EMERGE(ncy) by M+ Magazine MSSA

Ada Ardeleanu BA3 Architecture Student Editor Special thanks to the MSSA Zine Team.

FOREWORD Jamie Loh

‘The Age of Acceleration’ coins this current era of rapid societal transformation in a pace far exceeding the humans’ ability to adapt 1. So what happens when you hit a pause button on the rat race in society? What of the impacts on us humans?

In just a summer alone, 2020 marked a year of global disruption, starting from the Covid-19 pandemic that inflicted strains on societal infrastructure to healthcare system failure, racial injustices, climate crisis, rising inequality, physical + mental isolation and more. All this in conversation, became a driving force of topic when Ada and I reflected on the next Zine topic. In fact, these emergencies were actually a constant urgency that never left but re-surfaced because of the pandemic crisis that had accelerated these underlying issues. Emerge(ncy) documents these experiences from our MSA students. Some are personal yet somehow seemingly written on behalf of us –a felt contemplation of shared sorrow, limbo and perhaps silent resolve. Others are a reflection of those in the unseen communities that calls our discipline to action. What is of our cities and communities? In Manchester, U.K., Europe, Asia or more? Global, digital or local?

Through this fantastic issue, these written pieces will inspire you, prompt useful explorations and/ or spur personal encouragements wherever you are in the world. As architects and spatial designers, we are to question our point of activation in practice in this changing world and know that every voice, word or action is valid as a response.

Thomas Friedman, three-time Pulitzer Prize columnist for New York Times, coined this term in his thesis to understand the 21st century and the changes in the planet’s three largest forces--Moore’s law (technology), the Market (globalization), and Mother Nature (climate change and biodiversity loss). Cover image: Jamie Loh

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Gender Based Violence Under The Spotlight Sofia Viudez, Tarika Pather

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Thoughts from Lockdown MSA&U

Homelessness: When Society Fails You Calin-Bogdan Maier, Aisha Zulfiqar, Arshya Mittal

Lone Hours Angela Li

Are We Reacting Yet? Benedetta Rizo

Emotional Safety: Outdoors/ Indoors Sara Tranescu

Architectural Responses to Homelessness During a Pandemic Hannah O’Neill

From Running to Walking Ivet Yaneva

Protesting Manchester Lauryn Blackmore

PHOTO INSERTS

Eye Smiles Ella Wheatley

Friendless

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Lone Hours

Namon Thongsuan Angela Li

Airtight

Ada Ardeleanu

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GENDER BASED VIOLENCE UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT

emerge(ncy) issue Sofia Viudez Tarika Pather

Image: Tarika Pather

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The pandemic has been pushed into the shadows in Africa, and across the world. The Covid-19 pandemic ironically placed a spotlight on the issue. How does Architecture fit into the solution?

ic that has been pushed into the shadows for years. There have been mass protests, online threads and countless pleas to the government to act, yet nothing seems to have changed in the last year, if anything it has only got worse. This pandemic has been growing year after year in Africa, yet without worldwide knowledge or response. I have not been able to be present back home during these times, and thus have not experienced the full gravity of the situation.

For the last few weeks and months, my friends and family have told me as well as the news have stated that the pandemic will end soon, and life can go on as before. For a brief few seconds I believe them and feel relieved and hopeful, but then the feeling disappears as I know that the Covid-19 pandemic may end with the swift aid of a syringe filled with a chemical concoction brewed in a lab by specialists who’ve been motivated by the world to find this somewhat difficult, yet simple, solution.

Therefore, as to get the most accurate and first-hand knowledge possible, I reached out to a friend back home, Tarika Pather. Tarika works in a local architecture firm and has been consciously and physically involved in the fight against GBV in South Africa. In the following interview she speaks on the way the Covid-19 pandemic has placed a spotlight on GBV in South Africa as well as how Architecture can and should be involved in aiding such an issue. Sofia Viudez: To what degree has the pandemic affected gender-based violence around the world, particularly in South Africa where a state of emergency has been called, and how does/can Architecture play a role in aiding such a problem?

While another pandemic has, and continues to plague communities around world, and is only worsening during these trying times, without any worldwide motivation to end it. Gender-based violence has ravaged communities worldwide, specifically those in developing countries, where poverty is high, and education is overlooked. I, myself, am from South Africa, where GBV has been classified as a national emergency, as during lockdown the country saw an exponential rise in cases.

Tarika Pather: The pandemic has had different impacts on GBV around the world: I would struggle to generalise on one significant outcome since governments responded to the pandemic in varying ways. In the case of South Africa, we can get more specific. When the South African government declared a lockdown there was a clear crackdown on alcohol usage particularly: this was intended to mitigate the effects of risky behaviour that may spread the virus and limit emergency

The country has been in outcry since last year when student Uyinene Mrwetyana was found raped and murdered. Women around the nation have had enough of the country’s lack of response to this pandem-

Collaborator: Denise Lim. Firm: Counterspace; Designer: Tarika Pather. Project: Ponte Tower: an archive.

