Embodying Prefiguration

Abstract

This thesis explores, through autobiographical action research, how the embodiment of prefigurative practices can inform urban design while simultaneously deconstructing the dominant imaginaries in which design is rooted. It begins with the premise that the current polycrisis stems from how many humans -this author included- perceive the world: through the imaginaries of Modernity, which we, as spatial designers, are responsible for reproducing. The problem lies in how we produce space (the power dynamics it enacts) (Lefebvre, 1984) and the knowledge systems that underpin it.

Thus, this project is a process of resituating spatial design practice (as experienced by this author) by exploring methods that enable alternative ways of gaining knowledge and subsequently producing space, rooted in non-Modernistic imaginaries. The primary method is the embodiment of prefigurative practices. Beginning with three intentional communities in the Netherlands, the embodiment has demonstrated how social-spatial reproduction can counter Modernistic frameworks while produce space by emphasizing lived space.
The thesis then investigates how design itself can be grounded in prefigurative practices, seeking methods to translate the knowledge gained from these communities. This exploration culminates in two main approaches: first, by documenting the communities’ practices and revealing how they deconstruct dominant imaginaries. A method that highlights alternative ways of spatial narration and grants agency to the communities as active actors. Second, by exploring how, as a spatial designer, one can embody prefigurative practices within their own context, beginning with a critical reimagining of that context, followed by a pathway for action.

This thesis contributes to feminist and activist design discourses by challenging Modernist conventions in spatial design and demonstrating how embodiment -as a method- can serve as a foundation for action. It inspires alternative spatial configurations and allows the thesis itself to both contribute to prefigurative practices and become one. The argument is twofold: spatial designers must critically reflect on the knowledge systems through which we conceive space, but more importantly, we must shift our focus from producing space through conceiving to producing space through living it, by becoming active agents in our surroundings.

Therefore, this thesis does not deliver conventional outputs. The report you are about to read is an exploration -fragmented, partial, and imperfect- an alternative pathway that invites you to critically reflect, resituate, deconstruct, and take action.