Perform The House Down : Rethinking Architecture Publication.

Abstract

Architects make projects that people occupy, often for many decades after an architecture practice has concluded its resolved construction. Certain after-construction building adaptations, those made by occupiers responding without engaging architects, without owning the property, or without permission to edit the space at all, are the subject of this research. Occupiers use action, objects and events to help modify an unsuitable built environment so that it becomes more fit for their purposes. These ephemeral, and more permanent acts collage the skins of pre-existing buildings, and contribute to building an identifiable place within a site. This thesis uses writing, performance, and publication, to represent the occupant-built significance of a site. The written output, derived from historical research and local conversation, is distributed back to a derived local via a variety of publication types: podcasts, social media, posters, zines, flyers and spoken word, culminating in a live theatre performance as part of the Auckland Fringe Festival. This vehicle of the research is Karangahape Road; a ridgeline in Aotearoa, New Zealand (NZ) in the city Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland. productive site for occupant-generated activity and un-conventional media, Karangahape’s complex heritage is currently undergoing noticeable disruption with transport infrastructure and cosmetic renovations.1 Renovations are undeniably displacing occupants and there is local anxiety in response. The media outputs of this thesis aim to identify the changes on Karangahape Road, disseminate the local history and draw from its building’s occupations. The generative output walks a winding path representing senses of what is being displaced along Karangahape Road via developers’ definitions of good development. This thesis critically reflects on the benefits, limitations and performance of its published outputs, so that they might exist alongside more traditional architecture practices and publications. It argues in support of radical agency, a biased dialogue, self-publication, and an authorship that might liberate structure from its leading narratives. A bias characterising of architecture, that can better include voices outside architecture’s specialisation, without disregarding the specialist knowledge of the profession. Ultimately, the thesis performs the house down, and applauds the building of knowledge as a conversation, rather than a resolved conclusion.