For The Other's. Double-Voiced, Doubly Conscious

As a black woman, growing up within a predominantly 'white' (New Zealand) context for the entirety of my life, my 'blackness' both socially and culturally placed me within a minority - 'the others'. Growing up, I knew how people were identified, understood, and given power through a perceptual lens of difference. Subsequently studying architecture, I 'became' hyper-aware of the connotations surrounding my body's relationship with space and the reality that within our society, I fit within the minority subconsciously classed as 'lesser than'. Subsequently, this thesis posits how the design of public architecture can give power back to those 'othered' within our communities? Derived from the research question, within this thesis, I look specifically at architecture's intersection with power and race relative to the theoretical framework of 'affect' and, subsequently ', othering'. This thesis approaches research investigation using two primary research methodologies. 'Research-for-Design' (literary-based chapters) ground and situate the 'speculative design' within relevant literary and visual work. 'Research through Design' (design-based chapters) work towards three design projects, where independent design research is critically reflected on and related to earlier theory. Observing the 'scaling' method, the design chapters gradually increase in project scale: human scale (installation), domestic/mid-scale, and public (urban scale) (Yaneva, 2005). As the scale shifts, new complexities become the catalyst for progressing research and understanding. This thesis does not aim to conclude with a resolved design but to respectfully 'call-out, call-in and call-to', an architecture that would pause and begin to consider 'the others'. For the others