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hospital visits caused by alcohol-induced injuries. A welcome side effect of this ban was that GBV rates dipped significantly during this period. The government also sent in droves of police and the army personnel into various parts of the country. This is where Architecture comes into the debate. Many of my middle-class friends were of the mind that the government’s decision to deploy the military meant that there would be less violence overall and that it would make SA safer. But these opinions are shaped by the spaces we inhabit in South Africa. The military was disproportionately present in townships and poorer areas. There were multiple cases of police brutality coming to the surface right around the time of the murder of George Floyd in the US. South African police were killing people in townships on fraudulent charges emboldened with the all-encompassing power the government had granted them. There is footage of the police and military storming the streets of townships at night, shoving people and barging into people’s homes unwarranted. Meanwhile the bees were still buzzing in suburbia, we remained untouched.

Architecture undoubtedly plays a role in aiding such an issue: but it requires a massive and relentless undertaking of urban planning and intervention and, most importantly the dedication of a government that truly wants to change the lives of the majority of South Africans for the better. SV: Why, in your opinion, is GBV so prevalent in South Africa and which communities are most affected? TP: There is no one cause of GBV in South Africa – the debate is deeply nuanced. GBV rates have been on the rise for decades and have been reaching horrifying peaks since 2018. If one were to look at regions or countries throughout the world that are either post-conflict/post-genocide there is often a significant amount of violence left in the histories wake. Here Apartheid is still very much alive. The geopolitical legislature that mapped out privileges according to race has only been dented minorly by our ‘democracy’: the system of migrant labour from poor black/brown spaces to affluent white spaces is still in play and the majority of poor areas are overwhelmingly populated by black and brown communities. In post-apartheid South Africa economics, race and space are still deeply intertwined. Apartheid set this country up to fail the people of colour within it: but primarily women and girls.

Spatial apartheid in South Africa was already painfully obvious without a pandemic worsening the situation. The pandemic spread quickly in areas with high population densities (townships are tightly packed living situations) and in areas where people were unable or struggled to socially distance (many families or tenants live with multiple people within a small household). Additionally, job instability came into play. Those who are often seen as dispensable labour lost their jobs, making their situations all the more desperate. Poorer areas were ravaged completely.

Let me start off by making this as clear as possible, violence is not endemic to a certain race, culture or nationality. Violence is often bred in desperation. Violence is found lurking about ready to snatch the children who are not cradled and protected by the education system. Violence can spring from deep within the crevices of someone who has been disen-

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disenfranchised, stomped down or dehumanised for their entire lives, as a way to get their power back. Violence waits patiently in a syringe or a crystal ready to be injected or smoked. Although all types of men perpetrate violence against women and children, the worst statistics are prevalent in poorer communities in South Africa. If you couple this economic and psychological deprivation with an ingrained sense of sexism and misogyny you will get the mortifying reality of the GBV we see in South Africa today.

The government has barely unravelled a comprehensive plan to tackle GBV and although our president mentioned donating money to shelters for GBV ‘survivors’ I couldn’t help but think ‘what happens to those who don’t survive?’ There is no attempt to truly fix the problem at its core, there is no attempt to be radical (and in Karl Marx’s words) ‘grasp things by the roots.’ To be clear: the pandemic just revealed what was happening all along. The lack of women’s mobility due to lockdown meant that it was even harder to leave situations of domestic abuse. Men also became home-bound and many sought illicit alcohol despite the ban. Domestic abuse shelters were teeming with women and children and abuse hotlines were ringing constantly. Maybe this ringing was loud enough to wake Cyril from his slumber.

SV: South Africa has declared a state of emergency for GBV, was this due to the rise in cases due to the pandemic’s circumstances or did the pandemic just reveal what was happening all along? TP: If I’m being honest, if I didn’t scoff at the government’s apathy for the women in this country I might just cry. I nearly laughed when I heard our president Cyril Ramaphosa announcing a state of emergency for GBV because it meant nothing. It was purely rhetorical: such like the memorandum that was painstakingly put together in 2018 to push for GBV to be tackled at a governmental level. Women and girls are raped, brutalised and killed constantly. Occasionally the government responds with empty verses: mainly saying “we as a society need to condemn GBV”, when people have already been condemning it. People are marching and shouting in the streets. People are putting together multiple memorandums. In my opinion, Ramaphosa declared a state of ‘emergency’ for GBV because he was pretending to listen to the protestors in order to quell the gatherings that were occurring amid the pandemic.

SV: What has been your role in the fight against GBV? I know you have started selling jewellery, with a percentage of the profits going to organisations fighting against GBV (@chunkjoburg – instagram). TP: I have always been incredibly sensitive to the reality women and girls face in this country. I began to get involved in anti-GBV activism at the African Leadership Academy, my previous high school. A group of friends and I founded a non-profit organisation, Afro-Feminism, which focused primarily on educational curriculums for youth: creating awareness on how sexism on the African continent impedes all of our economic and social potential. We handed our non-profit over to a new team when we graduated from high school, as we decided to have it be generational and to stay situated in Africa

Collaborator: Denise Lim. Firm: Counterspace; Designer: Tarika Pather. Project: Ponte Tower: an archive.

