Directed Study

Directed Study Proposal – FaFa Exhibition September 2020

For all the information concerning the directed study about CONTENT and/or EXHIBITION CURATION, download the proposal: Independant Summer 2020 DS General Proposal

  • General Context

This directed study is geared toward the production and organization of an independent exhibition initiative driven by the student association FaFa (For a Feminist Architecture), which has been part of SALA since 2018.

As part of a greater initiative to increase awareness in favour of equality in the field of architecture, FaFa will organize an exhibition to showcase the unique work of the students involved. The idea is to host an event that will celebrate student work that engages with issues of gender, oppression, social justice and equality as it relates to the field of architecture, landscape architecture and design in general. The main content of the exhibition will feature in part the zines produced during “Zine Nights” organized by FaFa, as well as student’s directed studies concerned with FaFa-related themes. SALA students will enroll in a three (3) credit directed study geared towards content production. 

We propose that the generation of content could be combined with the organization of the exhibition itself, in a two-part course, for six (6) credits. Any student who wishes to generate content within the scope of FaFa’s advocacy work and also be part of the curation team could merge the two different directed studies together, completing the first part and the second part simultaneously in the summer and September. For details about the two different directed studies, refer to Part 2.1 Content or 2.2 Exhibition Curation.

Students who are interested in the “Content” directed study should talk to a FaFa member about their chosen topic and idea. FaFa has already started to engage in conversation with interested professors at SALA to advise the students. Examples of deliverables are provided in part 2.1.3 and 2.2.3 Deliverables of this proposal.

  • Objectives

The main objective of this proposal is to encourage students to create engaging content that will not only celebrate diversity but also raise awareness within the school and possibly, the architectural and design community in Vancouver. As current SALA students, we are aware of the feeling within our student population that there is not enough feminist content embedded into our school curriculum. While in school, we have rarely been directly asked to create content that considers the voices of the marginalized, the oppressed or the erased. Production of content for the FaFa Exhibition presents an opportunity for students to create critical content that engages these issues, outside of the usual lexicon within which architecture students are usually operating. 

Themes that are aligned with FaFa advocacy work (but not limited to):

  • Issues of the workplace (representation, gender, etc.)
  • Initiatives advocating for changes to architectural education (studio/firm culture)
  • Presentation of the work of underrepresented groups (not limited to women)
  • Contested spaces 
  • Erasure
  • Counter-narratives
  • Advocacy merged with design work
    • Social justice within design
    • Social inequalities within design

Naturally, proposals are welcome to explore themes that go beyond these, as long as they gravitate around FaFa values and challenges, outlined in our manifesto. To humbly quote ourselves:  “Our purpose is to uplift voices – regardless of their sexualities, abilities, or genders – which have historically been repressed in the culture of architectural education.” (FaFa Manifesto). We encourage students to submit any proposals they feel would align with feminist values at the school. 

  • Proposal submission

This document can be used as a guideline to structure the directed study proposal specific to each student. The “Context” section can remain the same. The “Objectives” section can also remain the same while being supplemented with more specific information. The “Methods”, “Timeline” and “Deliverables” sections should be rewritten according to the specific aim of the student’s directed study.