Journey into Unfamiliar Spaces

Journey into Unfamiliar Spaces is a workshop first organized by Lidewij Tummers in Barcelona. At all stages the aim is to connect women to city space and architectural practice. The purpose is to understand if, and how, the built environment in each particular urban context reproduces gender relations and to ‘appropriate’ urban infrastructures to improve conditions. It is a five-step journey and aims to make a group of women start thinking about their common spatial surroundings, their context, and identify some problems, but also identify the ways to address those problems. The Journey starts with an interactive workshop for a ‘mixed group’, including local ‘professionals’, decision-makers and public servants involved in the spatial fields, together with the residents of the area concerned. A shared territorial interest – such as the neighbourhood, a transport network, a deteriorating public space, a development plan or working areas. Working through different scales, from the individual body to the wider urban texture, the group gains an understanding of the spatial aspects of social structures and develops a common set of priorities for further action. The Journey consists of five half-day sessions, each composed carefully according to theme and scale as well as working technique, group size and the organization of the working space. The sequence of sessions runs from small to large scale and each involves the introduction of specific knowledge and theory. The sessions begin with a playful or creative visual exercise, with scrap material and guided fantasy, as a warm-up for creativity. The exercise is followed by reflection on the central theme, identifying key issues and exploring possible solutions. The session ends with a plenary discussion drawing together joint conclusions. After the workshop of phase one, the group (or network) continues to develop its own strategy for the realization of local goals. These may vary from redistributing domestic space or diverting bus routes to redesigning urban development plans or lobbying for women professionals in key posts. Finally, there is an optional phase three in which the network may reproduce the Journey for other groups or introduce elements in educational or planning practices.