TH E SYAH IM M AG
A CRITICAL REFLECTION CONCLUDING STATEMENT
Throughout the process of studying the vehicle-dwelling nomads – I learned their most pressing need is not derived from the built environment. I have found acceptance, understanding and inclusion in the public realm to be the nomads’ most pressing need. I learned that sometimes the solution to a design problem is not a building at all. But instead, a new architecture – founded on co-creation, temporality, and inclusion. This begins with the education of and acceptance from the public which would allow vehicle dwellers to overtake already existing underutilized public and private space – filling the gaps in not only our physical infrastructure, but also our social structure.
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There is still much work to be done in the development of the architectural detailing of this project. Both sites need to be completely off grid; therefore, the systems must be evaluated and integrated into the overall design. Moreover, the materials and construction methods need further investigation to find the optimal solution that can resolve the programming of the site while being sensitive to cost and environmental impact. Overall, the project addressed the user's needs and programmatic issues quite well. Although these
aren't strickly architectural issues, it is important the profession expand the definition of architectural design beyond that of systems and structure to encompass the social systems and social impact of programmatic decisions. A vast majority of my time and effort was focused on educating the viewer on who the modern, vehicledwelling nomadic user is. Despite the relevant nature of the topic in today's society, there remains a lot of bias and assumptions made about these individuals; therefore, before I could even begin digging into the design of this project, I needed to find ways to educate the viewer on the background of this community of individuals living alternative lifestyles. This became my most important issue in executing this project - whether that was correct or not - I found educating the public to be the vehicle-dwelling individuals most pressing need; therefore, I first addressed this issue before adding architectural value to the project. For this reason, the projects are lacking a significant amount of detailing, for which can be completed at a later date. Overall, the vision, ideas and codesign strategies of the CONOMAD
project are very strong. My position and argument is for a new vision of architectural practice, founded on cocreation, temporality, and inclusion, that extends far beyond the traditional scope of the common professional practice is more pressing than ever, embracing social, environmental and technological change. The nature of the designs proposed offered simple solutions for providing community, small business, and nomadic resources to the United States following the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing the country to bounce back socially and economically. The project also questions the common professional misconception, that architecture is a professional service controlled by a single architect or design team, through the proposal of a new combination of public and professional co-design and crowd sourced adaptive and resilient design strategies. Especially when dealing with user groups for which the design world is unfamiliar, it is imperative that the user be involved in the design process, as to provide optimal design solutions for these individuals.
