design philosophy papers

I published my first peer-reviewed article this week in design philosophy papers. The article is called "democratic social architecture or experimentation on the poor? ethnographic snapshots." The article presents "social architecture," the Bruce Nussbaum debate, ethnographic snapshots from the Rural Studio, Architecture for Humanity, and the Alley Flat Initiative, and my suggestion that architects forge deeper alliances with social movements such as the Right to the City Alliance (or now, perhaps, the Occupy Wall Street movement). The article can be found by clicking here and the introduction is below...

Education as the battle between ideas...

I recently reflected upon my education for Marlboro College's "After Marlboro: Stories of Recent Graduates Off the Hill." Text below...

To me, interdisciplinary study supports the battle between ideas. The skirmish of my Plan of Concentration at Marlboro College was between disciplines with writing, film and community architecture. I have gone on to study in an “interdisciplinary” architecture masters program based out of Brandenburg University of Technology, Cottbus, Germany, called Architektur.Studium.Generale. But now I realize that interdisciplinary study does not translate easily between different institutions. Not all schools support the ideological battleground.