization.

For the fourth iteration of Archinect’s live podcasting series Next Up, we’re taking a look at potential roles for architecture in the contemporary neoliberal political economy, with a focus on issues pertaining to gender and identity. In a sense, what we’re looking at is how architecture is itself designed—and, specifically, how we can redesign the systems in which it is enmeshed. In what ways are people challenging these systems from within? How can we find loopholes in the current economic framework to create a more equitable world? How can we design support systems for those most affected by an unjust political economy? By examining a series of case studies, spatial aspects of contemporary socioeconomics are exposed, and potential strategies for movement are revealed. 

For Floating Worlds, Archinect is teaming up with the curatorial studio Adjustments Agency. The event serves as the Los Angeles launch of (On the Floating World of) the FX Beauties, a multifaceted website and book project edited by Christine Bjerke. Each participant will give a brief presentation of their research, followed by a short interview in the typical Next Up format. The participants include: Christine Bjerke, Jack Self (Real Foundation), support.fm, and f-architecture. The event will be followed by the Los Angeles premiere of Sun King, a performance piece by artist Robbie Trocchia.

Next Up: Floating Worlds will take place on Saturday, March 4, beginning at 5pm at the Neutra VDL House at 2300 Silver Lake Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90039. The event is free and open to the public.

Please RSVP here!