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emerge(ncy) issue SV: What/how do you think people can help, in particular the younger generation?

rather than taking it with us to our tertiary environments overseas. Recently I was active during the lockdown protests and vigils but found that I burnt out quickly. My emotional health had become severely compromised and although I didn’t want to admit it, I knew that I could not carry on with organisational efforts until I could handle the worsened anxiety and depression that ensued from delving into anti-GBV activism. I find that the best way I can help in my current state is to donate a percentage of my profits from the small jewellery business that I run to various GBV shelters and organisations. Although I don’t turn around a massive profit I feel like it’s important for me to try to give back - as I know that at this juncture it feels like it’s the best I can do until I gather up the strength to become more dynamic in my activism again. The government has barely unravelled a comprehensive plan to tackle GBV and although our president mentioned donating money to shelters for GBV ‘survivors’ I couldn’t help but think ‘what happens to those who don’t survive?’ There is no attempt to truly fix the problem at its core, there is no attempt to be radical (and in Karl Marx’s words) ‘grasp things by the roots.’ SV: What do you think it means to be a woman in such a time in a country with such a crisis?

TP: Being a woman in this country means that the possibility of death accompanies you wherever you go. 7

TP: There are many things that younger people can get involved in to push for a complete revolution and overhaul of the system. On a smaller scale: continued and relentless demonstration, memorandums and protest art (which can sometimes be seen as ‘vandalism’) can be helpful. On a larger scale: a carefully coordinated nationwide strike would be most effective. One of the best ways to bring a country to its knees is to halt the cogs of economic activity and use this as leverage for change. In terms of professional work, humanities students have massive potential to enact societal change. Students who have studied sociology, politics, international relations or law (to name a few) could choose to go into politics and get involved in the governmental structures at a local level. Having younger people making up various political parties gives South Africa the option of breaking out of the stagnant one-party state we find ourselves in at the moment. Designers and architects can get involved in what I’d call ‘political’ or ‘socially active’ design, pushing for reconfiguration of space, specific design interventions that would make spaces safer and more accessible or creating actual constructions for the purpose of education, refuge or recreation. SV: How do you think architecture plays a role in GBV? Can certain urban designs of an area contribute to GBV? TP: Architecture most definitely plays a role in GBV. I remember working on a project at

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the very beginning of my architectural internship at the firm Counterspace. I won’t go into too much detail but it involved putting together proposals for architectural interventions in Diepsloot (a massive township in Gauteng). Women complained of having to walk across a bridge at night to get to their homes, it was almost completely dark and mottled with holes and ditches.

SV: To people who think architects have no role in such a crisis, what would you say, in particular to our generation of designers going forward? TP: Architects have a social responsibility, although the majority do not take this on. There are many corporate architecture firms in South Africa, who make a significant amount of money but who barely partake in socially active design or intervention. These firms are often overwhelmingly white, which is unsurprising, as there is white apathy to violence enacted on the black and brown bodies of South Africans.

If an area has no night lights, it immediately becomes more dangerous for women in South Africa. Interestingly, poor sanitation does not often come up as a talking point for GBV. If a bathroom or a tap is positioned outside of the home (a long-drop for example) and is a few streets or even steps away from the property, there is a massive risk of assault for women or girls who wish to use the bathroom, particularly at night. A resident we interviewed in Ivory Park, another massive township, stated firmly that he did not let his wife or little girl visit the outhouse at night because it is simply too risky. Architectural interventions can make a difference: strategic lighting, fixing roads and creating accessible and public pathways to homes, pushing for sanitation to be located closer to homes and designed in a sturdy way and having emergency checkpoints and phone booths, are just a few design interventions that could be helpful.

There are of course a few socially active firms that do great and inspiring work. I hope to one day model my practice off the influence of these wonderful women and men who have defined architecture to me in a way that a corporate firm never could. Architecture is more than concrete, steel and blueprints. Architecture is inherently political. Architecture is about people and societal blueprints. Younger architects and designers hold massive potential and can span their talents beyond the Adobe Suite or Sketchup: we just need to make them aware of that.

“VIOLENCE CAN SPRING FROM DEEP WITHIN THE CREVICES OF SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN DISENFRANCHISED, STOMPED DOWN OR DEHUMANISED FOR THEIR ENTIRE LIVES, AS A WAY TO GET THEIR POWER BACK.”

In rural areas, there can be immense open spaces (fields, streams, etc.) and homes or access to sanitation are few and far between. This configuration of space creates danger. Additionally the apartheid legacy of migrant labour means women often travel long distances early in the morning or late at night in public transport and this can lead them into potentially life-threatening situations.

Eye Smiles

Ella Wheatley

Eye Smiles

Ella Wheatley

during the pandemic, masks have become part of our everyday lives. however, many ‘anti-maskers’ state that this is a barrier to human connection. this photo series was created as an antithesis to this: to capture the smiles and humanity of people regadless of their mask.

PHOTOGRAPHS OF Cin Namon Joel Richardson Sof Viudez Olga Partyka Abid Farhan Sara Tranescu shot in manchester, uk.

