Winter School 2025: Justice by design

Exploring the agency of radical spatial imagination for spatial justice

In January, our first-year master’s students will start the new semester with Winter School. They will work under the guidance of the Artists in Residence (AiR): Irene Luque Martin and Johnathan Subendran. They have been invited by Anna Gasco, Head of Urbanism, to curate this edition.

Irene Luque Martin is an Assistant Professor at TU Delft, she merges academia and practice, focusing on the value of research of design. Johnathan Subendran holds a PhD from TU Delft and explores the relationship between spatial justice, conflict, and climate adaptation.

During the Winter School, Irene and Johnathan will challenge students to critically examine the role of design in addressing injustice, particularly in the Global South. What is the role of spatial design in relation to social and ecological injustice? In five case-based studios, topics such as displaced matriarchies in the Western Sahara, climate injustice in Manila, and refugee camps in Jordan will be explored. In a sixth studio, these findings will be integrated, with students encouraged to investigate the relationship between power structures and design as a means of justice. The program culminates in a collective manifesto and public debate on design’s role in transforming unjust conditions.

In interdisciplinary teams, students will tackle various assignments during this year’s Winter School. For nine days, they will work intensively and engage in discussions. Students will learn to transform ideas into inspiring products, with the final outcomes ranging from built objects to statements, manifestos, plans, visions, and ideas. 

An Artist in Residence (AiR) inspires students and faculty at the Amsterdam University of the Arts by confronting them with current developments and issues from the (art) practice. Innovation and connection are central to these tailored AiR programs, as well as their international and multidisciplinary context.

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