Soft Architecture: Spatial Strategies under Hard Migrations

You are invited to join Amina Kaskar for a memorial lecture (21 September) & workshop (22 September).

 

Vivienne Japha/Len and Gunnel Hicks Memorial Lecture: Guest speaker: Amina Kaskar

School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics Prizegiving, UCT

Thursday, 21 September 2023 

17:30 for 18:00 

Pink Room, Centlivres Building, UCT 

 

Workshop & exhibition on ‘Soft Architecture’

Friday, 22 September 2023 

09:00-13:00 (lunch included) 

Michaelis Gallery, Hiddingh Campus, UCT, 31 Orange Street. 

 

Reservations are essential as space is limited. 

RSVP here OR https://forms.gle/S1TuWHTpEAxW47zh6

 

This workshop explores the value of 'soft' architectural practices in creating meaning and agency for migrant communities. On entering a hard place of arrival, migrants use daily habits and performances, social relations and community knowledge as an expression of soft architecture. These alternate spatial imaginaries are illustrated through a diverse range of approaches including textiles, food, and plants. The workshop aims to define how cultural forms, identity, and memory materialise in space. It further investigates the definition of architecture and design practice as being inclusive of ‘other’ materials and practices. 

Amina Kaskar is a South African architect, having obtained a Masters in Architecture from the University of the Witwatersrand and completed a Masters in Human Settlements from KU Leuven. Her work is formed with ideas towards ‘soft' architectures, textile, gender, and migration. She was awarded the Global Minds scholarship to complete a PhD at KU Leuven. Her proposed PhD is entitled “Soft Architecture: Afro-Asian Spatial Practices”. She also co-founded, Counterspace (2014-2020), a collaborative architectural studio dedicated to architectural projects, exhibition design, and art installations. She taught as a CETA associate lecturer at the Wits School of Architecture in the post-graduate design studio.