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emerge(ncy) issue Images: Ada Ardeleanu

THOUGHTS FROM LOCKDOWN Gathered by MSA&U

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Person A:

I would say that no history book can prepare oneself for such isolation and contempt as the ones that emerged out of the pandemic and its lockdown. As a contemplative introvert, I felt at ease knowing that I would be alone for a short period of time. Obviously, that ‘’shortness’ was nothing more than a dark-humour joke. As a student whose world has just started to become increasingly interesting, I have felt as if I was stripped of all my resources when I had to go back home and lock myself up for an infinite amount of days. I would say that we love hanging out with others, and we love seeing new things every day. We love contemplating about others, unknown to us, in the bus stop, waiting in line, or across our studio table. This lack of mystery turned out to be detrimental to me, as I increasingly wanted to know more about the others every single day. I truly believe that this pandemic has taught me how grateful I should be for the small things that make my day, and I will happily project my insights into my future, post-pandemic life.

Person B: Although a difficult and bizarre experience, I would say that the pandemic has made me appreciate.... I appreciate my home: the comfort I feel and the security of my family. I appreciate my village: I don’t think I ever truly ‘knew’ where I lived until I found all the secret paths on my essential daily walks during lockdowns. I appreciate my place of work: my part-time job allowed me to see and meet new people every shift. I appreciate my university: the rush to enter the Chatham lifts when there’s a queue, the buzzing open studios, the view from 801 of Manchester. I think this experience will make me a better person and designer. When designing, I want to create spaces that people appreciate. It’s the memories and experiences that take place in a space and I aspire for that to be the case in whatever I create.

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Person C: ‘There is no place like home.’ Personally, the lockdown made me realise how I avoided being home for too long before the pandemic. I would go to the university, library, or cafes to study; always changing places to distract myself from worries and tiredness. Being home I knew I would be lazy, eating much and doing little. However, with the lockdown, I had no choice but to be at home all day. It was scary but also taught me to be grateful for having a place to live and made me realise that for me, being happy at home is deeply connected with being content with myself. Having to face my doubts and thoughts every day is an important step to learn about myself, which I am grateful for at the end of the day. The second thing I learnt is how important it is for me to have a tidy and organised room to feel comfortable and that taking care of my space gives me a lot of joy. Paradoxically, in this pandemic, I finally understood the well-worn saying and have felt more at home again.

Person D: Everything that happened in the last year got me confused at first, a bit lost at times, sad, frustrated and, at the same time, grateful for everything I had before and I didn’t appreciate as much as I should have. Spending most of the time being alone can be a real challenge for everyone and I was not an exception. I realised that before everything started I was in a constant rush to...nowhere, really. What was so important before that made us be in a hurry all the time, without taking a second to stop and become aware of everything that was around us? We were all rushing to eat, drink, sleep, go out with friends when, in fact, very few of us were actually appreciating and living in the moments. The lockdown was an opportunity for me to finally slow down, have long conversations with myself, understand and calm down all my thoughts and appreciate everything that is happening around me, be it good or bad. Just stop, take a deep breath and look around you. Live in the moment.

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Person E: 2020, what a crazy year. I went through, perhaps, one of the most traumatic experiences in my whole life, fueled by fear and uncertainty. When the first cases of the virus came out and it began to spread around the world, everything felt so surreal, almost as if I refused to believe that anything of the sort would actually happen in real life. My brain then switched from denial and when into a survival mode. Being the creative person that I am, I began to imagine all the different scenarios in my head and possible escape plans, especially after I saw many friends at university rushing back to their homes, even back to their own countries. The lack of sleep and the constant anxiety definitely affected my ability to concentrate overall. All this made me realise how much one’s surroundings and lack of social contact affect their mental health and overall wellbeing. This fueled a desire in me to create and imagine a space where social interaction could be still be achieved in a new normal! I definitely understood the importance of nature and how big of a role it plays and now I try to incorporate it in all of my designs! I wish to design a new world… filled with nature.

Person F: With all the negative and crazy things that happened this year, some days it really makes me question if I should get out of bed in the morning when every day seems the same, and every lecture and action I do starts to merge with the one before. During these times when my thoughts scramble, I get reminded by the things that keep me grounded and going throughout the day: a cup of coffee waiting downstairs prepared by my lovely housemate, my neighbours wishing me a good day, seeing my friends and tutors in the tutorials and lectures, catching up with old friends and so much more. All these people around us are keeping us grounded with small things and just knowing someone will be there to text, call or make a cup of coffee can give a sense of security and motivation for everything we do and brighten the day.

