The intricacies of Spatial injustice

Edward Soja, Jeremy Till and Samuel Mockbee all speak about spatial injustice but at very different scales.

Jeremy Till, at a global level describes how the architectural industry is governed by value engineering in terms of cost, construction and not in terms of design sensibilities “to a point where architecture seems helplessly adrift in the wake of wider economic currents.” Looking at a wider context, he speaks about the different scarcities seen worldwide, affecting all countries in all walks of life: scarcity of resources, scarcity of food, scarcity of space, ere which bring into focus powerful governments and private organizations affecting these sectors and resulting in unjust systems of distribution. The very same factors affect architecture as well and this becomes evident in the global trends in architecture that we are observing everywhere, irrespective of people or place.

“…but for most practitioners it will remain a bleak economic reality imposed by macro-economic forces beyond our individual or even disciplinary control.”

In the context of a city like LA, as described by Edward Soja, the unjust distribution or allocation of public amenities comes to the forefront in the case of the MTA rail proposal that would serve the more affluent crowd at the expense of the working poor. But the community rose in joint opposition, made possible through a sense of unity ingrained in local groups where people exerted their right to the city and made their voices heard.

Samuel Mockbee talks about the regional approach of architects in defying the tendencies created by global trends in architecture due to modern technology and economic factors and instead focusing on the realities of the people and the place; of going beyond ‘abstract opinions’ to gain a deeper understanding of the communities we build for; we as architects should be able to critically think and decide which problems to solve rather than being blindsided by what the governing agencies or markets demand of us.

But, I think we have, through decades of industrialization combined with our nature as human beings to collect and reinvest for growth, created a system of economy, politics and allocation of power that allows for spatial injustice to thrive. When a step is taken to reallocate justly, a subsequent redistribution will come into play furthering the spatial injustices we seek to eliminate. I see it as a cycle that is very difficult to get out of in an instant. The fact is that until the effects are felt in our own lives, we won’t seek change as passionately.

And, finally in the midst of this, where do we fit into this situation as architects who are about to graduate into the ‘real-world’ practice of architecture? I don’t think we can control the situation, however, we could be more aware of the controlling factors. While we work as designers, we can try to see opportunity in the existing context, community and fabric and not follow blindly the demands raised by the market powered by capitalist consumerism. If the LA transit system was an example to look at, involving local communities and bodies into the discussion by creating an awareness about their surroundings is one step. Samuel Mockbee’s solution seems to be grounded in the lives, experiences, social woes of people and communities, and Jeremy Till speaks about scarcity generating constraints/ restrictions of its own which may be opportunity for architects to come up with creative solutions. 

These methods of design are all rooted directly or indirectly in the users and context, and obviously require a different way of thinking and working, which may happen with time.