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Naylor, Brit Adam

This project examines the architectural implications of the sociological phenomenon of the “disaster utopia,” coined by Rebecca Solnit. In the state of exception following catastrophic events, disaster capitalists and neoliberal governments work in concert to consolidate wealth and power. But ordinary people are also capable of forcing change and creating community; indeed, the strengthening of community bonds in the wake of disaster is well documented. After decades of disinvestment in public services and infrastructure, climate-related disasters threaten to overwhelm our capacity to adapt. People who have been displaced from their homes increasingly rely on the good will of one another, growing stronger communities from informal networks of mutual aid. The project offers a fictional narrative of the near future, in which citizens taking refuge from a disaster are forced to house themselves in absence of support from the state. The story begins with a fire similar to the one that destroyed Paradise, CA and ends with a rain-on-snow event like that which caused some of the worst flooding on the west coast. The unpredictability of climate and the relentless compounding of the effects of disaster is a central concern of this thesis. It is the point of view of the author that, at this time, neither the state nor the field of architecture is seriously interested in addressing the profound crisis that is only beginning to unfold. For this reason, the protagonist of the narrative is not the architectural professional but the ordinary individual radicalized by circumstance. The project is sited in Eugene, OR, a place of origin for radical environmentalist and anarchist ideals. This thesis posits that informal changes enacted by citizens in the wake of disaster can transform into lasting, formalized changes in the built environment that speak to changing notions of privacy and sharing. The architectural interventions - a flexible community bench and table, a driveway bathhouse and kitchen, and a treehouse guesthouse - represent shifting ideas about community, amenities, and domesticity, respectively.

Text

University of British Columbia. ARCH 549

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0387304

Applied Science, Faculty of; Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School of

Unreviewed

Brit Naylor

DSpace