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Aisha Zulfiqar, Arshya Mittal Calin-Bogdan Maier

Image: Ada Ardeleanu

HOMELESSNESS: WHEN SOCIETY FAILS YOU

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emerge(ncy) issue This crisis enabled Manchester’s city council to comprehend the extent of this social issue and the caveats of cutting its budget in the previous years. Homelessness relates to people and the opportunities that the city can provide for the less lucky within the community. After the lockdown was lifted, Councillor Luthfur Rahman, lead member for homelessness for Manchester City Council, alongside an increasingly larger group of activists started asking the government to provide the resources they need to support Manchester’s homeless population throughout the pandemic. He also advocated for supporting the homeless through donations to The Big Change Fund, a charity dedicated to changing the lives of homeless people in Manchester. The Westminster programme “Everybody In” helped as well with a donation of 105 million pounds to the city council to combat homelessness. This programme highlighted once again that tackling the root of a person’s homelessness is the key to longterm positive change.

Due to the recent outbreak of the new Coronavirus, the world seemed as if it was entering a new and chaotic age: life during a pandemic. How does this affect one’s life? Simply put, the abrupt shift from the normal, physically interactive world to the virtual, socially distanced, almost eremitical one surely brought a lot of distress and fear. We as human beings have seen many pandemics throughout history, but no book can prepare us for this type of uncertainty. Luckily, most of us can enjoy the advantages of living in a modern and technologically advanced world, in which one can order food online, work from home, study for a degree, or binge watch one’s favourite TV series without the risk of getting infected.

In looking for the right and most effective solutions to homelessness it is also key to be aware of the causes, which can be categorised into 2 types: personal, and structural.

Some of us might take this for granted, but then the question arises: how are the people living on the streets coping with the situation? More importantly, were they even helped? Yes, they were, but they were not eventually.

Substance misuse is a major personal cause that perpetuates homelessness, as it can lead people to losing control of their lives and struggling with their mental health, which can eventually cause unemployment, cutting off from family and friends, and eviction. This links to relationship breakdown (including divorce, domestic abuse, or conflict between parents) as another major personal cause for homelessness. Distancing from family, unemployment, particularly prolonged unemployment, and potential legal issues may also cause changes to one’s financial situation,

Manchester managed to house almost 2,000 homeless people to stop the spread of the virus. As this endeavour was the proper and humane thing to do, one can surely ask: how did they manage to offer solutions during an emergency on such short notice, but failed to help them throughout the previous years, when their numbers skyrocketed? It is improbable that this quick option can help them in the long run, but the pandemic surely highlighted the importance of prevention.

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forcing them to be homeless. In addition to these, personal causes of homelessness can also include leaving care, prison or the armed forces, as there are often not enough provisions in place to help them prepare accommodation upon leaving.

tailored to help both homeless families and individuals by providing either long-term or short-term rental assistance and a variety of voluntary services on the basis of one’s needs. Studies have shown that between 75-91% of households remain housed a year after being rapidly rehoused, thus ending homelessness quickly. The voluntary services provided help the individuals on getting a greater housing stability as they end up participating in job training programs, attend school and even discontinue substance use.

Structural causes of homelessness include cuts to public sector funding and housing support, as well as the presence of welfare reform and benefit sanctions that can in fact contribute to the rise in homelessness. Moreover, in the last few years, “no-fault evictions” from private rentals were the biggest structural cause of homelessness both nationally and in Manchester. This links strongly to housing supply and the lack of affordability, a problem that is widespread in the UK. Lastly and unfortunately, immigration status may also contribute to homelessness figures, as migrants, asylum seekers and refugees are statistically more vulnerable to homelessness, due to a lack of a support network, language barriers and inadequate advice and support.

Although this may seem as an expensive approach on taxpayers money, it has, instead, long term benefits as housed people are less likely to use emergency services, shelters and even prisons. A similar approach was implemented in Trieste, a city located in Northern Italy, that focused on mental health to successfully tackle homelessness. After a new mental health legislation was passed in 1978, the city of Trieste closed its 1,200 bed mental institution only to open six psychiatric hospitals beds over the years where severely ill patients, needing full-time support, live in home-like communal homes.

To understand more about this issue and how others tried to find the right solutions to it, here are two examples of how prevention can potentially help the homeless people: Finland on a national level and Trieste, Italy, on a more local level.

The plain-clothed staff create a relationship based on trust with their patients, allowing them to be cared for, hence helping them to get better. The stigma around homeless individuals is a story of the past in this city as patients are embraced as full members of the community and often participate in many clubs and activities. In addition to that, employers are urged to hire people with mental health problems and to help them whenever necessary. This approach was commended by the World Health Organisation as global best practice for mental health.

Finland is the only country in the European Union that has been successful in decreasing the percentage of homelessness in the recent years due to a programme called “Housing First”. A national strategy, implemented in 2008, consists of providing tailored and intensive support for homeless people by placing them in permanent housing, rather than in temporary shelters for a limited amount of time, thus ending homelessness. This programme’s approach is

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Both of these approaches are very versatile and can be easily adopted by the UK, especially Manchester, although the housing market is a lot different than the one in Finland. It’s clear that the old system isn’t working and the best way to deal with this matter is to go to its root. The homeless community is a very vulnerable one and it needs constant care and a warm place to call home.

Lone Hours Angela Li

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Lone Hours Angela Li

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emerge(ncy) issue Image: Angela Li

Angela Li

LONE HOURS 21

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Imagine the putrid corpse transferred, All will begin anew, Rain drenched soil of early spring, Greens emerge skyward, Just as you had taken hold of a reaching hand.

