Looking into a Historical Mirror

Abstract

Collaboration between the Global South and Global North is inevitable. It can work. It can be emphatic, effective, and more equal. However, there is a deeply embedded history of colonialism involving power asymmetries that give rise to the dismissal of value systems, which pervert this type of collaboration from being truly realised. Hence, within an architectural education framework, this thesis aimed to examine how TU Delft’s Global Housing studio addresses or perpetuates colonialism and neo-colonialism while practicing in the Global South. The book, Race and Modern Architecture: A Critical History from the Enlightenment to the Present, edited by Irene Cheng, Charles L. Davis II and Mabel O. Wilson helped illuminate the historical context as it concerned the relationship between architecture and race. Additionally, Isabel Wilkerson’s book, Caste: The Lies That Divide Us, provided a framework from which a stakeholder power dynamic analysis could be conducted. The thesis’ conclusions illuminate how the studio addresses colonialism and neo-colonialism in their communication of intent and some of their actions. Contrastingly, the studio sustains elements of colonialism and neo-colonialism. For example, their definition of success is one-sided in terms of who benefits, while despite their intentions to be collaborative their use of language and approaches continue to communicate a “them versus us” narrative. This thesis is, however, an introduction to the continued work that is needed to address colonialism and neo-colonialism in architectural education.