Perhaps the loneliest hours are not the ones showered in moonlight, but those you spend with the late afternoon sun in an accommodation that seemed far too empty. Four walls too strange to call home, too familiar to bear company of.

Winter is still upon us, but you must first venture into the snow to find the spring thaw. Start talking, voice out, speak, take the reaching hand, but above all, make truce with yourself. Like all things, that has counterparts, the negativity that resides in you is but the half to your happiness and is what makes you whole. To relieve yourself from the constant tug of war with your emotions, you must first look them in the eye.

Since the first lockdown during Easter a few months ago, it would seem that being alone, isolation, and coping with the new minimum of social and human interactions have taken hold of our lives and what was of our university norms. What emerged, and became more and more obvious from these difficult times, was the concern of mental health issues in our youth that has long been overlooked and unheeded.

Think them through day and night until you get around by and by, then store them away inside your drawer, and rest at will. Sit with your back against the tree, the light spilling through new leaves. Spilling, painting a ground of colours. And when you wake, when you emerge, stand and brush your pants clean, and continue to journey into the unknown distance.

The leaves have fallen to reveal what has always been hanging by the branches. Taking the matter into our hands is more important now than ever. Mental health is not a subject to avoid as taboo, not about nomenclatures you do not know how to pronounce, and not a defect on your being. It is, simply, if you are at a comfortable peace with oneself, which can be reflected as simply as the number of times you glance up to your calendar for a looming deadline or the last time you have been out with the excuse of getting groceries.

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Benedetta Rizo

Image: Benedetta Rizo

ARE WE REACTING YET?

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If one good outcome has come out of this year, it is that it has brought to light many problems that most of us were unaware of or that were simply being ignored as they were not considered urgent or worthy of attention. We are now coming to realise that our society is based on a situation of great disparity, where people of certain ethnicities and cultural backgrounds are not offered the same opportunities as others or where gender inequality is an issue that many still disregard.

With crisis comes action and with action comes change; that is the way it is and the way it has always been. It is through changing, adapting and learning from previous mistakes that human kind has been able to survive and evolve over the centuries, overcoming plagues, natural disasters, wars and all sorts of adversities. It is only in the times of emergency that we truly come to realise how much needs to be improved and what changes need to be made.

This crisis has shown us that the most essential workers within our society are the ones that are most neglected, underpaid and the most likely to be struggling, opposed to those with a less crucial societal role that, on the other hand, have access to numerous resources and services just because of their statuses or possessions.

We are now in the middle of emergencies of all sorts: an environmental emergency, a sanitarian emergency and a social emergency. Things have been static for quite some time and we have been making the same mistakes over and over without truly feeling their consequences, until they hit us all at once. When rethinking through all of the events that have taken place within this short amount of time, it seems almost surreal: the kind of dynamics that used to only belong to the science-fiction imaginary. But denying their existence doesn’t erase their presence and the situations we are now facing must be dealt with and overcome.

These types of inequalities and discriminations are the same ones that have been underlying in our system for decades and that have been slowly and quietly destroying our society, until they could no longer be hidden. But now that the problems have emerged, it is time to act upon them. It is starting from this crisis, that has brought us to our knees, that we begin our climb up. There are countless problems that need to be faced although most of them might even seem too big for us students and architects to even remotely consider.

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So the question arises almost spontaneously: what can we as architects do? What can we as students and as the future generation do to contribute towards eliminating gender and racial inequalities, environmental disasters or even social issues? What we often forget to realise is that our career path, architecture, is about contributing towards creating better environments and better communities. With buildings, we have the power of impacting people and influencing their day-to-day lives. By simply choosing the materials of our designs or the environmental techniques within them, we can drastically reduce the global carbon emissions, improve air quality and the overall comfort and liveability of cities and urban centres.

As Abraham Maslow once said: “In any given time, we have two options: to step forward into growth or step back into safety”. So it is through the mistakes made from the previous generation and their acquired knowledge that we must take that next step and dive into the future, our future.

We, the new upcoming generation of architects, have now got the knowledge and tools to create a more sustainable and liveable world. It is up to us, the new generation to be responsible for our future. It is our turn to step up and take control of the situation. We have the means to make an impactful change, to shake the system from its outdated core and convert it for the better. This crisis has shown us a crack within the old way of living and practicing architecture that we are now in charge of repairing. It is with us that the emerging starts and the emergency stops.

MSSA ZINE 2020/2021

emerge(ncy) issue

Sara Tranescu

Image: Ada Ardeleanu

EMOTIONAL SAFETY OUTDOORS/INDOORS

MSSA ZINE 2021

emerge(ncy) issue

WHAT... The outside always meets the inside in architecture and the other way around. It always happens in different scenarios and forms, but what is always relevant is their relationship. Both outstanding and different, they often correlate, blend, or emerge from one another, and most importantly they are dependant on each other. Happens... For a long time, humans have associated enclosed spaces with comfort, safety, shelter. However, now, more than ever, the world was forced to spent most of its time indoors. How does that affect how people think of the built environment? Do people feel safer indoors? Quite the opposite.

indoors? It would make a huge difference if safety measures would be seen beyond hand sanitisers and social distancing. What about emotional safety? Isn’t a transparent textile fabric or a membrane with an impermeable layer or a combination of those more friendly than unsustainable plastic partitions? Would not people feel safer if they felt like they were together, but at the same time apart to protect each other? As in every design brief, challenges can be dealt with in an infinite variety of ways. In today’s context, now that the world has seen how the current restrictions affect how people feel indoors, as well as outdoors, it is the duty of the architects to challenge this never seen before brief and give people back the feeling of safety and emotional comfort while being indoors. Lately, there is a big question mark among students regarding design approach during the pandemic. Are the current restrictions something to be taken into consideration when designing? ‘Maybe’, ‘If you find them important then you should’ are the most common answers given to those questions. A more elaborate talk on how the past months impacted people and their lifestyle would be more appropriate.

Claustrophobia, anxiety, the uncertainty of enclosed spaces has increased more and more in the time of the pandemic. At a closer look, the changes that have occurred in the last few months could be the restarting point for several key drivers and relationships in architecture.

What the world has witnessed in the last few months should not be avoided while designing, even if the projects are not real-life ones. It is the intention of incorporating those in the design process that will lead to the development of safer environments in the future. Ignorance, in hope that things will solve themselves with time is not a valid approach to design in general and neither should it be in this context as well.

This brings us back to the previous questions. How do we make people feel safe indoors again? More specifically, what needs to be approached differently for people not to feel anxious because they must distance

MSSA ZINE 2020/2021

emerge(ncy) issue

Now? People should not be put into the situation of feeling unsafe and anxious indoors. Although it is an external factor that creates this general state of mind, it is the duty of architecture to rethink some of its initiatives to deliver a new standard for safety.

Safety today means more than a building having a long life-span, or high sustainability performance, it is about showing that people can still interact and enjoy the relationship between the enclosed and open spaces, without feeling that the indoors are a place of fear, uncertainty and social anxiety.

Friendless

Namon Thongsuwan

Friendless

Namon Thongsuwan

MSSA ZINE 2021

emerge(ncy) issue Image: Hannah O’Neil

ARCHITECTURAL RESPONSES TO HOMELESSNESS DURING A PANDEMIC 31

Hannah O’Neill

MSSA ZINE 2020/2021

emerge(ncy) issue

The homelessness crisis is an important, longstanding issue facing the UK, but the coronavirus pandemic has compounded the problem. The British economy has suffered, with job losses and redundancies a central part of the COVID-19 narrative and, despite the government’s furlough scheme and eviction ban, approximately 20,000 households have been made homeless during the pandemic according to The Guardian(2020).

The government’s ‘Everyone In’ scheme was set up to provide emergency, temporary accommodation for rough sleepers in order to slow the spread of the virus by getting people off the streets. The scheme, which cost £3.2 million, has housed 14,000 homeless people in England since it began in March. The initiative was short term and an immediate reaction to the pandemic, meaning long term solutions were not factored in. However, the government recently announced a further £85m to continue the ‘Everyone In’ scheme but leaders said they were awaiting further details on how it will be allocated and how it can be used.

The People’s Pods in Pendleton In Pendleton, Salford the ’Peoples Pods’ offer homeless people a safe place to stay. The portacabins, which are typically seen on building sites have been rented by Salford City council to support the homeless during the pandemic. The facilities are part of the scheme ‘A Bed Every Night’, which was established by Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham (Manchester Evening News, 2020). The bunkers are kitted out with two single beds and an en-suite. There is WiFi connection and guests have their own shower. The pods are a practical and affordable way to provide homeless people with a place to self-isolate, due to their compact design and because they are self-contained. They can be easily transported to wherever they are needed on the back of a lorry. This modular approach to homelessness creates comfortable, warm and safe spaces for

The pandemic has worsened the issue of homelessness and the housing crisis as well as changing the picture. Architects and designers have responded in different ways to support the homeless in the short term and long term.

MSSA ZINE 2021

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homeless people, however the pods are not a long-term solution. Although ideal for those who need to self-isolate because of COVID, they do not have the facilities needed for longer term stays such as a kitchen. Those who stay in the pods rely on charity workers to deliver food parcels. On top of this the pods are also limited in numbers and take up more space than traditional communal living shelters would. Converting pubs and offices to house the homeless unchanged with rooms built off site and dropped into place. This approach allows the building to be returned to its previous state with ease when necessary. Architects Aware believes developers could be incentivised to undertake such conversion projects through Section 106 agreements and purchase or rent payments from local authorities tasked with getting people off the streets.

Architects Aware are a London based think-tank who recently published details of plans drawn to show how pubs, offices and other buildings left vacant in the wake of coronavirus could be converted into accommodation for homeless people. The strategies were designed around three types of homeless people: entrenched homeless, work ready homeless and young homeless. The scheme identified the unique needs of each group and designed solutions accordingly. For example, the working homeless who are defined as those who typically have low-paid, temporary jobs prioritised location and affordability over other features.

Chris Hildrey’s ProxyAddress Initiative Chris Hildrey’s ProxyAddress initiative was conceived three years ago but will finally run in a south London district for six months this winter. The scheme, which was stuck in the development phase for some time has joined up with Lewisham council to give homeless people an address.

The success of this proposal is that it recognises the transient nature of the vacant spaces and the people that would be occupying them. The pubs and offices that have become vacant in recent months will not stay that way forever and the architects’ designs show an awareness of that. For example, the existing structures are left

Having an address is fundamental to people escaping homelessness for a number of reasons. It allows people to set up a bank account, register with surgeries and apply for jobs.

MSSA ZINE 2020/2021

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The scheme uses a database of addresses, which were collected with explicit consent from property owners such as councils, housing associations, developers and even private donors. These properties are already vacant, so the owners are not negatively impacted. Barclays Bank is also supporting the trial, allowing people to open accounts using their ProxyAddress. This is an admiral scheme which seeks to use resources that communities already have and that would be left unused otherwise. However, the project has only just taken off after being delayed for three years due to all the admin and paperwork that needs to happen to make the idea a reality. This is likely to hold the scheme back and make widespread adoption slow to take off.

Despite the pandemic making life a lot harder in many different ways, and homeless people being one of the worst affected groups, there are a lot of positive initiatives being developed within the architectural community in response. Each of the schemes here demonstrate an ability to think creatively paired with adaptability. These are always important characteristics for architects but will be especially necessary as we continue to design the built environment during the current pandemic.

MSSA ZINE 2021

emerge(ncy) issue Image: Ada Ardeleanu

Ivet Yaneva

FROM RUNNING TO WALKING 35

MSSA ZINE 2020/2021

emerge(ncy) issue

I would have never thought that a phenomenon like Coronavirus would ever occur and be the cause of my stress, uncertainty, or possible failure. As negative as it may sound, I would have guessed that the reason for those events would be me. But a virus? I don’t think anyone saw that coming.

under the same cause - stopping the virus. Many countries responded by enacting social isolation measures, but there had already been so many infected people that hundreds of thousands died.

We used to live our lives in such a hurry. If a UFO would have seen us, it would have thought that we were racing. We were torn between school, work, sport, hobbies, going out, university applications, and dealing with relationships. We neglected our families, ignored our friends, focused on our phones, destroyed nature, lost empathy, and forgot how to make real connections. We were so focused on the shallow that we forgot how to stop and appreciate what we have. But then life decided to intervene.

Those numbers and events made us appreciate what we have right now. Everyone is locked at home, some alone, others with some company, but we all have so much time to ourselves to think, create, evaluate what we have. It is hard to be alone for the whole day, but I try to fill my time with drawing or being with my family. In the meantime, nature is flourishing, animals are free to go wherever they want to. People’s creativity resulted in online theatre, art shows, and exhibitions.

Every single part of our lives stopped because there was something more important that required our attention - a dangerously infectious virus. Everyone could get it, no matter how important you were.

We had been destroying the most important parts of our lives, and now, at home, we value them more than ever.

The truth that everyone saw, even though some didn’t want to admit it, was that everything was going to change. The thought of losing people terrified me. For the first time in my life, I saw the whole world uniting

Airtight

Ada Ardeleanu

Airtight

Ada Ardeleanu

MSSA ZINE 2021

emerge(ncy) issue Images: Lauryn Blackmore

PROTESTING MANCHESTER 39

Lauryn Blackmore

MSSA ZINE 2020/2021

emerge(ncy) issue

The pandemic has only exacerbated the feelings of tension people have felt in previous years - in 2020, we have seen an explosion of political unrest and transmission of information across the globe. The spread of public outcry has raced across our screens at a rate only rivalled by Covid-19 itself. The Black Lives Matter movement, climate action, End SARS protests and several others against regimes and parliaments.

Interestingly, the university seems capable of fencing off the entire campus, but not keeping up discourse with any unhappy students. A series of rallies may not be the most obvious thing to expect during the reign of an airborne disease but this only highlights the levels people are now willing to climb to the assert justice. And they should; times are evolving and morphing into a state none of us recognise and as members of a democracy, we should have a say in where our futures are headed: the Emerge(ncy) has always been here but only now are people beginning to spearhead a movement.

Perhaps Covid has been a catalyst to stop people pacifying their worries and starting to mobilise: the struggles of many fall upon deaf ears and require more radical displays to glean a response. People are angry. You only have to look across our own Mancunian skyline to see it, in the form of Owen’s Park tower and the people who occupy it. They face the insurmountable task of changing the proposed 5% rent decrease to their targeted 40%.

The firework has lit up the sky, but the blast is only now reaching people’s ears.

MSSA Zine is a small-scale student led publication that centers along a specific theme each issue. We are a collaborative magazine showcasing work from students, academics & professionals. If you want to get involved, find us here: e-mail: MSSAZine@gmail.com Instagram: @mssazine